The Medusa Situation

The Medusa Situation / Gabiann Marin
Bittern, Australia: Clan Destine Press, c2024.
238 p.

This was another random discovery, this time on Hoopla. It's by an Australian author, set in Australia, featuring the classic Greek gods, now dethroned. It's imaginative and entertaining. 

In this world, the Greek gods are living on the edges of society, trying to survive while passing as regular people, not always successfully. They get existence credits by the fact of people believing in them -- in one scene Hera is a bit pissed that other gods ride the pop culture wave and have so many more credits than she does. It's snarky and funny and a pretty consistent set-up. 

The story gets rolling when Hera is approached by Medusa's two sisters to help with a problem; Medusa's head has gone missing again and they think Perseus may be behind it. This is dangerous as Medusa's head can be used as a weapon to turn enemies (and any random humans in the way) into stone. 

A feminist search ensues; Hera is only too glad to get a break from the slovenly, lazy Zeus who just hangs around the house all day watching Mystic TV (and is helpless without her). She and her step-daughter Athena put aside their differences to start investigating, wanting to recover Medusa's head for everyone's security, but also for Medusa's own dignity. 

The story is a romp, with sly nods at a lot of Greek mythology -- if you are familiar with the myths you might be quicker at making a list of suspects, but if you're not you will still be able to follow easily. In the end there is a reason that Medusa's sisters came to Hera and not one of the male gods, and it's Hera's well-known detective skills and slightly vindictive nature that solve the problem. There are discussions of how Medusa was treated, and some serious allegations against some of the characters, so it's not all light. But the story also contains a lot of feminist humour, highlighting how the women in Greek myth were often portrayed as simply decorative or as props to the male gods. Here they stand on their own, and for their own. 

This book might be a little hard to find but if you can get your hands on it, it's a fresh, funny read that I really enjoyed. Hurrah for the Goddesses!