The Trojan War is over and Troy has been destroyed. Not only that but Daphne battled her nemesis, Nyx, who warped the mind of her beloved brother Alkaios into attacking her. The resulting battle saw the release of the Titans who had been imprisoned beneath the city by Zeus as punishment for the Titanomachy. Close to death, she was fed an ambrosia seed by Apollo unleashing her immortal powers as the daughter of the titan, Oceanus. Daphne fled the city along with others including Odysseus and his men. Now on Aeaea Island, Daphne struggles to come to terms with all she has lost: her mother, her beloved brother Alkaios, her kingdom and her queen.
Aeaea is the prison and sanctuary of the titaness, Circe. Daphne is now a titan with the ability to control the sea and the sky. Circe encourages Daphne to use her emotions to call up her new powers, but even the pain she feels over the death of her brother Alkaios fails to work and almost leads to Daphne drowning. Meanwhile on the beach below Circe's cottage, Odysseus and his men work on rebuilding their ships.
Asleep in Circe's cottage, Daphne is awoken by screams. She races down to the beach where Circe and Odysseus are pulling bodies from the waves. One of the bodies is that of Hermes, the messenger god, who is barely alive. Circe manages to save Hermes, removing the poison of Nyx from him.
When Daphne falls asleep that night, Hypnos, the god of sleep, shows her the destruction of the Olympian gods by the Titans. She sees Hera get impaled, a dead Poseidon, the death of Demeter, Persephone and Hades. Apollo, her lover, warns Daphne to leave before she too is killed. Horrified, she watches as Apollo and Zeus are killed by the titans. Hypnos tells Daphne she can still save them. When she awakens, Daphne tells Circe that the titans have stormed Olympus, killing the gods and have claimed Mount Olympus for themselves. She was unable to save them, but Circe tells her that's because she isn't ready yet to use her powers.
When Hermes regains consciousness, he tells Daphne that she is able to save the gods including her lover, Apollo, because they are not dead but trapped in Tartarus (the Underworld), a sort of purgatory or cage. He tells her must free the gods from the Underworld. Hermes informs Daphne that because of the curse on him, the titans will know where Daphne has fled and they will come to Aeaea. He was a spy in the titan's camp during the Trojan war. He also tells Daphne that Helen of Troy, Lykou, and Hippolyta are safe in Mount Kyllini and that in the seven months that she has been on the island, the titans have attacked Olympus, while Agamemnon's army has conquered Athens, Crete and Salamis. The Spartans have rebelled against Menelaus but likely will not defeat him.
Eventually Odysseus and his men finish one ship and Daphne and Hermes set sail for Eleusis where they know there is still an entrance to the Underworld. During the journey there, Hermes reveals that Cronus is likely leading the titan army which includes Perses the titan of destruction, Phoibe and Oceanus, Daphne's father. Daphne will not only have to free the gods from Tartarus, but she must also reclaim Mount Olympus and save the Garden of Hesperides. But can Daphne accept her fate, as the Storm of Olympus, to save those she loves?
Discussion
Storm of Olympus is a book of battles from beginning to end with plenty of gore and death. Andrews draws from Greek and Norse mythology to create a lengthy saga involving a secondary goddess, Daphne while incorporating many other facets of Greek mythology.
The end of the Trojan war has seen the release of the titans from their prison beneath the city of Troy. They waste no time in attacking the gods on Mount Olympus, defeating and imprisoning them in Tartarus. Their ultimate goal is to take over the world. Daphne, now a titan, is the gods' only hope of regaining Mount Olympus. But to do this she must learn to wield her immense powers over sea and sky. With the help of Hermes and the mortal, Odysseus, she journeys to Eleusis, the location of a door to the Underworld. There, after battles with sea monsters and the god Ares as well as titans, Daphne, with the help of the souls of the Underworld including her beloved brother Alkaios and her friend Theseus, frees the gods. Escaping the Underworld takes Daphne and the gods to Lemnos, the site of the resistance's camp and Hephaestus's forge. In an attempt to win the battle against the titans, Daphne is initially unsuccessful in enlisting the help of the gods of Asgard: Odin, Thor, Freyja and Loki. This, despite her reminding the AEsir, that should the titans and gods succeed in controlling the Garden of the Hesperides, they will come for other gardens including Yggdrasil.
Eventually, Daphne along with Zeus and the other Olympians, their mortal and centaur allies engage the titans and their allies, the armies of Menelaus and Agamemnon in an epic battle on Mount Olympus. Daphne is fighting to restore balance to Mount Olympus because she, along with some of the Olympian gods and the mortals, believes the gods/titans have abused their powers. They have used the mortals, causing wars and other calamities for their amusement. Mortals like Clytemnestra, princess of Sparta also believe that the gods allowed Troy to fall, and that they have led mortals "astray with their selfish interests for too many centuries."
Once they take Mount Olympus, Daphne must now protect the Garden where Zeus and Poseidon have fled. The AEsir do eventually respond and come to their aid in this final battle, helping defeat Zeus, Nyx and Poseidon. Daphne explains what must happen next:
"A thousand years ago, the Garden spoke to the goddess Hecate and told her to give the Olympians and titans ambrosia, creating the immortals we know today. They were chosen as the Hesperides's protectors, to keep the power from falling into the wrong hands and destroying the world. Some - the titans - went mad with power. Over the centuries, it consumed many of the gods, too." Now the Garden has asked for new protectors, balance and sacrifice. Hecate arrives to help decide who will be the protectors, allowing the Garden to be reborn.
Storm of Olympus is plot-driven, with a wealth of battles, gore and gruesome death, but also sacrifice and heroism. There are so many characters and various monsters in the novel that unless the reader is well versed in Greek and Norse mythology, they may feel overwhelmed. Andrews, to her credit, does attempt to identify characters and beasts within the story. There is a list of characters at the back of the novel but this by no means covers every character or monster involved (for example, Perses, a recurring character is missing). This list should be more extensive, perhaps in order of appearance in the story, and placed at the front of the book.
A subplot is the relationship between Daphne and her lover Apollo. He is the impetus for her drive to save the Olympians from Tartarus. Seeing his gruesome death at that hands of the titans fuels her rage which leads her to develop and learn to control her power over sea and sky. They are reunited after his rescue from Tartarus and survive many battles. Another storyline is the relationship Daphne has with her brothers, Alkaios who was warped by Nyx and whom Daphne killed, and Pyrrhus who considers her a Spartan traitor. She is reunited with both at various points and they each experience the power of forgiveness.
Not surprisingly, the major character, Daphne is a strong, determined, courageous immortal who risks everything to try to save those she loves. Along the way she learns to trust not only her own abilities, but her friends too.
Storm of Olympus ends happily, after many battles, hardship, suffering and sacrifice. Andrews has crafted a unique story, focusing on a minor figure in Greek mythology, Daphne, beautiful daughter of a river god, loved by Apollo. This trilogy will appeal to those adults and older teens who have a good knowledge of mythology and who grew up on the Greek and Norse myths!
Book Details:
Storm of Olympus by Claire M. Andrews
New York: Little, Brown and Company 2023
470 pp.
New York: Little, Brown and Company 2023
470 pp.
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