Herc

A Novel

By: Phoenicia Rogerson

Narrated by: Kristin Atherton, Marlowe Chan-Reeves, Loreece Harrison, Maryam Grace, Sebastian Humphreys, Jay Lafayette Valentine, Theo Solomon, Gary Turner, full cast

A queer revisionist retelling of the story of Hercules, for fans of The Song of Achilles, A Thousand Ships and Ariadne.

This should be the story of Hercules: his twelve labours, his endless adventures… everyone’s favorite hero, right?

Well, it’s not.

This is the story of everyone else:

• Alcmene: Herc’s mother (She has knives everywhere)
• Hylas: Herc’s first friend (They were more than friends)
• Megara: Herc’s wife (She’ll tell you about their marriage)
• Eurystheus: Oversaw Herc’s labours (He never asked for the job)
• His friends, his enemies, his wives, his children, his lovers, his rivals, his gods, his victims

It’s time to hear their stories.

Told with humour and heart, Herc gives voice to the silenced characters, in this feminist, queer (and sometimes shocking) retelling of classic Hercules myth.

©2023 Phoenicia Rogerson (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Everyone thinks they know the story of Hercules, but this retelling changes everything. A talented ensemble brings to life those who surround the famed hero.... Each narrator represents a different person connected to Herc; the story unearths secret lovers, violent interactions, buried crimes, and more. This format presents an engaging tapestry of time periods and relationships that are surprisingly funny and frequently heartbreaking. With contemporary language and emotional deliveries, the personal narratives are interspersed with letters and speeches that paint a full picture of the time and lives of all of those involved. Listeners will find themselves immersed." (AudioFile)

LOVE LOVE LOVE

This is a really fun book to listen to. A great take on Hercules' life. We can't be heroes all the time. Sadly, this applies to demigods, too. Performances were amazing. The story was witty and poignant and moved along very well. I simply loved this book and will be looking through the author's catalog for more great stories.

So many stories!

The story of Hercules, or Heracles, is so versatile. He was there for so much in Greek mythology and all the stories seem to have just a bit of Hercules in them. I have been told only a few of the legends that involve him. This is fantastic and I highly suggest to read this if you would like to know more of him.

Perfect Cast of Characters

The story and the tone really come to life through the brilliant cast. It was such an enjoyable listening experience, one of my favorite audiobooks ever!

More than I expected!

This was an absolute thrill to listen to! At the time of this review, mine is only the second and it surprises me greatly, as this will be an audiobook I'll return to again and again. Seeing the Greek stories of Hercules from the perspective of the other people involved was something I did not know I needed. There was not a single time that I disliked the performance of the voice actors. I hope this book skyrockets into the popularity it deserves!

I love Herc as somewhat likable Villain

The voices on this audiobook are wonderful book overall was a fresh took though sometimes was confused at as there a ton of characters and some of names sounds similar but still a nice read !

H

This author says that the best things about myths is you can search for the ones you want to hear and have told.

These are mine when it comes to Hercules and the mythology around him. A character I mostly played as the epitome of toxic masculinity I learned had far more depth than we gave him.

While he is definitely a walking talking toxic masculinity idol he is far more than I ever imagined and I really enjoyed the stories.

I would have read this for the Megara chapter alone though such an incredible story and the person who played Megara does outstandingly well.

Absolutely Fantastic

The cast of narrators were able to create unique, identifiable characters that were compelling and sympathetic. I was able to tell which character was speaking easily, and grew to love even the pompous, arrogant asses. The story of Hercules looms so large over the entire Greek mythos that I did not believe it would be possible to provide more than a cursory glance in only one volume, however, I was wrong. This retelling is poignant, exciting, humorous, and tragic simultaneously. The author's ability to give Herc life through the multitude of vignettes is incredible. I am a huge fan of myth-retellings and this one just shot to the top of my list. I'll be relistening to this book again and again, and I expect that I will cry each time.

favorite audiobook of the year!!!

Up there with the best of the best greek retellings, with a bit of humor, in a style reminiscent of Natalie Haynes Stone Blind. Loved the full cast of narrators. Loved it so much I’m ordering myself a hard copy book to reread immediately. When a book like this comes along, you might even thank your insomnia and nighttime anxiety for keeping you awake, immersed in such a beautifully crafted tale.

Meh

I'm maybe half way through and really not impressed. I love historical fiction. The retelling of myths is fascinating to me. I think I've been spoiled by Natalie Haynes and Madeline Miller. This book is not on that level. The overall tone is demeaning and schoolyard bully. I'll suffer through the rest, but only because I paid for it.

FALSE ADVERTISING 1/5

I was devastated to find that, after being described as a “feminist” and “queer revisionist” take on Hercules a majority of the narration was done from a male perspective. Having a few queer characters in a story does not make it queer revisionist as this should offer a radical new retelling with illuminating points of view. It does quite the opposite. How can you confidently label a text as “feminist” and compare it to novels like “Circe” and “A Thousand Ships,” only to tell it from male perspectives? There are so few female voices throughout the story. Why are we reading from Amphitryon’s perspective rather than that of his wife, victim of Zeus, and mother of Hercules? How is his perspective feminist and/or revisionist if he narrates a woman’s experiences? A man speaking in place of a woman is all we know of Greek myth already. I was very disappointed and only listened until I had a new audible credit and could escape.

Separate note, I didn’t enjoy the writing style. If you don’t enjoy casual writing in retelling classics, I imagine this would not be enjoyable for you either. The nicknaming and the use of cursing in a modern manner just takes you out of the historical context. My main example of when this was just awful would be that a character says, and I quote, “f*ck sh*t”. It just feels too modern to me and, frankly, underwhelming.