Blood of Hercules

Darci's Review 

Greek mythology-inspired fantasy has been very popular this year, as seen in the popularity of the novels Song of Achilles, The Last Song of Penelope and Hera. Luckily for the fans of urban fantasy entwined with Greek myth, The Games Gods Play has a worthy competitor in this sub-genre: Blood of Hercules by Jasmine Mas. 

Blood of Hercules follows the life of Alexis Hert. In a post-apocalyptic Earth where Titans swarm the earth and Spartans are back, the myth of the gods becomes reality and devastatingly, much grimmer albeit sexier. Scrambling to make ends meet for her adoptive brother Charlie, Alexis uses her wits to undertake the Spartan test: an exam which allows entry to higher levels of education at Spartan universities. It’s her one big chance to get herself and her brother out of homelessness. Much to her dismay, this test leads to her capture by Spartans and then admitted to the Spartan War Academy. Somehow, Alexis is an abandoned Spartan mutt. To survive, she will have to endure the torment of the deadliest Spartans in the world - Chthonic heirs Achilles and Patro. Little does she know that these heirs will be the least of her troubles while she fights for her life alongside trained Olympian heirs.

Mas has written a beautifully insane story. Her world-building is enthralling and entwines the history of the Greeks and their myths with a twist to their tales and powers, alongside the depiction of an apocalyptic Earth in the 2090s. Political intrigue is a major device of the story, explored through the tense relations between the Chthonic and Olympian Spartans and the war against the Titans. Mas also created a romance sub-plot which keeps you enraptured. The confidence and attractiveness of these gods are not to be trifled with. Mas's characterisation of Alexis was also brilliant. Many scenes in this book demonstrated Alexis’s perseverance and ability to endure the worst of situations, qualities that sustain her as she grows older and more experienced.

I read this all-consuming novel in a three-hour sitting and urge you to pick it up as soon as you can. Blood of Hercules is a fast paced, exhilarating and thought-provoking novel. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Publisher's Review

Step into the Coliseum at the Spartan War Academy where monsters are made, immortality is won, and even a god can die…

Alexis Hert isn’t a hero, and she certainly isn’t a god. All she’s ever been is a survivor.

But the Fates disagree.

When a blood test leads to her admittance at the Spartan War Academy, she’ll have to do more than merely survive.

Alexis will have to claim her birthright: immortality.

But immortality is a privilege, one earned in the crucible of the academy, where the heroes are villains and classrooms battlegrounds. While gladiators Achilles and Patro, her demanding mentors, hone her into a warrior, Augustus and Kharon, her professors and the brooding heirs to the underworld, haunt her steps and her thoughts.

Because where there are gods, there are bound to be monsters, and there is more than one hunting Alexis…

Reader Reviews

‘This was addictive as hell’

‘THAT WAS SO GOOD!!! Wow. I’ll be thinking about this book for awhile. Greek mythology + a spartan war academy + a STRONG FMC?! It was perfection. I love all the twists and turns and the guessing along the way. It was such a unique Hercules story and I’m OBSESSED! I need book 2 asap.

‘Actually iconic’

'LOOOOOOOOOVED IT OMG I literally tried to read it as slow as possible so I would have the book, the characters, their world… EVERYTHING for a little longer… but IT WAS HARD OK bc I really wanted to binge it in one night '

‘Literally gonna live rent free in my brain’

‘Perfection, favorite read this year so far’