Herc by Phoenicia Rogerson

‘Loving People. That’s a fucking flaw if you want to be a hero.’ – Phonenicia Rogerson in Herc

Herc is a modernised re-telling of the story of Hercules. It is both queer and feminist, told from the POV of many of the lesser explored characters from the original story.

One of the things that this work did right was giving a voice to the lesser developed, more malleable characters of the Hercules tale. It allowed the author the opportunity to tell a unique story without changing major plot points from the original. Never once does the narrative feel forced or shoe-horned as we are simply just reading through new eyes. We see the love, the admiration, the hate, and the blind devotion that's given to THE Hercules, and, as the foundation for this story is already there, it feels authentic, and is truly captivating.

Although I do like this method of storytelling, the chapters of some of the lesser used, or one off, characters can become a little confusing; I did find myself forgetting who some people were. And the timeline in which the narrative comes together can seem a little over the place; again, I had to read back a couple of times. This slight inconvenience in no way ruined my over all experience, I understand that in order to tell the whole story there had to be a few one of character chapters.

While it has been deemed a unfitting by some, I actually really enjoyed the modernised language used. Although, yes, it can be comical to read a God use the word bro, it brought a certain amount of characterisation to entities really only present for a few paragraphs. They weren't just otherworldly, but you felt their relationship, them being related, with Hercules.

It was quite a triumph to take Hercules's whole story and covert it into a book of a mere 400 pages. Although, at some points, certain key moments did feel a bit rushed, you certainly don't feel cheated; you'll probably already know these moments if you are familiar with the original myth. The end of the story feels earned, you leave the experience satisfied.

If it were to be written again, I'd maybe like just one extra chapter. There's so much loss throughout this book, and so much waiting, that I'd have loved a scene of Hercules and those he loved meeting once more in the underworld; but maybe I'm just greedy!

3/5 Stars