Birthday Blogoversary Fangirl Bash Part Two Review & Interview: Zeus is Dead by Michael G. Munz!

Title: Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure
Author: Michael G. Munz
Format: Kindle Edition
Pub. Date: January 1st 2014
Source: Author

About the Book:

THE GODS ARE BACK. DID YOU MYTH THEM?

You probably saw the press conference. Nine months ago, Zeus's murder catapulted the Greek gods back into our world. Now they revel in their new temples, casinos, and media empires—well, all except Apollo. A compulsive overachiever with a bursting portfolio of godly duties, the amount of email alone that he receives from rapacious mortals turns each of his days into a living hell.

Yet there may be hope, if only he can return Zeus to life! With the aid of Thalia, the muse of comedy and science fiction, Apollo will risk his very godhood to help sarcastic TV producer Tracy Wallace and a gamer-geek named Leif—two mortals who hold the key to Zeus's resurrection. (Well, probably. Prophecies are tricky buggers.)

Soon an overflowing inbox will be the least of Apollo’s troubles. Whoever murdered Zeus will certainly kill again to prevent his return, and avoiding them would be far easier if Apollo could possibly figure out who they are.

Even worse, the muse is starting to get cranky.

Discover a world where reality TV heroes slay actual monsters and the gods have their own Twitter feeds: Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure!

Interview:

I'm so excited to have Michael G. Munz back on the blog for a second round of questions to celebrate both my birthday week and this amazing book. Thanks again for taking the time to answer some questions!

Happy to do it! Thanks for the opportunity.

In our previous interview, we talked a little bit about what books and movies inspired you as an author. Since Zeus is Dead is a book that centrals around Greek mythology: What is your favorite mythical movie?

If we're talking Greek mythology, it's a toss-up between Jason and the Argonauts and the original Clash of the Titans. It's been decades since I've seen the former, though. (I should really re-watch it to see if I enjoy it as much as I used to.) Without the Greek qualifier, I'd have to go with The Dark Crystal, which is an amazing creation with a mythology of its very own.

If you were given a spot in the pantheon, what would you like to be the god of?

I'd love to be the god of geeks and geek culture. But I think I'd have to overthrow Wil Wheaton first.

All hail Wesley Crusher. Would you follow the rules, or would you interfere with the lives of your chosen worshippers (or enemies, for that matter)?

I'm one of those weirdos who tries to stick to the rules. Though there IS a difference between bending and breaking, isn't there? I might do a little interfering, if I thought I could get away with it. Mostly, though, I think I'd tend toward humor and pranks rather than doing things that have grand effects on people's lives. Making people laugh is fun.

You're among like minds, I was always tend to follow the rules too. Now, can you tell us a little about your writing process? Do you have to be in a certain room or in a certain mind set?

I have difficulty writing at home (I get distracted with other things), so, as cliché as this may sound, I tend to go out to write in a café or something. I'm lucky enough to have a number of great choices where I live. I find I work best in a place with a lot of warm tones (wood, reds, dark greens, etc.), with enough people in it to keep it lively without being overcrowded. I look for corner tables where I can face the room; it's hard to write if I feel someone is behind me, even if they're not actually paying attention to what I'm doing. (Plus, as we know from Frank Herbert's Dune, sitting with your back to a room is an invitation to assassination!)

Also, some manner of caffeine is helpful.

What scene was your favorite to write?

The first one that comes to mind is the introduction of Baskin, a newly created god of battle and ice cream. It's a short scene, but it was a blast making him come to life. A close second is the scene where Tracy and Leif confront Dionysus in his never-ending party atop the Dionysian Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.



I do love me some Dionysus. I mean he is the original god of tits and wine. Which scene gave you the most trouble?

The entire bit with The Fates. I really wanted to portray them as being on a completely different level from everyone, gods included. They needed to be mysterious, paradoxical, and beyond. At the same time I needed to keep them funny (this is an adventure comedy, after all) and able to advance the story in a way that wouldn't confuse the reader. What do the Fates look like? What does their abode (a serviceable room above a convenience store at the intersection of the two parallel streets of Sparkwood and 23rd on the eastern side of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) look like? How do they talk?

It was slow-going, with a lot of revisions. I do like how it turned out, though. Plus I got to introduce the concept of a "Moebius balcony"!

Have you at all considered fundraising to make razorwings a genetic possibility? I would like a litter. (Colony?)

If I may quote Egon Spengler, I think that would be an extraordinarily bad idea. Do you really want a bunch of playfully feral kittens who can chew through metal and slice off a human arm with their wings running around your house spitting paralytic poison on everything? Though that would be cute…

Genetic tampering aside, my publisher and I are considering the possibility of a Kickstarter to make some razorwing plushies, but we need to wait for the book's readership to grow a little more, first. More and more people are reading it each day, though, so, I don't know, maybe this summer? (Keep watching Michaelgmunz.com for news!)

And I believe a group of cats is called a "clowder." Though razorwings themselves travel in swarms…



I WOULD FUND THAT SO HARD. Are you working on any books now?

I'm doing my best to get the third book in my cyberpunk series (The New Aeneid Cycle) completed in time for a late 2015 release. It's called A Dragon at the Gate, and will conclude the trilogy. It's an interesting challenge to make sure the series culminates in a powerful, satisfying way, and I'm excited to see if I can pull it off.

I'm a big fan of cyberpunk, I'll have to check out that series as well. Hades has dominion over those who are no longer with us. If you could chat with any three people, living or dead, who would they be and why?

1) Leonardo da Vinci. I'm sure he was a fascinating guy in general, and it'd be fun to tell him about the modern world and see what he thinks of it. 2) Homer (the author of The Iliad and The Odyssey, not the Simpsons character), assuming he actually existed. The guy was one of the earliest known storytellers, and that, along with his obvious interest in Greek mythology (would he even term it "mythology"?) is pretty tempting. 3) This one's personal.

This is really just a fangirlish request and not even really a question: More Hecate and Hades, pretty please!

Well, I make no promises, but one idea I'm toying with for a Zeus Is Dead sequel does involve Hecate, despite what happened. And there might just be a way for Hades to be involved in that.

…or maybe I'll just toss something together with vampires.

I won't get my hopes up, but I will eagerly await the sequel regardless. Thank you again for being a part of Bitches n Prose!

Review:

★★★★★

So, I came across this book initially on the wonderful imgur. I was drawn in by the puns. Those of you who follow me know I have a serious problem with puns. It's an epundemic. (See!?). Add Greek mythology on top of that? This Classics minoring internet-dweller was sold.

Y'all, this book is effing hilarious. I loved the way that Munz sucked the reader in, not just with the plot of his book but with his engagement with the readers. It was as though the book narrator was telling you, the reader, a story personally. This might sound like an odd comparison, but the way the author "breaks the fourth wall" so to speak with his readers was reminiscent of Lemony Snicket in his Series of Unfortunate Event. But less dark and macabre, of course. I snickered aloud more than once, and that takes skill. I'm admittedly a bit of a humor snob when it comes to books, but I guess me and Munz are just on the same humor wave length because this was simply great.

The story features a lot of characters, including the entire Greek pantheon. This wasn't a problem though. Each character was written in a unique style/personality so that I was never left confused or concerned by the cast. Munz also did a great job with story navigation. Zeus is Dead follows different plot lines and characters, but again the flow just worked well and it was easy to transition. And in a rare display, I was interested in each of these characters' stories. There was never a point where I was like "ugh, we're back on him again?" I thoroughly enjoyed everything that this novel had to offer.

As for the plot itself, I really liked the concept behind it. Could you imagine if any god or gods from any denomination just popped up and said heyyyy we're real by the way and started living like celebrities? I may be alone in this, but I would totally watch Juno's new reality show Juno What I'm Sayin'? or read Rama's new book. There's a hero and a quest and an homage to Hecate which just makes me insanely happy because no one ever mentions Hecate and she's easily my second favorite god(dess). It's a fabulous idea that's well constructed from start to finish. And the more you read, the more you'll want to know what exactly happened to Zeus?

It's worth noting that even though I came to the table with a pretty good knowledge of the Greek gods and goddesses, that is absolutely not a requirement to enjoy this book. Each deity, myth, muse, monster, and any other "m" words are well explained and elaborated. This book is approachable to anyone, regardless of their mythological education. And if that's the case, you just might learn a thing or two from Zeus is Dead.

If you are in search of a Greek epic for the Social Media age, a good laugh, or a book that features fucking murderous flying kittens, then I cannot recommend this book enough. Please go and enjoy this book. It's fantastic and will be joining my Classics shelf as soon as I can get my hands on a physical copy. (And next to my razorwing plushie, right Michael?) Thank you to Munz and his blog tour lovelies for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

Buy it Meow:

You can get your copy today on:

Amazon | BN | iTunes

About the Author:

An award-winning writer of speculative fiction, Michael G. Munz was born in Pennsylvania but moved to Washington State in 1977 at the age of three. Unable to escape the state’s gravity, he has spent most of his life there and studied writing at the University of Washington.

Michael developed his creative bug in college, writing and filming four exceedingly amateur films before setting his sights on becoming a novelist. Driving this goal is the desire to tell entertaining stories that give to others the same pleasure as other writers have given to him. He enjoys writing tales that combine the modern world with the futuristic or fantastic.

Michael has traveled to three continents and has an interest in Celtic and Classical mythology. He also possesses what most “normal” people would likely deem far too much familiarity with a wide range of geek culture, though Michael prefers the term geek-bard: a jack of all geek-trades, but master of none—except possibly Farscape and Twin Peaks.

Michael dwells in Seattle where he continues his quest to write the most entertaining novel known to humankind and find a really fantastic clam linguine.

Find out more about him at michaelgmunz.com. While there, it wouldn't hurt to get a FREE copy of Mythed Connections, the spiritual prequel to Zeus is Dead.

Facebook | Twitter