Wearing the Lion - SFBA Book Club

(1 review)

Heracles, hero of Greece, dedicates all his feats to Hera, goddess of family. Heracles’ mother raised him to revere Hera, as her attempt to avoid the goddess’ wrath. Unbeknownst to Heracles, he is yet another child Hera’s husband, Zeus, had out of wedlock.

Hera loathes every minute of Heracles’ devotion. She finally snaps and sends the Furies to make Heracles kill himself. But the moment Heracles goes mad, his children playfully ambush him, and he slays them instead. When the madness fades, Heracles’s wife, Megara, convinces him to seek revenge. Together they’ll hunt the Furies and learn which god did this.

Believing Hera is the only god he can still trust, Heracles prays to Hera, who is wracked with guilt over killing his children. To mislead Heracles, Hera sends him on monster-slaying quests, but he is too traumatized to enact more violence. Instead, Heracles cares for the Nemean lion, cures …

Heracles, hero of Greece, dedicates all his feats to Hera, goddess of family. Heracles’ mother raised him to revere Hera, as her attempt to avoid the goddess’ wrath. Unbeknownst to Heracles, he is yet another child Hera’s husband, Zeus, had out of wedlock.

Hera loathes every minute of Heracles’ devotion. She finally snaps and sends the Furies to make Heracles kill himself. But the moment Heracles goes mad, his children playfully ambush him, and he slays them instead. When the madness fades, Heracles’s wife, Megara, convinces him to seek revenge. Together they’ll hunt the Furies and learn which god did this.

Believing Hera is the only god he can still trust, Heracles prays to Hera, who is wracked with guilt over killing his children. To mislead Heracles, Hera sends him on monster-slaying quests, but he is too traumatized to enact more violence. Instead, Heracles cares for the Nemean lion, cures the illness of the Lernaean hydra, and bonds with Crete’s giant bull.

Hera struggles with her role in Heracles life as Heracles begins to heal psychologically by connecting with the monsters—while also amassing an army that could lay siege to Olympos.

1 edition

Tarkabarka reviewed Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell

This is how you retell mythology

5 stars

I want to buy a print copy of this book just so I can hug it. Not just because it manages to do something new and exciting within the currently popular genre of myth retellings (if I see one more Hades-Persephone grumpy-sunshine romance I'm gonna scream), but also because it manages to be extremely, absolutely lovable. For the first time in my life I cared about Herakles, who is portrayed not as the usual hypermasculine macho warrior hero, but rather a kind, gentle, somewhat naive, tragic character. A tragic himbo, if you will. Which fits this myth well, because people tend to skip over the fact of WHY he had to do the labors to begin with. John Wiswell took that starting point of trauma and tragedy, and ran with it. On top of this, he did it marvelously. The book is well written. Funny when it needs to be, …

I want to buy a print copy of this book just so I can hug it. Not just because it manages to do something new and exciting within the currently popular genre of myth retellings (if I see one more Hades-Persephone grumpy-sunshine romance I'm gonna scream), but also because it manages to be extremely, absolutely lovable. For the first time in my life I cared about Herakles, who is portrayed not as the usual hypermasculine macho warrior hero, but rather a kind, gentle, somewhat naive, tragic character. A tragic himbo, if you will. Which fits this myth well, because people tend to skip over the fact of WHY he had to do the labors to begin with. John Wiswell took that starting point of trauma and tragedy, and ran with it. On top of this, he did it marvelously. The book is well written. Funny when it needs to be, but also shows a deep knowledge and understanding of myth (and puns). There were many small details sprinkled throughout, references to other myths, which delighted me. Sometimes I could see the author playing with the expectations of the reader versed in myth (during the second half of the book, knowing how Herakles' story ends originally, I was definitely stressed). The worldbuilding was also delightfully creative, from the way the Hydra's mind worked all the way to how Herakles' own powers worked, or how Olympus functioned. Some people complained about the modern language in the narration, but I liked it. And no, it wasn't simple at all. Many parts, turns of phrases were gorgeously eloquent. The story started out light and funny, and I almost forgot where we were headed... and then we slammed into the rollercoaster ride that made me cry and laugh through the rest of the book, and warmed my heart all the way. I especially enjoyed that the book has a split p.o.v. between Herakles and Hera. And the author did just as well with her as he did with him. While keeping the usual tropes about Hera's wrath and jealousy, the story also maanaged to make her complex and deeply human (for a goddess). Again, for the first time, I grew to like her. And all this within a myth where she has always famously been a horrible villain. That's good writing, people. That's empathy. I also liked that the story, while heartwarming and likable, did not slide into all-rosy kitsch or gave easy solutions to anything. There is no ending with a bow. But still, there is an ending that was deeply satisfying. I am going to have a long book hangover after this. This. This is how you retell mythology.

Subjects

Fantasy
Mythology
Greek Mythology
Fiction