The most recommended books about Zeus

Who picked these books? Meet our 4 experts.

4 authors created a book list connected to Zeus, and here are their favorite Zeus books.
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The Graveyard Game

By Kage Baker,

Book cover of The Graveyard Game

Jane Tesh Author Of Over the Edge

From the list on readers who have had it with dystopian angst.

By Jane Tesh Author

Who am I?

I had the great good fortune to be born into a wonderful Southern family whose idea of a good time was to gather on the front porch and tell jokes and stories. I was also blessed with a detailed fantasy life and a host of imaginary friends who developed into characters for my books. My favorite books to read have a good balance of humor and drama, nothing too grim, please, and if they are inventive and clever, then I’m all in. As for my own books, I strive to keep that balance of light and dark. I’m very lucky to have six fantasy novels published so far.

Jane's book list on readers who have had it with dystopian angst

Book cover of The Amulet of Samarkand Book cover of Storm Front Book cover of The Graveyard Game Book cover of The Big Over Easy Book cover of Going Postal

Why did Jane love this book?

I gravitate toward authors who can mix drama and humor, which is something I strive for in my books, and Kage Baker is one of the best. Known for her wildly inventive and unpredictable plots and sardonic sense of humor, she creates characters the reader really cares about, something else I hope to achieve. The all-seeing, all-knowing Company is headed by the mysterious Dr. Zeus, who has created cyborgs to go back in time to save treasure for clients who will pay big bucks for a lost Van Gogh or missing Hemmingway manuscript. But the cyborgs aren’t heartless robots, and my favorite character, Literature Preserver Lewis, is in love with the Botonist Mendoza, who, of course, loves another. I was totally charmed by Lewis and his unending optimism.

The Graveyard Game

By Kage Baker,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Graveyard Game as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

You wouldn't take Lewis for an immortal cyborg: he looks like a dapper character from a Noel Coward play. And Joseph - short and stocky in his Armani suit, with a neatly trimmed black moustache and beard that give him a cheerfully villainous look - you'd never guess that his parents drew the Neolithic cave paintings in the Cevennes. What are these two operatives of the Company doing in an amusement arcade in San Francisco in 1996? They're looking for Mendoza, fellow cyborg of Dr. Zeus Incorporated, who has been banished Back Way Back. They're also trying to solve the…

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Zeus

By George O'Connor,

Book cover of Zeus: King of the Gods

James L. Fitzsimmons Author Of Living with the Dead: Mortuary Ritual in Mesoamerica

From James' 9-year-old's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

By James L. Fitzsimmons Author

Who am I?

Author Professor Archaeologist Mayanist Writer

James' 3 favorite reads in 2023

Plus, James' 9-year-old's favorite books.

Book cover of Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art Book cover of Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World Book cover of The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy

Why did James' 9-year-old love this book?

My kid loves this graphic novel series because of its accurate, imaginative portrayal of the Greek gods.  There are various levels of adult themes in Zeus and its successors, but the author manages (for the most part) to present them in ways that scale with the age of the reader. 

Zeus

By George O'Connor,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Zeus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

George O'Connor is a Greek mythology buff and a classic superhero comics fan, and he's out to remind us how much our pantheon of superheroes (Superman, Batman, the X-Men, etc) owes to mankind's ORIGINAL superheroes: the Greek pantheon.

In Olympians, O'Connor draws from primary documents to reconstruct and retell classic Greek myths. But these stories aren't sedate, scholarly works. They're action-packed, fast-paced, high-drama adventures, with monsters, romance, and not a few huge explosions. O'Connor's vibrant, kinetic art brings ancient tales to undeniable life, in a perfect fusion of super-hero aesthetics and ancient Greek mythology.

Volume 1 of Olympians, Zeus: King…

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Zeus is Undead

By Michael G. Munz,

Book cover of Zeus is Undead

Sean Schubert Author Of Infection: Alaskan Undead Apocalypse

From the list on to prove the apocalypse can still be fun.

By Sean Schubert Author

Who am I?

I have a passion for the written word and the art of storytelling. Though I’m not a fatalist, I’ve had a lifelong interest in stories and films about cataclysm and apocalyptic tales, regardless of scale. Films like Poseidon’s Adventure, The Towering Inferno, and all of the both good and bad zombie movies the years have produced were mainstays in my childhood. Seeing how ordinary people responded to extraordinary circumstances to overcome and sometimes succumb to their frailties have been driving influences for me. I try to reflect that point of view through the characters in my novels. I think those moments have a way of defining our own humanity.

Sean's book list on to prove the apocalypse can still be fun

Book cover of The Raven's Gift Book cover of Zeus is Undead Book cover of The Plague Book cover of Cat's Cradle Book cover of The Stupidest Angel

Why did Sean love this book?

Zeus is Undead is a sequel to the playful Zeus is Dead and is equally as clever and entertaining. I’m a sucker for great story-telling and building a narrative around the history of Greek myths got my attention. In the previous story, Zeus’ death meant his longstanding order of maintaining distance and no interference between the gods and the world of the mortals evaporated, leading to fun mischief and the introduction of gods, demi-gods, and mythic monsters into our modern world. Zeus is Undead goes further by adding zombies into the mix. Just a lot of fun.

Zeus is Undead

By Michael G. Munz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Zeus is Undead as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Outstanding Humor Novel: 2019 IAN Book of the Year Awards
Gold Medalist: 2019 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Sometimes all a fallen goddess needs to regain her power is a trusty sword and a worldwide zombie apocalypse...

Athena’s had a rough eighteen months. Formerly goddess of wisdom, battle, and crafts, her divinity has been revoked. Zeus no longer trusts her, and a 7-foot ice cream sundae now holds her honored position as his bodyguard. Yet when the dead start rising from the grave without authorization, things start looking up. What better way to prove her worth to Zeus than to solve…

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The Dark Wife

By S.E. Diemer,

Book cover of The Dark Wife

Molly Ringle Author Of Lava Red Feather Blue

From the list on fantasy with great queer representation.

By Molly Ringle Author

Who am I?

I’ve been making up magical worlds ever since childhood, when I populated the creekbanks and vacant lots in my hometown with ghosts, fae, Land of Oz residents, and other creatures from my imagination. Fantasy and forbidden love have always been my two main allures in reading, and different varieties of sexuality and gender identity also fascinated me once I became more aware of such issues in college, through books as well as my anthropology classes. I was recently pleased to learn there’s at least one cool label for me as well—demisexual—and nowadays I love populating my fantasy novels with queer characters. Everyone deserves adventures in the otherworld!

Molly's book list on fantasy with great queer representation

Book cover of Peter Darling Book cover of The Dark Wife Book cover of The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings Book cover of Spellbound Book cover of The Once and Future Witches

Why did Molly love this book?

The story of Persephone and Hades is my favorite Greek myth—and a lot of other people’s, to judge from how many of us have written about it. Therefore I’ve read lots of the novels that retell it, but The Dark Wife stands out for being the only Sapphic version I’ve found! Here Hades is a goddess rather than a god, and rather than abducting Persephone, she shelters her in the Underworld, where Persephone can avoid the sexual predators among the gods above. (Of which there are a lot, in canonical myth; let’s be honest.) Though set in the deliciously spooky land of the dead, the romance between the two goddesses is sweet and comforting, and the writing is as lyrically pretty as a classical poem.

The Dark Wife

By S.E. Diemer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Dark Wife as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Three thousand years ago, a god told a lie. Now, only a goddess can tell the truth. Persephone has everything a daughter of Zeus could want--except for freedom. She lives on the green earth with her mother, Demeter, growing up beneath the ever-watchful eyes of the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. But when Persephone meets the enigmatic Hades, she experiences something new: choice. Zeus calls Hades "lord" of the dead as a joke. In truth, Hades is the goddess of the underworld, and no friend of Zeus. She offers Persephone sanctuary in her land of the dead, so the…

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The Half-God of Rainfall

By Inua Ellams,

Book cover of The Half-God of Rainfall

Gita Ralleigh Author Of Siren

From the list on myths beyond the Greco-Roman Canon.

By Gita Ralleigh Author

Who am I?

I'm a poet and fiction writer who enjoys popular feminist retellings of Greco-Roman mythology. But I want to draw attention to the rich and powerful myths beyond that canon, myths used by contemporary writers to make sense of our world, our brief mortal lives, and what lies beyond. Scholar Karen Armstrong writes in A Short History of Myth, "Myth is about the unknown; it is about that for which we initially have no words. Myth therefore looks into the heart of a great silence." My poetry book A Terrible Thing reinterprets goddess myths and Siren does the same with myths of hybrid women, half-fish and half-bird and more.

Gita's book list on myths beyond the Greco-Roman Canon

Book cover of Kaikeyi Book cover of Black Water Sister Book cover of The Mermaid of Black Conch Book cover of The Half-God of Rainfall Book cover of Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata

Why did Gita love this book?

I adored The Half God of Rainfall’s daring: a new free-verse epic crafted from ancient Yoruba and Greek mythology by Inua Ellams, a poet and playwright, who has also adapted it for theatre. It tells the story of Demi, the son of Modúpé, a mortal woman and the Greek god Zeus. Ellams does not shy away from Zeus’s canonical role as a violent sexual predator and the tale of Demi’s rise and fall as a basketball player, half god, and half mortal culminates in the overthrowing of the patriarchy. Demi’s mother Modúpé, with the aid of the Òrìsà (Yoruban Gods) and other women wronged by him – Leda, Danaë, Europa, Antiope – takes her revenge on the great Zeus himself. 

The Half-God of Rainfall

By Inua Ellams,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Half-God of Rainfall as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the award-winning poet and playwright behind Barber Shop Chronicles, The Half-God of Rainfall is an epic story and a lyrical exploration of pride, power and female revenge.

There is something about Demi. When this boy is angry, rain clouds gather. When he cries, rivers burst their banks and the first time he takes a shot on a basketball court, the deities of the land take note.

His mother, Modupe, looks on with a mixture of pride and worry. From close encounters, she knows Gods often act like men: the same fragile egos, the same unpredictable fury and the same…

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