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The Fantastic Immortals #2
Zeus: Conquering His Heart
When I throw the lightning and summon the thunder, it isn't always out of anger, but often from a love so all-consuming it could only be the effect of Eros himself. Yes, he is beautiful. Of course he is. How could he be otherwise, with hair the color of sunlight and white-feathered wings that drape to the floor? And he is as ancient as the myth of time itself, an immortal with powers and glamour beyond my ability to imagine. He struggles to teach me wisdom, control, strategy, yet I sit here babbling like a child, for all I can think of is how I might try - at least let me try! - to prove myself to him in some way that will cause him to crave my company and my touch, just as I crave his. I do not yet know how to be a god, for I am only 18 and still just a silly boy who has fallen in love with Love himself, while my father Cronus plots and schemes to lock me in his dungeon and make me his slave forever. A male/male romance. While Conquering His Heart is the second book in “The Fantastic Immortals” series, each novel in the series can be read as a standalone.
- GenresM M RomanceFantasy
186 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 11, 2018
31 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Rathbone
154 books347 followersWendy Rathbone has had dozens of stories published in anthologies such as: Hot Blood, Writers of the Future (second place,) Bending the Landscape, Mutation Nation, A Darke Phantastique, and more. The book "Dreams of Decadence Presents: Wendy Rathbone and Tippi Blevins" contains a large collection of her vampire stories and poems. Over 500 of her poems have been published in various anthologies and magazines. She won first place in the Anamnesis Press poetry chapbook contest with her book "Scrying the River Styx." Her poems have been nominated for the Science Fiction Poetry Association's Rhysling award at least a dozen times.
Her recent books include:
"Pale Zenith," science fiction novel
"The Foundling," male/male romance novel
"None Can Hold the Dark," sequel to "The Foundling"
"The Secret Sharer," science fiction romance novella
"Unearthly," omnibus collection of 7 out-of-print poetry booklets
"The Vampire Diaries: The Myth," available from Kindle Worlds
"The Vampire Dairies: Deep In the Virginia Woods," available from Kindle Worlds
"My House Is Full Of Whispers," erotica short story collection
"Letters To An Android," science fiction novel
Upcoming very soon:
"Risque Science Fiction," short stories by Wendy Rathbone
"The Red Fountain, Where Vampires Come to Drink," short stories and poetry by Wendy Rathbone
Look for more novels and short story collections coming up in 2014.
She lives in Yucca Valley, CA with her partner of 32 years, Della Van Hise.
Her recent books include:
"Pale Zenith," science fiction novel
"The Foundling," male/male romance novel
"None Can Hold the Dark," sequel to "The Foundling"
"The Secret Sharer," science fiction romance novella
"Unearthly," omnibus collection of 7 out-of-print poetry booklets
"The Vampire Diaries: The Myth," available from Kindle Worlds
"The Vampire Dairies: Deep In the Virginia Woods," available from Kindle Worlds
"My House Is Full Of Whispers," erotica short story collection
"Letters To An Android," science fiction novel
Upcoming very soon:
"Risque Science Fiction," short stories by Wendy Rathbone
"The Red Fountain, Where Vampires Come to Drink," short stories and poetry by Wendy Rathbone
Look for more novels and short story collections coming up in 2014.
She lives in Yucca Valley, CA with her partner of 32 years, Della Van Hise.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
probably-not-but-freebie
August 30, 2018Freebie at amazon.com right now: https://smile.amazon.com/Zeus-Conquer...
March 18, 2018
Zeus: Conquering His Heart is the second book in Wendy Rathbone's Fantastic Immortals series, but it can be read as a standalone and chronologically precedes Book 1 - Ganymede: Abducted by the Gods.
Here we are introduced to a much younger and less experienced Zeus. I was looking forward to the idea of seeing him less powerful, but it wasn't what I expected. I know he's a god in a fictional world, but the speed with which Zeus learned things bothered me. I wanted to see him struggle more; it would've made him a more sympathetic character.
The same goes about his appearance. Even though he almost hasn't moved at all in the first eighteen years of his life, his body is beautiful and toned. You know Disney's Hercules from the nineties?
Yes. I was expecting more of that: at first a skinny loser and then a powerful hunk. The author has chosen to go in another direction and while I'd like something different, it's her world and her rules so if she says "All gods are beautiful" I can't argue with that.
And speaking of the world: this is what I liked about the book.
The first chapters feel like a tour through Ancient Greece mixed with some futuristic objects. I like that not everything is traditional and while it's very heavily Greek, we also get to see a little bit of something else.
Who would I recommend this book to?
If you read and enjoyed Ganymede: Abducted by the Gods, you might like this one. It's slower even though the characters are supposed to be pressed on time, but it's set in the same world so if you like your travels to happen in your head, you could give Zeus: Conquering His Heart a try.
Here we are introduced to a much younger and less experienced Zeus. I was looking forward to the idea of seeing him less powerful, but it wasn't what I expected. I know he's a god in a fictional world, but the speed with which Zeus learned things bothered me. I wanted to see him struggle more; it would've made him a more sympathetic character.
The same goes about his appearance. Even though he almost hasn't moved at all in the first eighteen years of his life, his body is beautiful and toned. You know Disney's Hercules from the nineties?
Yes. I was expecting more of that: at first a skinny loser and then a powerful hunk. The author has chosen to go in another direction and while I'd like something different, it's her world and her rules so if she says "All gods are beautiful" I can't argue with that.
And speaking of the world: this is what I liked about the book.
The first chapters feel like a tour through Ancient Greece mixed with some futuristic objects. I like that not everything is traditional and while it's very heavily Greek, we also get to see a little bit of something else.
Who would I recommend this book to?
If you read and enjoyed Ganymede: Abducted by the Gods, you might like this one. It's slower even though the characters are supposed to be pressed on time, but it's set in the same world so if you like your travels to happen in your head, you could give Zeus: Conquering His Heart a try.
February 24, 2018
This is book two of the Fantastic Immortals series. It can be read as a stand alone, but I suggest you read book one to get the most from this story.
Zeus~ oh man, I love the authors take on this God from Greek Mythology. He really had such a crappy start to his life and no clue about how to be the most powerful God in EVER that it's a wonder anything survived his beginning. I was not his number one fan after reading Ganymede, but I knew that there was more to his story and boy oh boy, is there ever! Once you find out the why, it all makes sense and I'm sure that you will be just as enamored and understanding of the reason he is the way he is. It's mostly because of Eros and his teachings that we have any semblance of a competent God, but what a journey for them all to get there. So many lessons that range from sweet and sensual to harsh and cruel, but all done out of love. It gave me an entirely new perspective on what it must be like to take on the huge responsibility of teaching a baby in a mans body. Quite the challenge. I really felt for Zeus as he ran the gamut of emotions in this story. Confusion, love, rage, fear and betrayal. It was done beautifully.
Once again the author had me under her spell with the story flowing like poetry. I honestly cannot wait for Eros' story!
Zeus~ oh man, I love the authors take on this God from Greek Mythology. He really had such a crappy start to his life and no clue about how to be the most powerful God in EVER that it's a wonder anything survived his beginning. I was not his number one fan after reading Ganymede, but I knew that there was more to his story and boy oh boy, is there ever! Once you find out the why, it all makes sense and I'm sure that you will be just as enamored and understanding of the reason he is the way he is. It's mostly because of Eros and his teachings that we have any semblance of a competent God, but what a journey for them all to get there. So many lessons that range from sweet and sensual to harsh and cruel, but all done out of love. It gave me an entirely new perspective on what it must be like to take on the huge responsibility of teaching a baby in a mans body. Quite the challenge. I really felt for Zeus as he ran the gamut of emotions in this story. Confusion, love, rage, fear and betrayal. It was done beautifully.
Once again the author had me under her spell with the story flowing like poetry. I honestly cannot wait for Eros' story!
January 30, 2021
I ran across this one when the author had it as a freebie. It's a reimagining of Zeus's story. I will say I liked it better once we got to the halfway point. I didn't dislike the beginning far from it but one of the ways Zeus is shown to be a naive, eighteen year old boy with a lack of much of the knowledge he needs has him coming off as a bit on the whiny side.
Zeus cannot touch ground or his Titan father, Cronus will devour him as he has all of Zeus's siblings so he's raised by a nymph in basically a tree swing harness until he's eighteen and is finally taken to Eros, a primordial god (going with that version of the myth and not the one where he's Aprhodite's son) by Eros's Erotes, winged manifestations of various types of love. Zeus is overwhelmed by the soft luxuries and hedonism of Eros's Erotes as they teach him how he might best defeat Cronus (a bit much is made of this, the descriptions are lush but the whole section felt a bit long).
Zeus finds himself falling for Eros but he has a mission, go to Tartarus (hell/prison) and defeat his father. In this, there are surprises, trials and pain. Without spoiling much, you can imagine from the title how things end up for Zeus and Eros. Over all it's an enjoyable read. I was disappointed however that we never see Zeus's siblings in this. It felt like something was missing as a result.
Zeus cannot touch ground or his Titan father, Cronus will devour him as he has all of Zeus's siblings so he's raised by a nymph in basically a tree swing harness until he's eighteen and is finally taken to Eros, a primordial god (going with that version of the myth and not the one where he's Aprhodite's son) by Eros's Erotes, winged manifestations of various types of love. Zeus is overwhelmed by the soft luxuries and hedonism of Eros's Erotes as they teach him how he might best defeat Cronus (a bit much is made of this, the descriptions are lush but the whole section felt a bit long).
Zeus finds himself falling for Eros but he has a mission, go to Tartarus (hell/prison) and defeat his father. In this, there are surprises, trials and pain. Without spoiling much, you can imagine from the title how things end up for Zeus and Eros. Over all it's an enjoyable read. I was disappointed however that we never see Zeus's siblings in this. It felt like something was missing as a result.
February 28, 2018
Well written fantasy, with familiar greek gods and storyline, but with some added twists.
The love young Zeus feels for Eros is unrequited, he believes. He learns all he can from Eros to fight his father, Cronus, in Tartarus.
There's a lot of beautifully described scenery, and the emotions of Zeus are intense. I don't like the way the battle was handled, although it was clever.
Unique genre and story. Very enjoyable.
KU
The love young Zeus feels for Eros is unrequited, he believes. He learns all he can from Eros to fight his father, Cronus, in Tartarus.
There's a lot of beautifully described scenery, and the emotions of Zeus are intense. I don't like the way the battle was handled, although it was clever.
Unique genre and story. Very enjoyable.
KU
February 21, 2018
A spectacular story of the Olympian gods featuring Zeus' story. The author has built an incredible world with many Greek mythology characters. It's an intense read, with some darker moments, that will keep you hooked from cover to cover.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
February 20, 2018
I didn't know what to think at first, I read on and have to say it turn out pretty good. So I'm going to say, give it a chance.
February 27, 2022
This is a very interesting book I've been wanting to read for a long time now but I can't seem to open it
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews