Poseidon's Trident (War on the Gods, Book 2); A.P. Mobley

“Poseidon’s Trident” starts almost immediately after the first book, where our main characters, the Chosen One’s of the prophecy are attempting to find (ie: steal) the godly items they need to wage war on the Greek gods and free humanity from its enslavement to these selfish, brutal deities. Be forewarned, the second book starts right in on what Andy and Zoey are attempting to do without much in the way of recap, so if you don’t remember what happened in the first book or who is who, you’ll want to refresh yourself a bit before starting this adventure, otherwise you may be a bit lost going in. But one of the things I like best about this author and her series are the subtle details she puts in that are spot on with the source material of the Greek myths, and that’s just as true in the second book as it was in the first.

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Mobley really knows her stuff when it comes to Greek mythology, and I know this because I was recently reading the original Greek myths so things were fresh in my mind. Everything from the bigger things like who in the Greek Pantheon slept with who, to smaller details like the color and properties of the god’s blood, Mobley remains true to the source. If you are looking for modern twists on the old mythos that still keeps true to the source material, you can always, ALWAYS trust Mobley to deliver on that. It always really impresses me when authors can craft unique stories while still infusing their novels with accurate details, even from “fictional” things, that I thought it was worth mentioning once again.

The second book in this trilogy moves fast, with a race to get to the people that Zoey and Andy need in order to get the Trident, the second object needed in order to defeat the gods. Perhaps too fast at times. One of my favorite things from “The Helm of Darkness” were the humanizing aspects of the “chosen one” trope. Where Andy and Zoey struggled with coming to terms with the new world they found themselves in and, at times, not wanting to be the ones to lead this war. A lot of that was missing in this book in my opinion as the journey moved too fast for the characters to really reflect on anything, especially when it came to Zoey and the new limitations she was left with at the conclusion of the first book. The character arc and growth you get the most of is with Karter, which actually made his sections some of my favorite in this book. I really loved watching him struggle with his identity and trying to reconcile doing what was right with him trying desperately to earn his father’s love and respect. Even when he ended up going the wrong way, I still found myself rooting for him to change his ways, and I really enjoyed that.

Mobley’s writing is still a joy, the characters are still fun and I am not ashamed at all by how much I liked Karter (or the fact that I ship him with Zoey more than with Andy, sorrynotsorry), but I do think I had a tad more fun with the first book. I’m still really excited to see where the series finishes, don’t get me wrong! But I was a bit lost early on without more of a recap and, as bad as this makes me sound, I did want Zoey to struggle just a bit more. Which is why I’m giving this book 4 stars, but still can’t wait to see how this series ends! Zeus better watch himself!