What do you think?
Rate this book
Pantheons #2
The Game of the Gods
A year has passed since Isaiah Marshall’s father, Zeus, severed his left arm with white lightning in the tournament. During this time, the Indestructible Diamond has been training hard under the mysterious old man who saved his life. Despite his focus and determination, Isaiah has been unsuccessful in his development of his usage of blue-white lightning, nor has he tapped into the other more potent colored bolts, which his father has mastered.
The Powers-That-Be have forced the teen gods to finally take part in the Fourth Great War. But fearing death, as they have been cursed with mortal bodies, they’ve decided to compete for the Dominion in a new, professional sport called Tasselball: The Game of the Gods.
The Powers-That-Be have forced the teen gods to finally take part in the Fourth Great War. But fearing death, as they have been cursed with mortal bodies, they’ve decided to compete for the Dominion in a new, professional sport called Tasselball: The Game of the Gods.
267 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 26, 2012
1 person is currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
E.J. Dabel
5 books88 followersErnst J. Dabel is the author of “Pantheons”, and is also the President and co-owner of Dabel Brothers Productions, a publishing company specializing in comics and graphic novels. Ernst’s company has adapted novels by major authors such as Dean Koontz, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Orson Scott Card, Raymond E. Feist, R.A. Salvatore, Patricia Briggs, Robert Silverberg, Tad Williams, and others.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 7, 2013
Book Info: Genre: Fantasy
Reading Level: Young Adult
My Thoughts: I really enjoyed Dabel’s first book in this series, Pantheons, of which I was fortunate enough to see an ARC that I read 12/1-3/2011. I have been looking forward to reading this second book in the series ever since. One of the nice things about smaller, independent publishers like Sea Lion Books is that the books tend to come out much more quickly than books from the Big Six or other major publishers, from which we’re lucky to receive a single book per series per 12-month period, and are more likely to wait two to three years between books in a series. Meanwhile, we can see multiple books in a series coming out within a single 12-month period from a smaller press like this, which I think is fabulous.
This book is a bit hard to follow, especially at the beginning. At one point (22%), I got so frustrated I stopped reading and wrote to the author to ask him what he was thinking. Thankfully Ernst Dabel is a really nice fellow and was kind enough to explain a bit about what he was trying to do. I’m not, of course, going to share that with you, so as to avoid spoilers, but just know that there is a reason and a purpose behind everything that happens – just keep reading, you’ll eventually get it. Trust me. I was very glad I decided to continue reading, and I think you will be, too.
I remain impressed by the amount of research that Dabel put into learning about various gods and goddesses of all the different pantheons – known and obscure – that litter this series. Some of them are very obscure, some I haven’t even heard of, and of those of which I was already aware, he is very careful to remain closely within the existing mythology. I was, however, startled that this book wasn’t better edited – for instance, “past” was consistently replaced by the incorrect “passed.” While a number of the editing errors, especially the repetitiveness in some sentences – such as “both blah blah blah both” or “either blah blah blah either,” both of which, among others, are used frequently – could be passed off as the “voice” of the narrator, I find it hard to believe that so many of the characters would use such bad grammar so often. Why I am so surprised is that I know some of the editors that Sea Lion Books uses, and they are professionals who have done this for a lot longer than my one year. But I guess these sorts of things will slip through.
Overall I found the book pretty interesting – especially with all the various gods and goddesses – but to be honest, I found the tassleball scene very difficult to read, because I simply am not interested in sports. However, I have it on good authority that everything that happens in these books (including a deliberate misspelling in the first one) has a purpose and that there were important elements in these scenes, so I read them carefully anyway. I don’t quite see the purpose to doing this game, which was developed to help prevent a bunch of gods and goddesses dying, but in which it is insanely easy for them to kill one another. I would think that, if the purpose is to keep more of them alive, that there would be a few rules in place to ensure that. I was also blown away by the fact that it was allowed for the Olympians to just blow off practice, and then be allowed to start, while the Redrovers worked their tails off and were relegated to sitting on the bench. It seems to me that there should have been an element of “if you don’t put your whole into it, you don’t play” enforced, but then again, I didn’t come up with the thing and I’m not writing the book, so I’m sure Dabel has some sort of plan in place for all of this. The baby also was a weird thing – Isaiah shows up with a baby, claiming its his son, and no one even blinks. I mean, what’s up with that? Shouldn’t there have been some “where did this kid come from” type questions?
The epilogue, like in the first book, holds a real shocker. Of course I’m not going to tell you about it – you have to read the book to find out. I’m taking off a star for the editing, because I received the final version in this case, and overall I really enjoyed the book and I hope that those who read and enjoyed the first book will take note of this one, and those who have not yet discovered the world of Pantheons will give it a try. If you enjoy various mythologies and would like a new look at them, from a fresh perspective, come and join the teen gods in the world of the Pantheons.
Disclosure: I received a free ebook review copy from Sea Lion Books (the publishers) in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: A year has passed since Isaiah Marshall’s father, Zeus, severed his left arm with white lightning in the tournament. During this time, the Indestructible Diamond has been training hard under the mysterious old man who saved his life. Despite his focus and determination, Isaiah has been unsuccessful in his development of his usage of blue-white lightning, nor has he tapped into the other more potent colored bolts, which his father has mastered.
The Powers-That-Be have forced the teen gods to finally take part in the Fourth Great War. But fearing death, as they have been cursed with mortal bodies, they’ve decided to compete for the Dominion in a new, professional sport called Tasselball: The Game of the Gods.
Reading Level: Young Adult
My Thoughts: I really enjoyed Dabel’s first book in this series, Pantheons, of which I was fortunate enough to see an ARC that I read 12/1-3/2011. I have been looking forward to reading this second book in the series ever since. One of the nice things about smaller, independent publishers like Sea Lion Books is that the books tend to come out much more quickly than books from the Big Six or other major publishers, from which we’re lucky to receive a single book per series per 12-month period, and are more likely to wait two to three years between books in a series. Meanwhile, we can see multiple books in a series coming out within a single 12-month period from a smaller press like this, which I think is fabulous.
This book is a bit hard to follow, especially at the beginning. At one point (22%), I got so frustrated I stopped reading and wrote to the author to ask him what he was thinking. Thankfully Ernst Dabel is a really nice fellow and was kind enough to explain a bit about what he was trying to do. I’m not, of course, going to share that with you, so as to avoid spoilers, but just know that there is a reason and a purpose behind everything that happens – just keep reading, you’ll eventually get it. Trust me. I was very glad I decided to continue reading, and I think you will be, too.
I remain impressed by the amount of research that Dabel put into learning about various gods and goddesses of all the different pantheons – known and obscure – that litter this series. Some of them are very obscure, some I haven’t even heard of, and of those of which I was already aware, he is very careful to remain closely within the existing mythology. I was, however, startled that this book wasn’t better edited – for instance, “past” was consistently replaced by the incorrect “passed.” While a number of the editing errors, especially the repetitiveness in some sentences – such as “both blah blah blah both” or “either blah blah blah either,” both of which, among others, are used frequently – could be passed off as the “voice” of the narrator, I find it hard to believe that so many of the characters would use such bad grammar so often. Why I am so surprised is that I know some of the editors that Sea Lion Books uses, and they are professionals who have done this for a lot longer than my one year. But I guess these sorts of things will slip through.
Overall I found the book pretty interesting – especially with all the various gods and goddesses – but to be honest, I found the tassleball scene very difficult to read, because I simply am not interested in sports. However, I have it on good authority that everything that happens in these books (including a deliberate misspelling in the first one) has a purpose and that there were important elements in these scenes, so I read them carefully anyway. I don’t quite see the purpose to doing this game, which was developed to help prevent a bunch of gods and goddesses dying, but in which it is insanely easy for them to kill one another. I would think that, if the purpose is to keep more of them alive, that there would be a few rules in place to ensure that. I was also blown away by the fact that it was allowed for the Olympians to just blow off practice, and then be allowed to start, while the Redrovers worked their tails off and were relegated to sitting on the bench. It seems to me that there should have been an element of “if you don’t put your whole into it, you don’t play” enforced, but then again, I didn’t come up with the thing and I’m not writing the book, so I’m sure Dabel has some sort of plan in place for all of this. The baby also was a weird thing – Isaiah shows up with a baby, claiming its his son, and no one even blinks. I mean, what’s up with that? Shouldn’t there have been some “where did this kid come from” type questions?
The epilogue, like in the first book, holds a real shocker. Of course I’m not going to tell you about it – you have to read the book to find out. I’m taking off a star for the editing, because I received the final version in this case, and overall I really enjoyed the book and I hope that those who read and enjoyed the first book will take note of this one, and those who have not yet discovered the world of Pantheons will give it a try. If you enjoy various mythologies and would like a new look at them, from a fresh perspective, come and join the teen gods in the world of the Pantheons.
Disclosure: I received a free ebook review copy from Sea Lion Books (the publishers) in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: A year has passed since Isaiah Marshall’s father, Zeus, severed his left arm with white lightning in the tournament. During this time, the Indestructible Diamond has been training hard under the mysterious old man who saved his life. Despite his focus and determination, Isaiah has been unsuccessful in his development of his usage of blue-white lightning, nor has he tapped into the other more potent colored bolts, which his father has mastered.
The Powers-That-Be have forced the teen gods to finally take part in the Fourth Great War. But fearing death, as they have been cursed with mortal bodies, they’ve decided to compete for the Dominion in a new, professional sport called Tasselball: The Game of the Gods.
September 6, 2012
I always say I am totally honest in my reviews, so, I have to begin my saying that initially I didn't think that this was "my type" of book. Then I began reading it and thought "oh no its going to be all complicated about gods, and who is on whose side etc etc" but it was not overly complicated and as you came across each God you didn't really need prior knowledge as it was explained and put across which Gods and ~goddesses had which strengths and weaknesses.
The book is well written and once it hooks you, you are there with it to the end! The end has a twist I certainly didn't see coming and things are left well open with plenty of unanswered questions for a BK 2. and yes Bk 2will be on my wishlist to read!!
I loved the characters of Isaiah and his gang, the fact his was not some perfect guy. Isaiah has a speech impediment throughout the book, though at times he does overcome it, so his character is really believable. separately the members of Isaiah's gang would seem like a rag-taggle bunch of misfits who are weak and would be easily crushed by enemies too. However when Jeremy, Monty - the one always eyeing up the ladies and Pipsqueak - the walking dictionary are together with Isaiah, they are a strong formidable group. Isaiah begins the book just thinking himself an oddball really and not even speaking to his friends, who think he is a mute! He develops and finds out he is the son of Zeus, he finds out who killed his mother and immediately swear vengeance. Isaiah begins to have confidence and speaks. he has always fought for survival living on the streets, but when he starts attending the Kaliber Academy he has to fight for acceptance to the Godlings group and then fight for his life in a tournament organised on a magical island. I loved the character of Isaiah, he may live on the streets and have to regularly fight for survival but he has principles, he prides himself on fighting fairly....and one of his rules is he doesn't hit girls! Even when he is provoked he doesn't hit girls!
The book is quite thought provoking and you find yourself referring back to earlier instances and references in the book that suddenly make sense, and are relevant. You feel Isaiah's deep love and affection for his mother, and his hate and need for revenge against his father. Isaiah doesn't trust easily you have to earn his trust, just as he expects to earn yours. he doesn't take for granted or exploit his new status when it is revealed to him. he values each and every one of his friends, and when told they will be in danger goes as far as distancing himself from them even though it hurts him deeply to do so.
I finished this book in three sittings, and really enjoyed it and, yes, would recommend it too! Am putting Bk 2 on my wishlist now!!
I also love the simplicity of the cover, is the guy on it Zeus? Isaiah? or someone else? you need to read the book to decide for yourselves. As always I have tried to give no more "spoiler" or plot away than is already mentioned in the blurb, as I hate someone telling me all about the book, I like to find out about the majority of the book/plot myself when reading it. (Hope you agree).
The book is well written and once it hooks you, you are there with it to the end! The end has a twist I certainly didn't see coming and things are left well open with plenty of unanswered questions for a BK 2. and yes Bk 2will be on my wishlist to read!!
I loved the characters of Isaiah and his gang, the fact his was not some perfect guy. Isaiah has a speech impediment throughout the book, though at times he does overcome it, so his character is really believable. separately the members of Isaiah's gang would seem like a rag-taggle bunch of misfits who are weak and would be easily crushed by enemies too. However when Jeremy, Monty - the one always eyeing up the ladies and Pipsqueak - the walking dictionary are together with Isaiah, they are a strong formidable group. Isaiah begins the book just thinking himself an oddball really and not even speaking to his friends, who think he is a mute! He develops and finds out he is the son of Zeus, he finds out who killed his mother and immediately swear vengeance. Isaiah begins to have confidence and speaks. he has always fought for survival living on the streets, but when he starts attending the Kaliber Academy he has to fight for acceptance to the Godlings group and then fight for his life in a tournament organised on a magical island. I loved the character of Isaiah, he may live on the streets and have to regularly fight for survival but he has principles, he prides himself on fighting fairly....and one of his rules is he doesn't hit girls! Even when he is provoked he doesn't hit girls!
The book is quite thought provoking and you find yourself referring back to earlier instances and references in the book that suddenly make sense, and are relevant. You feel Isaiah's deep love and affection for his mother, and his hate and need for revenge against his father. Isaiah doesn't trust easily you have to earn his trust, just as he expects to earn yours. he doesn't take for granted or exploit his new status when it is revealed to him. he values each and every one of his friends, and when told they will be in danger goes as far as distancing himself from them even though it hurts him deeply to do so.
I finished this book in three sittings, and really enjoyed it and, yes, would recommend it too! Am putting Bk 2 on my wishlist now!!
I also love the simplicity of the cover, is the guy on it Zeus? Isaiah? or someone else? you need to read the book to decide for yourselves. As always I have tried to give no more "spoiler" or plot away than is already mentioned in the blurb, as I hate someone telling me all about the book, I like to find out about the majority of the book/plot myself when reading it. (Hope you agree).
September 14, 2015
Once again E.J. Dabel did an amazing Job writing this book, and I enjoyed reading it from start to finish. In this book Isaiah faces a bunch of new challenges but he seems to almost flow with it, but asking a lot of questions along the way. Isaiah was able to train with a very old teacher Cronos who taught him all about his great powers he has. There is a lot of loss Isaiah experiences but he seems to really grow and become fearless because of those experiences. Throughout this book Isaiah gains a lot of new friends who are old and very very young. These friends not only include the Redrovers but the Celtic Gods and even a few Olympian Gods who he thought were his enemies but maybe who just didn't understand his true character. In this book there are so many twists and turns I was always surprised and I felt that my jaw hit the ground at least a few hundred times. There are many parts where I truly felt bad for Isaiah and Redrovers but they always seemed to pull through together especially when it came to Tasselball. Isaiah really learned to overcome his own flaws and weaknesses and rise above any challenges that came is way which were many. The parts where the Redrovers had only a few days to train and practice were so hard to read especially when it came to the stone boots and the grueling hours they had to put in. Those parts made me tired just reading them. However their co-team the Olympians felt that they never needed to practice and were too prideful to do it and it really showed during the scrimmage game against the Celts. The Game itself was a very interesting game to read about I kept thinking this game is truly insane but at the same time very intense and awesome. I felt I had a love hate relationship with the game. In this game there are not a lot of sensible rules and pretty much anything goes. The field that they play on is huge and they can use whatever powers they have to win the game!! The Kings gamble was also interesting to read about it especially for the loosing team I wouldn't want to be the one to loose the game and yield in the Kings Gamble. I loved the end especially with all the clones that Isaiah is able to create to help him in the game. The Redrovers and Olympians really came out on top and really learned to work together but will have a lot more challenges to face in the future. I hope that with the help of his clones he is able to succeed in getting what he wants back and helping his team win the dominion!! I can't wait to read the 3rd book and find out what will happen next! Besides really enjoying this book I really enjoyed how E.J. Dabel included a glossary of who is who and what is what. I found that very helpful because there are so many Gods and Goddesses it is hard to keep track of everyone!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2013
Revenge is one of the most powerful feelings in the world. Mix that with feeling like you have to prove yourself for past mistakes, past failures, and what you have yet to accomplish, and this combination will drive you like no other. That mixture can have characters that are calm in nature driven to extreme actions. Pantheons: The Game of the Gods by E.J. Dabel, the second book in the Pantheon series, discuss all of this, along with the incorporation of characters we grew to love from the first book in the series, Pantheons.
Taking place a year after Isaiah’s battle with his father Zeus and the events of last novel, Isaiah is training in order to be better prepared for the next battle with his father. He is training with the mysterious man who rescued him in the last battle, and is trying to grow in certain areas, such as working with his lightning bolts. While this is happening, the powers that be decided that the teenage Gods must compete in the Fourth Great War (the legend was explained at the beginning of the first novel). However because the Gods are now in the bodies of strong teenagers, a game of tasselball (the game of the Gods) instead of a Great War will be played. Throughout the story, we see new characters introduced, old ones re-introduced, and find Isaiah learning about his true abilities.
Read my full review at: http://lifeand100books.com/2013/04/21...
Taking place a year after Isaiah’s battle with his father Zeus and the events of last novel, Isaiah is training in order to be better prepared for the next battle with his father. He is training with the mysterious man who rescued him in the last battle, and is trying to grow in certain areas, such as working with his lightning bolts. While this is happening, the powers that be decided that the teenage Gods must compete in the Fourth Great War (the legend was explained at the beginning of the first novel). However because the Gods are now in the bodies of strong teenagers, a game of tasselball (the game of the Gods) instead of a Great War will be played. Throughout the story, we see new characters introduced, old ones re-introduced, and find Isaiah learning about his true abilities.
Read my full review at: http://lifeand100books.com/2013/04/21...
December 24, 2014
*free ebook version won off the Now Is Gone blog in exchange for an honest review*
For most of the story part 2 of the Pantheons series was only a 3 star story for me. I felt it still had many of the problems of the first book (mainly grammatical where words were added). That did clear up as the story went along. I also found myself annoyed at the way the story flowed. I felt there was no clear plot to the story. It seemed to jump around a bit too much. Also, there were parts that the author did not fully explain, ie how Isaiah was able to survive the beating that Ares gave him. I figured out a way towards the end of the book, but I would have liked to have read that part. Instead it jumped to a point were Isaiah seemed to be fine.
Another point I found annoying (this happened in the first book as well) is miraculous escapes from situations. I understand the book is about gods, but there should be situations they have trouble in surviving, yet amazingly these did not occur.
The ending of the story improved the overall rating to probably a 3 and 1/2 stars. There were some good surprises and interesting developments. Enough so that I do look forward to the third book of the series.
I would recommend Pantheons: The Game of the Gods to fans of the author and young adults.
For most of the story part 2 of the Pantheons series was only a 3 star story for me. I felt it still had many of the problems of the first book (mainly grammatical where words were added). That did clear up as the story went along. I also found myself annoyed at the way the story flowed. I felt there was no clear plot to the story. It seemed to jump around a bit too much. Also, there were parts that the author did not fully explain, ie how Isaiah was able to survive the beating that Ares gave him. I figured out a way towards the end of the book, but I would have liked to have read that part. Instead it jumped to a point were Isaiah seemed to be fine.
Another point I found annoying (this happened in the first book as well) is miraculous escapes from situations. I understand the book is about gods, but there should be situations they have trouble in surviving, yet amazingly these did not occur.
The ending of the story improved the overall rating to probably a 3 and 1/2 stars. There were some good surprises and interesting developments. Enough so that I do look forward to the third book of the series.
I would recommend Pantheons: The Game of the Gods to fans of the author and young adults.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews