by Christopher Ford
ages: 11+

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Review copy provided by the publisher

First off: this is the second in a series. I have no idea how I ended up on a list to have this one sent to me — I didn’t request it! — but I’m sure glad I did. I’m definitely going to find the first one now.

For this reason alone: it is one of the more clever interpretations of mythology that I’ve seen in a long, long time.

It’s been forever and a day since I’ve read the Odyssey, and I don’t remember squat from it. The good news: you don’t really need to have read it to enjoy this one. In fact, you don’t really need to have read the first one in the series, either. I’m sure it helps if you have, but it’s not truly necessary.

What I really liked was the combination of Greek mythology, a really cool adventure story, and base humor. Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading a for a long(ish) time this weekend, but I found lines like “I am Artemis, the Huntress Goddess of this forest and all wild things including bears!” and “I’m so hungry, all I’m pooping are farts!”  and “Did you dim, little mortals EAT my beloved sheepies?” to be really funny. (They are in context, promise.)  This graphic novel has Boy written all over it. Not that I minded.

As for the art: the stick figures (because it’s the Stickman Odyssey) work. Honest. It’s not great art, but it’s a gimmick, and in this situation, it’s a good one. It’s silly, it’s fun, it’s interesting, and maybe it’d even get someone to look up who the heck Nyx is.

Here’s to more Stickman adventures!