Ye Gods! a Thomas Dunne Book - Hardcover

Holt, Tom

3.7

1,287 ratings by Goodreads

9780312089276: Ye Gods! a Thomas Dunne Book

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312089279 ISBN 13: 9780312089276

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1993

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Being a Hero bothers Jason Derry.
It's easy to get maladjusted when your mom's a suburban housewife and your dad's the Supreme Being. It can be a real drag slaying fabulous monsters and retrieving Golden Fleeces from fire-breathing dragons, and then having to clean your room before your mom will let you watch Star Trek.
But it's not the relentless tedium of imperishable glory that finally brings Jason to the end of his rope; it's something so funny that it's got to be taken seriously.
Deadly seriously.
In this epic tale of gods, heroes, reality bifurcation, and junk food, Tom Holt once again justifies his place among the leading writers of comic fantasy.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

What if the Olympian gods still existed and had merely been forced to go off and live in the sun? Or Jupiter, needing some high-powered help in his great comeback bid, had sired a new Hero upon an English suburban housewife? What if Betamax videos had captured the market? Well, young Jason Derry soon grows tired of slaying fabulous monsters and retrieving golden fleeces at the behest of his divine father, so when an eagle who can turn into a girl takes him for a chat with Prometheus the Titan, presently somewhat tied up in the Caucasus, Jason listens. Long ago, you see, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. He also stole The Joke. Gods, it seems, are a grim, serious bunch, and the only thing that stops them from totally dominating humanity is- -laughter. Soon, Jason is helping Prometheus, but Jupiter isn't worried; like all Heroes, Jason has a tragic flaw--he's a good boy and always does what his mother tells him. Still, even Jason eventually figures it out: If you're a Hero, the easiest way to get what you want is to beat up anyone who tries to stop you. And what does happen on Betamax worlds, anyway? The gods reign supreme, of course--and nobody laughs. Ever. Not quite in the Terry Pratchett league, though it's wacky enough and, in places, genuinely funny. Holt would travel better if he toned down his rather strident Englishisms (``jammy,'' ``duff up,'' ``knackered,'' etc.). Still: amusing stuff, especially for Anglophiles, and a vast improvement over the one-joke Flying Dutch (1992). -- Copyright �1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

In Holt's ( Flying Dutch ) latest wacky mythological comedy, the Greek gods have been dethroned by Christianity, "the Great Leg Pull." Apollo, Minerva et al. brood on Mount Olympus, change shape at will, intervene in current human affairs and scheme to take over the world. The plot centers on rebellious, pizza-eating youth Jason Derry, whose father is Jupiter, the Great Sky God, also known as TV repairman Douglas Derry; his mother, fretful, overprotective Phyllis, doesn't realize she's married to a divinity. Although Jason is tired of being a hero, Prometheus is determined to see the boy fulfill his destiny. The god sends an eagle to spy on him; in so doing, the eagle becomes Sharon, the girl next door. When Jupiter resolves to destroy the earth and move his operations to a parallel universe, all heaven breaks loose. Holt unleashes a nonstop barrage of anachronisms, jokes, banter, wisecracks, bathos, outrageous puns and wordplay. Much of this is zany, irreverent fun with a serious underlying intent as Holt turns Plato, Virgil, Freud, Christianity and quantum physics--in short, the whole of the Western tradition--topsy-turvy.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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