ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR: ATHENA'S TALE

Author: Alicia Fields ISBN: 0451217357 1/2006 MYTHICAL Publisher: SIGNET ECLIPSE

Passionate, inspiring, and full of adventure, this is Athena's tale. In a time when a girl's place is at home, Athena has been raised wild and free, and resents the limits she's facing. Her blossoming womanhood makes it difficult to indulge her tomboyish ways and she can't understand why women allow men to control their lives. If Athena married anyone, it would be Amoni, the boy from the forge, whose kiss has made her finally feel what it's really like to be a woman.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I love the premise of this story. Fields writes this book as if you were hearing the story behind the actual myths. The reader can envision aspects of the story being told again and again, until they take on a life of their own and become myth. For anyone familiar with mythology, this is a wonderful new twist on the tales of old. However, you don't need to know your mythology to love this book.

Athena is strong, bold and fearless, and yet she finds herself torn between the life she wants for herself and the responsibilities of leadership. Poseidon is Athena's uncle and the heir apparent to the throne. He is selfish, arrogant, a womanizer and a bully. All in all, he is everything you love to hate in a villain. And like all good mythology, no good deed goes unpunished, which leaves the reader anticipating the possible punishments for all his wrongdoings.

The story follows a young girl's path through childhood as she becomes a strong, independent and compassionate woman. Athena is a character you find yourself respecting, and one that inspires the reader to their own goals. I can't wait to read more.

Amanda Rutherford