I really had a love/hate relationship with this book. There were times where I loved it, and it kept me on my seat. I really liked the dynamic personality of Cleito, and the struggles she had. However, there were other times that it drug on and I had to repetitively put it down and read something else to refresh my mind. Because of the back and forth, I'd have to say my overall opinion of the book is pretty neutral. ( )

I wanted to like this book. I enjoy new takes on mythology like TA Barron’s Merlin series or Percy Jackson. But I couldn’t even finish reading it. It was slow and failed to engage my interest. But I still picked it up several times to try again. Ultimately, there were no characters I liked enough to encourage me to push through. Good concept, but unfortunately, not good enough.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I really, really wanted to like this. A story based on lesser-known mythology, and a nice meaty novel to boot? This should be catnip for me! But I keep bouncing out of the 'folklore meets Game of Thrones' vibe, and I'd be a lot happier if the story was told as a standalone novel instead of as the first book in a projected trilogy. Three stars.

Peters has taken a relatively obscure story from Greek mythology and fleshes it out to include Atlantis.

Donnogen was actually a wanderer from the steppes, a mammoth hunter, who talked some acquaintances to join him in stealing a boat and striking out across the ocean. They arrive in Atlantis right in the middle of a political upheaval. Cleito's father, a high priest, was murdered by agents of the boy king. An astute woman, she sees that this man who arrived on their shores was a means to step into her father's place. She proclaims that he is Poseidon, the god of the sea. Later in the story, an attempt is made on their lives but they miraculously survived and struck down the king.

Most of the mythology I ever read were short blurbs regaling the tales of encounters between mortals and gods. This is a fully realized story of how a god is actually created. It was fun to see how a crude simple man can be bathed and dressed and presto, he's a god. ( )

This is an intriguing book that combines high adventure and political schemes (embodied in the title characters) with manipulated mythology for a fun and exciting read.

The story of Donnegen and his country men making their way across the sea to eventually meat Cleito and her manipulative and murderous family in the high court is complex but rather easy to follow. By constantly shifting POV the author allows you to see that none of the characters hold the motivations they claim to those around them, which leads to grand scheming and daring grabs for power.

This was very fun read even though there were some plot holes and unfinished story lines, but overall I really enjoyed it. ( )