Olympus Rising

by Robert G. Culp

The Twilight of the Gods is nearing...
 
...and the fate of all rests with one teen.

But is he ready to accept his true calling?
 
 
Arnold's struggling in life. His mother is bedridden, and their funds are running low. But his life will never be the same, after two powerful demigod warriors come to his rescue.
 
The Gods of Olympus fell centuries ago, cursed in an endless cycle of reincarnation. Their identities were stripped away, while the former immortals' souls were trapped in mortal bodies. And Arnold is one of them.
 
Arnold never thought he would fight a dangerous battle against the deadliest of foes just to protect his crush. Her true identity will either prove to be his salvation or destruction. All while the forces of the divine rage an assault to end any chance of the Olympians return.
 
It only takes one choice to become a god.
 
You'll love this Young Adult Urban Fantasy prelude into the next Mystic Brats novel, because this time the heroes and villains are never who you expect them to be.

Get it now.

94 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 21, 2021

About the author

Robert G. Culp was raised in the small town of Stuttgart, Arkansas and is the award-winning author of The Mystic Brat Journals, a series of three titles with a fourth in progress. The books follow students at a top secret government school, where teenagers are taught to fight the mythical, mystical, and cursed dangers that surround the world. His standalone short story, Mirrorville, is also set within the same continuity.

In his free time Robert enjoys watching TV shows and films, reading Urban Fantasy books, comic books and online fanfiction, while researching Greek mythology, supernatural legends and Arthurian lore.

His greatest achievement is to make his readers happy and entertain them with a few pages of pure escapism.

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was kind of a mess. Arnold is a down-on-his luck teen in love with his friend Emma. It turns out he is the incarnation of the Greek god of war Ares, and Emma is Aphrodite. The entire story is full of awkward dialogue, one-dimensional characters, and juvenile writing. When Emma’s school nemesis spreads rumors that she’s easy and Emma’s dad asks her if she knows how “many blogs, tabloids, and gossip magazines” are talking about her. Really? Even if he was that famous as a professional fighter, that’s a little much since the rumor started the day before. Similarly, the whole story is sort of ridiculous. Greek mythology (but getting some of that wrong) was mixed with other elements, like angels. It just made for a lot of confusion. I couldn’t tell who was good and who was bad, and characters’ personalities changed on a dime. Everything was rushed. The book is short and ends without a real ending. I’m somewhat surprised by the glowing 4- and 5-star reviews. I decided to read it based on them, but it’s almost like I read a different book. I honestly had to force myself to finish, and was a little annoyed about the time I’d spent reading it. It could have been so much better.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook: I found this first book of "The Fallen" series interesting, but it seemed to be more of an introduction to a group of characters rather than a complete novel. The story seemed to be written for a younger audience which may be why it jumped from one character to the next. I liked the concept behind the tale, and I'm hoping that the characters will become more dimensional as the series continues. Since the audiobook was so short, it was easy to listen to it in one sitting. The narration by Wayne Keller III was enjoyable as he provided different voices for the various characters. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

[Aizlynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is for the audio version of the book.

The premise had promise and was what made me want to read this story. However, the farther I got into it, the less I enjoyed it. The pacing wasn't right for this short of a story. parts of it felt too rushed. I am not a big fan of the narrator, either. The accents chosen and the way he voiced female characters made me dislike those characters. My biggest problem was how disjointed the end felt. It might make more sense if I were reading it instead of listening but the scenes jump around between recent past and present so much, without any cues, that I couldn't figure a cohesive timeline to the events.

[Alisha Goldstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of the book and am giving my honest review. The book is lacking some details as it feels very fast paced. Things happened and it almost feels like you are expected to know what's going on with only a few details given. It's a start to a series that hopefully gets better as it continues.

[Anita Hopper · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had the potential to be a really good book, but was too short and the story needed to elaborate more about the changes in the characters.
Very disappointing.
I received a free copy of this book from Voracious readers in exchange for my honest review.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy for review from voraciousreadersonly and found this book to be a very fun and engaging read. Although it's not the genre that I normally go for, I found myself caught up in the story as the writing was easy to follow and you could visualize everything that was happening.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good short story. Gives you a good opening to lead into the rest of the series. This is kind of a quick intro to all the characters which is nice I like the authors take on the mythology. Narration is decent.

[Kirsty Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent short story, Good introduction of characters. Strong pace. Definitely gets wanting more of these teenager gods and goddesses.