By Kayleigh Kavanagh© March 28, 2024
File size: 3.0 MB
313 pages
ASIN: B0CZFCCW81
Secrets of Olde: The Hades Interview is exactly that: an interview. Hades has had it up to here with the humans getting his story wrong, so he wants to set the record straight: He did not kidnap his wife.
That’s where the story begins, but it meanders far and wide from there, sidetracking into many and varied fascinating subjects that kept me reading. I love in-depth discussions about faith, Spirit, truth/myth, and many other Deep Subjects, and that’s exactly where this interview goes. Hades reveals that the gods (all of them—Zeus, Persephone, Demeter, Poseidon, even Fate) are not what we puny humans have come to believe. They’re fallible, they’re learning (just like we are, but better/faster/longer/more), and they don’t always see eye-to-eye.
Author Kayleigh Kavanagh did a good job of depicting Hades (and, through his words, the other gods as well) as the Greeks did, magnanimous and powerful yes, but with uncertainties, obsessions, and occasional bickering. In this story, we see Hades’ sharp edges, but also his soft side, his love for nature, and for bees in particular. I loved that part of his character!
We also learn that the Underworld is cold, not hot, that Hades is not cruel or vindictive (mostly), that he’s good at his job of tending the souls in his care, and that he takes it very seriously. Part of the interview delves into what sorts of things would get a person sent to his domain as opposed to the Summerland, and it isn’t always what you think. In another segment, the interviewer, Zara, asks Hades if demons are evil, to which he replies that it depends on your point of view, that what’s good for the fish is not good for the bear. There’s so much more, all of it deep and intriguing, but the path leading into the forest of these fascinating topics is a winding one and can’t be easily described. It must be experienced/read to get the full meaning and context.
The entire story is told through Hades’ point of view. Zara is a medium, which he thinks explains why she can communicate with and “see” him so well. Also, he’s comfortable with her, because he’s known her since she was a child. In and among the deeper points of their conversation, they bicker and argue like siblings. At one point, Hades even sticks out his tongue at her. It fit the scene. Throughout, he has moments of uncertainty, and others where he is adamant and passionate about a subject—for example, the fact that humans are destroying their own world, and don’t seem to care.
Since this entire book is an interview between two people, it is all dialogue or internal processing in Hades’ mind. It does delve here and there into what Zara calls “Story Mode,” wherein she is writing the scenes for the book she intends to produce from this interview. These are in the form of revised myths, which is a really cool idea. The whole story is, in fact, a reenvisioning of the Hades stories overall, and of the world of the gods. But outside any excitement contained within those segments, the book’s pacing is slow. Thought-provoking. Deep. There isn’t a lot of excitement, no real thrills other than the intellectual kind. There is even very little description. We have no idea, really, where Hades and Zara are, except that they’re in her dwelling (I think). Occasionally, Hades references a cushion color, or the fact that he’s wearing jeans or a suit. Once or twice, he mentions a loose thread on the sofa. Other than that, we have no visual concept of the scene. Personally, I think that would have elevated the story a bit, helped to anchor me in the scene, and set the mood.
I will say that Secrets could have used a little more editing. While these little details did catch my attention and pull me out of the story somewhat, they weren’t enough to stop me reading. In fact, I intend to go back and read this again, because some of these chapters and conversations require deeper thought and introspection.
This is not a “thrills and adventure” book that will drag you into a fantasy world and make you forget, for a time, the issues of the world around you. In fact, this book promotes even deeper thoughts about that world and how we fit into it. It’s an intellectual deep dive into philosophical dialogue likely to prompt new ways of thinking that will linger and perhaps even promote change. Recommended for those who enjoy exploration of “truths” and questioning established “realities.”