Written by S.M. McCoy
Ever since I was in primary school, and we learned about ancient Greece and its tales of gods and monsters, I have been a huge fan of Greek mythology. If you’ve been reading these reviews regularly, you may have caught how much I enjoy those tales. I’ve only been a fan of S.M. McCoy’s writing since February 2022, when I read and reviewed Blood Crescent (and eagerly jumped into the rest of the Divine Series with Blood Rebirth and Blood Queen, and discovered her world of Acatalec in Kingdom of Acatalec and its prequel, My Abett). If you’ve been reading these reviews regularly, you may have also caught how much I enjoy McCoy’s books. So when the opportunity to review a book where the author delves into Greek mythology arose, I leapt at the chance. And I’ll get this out of the way up front: as wonderful as all those other books are, Taking Medusa is McCoy’s greatest book yet.
Stylistically, this novel doesn’t stray far from those other series. Taking Medusa features a strong, capable female protagonist; is written with a thoroughly engaging first person perspective; weaves an entertaining fantasy (or sci-fi, but definitely fantasy this time) tale; is told with a sparkling wit; and packs in some romance for good measure. Despite these surface level similarities, McCoy makes each story and world feel distinct from everything that came before. And in Taking Medusa, she weaves these elements together with more assuredness than any previous book. This is a novel packed full of wonderful characters, a delightful writing style, a gripping plot that both pays homage to ancient Greek stories and modernises them in a way that feels anything but ancient.
Stories that tell the untold tales of characters perceived as ‘villains’ have risen in popularity in recent years, with some providing more context and believability than others. Taking Medusa takes a different approach to many of these. Rather than simply focusing on the character’s origins, it tells a story that is both set long after those mythological tales, while also revisiting those myths within the story itself. It gives a new perspective on who this character is, and through this approach, Taking Medusa both feels entirely new and makes the ‘villain’ more relatable to modern audiences. In this case, that villain—as you can no doubt glean from the title—is Medusa, the mythological gorgon whose eyes you should never look into, lest you be turned to stone.
This is framed by the story of a young woman named Alessandra (better known as Aless) whose overprotective mother warns her to stay away from the sea. Unknown to Aless, however, is the power within her, which can both cure death and unleash a poison that will destroy humanity. Also unbeknownst to her, she is the legendary Medusa reborn, putting her on a collision course with Hades, Zeus, and—based on more modern interpretations of the myth—her past lover, Poseidon. Fans of Greek mythology will love the deep dive McCoy takes here, telling a story that calls back to some of those stories, while putting them under a modern lens. While fans of Greek mythology might see some of the twists and turns, this does nothing to diminish the story; instead, those readers will delight in how the author weaves it into the narrative.
Calling back to ancient tales isn’t enough to make for a great fantasy story, but a deep world populated by entertaining characters, all written in a way that reels the reader in, is. Taking Medusa accomplishes all this wonderfully. If you’re not a fan of Greek mythology—even if you’ve never heard of Medusa—you’ll find a wonderful fantasy story about ancient gods and monsters. The story’s themes are resonant, as it questions who the real monsters of these tales are as it tells a coming of age story about empowerment. While not strictly a young adult book—and noting the book does include some adult content, even if it’s not overly hard—these themes make for an engaging story that will captivate older teens, along with those of us who are more advanced in our years.
At 218 pages in hardcover, which is also the estimated eBook page count (at the time of writing, I don’t have a page count for the paperback), Taking Medusa is a reasonably quick read. After starting with a prologue told in the third person—if you dislike prologues, this is a great example of how much value they can add—that builds mystery around Medusa’s death, it cuts to the present day. Here, readers meet Aless, the sole point of view character who narrates the book in the first person. If you’ve read my reviews of McCoy’s other books, you’ll know that I’m a massive fan of her first person writing. She imbues so much colour and wit into these stories by writing from the perspective of the protagonist. The book’s writing style connects the reader to the protagonist and provides plenty of laugh out loud moments, none of which ever comes at the expense of the story’s momentum.
While it’s always preferable to have an engaging protagonist, this is doubly important if the story’s being told in the first person. Like all of McCoy’s protagonists, Aless is a wonderful character to follow, someone the reader can’t help but root for. The story’s populated with many other characters who play off Aless well, while being nuanced in their own right. For a novel so seeped in mythology, many of these characters are gods, yet the book doesn’t simply portray them as aloof beings, but three dimensional characters in their own right. Each of the characters has a distinct voice with their dialogue sounding natural, not to mention enjoyable. This serves to stress the characters’ dimensions and make them that much more entertaining to follow.
As you may have noticed at the top of this review, Taking Medusa’s title includes the subtitle Dark Gods Rising. This is the first book in that series, and there is certainly a lot more that can be told with these characters. However, it stands alone well enough that readers will have a complete story when they reach the end. With that said, I expect many readers will want more, which this series promises.
While McCoy has a long history of writing excellent stories, Taking Medusa is her finest book yet. Fantasy fans, mythology fans, and fans of entertaining protagonists will find a lot to love. The prose is wonderfully written, and puts the reader in the head of a fantastic lead character. I’m eagerly anticipating the next Dark Gods Rising tale, and whatever else the author has coming up.
Favourite Passage
She quirked a brow at me. “Not interested in delaying your judgment with a bit of clam slam?”
I choked on the sudden use of phrase, clam slam. Aside from it sounding absolutely ridiculous, it was also closer to a thing she might say to a friend, and not a prisoner.
“Excuse me?”
“Clam slam,” she repeated seriously, like that phrase was normal, and regularly used to refer to sex. Maybe it was with fish creatures, but for someone raised on the land, not so much. “You know, clasping the cloaca, fishing for fins, plundering for pearls, tickling tentacles. Touching all the sensors that make your nerves feel on fire.”
“You mean sex,” I offered, hoping I was catching all the suggestions correctly. I may not have done anything like that before, but I’ve had plenty enough fun myself to get the point.
Taking Medusa: Dark Gods Rising, Chapter Five: “Fishing”
Taking Medusa: Dark Gods Rising was provided by the author for the purpose of an honest review.
Taking Medusa will be available in paperback from retailers, including—but not limited to—Amazon, and in hardcover and eBook (includking Kindle Unlimited), exclusive to Amazon, from 3 October 2023.
You can follow S.M. McCoy online, via:
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Interested in purchasing Taking Medusa: Dark Gods Rising?
Please find a link below; please note I do not collect any proceeds from the sale.
Taking Medusa: A Greek Myth Monster Retelling (Dark Gods Rising Book 1)
wastanley.com 