Olympus

by Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Bruce D. Arthurs (Editor), Roberta Gellis (Contributor)

From a god who has outlived his worshipers to a curse spawned by Zeus with the power to incit romance, seventeen original tales call a variety of mythical beings from the mists of time into the modern world

Genres: Anthologies, Fantasy, Mythology, Short Stories, Fiction

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

About the author

Martin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.

For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.

Reviews

[Murphy C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it fifteen years ago or so... I liked most of the stories, as I recall. I've always been a sucker for stories about gods and goddesses in the "real" world.

[CONNIE BALTHROP · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good when no two stories are a like. Some are funny and other are really sad.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only a couple of stories in this anthology were really good, most were just meh. Some were very, very 90s.

[Susan]

The Divine Comedy • (1998) • shortstory by Dennis L. McKiernan
Kin • (1998) • shortstory by Michelle West
For a Transcript, Send Five Dollars • (1998) • shortstory by Anne Braude
The Third Song • (1998) • shortstory by Roberta Gellis
"February Thaw" by Tanya Huff read 3/7/2015
Traps • (1998) • novelette by Jo Clayton
The Arrows of Godly Passion • (1998) • shortstory by Mike Resnick and Nicholas A. DiChario [as by Mike Resnick and Nick DiChario ]
Hekate's Hounds • (1998) • novelette by Diana L. Paxson
In Re: Nephelegeretes • (1998) • shortstory by Lawrence Watt-Evans
To Hades and Back • (1998) • shortstory by Karen Haber
The Sword of Heracles • [Merlin's Descendants] • (1998) • shortstory by Irene Radford
In the Quiet After Midnight • [Newford] • (1998) • shortstory by Charles de Lint
Harpies Discover Sex • (1998) • shortstory by Deborah J. Ross [as by Deborah Wheeler ]
Mantik Rites • (1998) • shortstory by Jon DeCles
Flight • (1992) • shortstory by Jane Yolen
The Littlest Maenad • (1998) • novelette by Esther M. Friesner
Drown Night With Hope of Day • (1998) • shortstory by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Introduction (Olympus) • (1998) • essay by Bruce D. Arthurs

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, I have to say this collection was a bit of let down. A good portion of the stories were boring and predictable. Even "The Sword of Herkales" one could see coming a world away.

I couldn't get though about 4-5, and one of the ones I got though, "The Arrows of Godly Pleasure", I really didn't like. There was something about the ending, a suggestion that all she needed was a real man and a good screw and forget about her own choices.

The best story is Tanya Huff's, about a problem of the marriage of Hades. It was extremely funny and had good little touches. Watt-Evens story too had the right amount of humor.

"To Hades and Back" was funny simply because of the interplay between Zeus and Apollo as well as the refence to Clinton (a positive one, if you care about those things) at the end. While Wheeler's "The Harpies Discover Sex" was predictable, it was very funny and had some good touches.

[Collin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Underwhelming. A lot of average and mediocre additions, along with the bombastically insulting "Arrows of Godly Passion." But what was good was really good - mostly "February Thaw" and the final story whose title I cannot remember. Highly skippable unless you are very much out of things to read.

[Amélie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kin by Michelle West is about the two sisters of Medusa and their life nowadays.