Rinn
Written on Jan 20, 2015
A road trip comedy, based on the works of Homer, featuring gods, monsters and creatures of Greek myth and legend, based in modern day America? I definitely had to request this one!
Helen and Troy’s Epic Road Quest had all the humour I expected. The mythology-based puns, the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) references to previous Greek heroes, legendary ferocious beasts being not quite as tough as expected. It is a silly and fun comedy about a teenage girl, who just happens to also be a minotaur, and a teenage boy who are thrown together by a Lost God to go on a quest and retrieve some artefacts for him. In true heroic quest style, they are given little indication of what to do, where to go and how to get there.
Yet for all its humour, it does actually go a little deeper. Helen’s constant worries about her appearance and how others perceive her, due to her minotaurism, will be relatable to many a reader – although perhaps for reasons other than being a minotaur… She worries about what would happen if her and Troy ended up together, more about how people would see him than her. Both Helen and Troy are genuinely good people, but I didn’t feel I got to know much about them, past the scope of their interest in each other.
However, this was a good and light-hearted read, that I really appreciated due to all the mythology references. Considering my thesis involves classical religion and mythology, it was really nice to read something about it that wasn’t all stuffy and academic! Fans of Greek mythology will especially enjoy this, but I’m pretty sure it will appeal to anyone looking for a road trip story that’s just a bit different.