The Books of the Gods Part One
The Face of Apollo (©1998)

Fred can tell a good story, and to be fair, The Face of Apollo is an engaging read almost all the way through. A terribly flat and totally dissatisfying ending derailed the entire story. The story itself has some interesting ideas, and for those who have read the Empire of the East novels, and the plethora of Swords tales the premise here has a familiar ring. Fred never reveals if it's the same universe or not, and frankly it doesn't matter.

The story itself is pretty simple. At the beginning of the story Hades and Apollo are going at it - some battle of the gods thing. Apollo gets whacked, and before you know it, the face of Apollo is in the hands of a young peasant, who of course winds up wearing the face and becoming the god.

We then get to experience the "journey" and ultimate showdown between the forces of good and the minions of evil.

Not a great book, but I have the whole series, and they are engaging enough to cut old Fred some slack and see what he does with the other books. At this point I don't know if they interweave or not. What I did like was the overall conceit that Fred has with the gods and the who made who angel.

For what it's worth it was a fair read.

Reviewed July 1, 2004

Ariadne's Web (©2000)

Okay, it may be that I was unduly harsh on The Face of Apollo. At this point I am reading the fifth book, and have been a little slow getting my thoughts down. Although not literally joined, the books are braided together, and thematically play off each other even if they don’t necessarily pick up where the last one leaves off. The omnibus version included the first three books, and so immediately after finishing the The Face of Apollo, I started in on Ariadne’s Web.

Once again we are exposed to the faces of the gods. This time the central characters include two of Zeus’ offspring, in addition to the gods Dionysus and the third eye of Shiva, Princess Ariadne’s brother the Minotaur Asterion, and the pirate prince Theseus. It’s been many years since I had immersed myself in Greek mythology, and at the time I was more into the Norse pantheon. Still, I “get” enough to recognize the central elements, and Saberhagen knows how to propel a story even if he has trouble steering once in a while. What gets somewhat irritating is how Saberhagen draws upon other legends when he wants to, such as the addition of Shiva - but still runs things from the Greek pantheon. Zeus is the master of all, blah blah blah.

Of course there’s a lot going on, and Theseus as the charming rogue is fun, as is Asterion. Along the way Apollo shows up, as does Hades which precipitates some pretty serious ass kicking, and an abrupt ending.

You realize of course that I’ve said absolutely nothing about the book don’t you? Whatever, it was a fun read, and if you’re more familiar with the source tales you’ll have even more fun. While not great literature, it is engaging, and I find myself getting hooked despite myself.

The Arms of Hercules (©2000)

The Arms of Hercules picks up the thread with a bit of a right turn from where Ariadne’s Web left off. With the third book, I’m not expecting a lot of continuity, just scattered crumbs and dangling threads, which serve to hold things together. Hercules retells in the first person his labours and trials. This is a major flaw on the whole, as right from the start knowing the big lunk emerges from it all in the end negates any punch the situations may have. Still, not to be an arse about it, this is probably the most fun so far of the three. Hercules is equal measures brawn and stupidity. There are some memorable moments where he recounts the misconceptions over his labours, and the scenes with Jason and the Argonauts is tasty. As is the all to brief interaction with Theseus.

Hercules, is drawn into a war with the giants on the side of the gods. The giants are the god's arch enemies, and the giants just happen to have a mysterious god brain scrambling power. In between recounting his labours, and being all pouty about his father Zeus, the books goes on and sort of winds up.

Reviewed August 31, 2004

Books of the God's Part Two
God of the Golden Fleece (©2001)

Probably the most consistent story of the bunch so far. The tale unfolds slowly, and drops enough little hints about the main character to make it worthwhile. Who is the mysterious Proteus? We once again meet up with Jason, who was last seen dumping Hercules off on an island. With God of the Golden Fleece Mister Saberhagen takes apart Jason and the Argonauts and their adventures to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Jason and his band of merry men are essentially one dimensional, and Jason himself is a hero without any innate common sense, or much in the way of heroic substance. Which makes it the more fun as we watch him lead his crew through one episode after another.

Proteus, of course is revealed in time to be a god, a god who had his bell rung pretty good by a giant (remember the brain scrambling power - it comes in handy from time to time if you're a giant and you have to battle a god) at the start of the story. As the story reaches it’s conclusion, Saberhagen takes Haraldur, one of the minor characters from the story and gives him some serious page time.

I find myself liking the whole concept more and more as the books go along. Who knows how many more books are likely to come, or if good old Fred will ever bridge the worlds he’s created. Bottom line is the series isn’t spectacular, but it is pretty fun, and I can think of worse things to do with my time.

Gods of Fire and Thunder (©2002)

Well, here we are the last book of the bunch (so far) and Fred makes a right angle turn. Setting his sights on the Norse gods, Fred leaves Zeus and his cronies behind. Gods of Fire and Thunder picks up with Haraldur (ah, thus explaining his page time in the previous tale) who having had his fill of gods and bullshit, decides to head back up North - where oddly enough he's not overly familiar with the Norse pantheon of gods.

It doesn't take long, and our beleaguered hero encounters a mysterious burning ring of fire. Hmmm. Before you can say "Run away Hal!" our man is teaming up with Baldur (tricky Fred just used the name - and I waited for hundreds of pages to see how he'd reveal him to be a god) to try and rescue a fair maiden who is imprisoned behind the wall of flame. It just so happens Baldur's girl is a Valkrie. Before you can say "Wodan" our boys are stuck in a rundown version of Valhalla, training along with Wodan's other musty champions for the great and final battle.

Of course there's also the allure of gold, which is what got our man Hal involved in the first place. Loki is all over the place here too - which at first confused me a little, since in the very first book I remember that the Trickster was referred to as Loki (once or twice anyway). Which was strange since Hermes was the trickster and patron of thieves. Eventually I let it slide ... since I hate having to think.

Anyway, Loki (the Norse one, not the one who ran away with Apollo in the first book, but was never heard or seen again) is missing, and Wodan who is a a few nuts short of a squirrel's lunch is looking for him. Thor, makes an appearance too, and then mysteriously gets offed, after doing some offing of his own.

Of course, this could lead to a whole series of spoilers. But that would take time. In short, this was a pretty slow story, but in true Saberhagen style, the pages almost turnon their own anyway.

Suffice to say, the Baldur gets the girl, and Hal ... well Hal gets what he came for.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the whole series for what it was - light, fun reading. The whole idea of god faces being immortal using mortal resources was pretty cool. Was the idea fully realized? Not really, but overall the stories were enjoyable enough, which is what entertainment is all about.

Reviewed September 11, 2004

Ardneh's Sword (©2006)

Empire of the East, and the seemingly endless series of "Sword" books are some of my favourite books. They're full of rich characters and built on a world brought to life by Saberhagen's rich imagination. When I discovered Ardneh's Sword I was pretty pleased and was hoping for more of the adventures I remembered from a few years ago.

On the plus side, it is a fun little story but there's no real depth to it. One of the blurbs on the back cover should have been a giveaway, but I missed it. "Perfect for younger fantasy reader." Proclaims Publishers Weekly. Therein lies the problem. The previous works were rich fantasy, and this one is a juvenile adventure.

If you fondly remember Saberhagen's previous outings in the world of Ardneh, this is likely to be a disappointing read. However, if you read it for what it is, and go along for the ride it's an okay read - but really nothing special, and frankly not a necessary addition to the overall series.

Reviewed July 25, 2008