My book reviews for The Labors of Gen Dulogy by Rachel Menard, including Game of Strength and Storm, and Clash of Fate and Fury.  Please be aware that the review for the second book contains spoilers.

Victory is the only option.

Once a year, the Olympian Empresses grant the wishes of ten people selected by a lottery—for a price. Seventeen-year-old Gen, a former circus performer, wants the freedom of her father, who was sentenced to life in prison for murders she knows he didn’t commit. Castor plans to carry the island Arcadia into the future in place of her brother, Pollux, but only after the Empresses force a change in her island’s archaic laws that require a male heir.

To get what they want, Gen and Castor must race to complete the better half of ten nearly impossible labors. They have to catch the fastest ship in the sea, slay the immortal Hydra, defeat a gangster called the Boar, and capture the flesh-eating Mares, among other deadly tasks.

Gen has her magic, her ability to speak to animals, her inhuman strength—and the help of Pollux, who’s been secretly pining for her for years. But Castor has her own gifts: the power of the storms, along with endless coin. Only one can win. The other walks away with nothing—if she walks away at all.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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Game of Strength and Storm is a brilliant reimagining of Greek mythology, transferring the mythological tales into a sprawling fantasy world where characters and creatures of legend inhabit islands. Every aspect of the world-building is shaped from Greek mythology, right down to the landscapes and fauna. As someone who has always been drawn to mythology, and Greek in particular, I fell in love with the world Menard created very quickly.

Her characters are just as likeable, with Gen the half Mazon (Menard’s version of Amazons) placed in the role of hero, and Castor in the role of anti-hero. Both have a unique set of abilities, and when they both use their lottery wish to ask the Empresses for something life-changing, the Empresses are eager to get something out of the deal. The thought of placing the two young women up against each other in a test is too good to resist. Gen and Cas find themselves with a choice: walk away with nothing or complete the impossible list of tasks that the other lottery winners have requested from the Empresses. And for good measure, the Empresses have thrown in a few others, such as killing the hydra.

If this is sounding a bit familiar, it should. Game of Strength and Storm is a genderbent retelling of the labours of Hercules. The tasks that Gen and Cas have to complete are pulled straight from the myth; however, that’s where the similarity ends. This is a whole new story, and while there are some similarities between Hercules and Gen’s story (mass murder and a link to family appear in both), they are very different otherwise. The story of what happened with Gen’s family is heartbreaking, and the history that Menard has woven for the Mazons is hauntingly beautiful.

Likewise, Cas’s story cuts just as deep. I called her the anti-hero of this story, and circumstances beyond her control have forced her into that role. She’s a headstrong woman in the last patriarchal holdout, the only Island where succession goes to the next male heir and female offspring are pawns to be married off for influential and political gains. Despite spending years trying to prove to her father that she’s the woman for the job, her father refuses to budge and still only sees her for her gender. Cas is also attracted to women rather than men, so her island’s archaic laws will trap her in a loveless marriage, no matter who the match is with.

As you can imagine, Cas’s father is not going to be best pleased when he finds out what Cas is trying to do, so it’s not just her freedom and future that are on the line. She’s on a clock to outrun her father’s fury and his goons, and she’s got the money, influence and storm powers to do it. No one is getting in her way. Enter Pollux, aka Lux, her twin, and this is where things get very interesting. Normally, at this point in the story, it’s obvious where this is going to go: sibling rivalry. It was refreshing to have a sibling actually care about the other and meddle to prevent their sibling from winning for wholesome reasons.

Lux doesn’t care about being in charge of their family’s powerful company; he doesn’t want to inherit. He just wants to be left alone to do his own thing, which is completely different to what his father and sister believe their ability to capture and bottle storms should be. The family has been selling the weather to the highest bidder for three generations now, including weaponising it, and Lux has found his own unique way of using their abilities, which they do not recognise. Both of them have written him off entirely; however, he’s the male heir, and tradition dictates that he will inherit. He would much rather have nothing to do with it; however, Lux sees it as the only way to undo the mistakes and tragedies that his family have had a hand in. That’s if he can stop Cas from winning, but before that, he has to save her from their father’s wrath.

The fact that it allows him to help Gen, the famous circus performer he fell in love with long ago, is, of course, just a bonus 😉

A Game of Strength and Storm is a complicated mix of romance (both heterosexual and sapphic) and is about letting go of the past and learning to trust again. Both romances are very different from each other, with one being a very slow burn and sweet. It made me feel quite nostalgic as it was reminiscent of that teen crush feeling. It’s that they do love me, they don’t love me, picking petals off a flower, feeling. The person you’ve watched across the room in classes for years who finally realises you exist and starts to talk to you. Then the other one is love/passion at first sight, you know they’re the one for you as soon as you meet them. They’re cheeky, you flirt, nothing happens until it does, and those sparks you wondered if you imagined blow up in a big way. Both romances felt so genuine, which I often feel is missing from young adult novels.

There is so much packed into this book; it’s fast-paced, but it is well-paced. The book is told from three perspectives: Gen, Castor and Pollux. It has a wonderful mix of secondary characters who have great backstories of their own. Most of these are creatures who, through Gen’s abilities, are able to talk to her, and the way Menard has brought their communication and personalities to life is fantastic. It brings such a fun element to a novel that deals with so many serious themes.

Seventeen-year-old Gen may have rescued her beloved father from prison, but she hasn’t saved him yet. If she fails her end of a bargain with the Olympian Empresses, they will send him right back to his cell. To keep the Empresses happy, Gen must bring them the legendary golden apples of Hesperides and the monstrous Cerberus. But both are rumored to be in the neighboring Elysium Empire, which has a long history of war with Olympia. Making matters worse, Gen’s former enemy and newly designated heir to the isle of Arcadia Castor invites herself on the journey, hoping a golden apple could end Arcadia’s reliance on Illumium for storm vials. And Castor’s twin brother, Gen’s StormMaker boyfriend Pollux, has been pulling away from Gen due to troubles stemming from her mind magic. With Castor’s pirate-thief girlfriend and Pollux’s servant companion in tow, the unlikely team embarks on its voyage. But war is only an insult away in Elysium, and more than the Emperor has their eyes on Gen’s mission. The quest has caught the attention of one of Elysium’s Oracles, and trouble is sure to brew with Prophecy on the rise.

Today is my spot on the TBR and Beyond Tours blog tour for Clash of Fate and Fury by Rachel Menard, the sequel to Game of Strength and Storm (review here). I was very excited to read what was next in store for Gen, Lux, Castor and their companions as they head off to complete more impossible tasks in this Greek mythology-inspired fantasy.

This tour is hosted by the wonderful TBR and Beyond Tours, and you can view the full schedule for the tour with a list of everyone taking part in the blog tour here!

At the end of Game of Strength and Storm, Gen was faced with the shocking reality that the Olympian Empresses had set her up. Despite winning their impossible competition and defeating the hydra, a feat no one else had ever accomplished, they named her rival Castor the winner and denied Gen her prize: her father’s freedom. The Empresses give Gen another opportunity to save her father, another two tasks more impossible than the last. All she has to do is bring them the legendary golden apples of Hesperides and the monstrous Cerberus, both of which are in the Elysium Empire. The Olympian Empire has an uneasy truce with the Elysium Empire after a history of war, and Gen knows that her actions will undoubtedly provoke another war. But with her father out of prison and now in the Empress’s “care”, she has no choice.

Meanwhile, Castor is not enjoying her win as much as she expected. Her father, the current Duke of Arcadia, is fighting her at every turn and refusing to pass power over to her despite the Empress’s decree. When Cas’ actions from her competition with Gen in the previous book come back to haunt her she hatches a daring plan, one that aligns her path with her twin Pollux (Lux) and his girlfriend Gen. While Cas can’t stand Gen, and she’s never got along with her Lux, she needs them both if she’s going to pull off her plan and save Arcadia from financial ruin.

Joining these three in Clash of Fate and Fury are other characters we met in the first book: Bale, Lux’s servant who is much more than he seems, Adikia, a mischievous pirate who helps them sail to the Elysium Empire and Flek, a Deaf MetalBender whose metal magic is crucial to their quest. That’s the human characters, and there’s, of course, Gen’s animal companions: the grumpy and troublesome purple-haired dog Chomp and her curious young whale Andromeda.

The stakes were high in the first book, and in Clash of Fate and Fury, Menard has taken them even higher. Our unconventional group has to find a way to work together in unfamiliar territory where they know no one and have everything to lose if they fail. The result is a book filled with adventure, danger and great character dynamics. There’s more than one type of “clash” happening in this book, from the characters to the two empires and much more. All of which is set in the Geek myth-inspired world that Menard has created. I loved her world-building in the first book, and in this one, we get to see even more.

I sometimes find that sequels that promise higher stakes don’t necessarily deliver; however, Menard certainly does in Clash of Fate and Fury. There’s plenty of action, real risk and consequences that leave even the most stubborn of characters shaken.

There’s a lot packed into this sequel, and I enjoyed the introduction of the new characters, Adikia and Flek, as permanent team members. Both were interesting characters in the first book, but only played brief roles, and their presence on the mission allowed Menard to explore a lot of different angles. Notable for me was Flek being from an Island where all living creatures were born without the ability to hear, an evolutionary response to the deadly shrieking caterpillars on the Island. He is asked to come on the mission because he’s the only MetalBender they know, and during their time together, everyone learns how to lip-read and speak his language, Croecian (sign language). I was impressed in the first book that Menard had not just included a disabled character, but created an entire culture and civilisation that is disabled, and it was great to see more of Flek in this book.

Likewise, regarding representation, Adikia appeared briefly in Game of Strength and Storm, and there was some romantic tension between her and Cas. The synopsis already names her as Cas’ girlfriend, so it’s not a spoiler for me to say that the tension continues in Clash of Fate and Fury.

I didn’t realise that this was a duology, so the ending felt a bit abrupt to me at first simply because I wasn’t expecting it. On the one hand, I wish we were getting more adventures of these characters as I feel that there are many more stories to be told. However, I can see why Menard chose to end it where she did. Another set of quests, despite being true to the lore of Hercules, would have felt a little too ridiculous and tedious, especially considering the situation.

Overall, Clash of Fate and Fury had everything I wanted in it, and while I’m sad to see these characters go, it’s a fond farewell and a thumbs up from me!

Thanks for reading my book reviews for the Labors of Gen duology by Rachel Menard!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my reviews if you’re looking for some more book recommendations 🙂 You can also now sign up for my newsletter to get an email each month with a list of my new reviews!

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