Another out of the park hit by Stephen Fry. An excellent follow up to Mythos. Engaging and full of information those interested in mythology and even novices will find something to enjoy!

Greek mythology is full of Gods and Demi-Gods and then some mortals who are Heroes. The sequel of the very famous Mythos, Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined by Stephen Fry, tackles these mere (if you can call them that!) mortals.

The book and its author try to make these Heroes accessible to one and all by telling their stories in brief. This itself becomes a pro as well as a con for the readers. While the simplification works, add to that Fry's trademark sense of humour, the length at times seemed jarring.

But don't refrain from picking it up if you would like to know your heroes like Hercules, Perseus, Bellerophon Theseus Orpheus, Jason, Atlanta and some more, a somewhat better than you already do. Also there are fantastic illustrations inspired by Classical Art o go with the tales, so more of a win if you love illustrations.

I'm a huge mythology nerd and history in general geek so this book called to me. Add the fact that it's from Mr Fry and it was a slamdunk decision.

My only gripe really is that it's kind of been "dumbed-down". I know it's to help generate interest in those who are not geeky nerds like myself but it does make a disappointing read if you are, in any way, knowledgeable about classical mythology.

Hercules, as one example, has many interpretations and stories vary even from island to island in Greece. I felt that there should be more discussion about that and the historiography of the stories themselves.

Possibly best aimed at older kids and adults who have an interest in mythology but are not full blown geeks. Enough to whet the appetite but not enough to bog them down. Slightly disappointed. 3.5 stars really.

I loved Stephen Fry's last novel of Mythology and this was a perfect follow up. I have to buy a hardcover of this book just to have on my shelf, because it contains such a wealth of information that it's told in one of the most approachable ways I've ever seen with Mythology. Here we dive into the world of heroes.

Delightful, beautiful compilation of Greek hero stories written in jovial, accessible modern language. It's as if Fry is sitting and telling you the stories himself as you sip on something tasty. The art, maps, and pictures of antiquities scattered through it make it a more immersive experience as well. This is a followup to his Mythology book but can be read as standalone. 4 stars for me!
Thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Heroes is the second volume of embellished retelling of the heroes of the Greek myths by the inimitable Stephen Fry. Released 2nd June 2020 by Chronicle Books, it's 352 pages and available in hardcover, audio (narrated by S.Fry himself), and ebook formats.

Stephen Fry is simply a treasure. He's erudite and genuinely funny, urbane but not stuffy. He's self deprecating and frighteningly intelligent but not above being naughtily delighted over a raunchy pun. No surprise, then, that he turned his prodigious writing talent to Greek mythology, this time the heroes of the myths: Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Jason, Atalanta, Oedipus and Theseus. Readers will certainly be familiar with the basic stories; what's new are the asides and footnotes. There are comments on etymology and how the genesis of these stories disappears into our human prehistory. There are also plenty of linguistic asides, showing the threads between the origins of words which are used down through history to today.

There is plenty of truly bloody horrifically violent material in the Greek mythos, but he manages to extract the absurd, the comedic, the ridiculous, and give it his own twist, and in a few cases he left me gasping with laughter. There was a lot of obscure information with which I was unfamiliar, despite my unhealthy obsession with Bullfinch and Graves.

Loved this. Laughed so much. This would make a superlative classroom support book or recommended text for history, classics, group read, home library, etc. Good, well written, worthy historical commentary doesn't have to be boring. What a treasure Mr. Fry is.

Five stars. I'll be revisiting this one and the first volume, and I can't wait to get my grubby little paws on the next one.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Obviously, the writing style is imaginative and immersive. Obviously, the world building is demonstrative and engaging. Obviously, the characters were developed, complex, and theologically accurate. What else do you need to hear? "Heroes" is a ground breaking, intuitive, and thought provoking read that I adore, and I guarantee you will too!

Growing up in the British school system ensures three things: you are well prepared for university, you know that lignin lines the walls of the xylem, and you know who Stephen Fry is. On my first day of Year 8, my Religious Studies teacher suggested I read "Mythos" by Stephen Fry - that was the beginning of an obsession. Since finishing "Heroes", I have not stopped researching, rereading, and sharing the news about all things Greek Mythology - that's how great this book is! "Heroes" is not just a story, it is an experience, a topic of conversation, a classic, if you may. You will learn, laugh, and ponder the countless scenes that tie up history and mythology into one convenient, experimental story.

Recommended For and Similar Reads: Although us RS nerds definitely love Stephen Fry, you don't have to be religious to appreciate "Heroes"! It is a thought-provoking and eye-opening read that will catch any reader who has loved "Mythos" by Stephen Fry, "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" by Homer, "Dark Gods" by River Ramsey, "The Penelopiad" by Margaret Atwood, or any other Greek mythology book!

Stephen Fry's Heroes is one of my rare five-star reads. (I received a free electronic copy for review.) I admit, I'm a little biased: I admire the guy already and as a reader, I skew Britty. The dry sense of humor gets me every time.
I didn't know much about the Greek Hero myths before reading this. I had the general outlines of some of the stories, as most of us probably do, half remembered from a literature or history lesson in grade school, but not much beyond that.

Here Fry relates the stories of Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Jason, Atalanta, Oedipus, and Theseus, all done in a very enjoyable and engaging way. I think it's more Fry's writing style than the stories themselves that really drew me in. The wry humor and the imgained dialogues between characters were truly wonderful and owe a lot to both Fry's comic timing and his ear for characterization through conversation.

I will admit that halfway through the book, I bought the audiobook because Fry did the narration himself and he DOES ALL THE VOICES. If you have to make a choice, I can't recommend the audiobook highly enough. It's just brilliant. But I'm also purchasing a hard copy too.

Stephen Fry does it again! And bring Greek mythology in and it’s a winner! I enjoyed reading this and now need to get the first in this series.

The only issue I have is with the format. It’s not readable via kindle and the font in the pdf reader definitely strains your eyes. 4 stars because of the format.

Is there anything Stephen Fry cannot do? Nay. I mean, I was watching a random cartoon on Netflix with my kid called Pocoyo, and there's Stephen Fry, doing the narration. I mean the man can do it all. I had not yet read Mythos, but I'll be going back to do that. I love Greek mythology and I'm glad that this was so enjoyable.

I love Stephen Fry and I love Greek Mythology, but the mix of the two here didn't quite work. The stories of the heroes (Hercules, Theseus, Atalanta, Jason, et al.) are amazing and funny and chilling, and Fry has a breezy, easy storytelling style that mostly stay out of the way and lets the stories do the talking. The problems actually come from the humor. Fry inserts some 21st century British sitcom style dialogue in the stories, and instead of increasing my appreciation of the stories, it took me completely out of them. And they weren't actually all that funny, which is strange since I usually love Fry's style.

This combines 2 of my loves: mythology and Stephen Fry. I was extremely happy to have the chance to read it, but I will confess something - the edition is hard on the eyes: the font is not ideal for screen reading, the images are not always centered as they should be, and that copyright sign in the middle of the page made me pay more attention to it than to the words on the page, and completely obscures words, on some pages. I know it's a good way to avoid this book from being pirated, but it takes a lot from what would be a great reading experience.

Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined by Stephen Fry

2 stars DNF @ page 66

Heroes focuses on retelling Greek mythological stories in a way that is accessible to the modern reader. I have a feeling many people will absolutely love this. I couldn't connect with the language and the stories itself felt like a chore to read as opposed to an informative interpretation of classic ancient stories from Greece. I was just uninterested. I may come back to this if I can listen to it as opposed to reading it, but I think I will love this one unfinished. Reading shouldn't be a chore and this felt like one.


Cover Thoughts: I love the cover. It's beautiful.

Thank you, Netgalley and Chronicle Books, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

After thoroughly enjoying Mythos, Heroes was a very highly anticipated book for me and I'm happy to report that it has exceeded all my expectations. I secrectly might even have enjoyed this one more than Mythos.

In Heroes we meet various mortal heroes. After reading about the Olympians and Titans in Mythos I kinda expected these stories about the mortal heroes to be a bit boring in comparison, but how wrong I was! Heroes is just as interesting, intriguing fun and weird as Mythos. We learn more about familiar names like Heracles (aka Hercules), Atalanta and Oedipus and many more. We also learn that the Disney retelling of Hercules is actually way off.....

Fry's spinning of these tales is what makes Mythos and Heroes such good reads. Infused with his wit and eagerness to learn more about these myths, Heroes demands your attention. And once again the hilarious footnotes steal the show.

My favorite stories this time around were: Heracles, Atalanta and Theseus. After the many hints in Heroes about Achilles and the story of Troy, I can't wait to read the next installment in this series Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold.

A clear, entertaining and at times humorous retelling of the legends of various Greek heroes by the always charming and erudite Stephen Fry, supplemented with a selection of illustrations incorporating various pieces of classical art and sculpture. Though the stories of heroes like Orpheus, Jason and Theseus may be familiar to many, this book will bring them to life again and will introduce them to a new audience. I appreciated the inclusion of Atalanta, one of the great heroines of mythology. Fry does a wonderful job of not just retelling the myths but making them seem current, I appreciate that he is forced to greatly condense the stories in order to include so many, but I think this book would work exceptionally well as an introduction to the subject.
I read a review copy courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I wish I’d have had a book like this when I was a teen interested in mythology.

It’s accessible and interesting and written in story form rather than detail heavy making it a more fun read.

If you enjoyed Stephen Fry's 'Mythos', you are most likely to enjoy 'Heroes' as well. I personally love Stephen Fry's writing style and am fascinated by Greek mythology, so I thoroughly enjoyed reading this retelling of stories of Greek heroes.

This is a great collection of the stories of the Greek heroes. You are drawn along into the various epic journeys and adventures of the heroes of the Greek myths and stories which you thought you knew are given a new life & vibrancy. A fantastic follow on from Mythos & book three, Troy, out in October.
Beautifully written & if you get the chance try & hear Stephen Fry reading his work, it takes it to a whole new level. Fantastic!

Stephen Fry is such a treasure. There’s something about his style of storytelling that can make even the most grotesque tales a delight to read. And when given the opportunity to listen to him reading his own words, I never pass it up. His verbal storytelling is even more entertaining than his writing, and I so enjoyed being able to simultaneously read and listen to this book and its prequel, Mythos.

Where Mythos told the stories of the Greek pantheon, from their inception to their deeds, Heroes recounts the tales of, well, heroes. Greek mythology relies almost as heavily on the exploits of heroes as it does on the fickle interference of the gods. In this book, Fry covers most of the more famous heroes of Ancient Greece. The greatest hits, if you will. Over the course of its more than 400 pages, Fry recounts in Heroes the tales of Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Jason, Atalanta, Oedipus, and Theseus. I was at first confused by the omission of Achilles and Odysseus, but it was recently announced that Fry will be publishing a further volume, Troy, about the events of The Iliad and The Odyssey. But of the heroes covered, Fry did an excellent job really digging into their lives and presenting them as three-dimensional characters, shying away from neither their attributes nor their weaknesses. It’s easy to see how much research and care was put into the writing of this book and Mythos, and they manage to be both accessible to those unfamiliar with the stories and a fun way to revisit for those who are well exposed to the material.
Besides the sassy approach Fry takes to his storytelling, one of my favorite elements of both this book and Mythos is the inclusion of so much etymology. The origin of words and phrases has always fascinated me, and the same must be true of Fry for him to have includes so much information regarding those derivations. However, I honestly could have lived without some of that information. For instance, the origins of the terms Milky Way and galaxy as referring to Hera’s sprayed breast milk is something I did not know. Not sure I needed to know, but I know it I do. And I can’t un-know it.

Heroes seems a bit overly silly in tone compared to Mythos, but it’s still fun. I can’t get enough of Fry’s recounting of Greek mythology, and I will undoubtedly be rereading both of these books periodically. I can’t wait to get my hands on Troy, Fry’s retelling of the the Trojan War and the events that followed. These books are such a wonderfully easy way to brush up on your knowledge of Greek mythology, and ensure that you have a lot of fun while learning.

An easy to read, witty and well researched book that I wholly appreciated.
The illustration are interesting and it was an engrossing and entertaining read.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine