The Face of Apollo: The First Book of the Gods Saberhagen, Fred, Book of the Gods, 1st.: Amazon.co.uk: Fred Saberhagen: Books

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5 Reviews

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3.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another swords and scorcery epic plus more!, 27 Jul 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Face of Apollo: 1 (Book of the gods) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have been a long time reader of Fred Saberhagen and my all-time favorites from him are the Book of Swords series. Most people will agree with me on this matter because his old series is one of the all time greats in fantasy. This 1st book gives you the feel of those past books with the gods treading the earth, messing with the mere mortal humans and fighting among themselves. The beginning is great with the warring two gods and it just goes towards a climbing climax that is going towards the sci-fi area. That part to me was totally engrossing and will pique your brainstem for more. It gets you thinking - are the gods made from us in some kind of superhuman form? The next book in this series will be eagerly awaited. Lots of movement and action in this with strong characters of all varieties. This is a must read folks!

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4.0 out of 5 stars Future/Past? - An excellent blend of techno/mythology, 26 Jul 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Face of Apollo: 1 (Book of the gods) (Mass Market Paperback)

Saberhagen does his usual excellent job developing his story in a fast paced setting. His use of humans as the vehicle through which the "gods" act is a recurrent theme not just in his work but that of many other authors. The chicken or the egg conundrum also surfaces in the case of the enigmatic human gatekeeper who confesses to his desire to be Apollo and who also indicates that he created the "faces" through which the gods choose their earthly avatars. I smell the distinct odor of the "Emperor of the East" series, one set in a post apocalyptic world sprinkled with so called "gods" and "demons" whose birth is inextricably linked to the destruction of its "golden age" technologically oriented predecessor. I find the main character, Jeremy Redthorn, and his struggle to remain as human as possible to be the highlight of the story. Once again the age old themes of temptation and redemption echo throughout the plot. This is a good book and from all appearances looks to be only the initial work in what is probably a new series.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Great story for adventurous mythology buffs, 8 Mar 1999

By A Customer

Whatever happened the the gods of the Greek pantheon? "The Face of Apollo" explores the lives (as exhibited in memories), "death" and rebirth of the some of the ancient gods and their impact in the lives and minds of mortals. The main character, Jeremy, is overtaken by an Intruder who is in fact the god Apollo. The story develops around the quest of Apollo, in the form of his human avatar Jeremy, to take back the sacred Oracle of Delphi from control by Hades' minions after the "death" of Apollo in a collosal battle...and ultimately to restore the lives of gods and the faith of mortals. It concludes, in an interesting story line, that the gods need humans to in order to "be". This is a lively and entertaining story although some of the secondary characters and story lines were a bit under-developed, in my opinion. A lot of detail was put into developing certain subplots but they seemed to trail off a bit at their conclusions. Regardless of the few minor shortcomings, I enjoyed the story very much.