On tour with Skies of Olympus (Skies of Olympus, #1) by Eliza Raine and Meet the Author

You know how I love mythology, and this one is very clear about it. The start of a very interesting series indeed.

Skies of Olympus (Skies of Olympus, #1) by Eliza Raine is a Fantasy, Mythology, Young Adult.

Twelve deadly Trials. A race for immortality. Her last chance for revenge.
Olympus is a beautiful but dangerous place, controlled by twelve Gods wielding unlimited power. Now they have devised the ultimate entertainment; a chance for their favourites to compete in twelve trials to win the ultimate prize – immortality.

Lyssa didn’t think the Gods knew who she was, until she was chosen to try out for the Trials with the crew of her old but beloved smugglers ship, the Alastor. For her the Trials are about much more than an eternal life. They’re about stopping the monster from her past gaining the one thing that would put her revenge out of reach forever. Can she face her murderous father and stop him from becoming immortal?

Join Lyssa and her crew alongside giants, centaurs, satyrs and Gods in the first of twelve episodes of this brand new YA Fantasy retelling. This is Greek mythology like you’ve never read before.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45439662-skies-of-olympus

AUTHOR BIO: Eliza Raine lives near Reading in England with her husband, three cats and outrageously cute puppy. She has a BA Hons in History and has a deep-rooted passion for all types of mythology and stories about women who don’t need rescuing.
She can usually be found reading fairytale retellings, playing board games or binge-watching Netflix shows.

I asked Eliza which God or Goddess is her favorite, and here’s what she told me.

It’s so tough to have favourites! My instinct is Athena, for a whole bunch of reasons. She was hard as nails for a start, as well as smart, and (as far as Olympian gods go) fair and honest. She has quite a crazy birth story too. Zeus got his mentor, Metis, pregnant, then panicked that there would be bad consequences, so he tricked her into turning into a fly and then ate her. As you do. Metis didn’t die though, and she hammered out a load of armour for her growing child, causing Zeus an epic headache. Eventually he asked Hephaestus to cleave his head open with an axe, and Athena stepped out, fully grown, wearing armour and wielding a spear. She ended up being Zeus’s favourite child. Her symbol is an owl, which meant wisdom in ancient Greece (because they could see in the dark). An owl was said to sit on her blind side to help her always see the truth.
I also love Poseidon, because I love the ocean. The idea of riding a chariot through the waves, wild sea horses in front of you and a glowing trident at your side… It’s unbelievably cool. But Poseidon wasn’t really very nice to women, much like Zeus and Apollo, so it’s hard to say he’s a favourite.
Purely due to my own love of wine, I have to give Dionysus a shout out. He was also God of madness and there are some really crazy stories about him. Hermes has the most interesting back story though; in the week he was born he invented the lyre, stole Apollos cattle and even impressed Zeus with his lies and trickery, all as a baby!
Some of the Olympians are a bit boring, like Hephaestus and Demeter. Most modern stories drop Demeter from the list of Olympians, and replaced her with Hades – who didn’t actually live on Mount Olympus (I have in my stories).
In a lot of the stories Aphrodite is actually quite a cruel goddess and is almost as jealous as Hera. My favourite myth is the story of Eros and Psyche (Eros is the Greek name for Cupid, Aphrodite’s son). Even though her son loved Psyche, Aphrodite was so jealous of Psyche’s beauty that she beat and tortured her and forced her to perform impossible, brutal tasks that kept her from Eros. Eventually Zeus stepped in and took charge but the goddess of love is definitely one to watch out for. You wouldn’t want to be on her bad side!

Author links: https://www.elizaraine.com/

https://www.instagram.com/elizaraineauthor/

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https://www.facebook.com/elizaraineauthor

This post is part of a bigger tour with more about the author and the book. You can find the schedule here (http://xpressobooktours.com/2019/04/23/tour-sign-up-skies-of-olympus-by-eliza-raine/).