Nine Levels
Elana Gomel
Mirror World Publishing, 2024
ISBN-13: 978-1998360024
Ebook, 282 ppg.
“There was power in knowledge.” This is a thought that strikes the main character of this novel, Cleo, as she is hiding from a group of harpies that would no doubt attack her without mercy.
Yes. That’s right. Harpies. The same creatures in Greek mythology. And, in Cleo’s case, her knowledge of Greek mythology becomes handy. As she eventually discovers that she is trapped on what she learns is the very first level of a mountain called Orcus, where myth becomes reality. She eventually finds out that there are nine levels which she must ascend in order to escape from this hell she is in, and her attempts to do so are a matter of life and death.
If you know Greek mythology, you know that there are some pretty sketchy and dangerous creatures. Not to mention those who like to knock boots with anything that breathes. So Cleo definitely has quite a few scary adventures to contend with.
But it’s not just creatures from Greek mythology which are in this story. Other figures, such as Hekate, are in it too. Which sort of complicates things for Cleo in trying to figure out the puzzle she has to solve in trying to survive each adversary she faces! She can’t rely on what she knows every time; she has to sort of study them and try to pick up on clues to understand who she is dealing with on each level.
It seems like each new level she reaches is harder than the last. Still, she presses on. She does try to figure things out along the way, perhaps so she can have some kind of edge against her opponents or the next thing she faces, but she knows that this can slow here down. “She forced herself to fall into the same mindless rhythm that had saved her on the rockface. Don’t think, don’t feel, don’t fear. Touch the wall, pull yourself up, feel the last ledge dissolve under your feet, touch the wall…But while her body, toughened by her stay in Orcus, labored to keep her alive, her mind churned like a pond of muddy water with a stone tossed in.” Even so, Cleo keeps facing one setback after another, one difficulty after another, and one failure after another. She is exhausted, mentally and physically, and constantly fighting to keep going. She is tempted to give up but she won’t because she knows her sister is out there somewhere, and she needed to help her:
“My sister is not dead.
It came to her with absolute conviction. And together with it, the
determination to stay alive. She owed it to Cora. Twins always stayed together, in life as in death. Even the Dioscuri, with one brother immortal and the other mortal, refused to be parted. If Cora was alive, she would try her damndest to stay alive too.”
One lingering thought I had as I read this book was this: How did this even happen? How was Cleo suddenly on Orcus, a mythological mountain where a warped sense of mythology reigned, and how was her sister lost? This is all explained, at some point. Not right away, but as I read, pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Her memory lapses are also explained, and I was surprised to learn the cause of it. I also appreciated how the author touched on the fact that Cleo has a twin sister, and tapped into aspects of things that can only happen between twins – even one being mistaken for the other. (There’s actually a lot involved on the subject with twins and the author touched on some of these aspects beautifully. It’s not overdone and has just the right balance.)
This was an extremely interesting story! The author knows her Greek mythology very well. Each level that Cleo ascends to is ever more interesting than the last, and the big reveal in the climax was very surprising. I definitely did not see it coming, and the image of Cleo standing with Medusa and Lamia was jarring. Almost surreal. Humans in Greek mythology are often looked down upon, seen as sex objects or as pawns for the gods and goddesses in their many battles. So to see this in the story was really unusual, if not a reminder of just how different all of the mythologies are in this fictional albeit mythological universe this author has created for her story. It is so well done and leaves a lasting appreciation for the Greek mythology which we all know and love.
Masterfully told and captivatingly pieced together, Nine Levels by Elana Gomel is a novel of adventure, myth, legend and courage. A story that twists together fantasy, mythology, folklore and contemporary fiction, this novel is an unforgettable quest holding reader interest and entertaining the imagination. Every level of this story reaches ever higher than the last one, enriching the enjoyment of the story right along with it.
Five stars
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
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