Overview

Love was surely the greatest punishment of all. In this modern retelling of the classic Greek myths, Hephaestus, the disabled god of fire, is evicted from Mount Olympus and raised beneath the waves by Thetis the sea witch. Rejected and scorned, Hephaestus must endure physical and emotional pain as he is sentenced to life with the adulterous goddess of love, Aphrodite. With his foster-mother's help, Hephaestus lays claim to his legacy and finds his saving grace: the ability to forge magical metal artefacts. Of course, the other gods waste no time taking advantage of his inventions. But the god of fire is nobody's fool. The magic of Hephaestus has a shadow side, as gods and mortals learn to their cost when Zeus orders him to create Pandora...

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9781739776220

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I absolutely adored this retelling of the familiar Greek myths, featuring Hephaestus (Heph, as he's referred to in this book), the God of Fire. Usually, when I read Greek myths, I spend my time trying to remember who is who, mixing up their names and relationships with each other. This is not the case with Steadman's book. It's accessible, full of humour and easy to read. The author spends time on settings and develops the personalities of the gods in such a way that they become memorable in their own right as characters. I liked Stephen Fry's 'Mythos', but 'God of Fire' is a lot more satisfying. Another great novel from this author. HARRIET SPRINGBETT, TREE MAGIC This is a clear-eyed, unsentimental telling of the life of Hephaestus, the god of fire, who was born on Mount Olympus to Hera, the queen of the gods. Disgusted by him from his birth, Hera cast him out from Olympus. Injured in the fall, he was adopted by the sea witch Thetis and the earth's creatrix, Eurynome. Called Heph, he yearns to be loved by his real mother and to discover the identity of his father. Steadman skillfully weaves together the old Greek myths of Prometheus, Medusa, Hercules, Io, Pandora, and others, relating the tales through Hephaestus' eyes and thus giving the reader a fresh perspective on the old stories. Heph is a sympathetic and appealing character, considered ungainly and ugly by the other Olympians for his lameness and unattractive features, but tolerated for his formidable talents as a smith. He's usually caught up in his divine family's schemes and plots through no fault of his own and often finds himself torn by their constant squabbling and infighting. Even his jokingly arranged marriage to Aphrodite, the most beautiful of the goddesses, proves no picnic, as she is vain, self-absorbed, and oftentimes downright nasty. The author, with her storytelling skill, wit, and attention to detail, brings the myriad characters of Greek mythology vividly to life. She provides alternative and imaginative takes on several of the myths, including the creation of man (and woman), how Persephone became queen of Hades, and how a golden apple started a war, first between the Olympians and then between Greece and Troy. At the same time, Steadman keeps the novel's focus on Heph, determined to discover his true history and find his place among the pantheon of the gods. MICHAEL I. SHOOP, HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY

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Helen Steadman is a historical novelist. Her first novel, Widdershins and its sequel, Sunwise were inspired by the seventeenth-century Newcastle witch trials. Her third novel, The Running Wolf was inspired by the Shotley Bridge swordmakers, who defected from Solingen, Germany in 1687. Helen's fourth novel will be published on 13 September 2022. This is God of Fire, a Greek myth retelling about Hephaestus, possibly the least well-known of the Olympians. Helen is now working on her fifth novel.Despite the Newcastle witch trials being one of the largest mass executions of witches on a single day in England, they are not widely known about. Helen is particularly interested in revealing hidden histories and she is a thorough researcher who goes to great lengths in pursuit of historical accuracy. To get under the skin of the cunning women in Widdershins and Sunwise, Helen trained in herbalism and learned how to identify, grow and harvest plants and then made herbal medicines from bark, seeds, flowers and berries.The Running Wolf is the story of a group of master swordmakers who defected from Solingen, Germany and moved to Shotley Bridge, England in 1687. As well as carrying out in-depth archive research and visiting forges in Solingen to bring her story to life, Helen also undertook blacksmith training, which culminated in making her own sword. During her archive research, Helen uncovered a lot of new material and she published her findings in the Northern History journal.

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