- Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Tor Fantasy; First Edition edition (April 15 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0812566807
- ISBN-13: 978-0812566802
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 10.7 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 172 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,581,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Mutant livestock such as mastodroms and cameloids roam a land very like Greece, where Saberhagen places a mild retelling (with obligatory debunking from the hero's viewpoint) of the Hercules legends. Our hero here has admittedly superhuman strengthAbeing an acknowledged son of ZeusAbut is humble about his prowess, leadership skills and even appearance. His famous first task, the killing of the Nemean lion, occurs in the course of a normal chore assigned to troublesome youths: guarding remote herds. Other tasks he stumbles into by even greater chance, while more are assigned by Hermes, the messenger of the gods. But Hercules regards the codified list of his 12 Labors as ranging from misinterpretation to complete fabrication by his fans. Saberhagen, the veteran author of some three dozen novels, including a series featuring Count Dracula and the SF Berserker books, sticks fairly close to familiar territory, offering a classical fantasy with centaurs and rare but convincing appearances by the gods. He drops a few unsatisfying hints that magic and divinity are based on an unexplained technology (one word, "odylic," describing this mysterious technology, dates from 1850: briefly, this seems to be a clue, but goes nowhere). This tale will satisfy those who like hero stories, but the book, third in a series (The Face of Apollo; Ariadne's Web), lacks the frisson possible to SF with plausible explanations, as well as the power of some other retellings. (Dec.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
The third of the Books of the Gods continues Saberhagen's exploration of classical mythology as a springboard for fantasy. In it, Hercules is an experiment of Zeus'--a type of mortal hero who can survive to champion the gods in their battle with the Titans. From his mid-teens, Hercules proves that Zeus knew what he was doing. Hercules lacks heroic stature, but he has street smarts, along with magical strength and magical invulnerability. He progresses through his various labors and other adventures over the years, with Saberhagen sometimes interestingly varying some of them, such as Hercules' aborted attempt to accompany the Argonauts. As the book proceeds to its climax, Apollo and Theseus arrive from previous volumes of Saberhagen's series. Finally, there is the long-anticipated battle with the Titans. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
I do not sing this story, for I have neither the patience nor the voice to hold an audience. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I do not sing this story, for I have neither the patience nor the voice to hold an audience. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad,
By "scorchen" (Lyman, Wyoming United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Arms of Hercules (Paperback)
This was actually alot better than the previous one. I read it clear through. Its a good read. And educational too..
3.0 out of 5 stars
Another Solid effort by Mr. Fred Saberhagen,
By Erik "grey0000" (Norwalk, ct United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Arms of Hercules (Paperback)
As an avid reader of the genre fantasy, i have come upon the books of Fred Saberhagen. I have read some other books by him like the "Lost Swords" books and "Merlin's Bones". Having read books 1 and 2 of "The book of the Goods" Book three is another interesting and exciting episode in this solid series by Saberhagen.
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love it,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Arms of Hercules (Paperback)
This bookwas mazing not only did it show great signs of adventures, love, and imagination. it explained the courage of hercules and reading this bok has given me a great new respectfor the hero in fact!!!!!
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