Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures written and read by Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph, 2018)

Introduced by Sam Obigbesan 

#BlindBookworms series

You can probably guess my joy when I found out that there was going to be another book in the Mythos series by Steven Fry, with the focus shifting from the temperamental and all to often human gods of the Greek pantheon; to the heroes, quests and monster slayings happening all around mythical Greece and the then known world.

I enjoyed every minute of it, the different stories and the sense of an overarching plot the author created. The various heroes had motivations that lead them to do what they did and get into the kind of trouble the oracles would warn you away from. The heroes were flawed and ultimately failed or triumphed despite the insurmountable odds and their own faults. From Heracles, to Perseus, Atalanta to Medea, each of these at times tragic figures had their own place in the grand scheme of things; as well as served to advance the overarching narrative, possibly culminating with the Trojan war and its aftermath. In a possible third book? One can only hope.

As a Greek mythology geek, I very much appreciated the effort put into drawing all the not so relevant and confusing threads and stories to weave into a cohesive hole. It must have been a job and a half. Steven Fry’s narration of the various stories was as always versatile, entertaining and fully immersive. I don’t think I’ll forget Heracles’ northern accent, or Stheneboea’s husky voiced charm in a hurry.

This was a 4.5 stars for me. Highly recommended.

Sam Obigbesan will be at The Story of Books in Hay-on-Wye this Saturday, 24 November 2018 doing Braille printing at our Winter Wayzgoose.

Heroes written and read by Stephen Fry, published and produced by Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin was shortlisted for best audiobook at the National Book Awards.