Mark of Athena is due out in just a couple of weeks.  I'm not going to talk about that, though.  It's just a handy lead-in for me to mention this week's book, one good for guys that might have aged a bit beyond the Rick Riordan series.

For those who love Greek gods in the modern world, the Rick Riordan series are great.  The idea of the Pantheon rampaging across familiar places makes the myths that much cooler.  I mean, how many of us really have any experience in Greece, particular the ancient kind?

The Age of Zeus has the Pantheon returning to the world after being away for a couple thousand years.  Through their might, the world has fallen into peace policed by the familiar ancient beasts and gods.  Of course, they still have their ancient urges: the monster rampage and the gods demand tribute, erupting into their famous rage when they aren't satisfied.

Enter a rich arms dealer who seeks to return the Earth to human rule and a small group of people who have lost everything to the gods.  Together, they form a new team of Titans, based on the original god-killers.  And they, unlike all the resistance movements that came before them, find a way to hurt the Olympians.

As familiar as the Greek myths are, and even though The Age of Zeus is very familiar with these myths, this is an action book first and foremost.  If anything, this feels like a pulp novel or a cheesy sci-fi miniseries.  The Titans are on a mission to destroy the Olympians, and that's all this book is about.

This is fine for teens, but for younger kids, it's a no go: there's some language and mild sexual content, though it's relatively mild.

James Lovegrove has written a couple of other books along the same lines, The Age of Ra (Egypt) and The Age of Odin (Norse).