Slightly disappointed as this was not what I was expecting.

It is years since the Argonauts arrived in Lemnos aboard the Argo. In that time, the Argonauts have been scattered to the four winds - many dead, some still leaving but most lost to the mists of legend. Xandros, grandson of Jason, is struggling to find his place in Lemnos. He feels mistreated and ignored by his father and bridals against the menial jobs he is given to punish him for his misdemeanours. He has, however, developed a relationship with the girl from the next town but is struggling with jealousy when he learns that she is engaged to the leaders son causing a rift between the two towns. Lemnos is also under threat of the Sea People - a group of pirates who travel the islands, raping and pillaging as they go. Poorly defended, Lemnos will surely fall if the Sea People arrive here. So, Xandros sets out on a mission to find the remaining Argonauts, rally people to his cause, and join a pact to defeat the Sea People once and for all.

Beware: Spoilers Follow!

I love Greek Mythology so I was initially excited to read this book - however, I was disappointed once I started reading. I found the story a bit confusing to be honest and the style of writing was tricky to follow in places. The title confused me too - I kept waiting for Hades to make his appearance....and he never does. The closest we get to it is a repeated vision that Xandros has of a skeletal figure in a boat rowing its way towards him (I took this to be the ferry man come to take Xandros down to Hades). The cast is big - I felt like I needed a cheat sheet of who was who so I could keep track of them all.

Xandros embarks on his mission but never actually finds any of the Argonauts except Jason - and he kind of bumps into him by accident - in fact the whole mission seemed a pointless waste of time as we spend ages traveling between a couple of islands where Xandros gets into assorted scraps before moving on again. It is unclear how long his travels last either as we don't have any timescale for his voyage. Ultimately, the remaining Argonauts turn up as Jason sends a man to get them from the place where they meet once a year to see who is still alive (how fortunate that they just happened to be meeting at the right time and that this time a few of them had turned up) - Jason himself does not get involved and chooses to stay on his island with the crumbling remains of the Argo.

Xandros does undergo some character development - he goes away as an angry young man and comes back, somehow, as a leader of men that everyone just defers to. On a side note here, I was very confused by the inclusion of a character called 'Red' who, at one point is revealed to be a stuttering, weak version of Xandros who only he can see - kind of like an invisible friend. Once we know that 'Red' isn't real, he is promptly never mentioned again...except once in a sentence I had to re-read several times in case I had missed something as his sudden re-arrival seemed a bit...odd.

As with much of Greek Mythology it all ends with defeat for the islanders of Lemnos. The Sea People come in two waves of attack and Xandros and his people are ultimately defeated. Only the bard Orpheus lives to tell the tale.

This book just didn't hit the spot for me at all and I was left feeling a bit....flat, if I am honest.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book! I did but I didn’t. I want to preface this by saying you can see how much time went into the research of this book and if you enjoy dense and extremely detailed info you might love it but for me I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. I couldn’t get past how hard it felt to read. It feels more like an academic book than a mythology retelling.

I DNF’d about 40% through.

Thank you so much to all for the arc!

Thank you to Net Galley and Head of Zeus for an ARC of this book!

DNF, 20% of the way finished. I really wanted to love this book as I tend to love Greek mythology retellings. However, the writing was extremely dense and I couldn’t get interested in any of the characters or story lines. I applaud the author for the amount of research done to write this book, but it just wasn’t for me.

Huge thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC, this was unfortunately, not for me. I found it too long and hard to get into. This is no reflection on the author.

Ah Orpheus. Probably one of my favourite characters in Greek mythology. He tells the story of the old argonauts and Iason's grandson Xandros. Decades after the Argonaut adventure the Greek world is being threatened by the Sea People and they just don't know what to do.

Xandros, a good-for-nothing according to his father Euneus, is trying to navigate his way through a highly complicated world and society and hopes to bring back together the Argonauts one last time.

The author possesses a huge knowledge of Greek mythology and weaves a lot of threads together in this story. Sometimes the pacing was abit too slow for me, but I did enjoy the story a lot.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

The book really showed that there was a lot of research, which is something I admire and love. I hate when retellings are not considerate of their sources. Even though it was action packed, it felt a bit slow sometimes, but still, I enjoyed the book. Great for fans of Greek mythology and accuracy regarding historical or mythical details. I love it!

The author clearly had conducted a ton of research for this novel. However the pacing and the style of the story was not for me. It just dragged on and didn’t keep me interested

Action packed and a massive thrill ride in parts but also slower paced (and unnecessarily so!) in others. A period of history I did not know much about but overall, not one for me.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Very slow-paced and action-driven story; it’s very obvious from the get-go that the author has put a lot of research and love into writing this. It felt a little dense at times, so many things were happening, however I enjoyed reading this. Greek mythology has always fascinated me.

Absolutely fantastic. I admit this is one of my favourite periods of history but it was a fantastic read. Historical detail spot on & characters meaningful. First class.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Hades by Mark Knowles lives and breathes greek mythology and it’ll be a fantastic read for, I believe, experts of the field.

I appreciated to list of introductions to the story’s elements at the beginning, though I had to turn back to it more than once to remember were, what, and who are we talking about.

Given that, I found it a slightly more challenging read, because my background in greek mythology is not extensive.

However, when cross-checking facts on online, I can tell that Mark Knowles has gone above and beyond to accurately integrate and represent greek mythology wholeheartedly in his story.

As mentioned by others, there were times where the story could pick up the pace, yet maybe perhaps that’s something enthusiasts are looking for.

This is the first I've read by this author. Now, while I liked his writing style and the story was interesting. I feel it kept dragging on and on in some of the scenes. Nevertheless, I love that this author had so much knowledge about Greek mythology and incorporated his research into this book. The book is action-packed and slow-paced. If you love fast-paced books, this is not the book for you. However, if you love books that take their time and are filled with action scenes, this is the book for you. Personally, I would have loved a faster pace with this book.

This is obviously a work of passion for the author. You can feel the amount of research and dedication he has put into it.

It's slower paced than other Hades books I've read and told in multiple, short POVs. Usually that makes for a faster read but I think the pacing is what drew this one out. It's not a bad read but you definitely want to take your time to enjoy it.

I love books that are linked with mythology, particularly Greek mythology. There’s just something about it that scratches an itch in my brain, I can’t explain it.

You can tell by reading this book that the author put a lot of love and research into this. I feel like though I know a lot about mythology already, I learnt a lot just from reading.

Hades brought all the great elements that you would want when reading something like this.

This was slow-paced and action-driven which I personally don’t usually enjoy but I think this was done extremely well!

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for providing me with this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First, I want to thank Netgalley and the author for an ARC to review.

I do not like not finishing a book. There is only one other book I did not finish, yet this book is to be added to that list.

I have similar feedback to those who have provided reviews before me. The story is well thought out but it is confusing upon having no context of the other books. There are so many characters - and while I appreciate the glossary/guide of those mainly mentioned, it still was very dizzying to have to scroll back and forth. And even doing so did not provide much context. I think this book would absolutely benefit from having a more fleshed out glossary of key players so that the book can stand a chance on its own.

I'm saddened because you can feel the author's passion, and I feel that early reviwers really would have benefited from having access to earlier books.

I am distraught in providing a lower rating, but it was a struggle for me to get through the parts I did read. I will not attempt to re-read this book, as I felt frustrated and lost trying to keep up.

I think this book will be great for those who appreciated Mark's earlier works, Argo and Jason. Early reviewers who have read those both seem to have favorable reviews. I would urge prospective readers to take my review into consideration, but to put importance on reviews from others who have read the entire series.

I enjoyed what I read of Hades unfortunately it turned into a book that wasn’t my kind of read.

It’s incredibly detailed full of lore characters are well developed.

Language is quite different from books I’ve read before it’s not an easy flow of a book.

I’d like NetGalley to give the opportunity of DNF books because now I have to poor rating it.
It sounds like a good story, but I had to forced myself to finish it, and this says all.

I have to be honest, it’s a very slow paced book. The author did a lot of research and I really appreciate that but it was very complex. There are too many and long descriptions which slows the action parts as well. Overall i do recommend it if you like a slow paced and very well researched book.
I would like to thank the author and NetGalley for the free copy.

I have studied Greek mythology at postgraduate level and love to read retellings of the ancient myths. However, I didn't finish the book, giving up after about 10 per cent of the way in. It starts really slowly, with multiple, short points of view, and I found it very difficult to get inside the heads of the characters or feel engaged in the action. I have not read the previous books in the series, or anything by Mark Knowles. Maybe if I had, I would have been into the story straight from the start. The depth of knowledge and research is there but, for me, it lacks the spark of, say, Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes or Ithaca by Claire North., which are brimming with wit, imagination and lightness of touch. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this novel.

Book Review 📚
Hades by Mark Knowles - 4.5/5 ⭐

I will always swear by a greek mythology book and Mark really brought Hades to life. I previously read Argo and Jason by Mark and loved both just as much as I now love Hades. Nothing beats a greek mythology book. Mark has a serious amount of knowledge about this topic and never fails to mess it up.

Some will see this book as confusing and strong. But that's what I love about it the most. Mark doesn't dull it down and he goes above and beyond with Hades. There are names and places throughout that you need to remember for it to make sense. It's a strong retelling and I thoroughly enjoy it.

I love the multiple POVs, it always makes a book more interesting to have an insight into everyone else's thoughts rather than just an assumption. The whole thing is definitely based more around action than the characters but again, that makes it so much more interesting.

Mark truly impressed me once again with the 3rd book being equally as good as the other 2. All are memorable and all are beautifully done with a true knowledge behind it. The writing is phenomenal and it's definitely worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria and Aries for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.