Song of Forever - Michele Amitrani - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Michele Amitrani
SERIES: Rebels of Olympus, #1
GENRE: Greek Myth Retelling
PUBLICATION DATE: January 24, 2022
RATING: 4.25 stars.

With “Song of Forever”, Michele Amitrani creates an intriguing addition to his ‘Rebels of the Underworld’ series. The first two books had brought to us the tales of two well-known rebels—Persephone (in Scion of Gaia) and Sisyphus (in King of Defiance). This third story brings us yet another figure who revolted against the Gods, attempting the previously unheard-of task of getting a soul back from the Underworld. Can you take a guess at who this brave fellow was?

The “song” in the title ought to point at his identity – the most famous musician of the Greek myths, the one who was known for charming all things living and non-living with his magical playing of the lyre, the son of the muse Calliope, the talented and ultimately heartbroken Orpheus. What he is most known for is his brave decision of going into the Underworld of Hades and asking for his wife Eurydice to be returned to him.

As is the trademark of Amitrani’s stories, the story of this lost love and desperate attempt at a reunion doesn’t come straight from the protagonist’s perspective. Rather, he chooses a relatively unknown mythological figure as his narrator: Macaria, the daughter of Persephone and Hades. I had heard absolutely nothing of Macaria, and a Google search revealed that she's the little known goddess of blessed death. (This teeny fact is used well in this story.) To read Orpheus’s story from her point of view was stimulating. The book also touches upon the difficulties faced by the young princess while being a good judge of the shadows. She wants to know more about the mortal realm and its denizens, but her crown weighs heavily on her novice shoulders.

It was an unusual reading experience of an Amitrani work this time as I received not just a different spin on a known legend but also an insight into a person hardly ever heard of in the Greek myths. Though the title focusses on Orpheus as the ‘rebel of the underworld’, he is present only in a few scenes, thereby making you wonder who the actual rebel is – Orpheus or Macaria. After all, both challenge the underworld in their own way, and the story does justice to both of them.

I was intrigued by the portrayal of Persephone in this story. Ironically, she was the protagonist of the first “Rebels of the Underworld” book, which had shown her kidnapping by Hades from a novel perspective. This latest book shows how she has moulded herself in the role of the queen of the underworld, harder in heart and stronger in personality and yet vulnerable as a parent. I both loved and hated this royal version of Persephone.

Overall, this novella is an amazing addition to the series and I would definitely recommend to fans of Greek mythology. It would help if you are already familiar with Greek myths because this story presupposes a certain amount of knowledge.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author at my request and these are my honest thoughts about it.

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