The Complete Mythos Series eBooks

***As a special thank you for ordering from my web store, I am including original digital art created by fantasy artist A. Christou ($15 value)**

Do you love fast-paced fantasy?

Those fabulous Greeks and their ancient myths?

Want to see a high-school dude perform the 12 Labors of Hercules?

Then my Mythos Series is for you! As a fantasy writer, I'm a sucker for myths and  the Greek ones are my faves. Who doesn't love monsters put together by committee? Or gods so fickle they may change their minds before you finish this sentence? These are among my inspirations for Nick and the trials he faces over the course of the books.

The Twelve Labors of Nick  

We meet Nicholas ("Nick") Chironopolous, a high-schooler tired of being bullied for his dark Greek skin. Then his whole life alters when his absent dad shows up: turns out he’s Chiron, head of all centaurs. Nick is whisked to Mýthos and plopped before a temple. His mission? To battle Typhon, Father of Monsters, who makes Cthulhu look like your pet hedgehog. Can he, along with Medusa, get rid of Typhon’s kids before their dad awakens?

***This order is for all three books in the trilogy. PLUS, for ordering on my web store, I'm throwing in three custom digital paintings for free (a $15 value)!***

The Further Labors of Nick 

Nick returns to Mythos, where he's asked to judge a dangerous contest: Who is the fairest of three goddesses? Of course, the losers hate him and Zeus, not thrilled at the prospect of Chiron's son hooking up with Medusa, gives Nick nine more tough Labors. 

What's different about this series?

So why Nick and why the books' main creatures, centaurs? I've always been horse-crazy, and up until recently, owned two of my own. 

Okay, what about Hercules? His Labors include everything I love about Greek myth: an exceptional, burly Hero; terrible monsters; the precursor to Wonder Woman; gods taking sides, and not one, but TWO barns that need serious cleaning!

On top of all that, I was able to address one of the biggest injustices in literature and give Medusa her due. 

My fantasy pulp hero is Conan creator Robert E. Howard, and my Mythos books are filled with enough adventure to make him give a whoop from a typewriter!

The Starry Labors of Nick 

Now eighteen, Nick tries to cope with the burdens of adulthood. Everything's cool until he attends a wedding where all Hades breaks loose. After Athena snatches his Helen, Nick must gather his allies and re-perform his Labors: this time in the form of constellations!

The world of Mythos

It's a world created by Zeus featuring the best of ancient Greece. Since there's no fixed timeline, Plato can party with Pythagoras, and all the great ancient buildings--from the Parthenon to the Stadium at Olympia--are shown at the height of their glory. 

Of course, monsters are everywhere, and the gods rule over men. Back in the day, the Greeks sailed far, with outposts in North Africa, Malta, and Turkey, and you get to see these too.

Each of the books is standalone and has a satisfying ending. They do build on one another, but you can read them separately or even out of order if that's the way you roll.

Original art by Antonios Christou

Nick

Nikólaos ("Nick") Chironopolous is seventeen and the target of bullies at school. His dad is a total mystery—Nick's never set eyes on him. As he grows up, he finds himself drawn to horses. He makes up for being a wimp by being fast and funny, and gets along great with his mom. For his dad, though, he has only anger. But once Chiron shows up, Nick grudgingly learns to respect him. In Mythos, he grows up fast: finding romance for the first time and becoming Athena's favorite!

SAMPLE:

Chapter 1

Saved by a Song

“Freak,” snarled Bob, his bulging arms, made hard from football, just inches from Nick’s face.

“Beaner,” said Bill, punching Nick so hard he slammed into a locker. “We build walls to keep you Spics out.”

“I am not Latino,” Nick groaned, rubbing his now-bruised shoulder. “I told you before—I’m Greek.”

“Then move to the Valley,” said Josh, spitting out that word. “Plenty of your kind there.”

“I’ll live where I want,” said Nick, defiant despite his pain. “And so will Latinos. Free country, right?”

“Not for you,” said Bob, and the beatdown began for real. A quick left to Nick’s throbbing shoulder, a right jab to his gut, and down he went . . . for the third time this year.

Nick tried to cover his face but his arms were pulled down.

What could he do? he wondered. Three against one was no fair: and these guys were all massive jocks. Just sit there and take it, he guessed, as a trickle of blood bounced down to his chin. He could feel his eye swell, which meant questions from mom about why he was so “clumsy.”

But what, Nick thought, if he just told her the truth?

That he, Nikólaos Chironopolous, was being bullied by white boys in their beach town of Palos Rojas. That he wasn’t rich or cool enough to hang with a guy named Josh and should move to the Valley where his skin color wouldn’t matter.

Whatevs, Nick said to himself as Bob prepared to strike. Just let it be over soon . . .

It was then that he could have sworn he saw something with his good eye. Through a visible blast of air midway down the hall, a young woman emerged. Of course, she couldn’t be real; since she was naked, a hottie, with wings instead of arms. She walked, rather than flew, the short distance to Nick, and, once at close range, gave him a little wink.

“You don’t have to plug your ears,” she said.

“Huh?”

She opened her mouth and began to sing. To Nick, it was like the L.A. Phil mixed with a chorus of angels, a melody so sweet that, despite his pain, he exhaled in bliss.

But his classmates must have heard the song differently. They held their hands to their ears, screaming like teens in a horror flick. Then, they ran, tripping over one another’s Vans to get away. The woman, as beautiful as a goddess, gave Nick a smile as her hair blew into his face.

“I must go back,” she said. Spreading her wings wide, she flew back down the hall—and through that curtain of air.

“What?” Nick asked, getting up like his uncle Theo, who was ninety-eight. He even groaned like an old man.

Had what he’d seen been real? Or had he passed out, only to come to when the jocks had had their “fun”? It must be that, he thought, limping to get some water from a fountain that actually worked. Thrusting in a hand, he washed the blood from his face.

Man, he thought, I wish I could graduate now, but he was still a junior. That meant two more years of torture: of watching his back all the time and studying for three AP’s. Also, training for track, with a big meet every weekend. Like all the kids he knew, Nick felt super-stressed. In a world of seven billion, you had to stand out, and that meant going to Harvard—or, at the least, Yale. Then you’d get to pay off debt for like the rest of your life. Why? Nick wondered. For a three-story house in the suburbs, two-point-four kids and a dog?

“I don’t know,” he sighed to the now-empty hall. He scraped up his backpack and headed out to a place he liked: The Lil’ Pardner Stables.

*****

It wasn’t far, so Nick biked. Since he didn’t own a car and no buses came up this hill, that was how he rolled. He pedaled past some wild peacocks, hoping they wouldn’t see him, since, if they did, they’d scream like ambulance sirens.

Nick leaned his bike against a three-rail corral. There was Doug, a regular at Lil’ Pardner, proudly sitting his pony.

“What’s up?” Nick asked, giving him a big smile though it hurt his bruised mouth.

“Nicky!” Doug yelled, giving him a salute.

Nick waved back. Doug was a Downs kid who came to the barn for therapy. It really seemed to be helping, since Doug loved to tell everyone of his latest feat, like haltering the pony himself!

Nick headed toward the red barn, his trainers crunching on rocks. When he opened the door, all the horses nickered.

“Okay, okay,” he said, digging into his pockets for some Mrs. Pasture’s Cookies.

He fended off eager muzzles as he passed them around.

 “Hey, Blackie,” Nick said, patting the Thoroughbred’s nose. “How’s it goin’, Sophie?” he asked a white-maned mare. “You being good, Johnny?” The black gelding, now thirty, vacuumed up two cookies. “You guys like these, huh?”

Nick stared at his palm which held a last treat. Well, he’d always been curious. Glancing around to make sure he was still alone, he took a tentative nibble. Not bad, he thought, just a little crunchy. He gave the remainder to Johnny.

“Guys,” he announced to heads hanging out of stalls. “I think I’m losing my mind.”

Sophie shook her thick mane as if to disagree. Blackie and Johnny just stood there.

“Right,” said Nick, picking up a small shovel. “I saw a Bird Babe today—no biggie.” Blackie gave a horse laugh. “She saved me from the ER. And-and then she spoke.” He shook his head with regret. “I shoulda taken a selfie.”

Johnny showed his large teeth in what could have been a horse smile. As Nick cleaned out his stall, he felt a pain in his gut. It wasn’t about the work: Nick loved being here as much as Doug. What attracted him was the musty smell of horses; their sweet, hay-scented breath; the way they put their head on his shoulder like a comforting friend. Though each weighed more than a ton, Nick wasn’t scared, even when squeezed, as he was, into a stall with two of them. To him, they seemed more humane than people, without the power of speech to insult and hurt him.

Of course, Nick thought, he’d even been bullied over his love of horses: since this was “for girls,” he’d been called “fag” and “gay” more times than he could remember. Whatev, Nick shrugged. He couldn’t help his fondness for equines any more than he could being Greek, and though he sometimes cursed his dark skin, hair, and eyes; his Mom was so proud of their heritage that she made him proud too. Why let a tribe of white guys diss one of the world’s coolest cultures?

“Screw ‘em,” said Nick as Johnny nuzzled his face. Maybe after college, he’d have horses of his own, if he could rake in the Benjamins.

Nick picked up his phone: texted Mom that he wouldn’t be home for dinner. He knew she didn’t like that, but, after today, he needed some alone time. Besides, he wanted to postpone the dreaded talk about his eye.

Nick lay down on a hay bale, ignoring its knotted twines. His whole body ached, and he should probably see a doctor. Not now, he thought, closing his eyes and dozing. When he woke up, it was five—time to feed the horses. He distributed flakes of alfalfa and handfuls of oats. As the horses neighed their thanks, Nick realized that he was hungry. He tried a stalk from the bale, then another.  Not bad, he thought. Does this make me some type of vegan?

The sun set around eight, and, though P.R. was part of L.A., it was the coastal part and could get cold at night. Nick pulled on his hoodie and started to wipe down some tack. Even his right hand hurt.

Nothing is forever, he thought, not knowing just where that had come from. Then he felt, rather than saw, a whisper of wind which announced something new in the barn.

“Bird Babe?” Nick asked hopefully.

It wasn’t.

Nick wheeled from his task. Standing outside the stalls was a new, majestic horse—but only in the back. His front half was just as human as . . . as Nick himself. Frozen with cloth in hand, Nick shook his head to clear it. Nope: that thing was still there.

“Greetings, Nikólaos,” said the creature. “I don’t want to go all D. Vader on you, but I am your father.”

REVIEWS:

A Great new take on a Favorite Greek Myth

For fans of Rick Riordan's stories this is a must read. Nick is a normal teenager until the truth of his parentage is reveled and then all Hades breaks loose A fun story, for me a quick read. I found the emphasis on Greek mythology to be refreshing as opposed to using Roman names. So long live Heracles (the original) not the two-bit Hercules (the copy). I highly recommend this book for the teen reader and those young at heart. I hope that Nicks adventures continue soon 5/5 -- Amazon

Holy Helios - What A Book!

When I was a young teenager, and first saw Harryhausen's stop-action work on the movie about the 12 labors of Hercules, it sent me delving into mythology and learning about the myths of the gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome. So, when I got the chance to read a new retelling, I jumped at it.

Aimed at the age of the kid I was, Nikólaos (“Nick”) Chironopolous is bullied for being different. His only solace is the Lil’ Pardner stables, where he hangs with his best friends the horses. He just wants to get out of the area, go to college and make life easier for he and his Mom. Until, the secret she's been hiding, literally appears in front of him. His father, Chiron, the head of all centaurs, comes to take him to someplace called Mythos to save the heavens and earth from Typhon. But, he's a kid; can he do it? Better yet, will he?

This is a fast fun read that beats Rick Riordan' myth reworkings with a trident! Where Riordan bores my young family members, this is a kid their age; one they can really connect with. I can hardly wait to share this with them! Highly age appropriate and recommended. 5/5 -- Amazon