Emily Hauser

Hippolyta is the Queen of the Amazons, a race of fierce female warriors who live in Scythia, proud to be an Amazon, Hippolyta has a secret she keeps from her people. Admete is a princess of Greece but her mother was an Amazon, skilled in healing Admete wants to travel to the lands of her mother's race to seek a cure for her sick brother. Alcides is the son of Zeus but in order to gain immortality he must complete 12 labours and his final one is to capture the warbler of Hippolyta.
Weaving together the twelve labours of Hercules, the backstory of Achilles and the Trojan War, this book gives a different perspective on the Great myths. Hauser is an accomplished writer, her knowledge of the myths and Ancient Greece as a whole are outstanding and the artistic licence she takes is fully explained in the accompanying notes. What is also strong in her writing is the characterisation and emotions she brings to the tales. The humiliation of Hippolyta at the hands of Theseus is heart-wrenching.… (meer)

First published at Booking in Heels.

The ‘retelling’ of Jason and the Argonauts. Or, you know, not.

Retellings of myths and legends have the difficult task of sitting in that fuzzy gap between historical fiction and fantasy. Obviously it’s not reciting real events because the myths are fictional in the first place, so it can’t be historical fiction, but then the author can’t take the credit for coming up with the story in the first place because it’s thousands of years old. The former point makes it very difficult to jump up and down squawking ‘That’s not right, that’s not what happened!’ because hey, none of this happened. It doesn’t remove the fact that this is precisely what I want do, however.

I just don’t understand why you’d want to purposefully choose a relatively well-known legend to retell in a lengthy novel… and then change it beyond all comprehension. It’s barely recognisble as the myth of the Golden Fleece, as so much of it is completely different. Not to mention that the Fleece has barely any relevance in the whole story. Atalanta was never supposed to sneak aboard dressed as a man – she was a respected and competant member of the crew on the Argo. Various elements of her ‘proper’ story are shoved in, usually in a way that makes barely any sense. The ending is almost completely the opposite of what really happened (as far as any of this can be said to have ‘really’ happened) and it annoys me. Is it reasonable for this to annoy me? Probably not. But I was expecting the story of Atalanta’s involvement in Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece and that is not what I got.

The odd first person narrative.

The other point that confuses me is Emily Hauser’s choice to write in the first person. It’s a very strange choice and one that I don’t think fits. When you’re writing about a mythological person, a legend, you need them to be strong of heart and swift of foot and all that, which is fine. But when you write in the first person, they’re telling you all this and it doesn’t work. I don’t need an explanation for why she’s so talented, but an objective voice telling me would have been better suited. It feels like a YA heroine telling you how wonderful they are and it comes across as gloaty and lazy.

The clear Young Adult aspects.

It’s actually not the only thing that makes this book seem like it would be more appropriate for teenagers. For one thing, there’s no violence, gore, or sex, although there are references to historic rape. Whilst I obviously doesn’t desperately need these things in my books, the Greeks weren’t exactly famous for their docile chasity and it seems very toned down. Almost tedious. Atalanta herself comes across as very young – she has no adult feelings or emotions, she’s just a bundle of impulsive decision making and impatience. All the characters are very flat and one-sided, even those who are meant to be the key players.

I will say that the prose aspects are written well. The descriptions of the Greek scenery are stunning and bring up the quality of the novel as a whole somewhat. Ms Hauser is clearly able to write very well, but I just don’t understand the majority of the narrative and plot choices that she made. What could have been a feminist and fascinating retelling of Atalanta and the Golden Fleece ended up as an unrecognisable story about a gloaty teenager running through Greece.… (meer)

As a baby, Atalanta was abandoned on Mount Pelion during a storm but rescued by a peasant family who raises her as their own. She grows up to be a tomboy learning to use the bow and hunting. After learning that she was adopted, she sets about learning the truth about her true family.

I have to confess that I’ve never heard of Atalanta or Jason and the Argonauts before reading this. My knowledge of ancient Greece is limited but still, I probably should have even heard about this before… This was my first Hauser book even though I own her first book For the Most Beautiful.

I really liked Atalanta who was strong, clever and capable of protecting herself. At first, she wants to just find her father and prove herself to him but getting to know ruthless Jason, she wants the crown to protect the people knowing she would be a fairer ruler.

I liked the scenes on Mount Olympus showing gods plotting and interfering in human affairs. This portrayal was how I always think about them. I blame Xena: Warrior Princess for that…… (meer)

The Gods sit atop the great mountain and direct the fates of mortals on Earth below. They have their favourites and their rivalry is a game of entertainment. Meanwhile on Earth the mortals have to suffer the capricious choices of their Gods as played out with their lives. As his reward for favouring Aphrodite above other goddesses Paris has stolen the most beautiful woman in Greece as his bride, unfortunately Helen was married and now her husband and his allies are coming to Troy seeking revenge. Krisayis is the daughter of a priest and companion to the Trojan princess but when her lover is killed by the Greeks, Krisayis realises that her loyalty lies to her people and her city. Briseis is a princess newly married and newly widowed, as a slave she understands the power of love and honour.

Emily Hauser has taken a well known story and created something new in this novel. A modern interpretation which takes the best aspects of historical and women's fiction but underlies them with a strong core of learning and knowledge. Whilst occasionally seeming light and superficial there are deep meaning cutting below the simple story - feminism, honour, love and strength. This is a really enjoyable read and the debut of an interesting new voice.… (meer)