Herc by Phoenicia Rogerson

This should be the story of Hercules: his twelve labours, his endless adventures . . . everyone's favourite hero, right?

Well, it's not.

This is the story of everyone else:

Alcmene: Herc's mother (She has knives everywhere)

Hylas: Herc's first friend (They were more than friends)

Megara: Herc's wife (She'll tell you about the marriage)

Eurystheus: Oversaw Herc's labours (Definitely did not hide in a jar)

His friends, his enemies, his wives, his children, his lovers, his rivals, his gods, his victims.

It's time to hear their stories. 

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Firstly, please note that may not be the official blurb, as it hasn't been uploaded anywhere yet so I just copied it from my proof! Secondly, look at that amazing cover - I can't wait to see it in person, with those blues and golds.

I read the myths growing up, like everyone, but most of my exposure to Hercules comes from the TV series, now mostly better known for creating the character of Xena, and for Hercules' actor becoming a Trump fan. Although it's a fantastic show, funny, clever and heartfelt, it is - in the nicest way possible - not faithful to the myths, repurposing characters and mixing up myths with different outcomes. This is a much more faithful adaptation, taking a more serious look at the myths and weaving a coherant story out of them.

Everything is from the point of view of people around Hercules. This is partly annoying - most of his labours happen off screen during Eurystheus' sections - and partly very clever, as the sections overlap and twist around each other to build a coherent story. If I wanted to be mean, I could say that there's little difference in tone between the sections - Iphicles sounds like Hylas sounds like Iole sounds like Deianira - but that keeps the story from being jarring and makes it flow more smoothly. The index of characters at the back is very helpful when trying to remember which Iph or Iol we're dealing with at any given time!

There are literally dozens of versions of these myths, and I'm very impressed at the effort that has gone into reconciling them and making one coherent story out of them. It even makes sense of the Heracles/Hercules conundrum! This does read very smoothly and it's a really clever way to look at one of our oldest myths. It will sit beautifully beside Stephen Fry's books and may well start a new run of mythological books retold by the side characters. I can't wait.

(Also, watch the show. It's very funny. Just pretend you don't know what happened afterwards.)

Herc publishes on the 31st of August, 2023. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.