Heroes

Though the lightheartedness of the narrative does not align with my personal sense of humour, I really appreciate Fry's attempt in making the stories simple and funny.

"Heroes" focuses on 8 heroic characters – Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Jason, Atalanta, Oedipus, and Theseus. It is easy for people of any age to understand and enjoy. If you are into fun storytelling mixed with some murmuring of the author, you would find the tweaks in conversations making the dialogues more witty and interesting.

I definitely recommend this book for those interested in Greek mythology but probably not too seriously so.

(Sidenote: The “copyrighted” watermarks are not opaque enough, resulting in reading difficulties.)

Perhaps not as good as Mythos, but highly enjoyable nonetheless... very much looking forward to the final chapter in Mr Fry’s great retelling of Ancient Greek myths and legends. It’s a 4.5 out of 5 for me.

Wasn’t too crazy about this edition, though... difficult to read and illustrations could’ve been placed better.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

If you love Stephen Fry's writing style, wit and mythology Heroes will be absolutely perfect for you!
Having read Mythos, I couldn't not request its sequel on heroes, Greek heroes. Through Fry's brilliant storytelling the reader follows Heracles, Oedipus, Perseus and so on in their adventures, riddles, battles, their love, courage, cowardice, loss and it's captivating, funny and full of intense stories. You may know of Greek heroes, but it's a pleasure discovering them with Fry's voice. This book hooked me since the very beginning, just like the first installment did and I found myself immersed into a world full of heroes, battles and what humans and mortal are capable of.

I really enjoyed Stephen Fry's take on Greek mythology and I will need to pick up Mythos soon. I would've preferred to read them in order, but it's not necessary. Much easier to follow than Bullfinch's Mythology (which I will always love) illustrated with beautiful pieces of art from classic artists, Heroes revived my interest in Greek mythology and has started a reading phase for me focusing on retelling of mythology. Dotted with fascinating footnotes, I want to keep this as a resource not just for myself, but for the little ones in my life who love to read.

Yes, this is that Stephen Fry. Color me intrigued!

While I am writing this review based on a PDF read on my computer, I see that this particular edition of Heroes seems to be meant as a hardcover collectible. I can imagine it quite well – the art in this book is beautiful and there is a generous amount of it. I would have like to see a few more of the classical paintings as full-page pieces, however. Some of them seem quite small when compared to the overall size of a page.

Now, there are many, many collections and retellings of Greek myth out there, so I won’t dwell on the details of each chapter. That said, Fry’s voice sets this one a bit apart from any other collection I’ve read. The dialogue is abundant and cheerfully British – and accompanied by tongue-in-cheek English sensibilities. I admit it’s a little strange at first, to read about Perseus calling his mum mum – but I can just about hear an early conversation between the two of them.

There are footnotes throughout with informative comments from the author regarding pronunciation, the meanings of names, possible modern locations — or else explaining bits of local custom. Additionally, there is a very thorough index in the back of the book. They are both excellent, in my opinion. Heroes feels both accessible and well researched.

Stephen Fry returns after Mythos with tales of Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Jason, Atalanta, Oedipus, and Theseus. Each is told with all the humor you'd expect from Fry, but the stories seem extremely short. I guess that's due to making them friendlier to people not already familiar with them. This feels like the kind of book you dip in and out of, rather than read from cover to cover.

Easy to read and engaging throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed both the words and the pictures in this book, as the pictures were carefully selected and presented. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an egalley.

The format was a little difficult to read. However, I thoroughly enjoyed Stephen Fry's take on these stories, and it made for an enjoyable, engaging read and I fully intend to read Mythos this year.

Once again, the wonderful Stephen Fry has brought his erudite wit to the Greek myths, this time focusing on some of the great heroes, including Heracles, Jason and Theseus.

The Positives: I love the tone that Stephen Fry uses to tell these great tales. He allows enough of the rhythms and phrases from the original texts for the stories to feel authentic, but also injects them with enough modern day parlance and humour for them to feel accessible to all. I think the choices he has made of whom to include here, make sense and give a nice balanced reading of the Greek world at large. Naturally the scope feels smaller than that in Mythos, given that we are dealing with mortals for the most part, but for me, that made the stories more fun and enjoyable.

The Negatives: The women of Greek myth don't come off very well in most re-tellings, but I do think that more could have been done to highlight their unfair treatment occasionally.

Overall, I found this to be a really well curated and fantastically accessible collection of myths and I look forward to the next instalment.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I absolutely loved Mythos and Heroes was just as great! I actually enjoyed it even more. Stephen Fry's commentary about how these myths/heroes relate to our lives today is unparalleled. All fans of mythology should read this!

I really really enjoyed this book. I was so entertained. I really didn't want to put it down. I listened to the audio as well as reading the text as Stephen Fry's voice us hypnotic. I'd listen to anything once it was narrated by him. The heroes we encounter almost come to life from Fry's telling, This continues from where Mythos left off and does not disappoint. I absolutely loved it and I'm going to seek more from Fry now, he's just magnificent!!!!

A wonderful retelling of classic myths by Stephen Fry. They are so accessible and enjoyable when you read them through the mind of the author. He has the unique gift of being supremely intelligent but also able to speak to the every day man. Outstanding.

Like Mythos, Stephen Fry's prior book of retellings of Greek myths, Heroes is simply a joy to read. Familiar myths unfold on the page like live performances, with Fry as a chuckling master of ceremonies, having a better time than anyone. Fry makes his mythological characters alive, flawed, and infused with warmth and wit. Gods, demigods, heroes, royals, and supporting characters cavort about capriciously, and readers will be forgiven for not keeping them all straight.

Heroic quests are more than a bit iffy, with a fair amount of dumb luck mixed in with the heroes' gallantry and skill.

As in Mythos, Fry treats the reader to a feast of sumptuous and sometimes naughty footnotes with asides, jokes, linguistic lessons (e.g., to be catasterized means to be made a constellation) and much-needed hints about tricky pronunciations. I became reacquainted with these ancient tales and mythical beings with almost the wonder of first meeting them in childhood. I can't be the only reader hoping that Fry continues to reimagine ancient tales.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley and was encouraged to submit an honest review.

Heroes by Stephen Fry. 4 stars

This is a lovely follow up to Mythos which featured the stories of the Greek gods. This book focuses on Greek heroes; their trials and tribulations. I really liked the sections featuring Heracles and Orpheus and Perseus. Really entertaining with Stephen Fry’s characteristic prose style. I also listened to Mythos and will eagerly await his narration of Heroes.

Thank you Netgalley and Chronicle Books for this ARC.

I have known Stephen Fry as an actor, having watched an enjoyable series called Kingdom in which he starred.  He is also a man with lots of personality.  More recently, Mr. Fry has turned his hand to writing.  A prior book of his, Mythos, was well received.  Now we have this new book which re-imagines a number of Greek myths.


Eight heroes have their stories told here in a series of short chapters.  The characters are Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Jason, Atalanta, Oedipus and Theseus. Before starting on his tales, Fry includes helpful resources such as maps and a family tree of the Olympians.   There are some helpful entries at the end of the book including a list of characters, monsters, mortals and more. 


The book's introduction sets the tone.  The style is conversational and engaging.  It is written in a present tense. Frye tells his stories well and with a sense of humor.  The text is beautifully illustrated with many paintings.


If you would like to relax and have someone tell you a story, you should enjoy this title.  I am eager to see the print copy.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Stephen Fry's makes Greek mythology accessible, fun and easy to follow. I have a shelf full of Greek Classics at home and have never got through any single epic/play in its entirety. However, I breezed thru Fry's collection of stories on Greek heroes in a few weeks. Am not implying Fry does a better job than Homer or Euripides - but reading this retelling of Greek myths has motivated to actually go back to the classics.

Fry focuses on some of the legendary figures of Greek Mythology - Oedipus, Hercules, Theseus, Atalanta, Orpheus etc.

Fry's writing is funny, informative and a touch irreverent. The upside of this is that Greek Literature becomes easy, the downside is that even tragedies appear funny.

The goal of reading Heroes shouldn't be the end of your journey on understanding Western legends but its beginning.

Gorgeous art throughout. When reading it, it felt like Stephen Fry was reading it to me. To be honest, I tried to save that for daytime so I could stay awake reading it; if I read it too close to bed time the rhythm of the book put me to sleep. Since I wanted to enjoy it, I put it aside for when I am on the porch with a cup of tea and my children are playing to get their daily exercise. Well researched, well written, this book is a must buy for anyone who enjoys mythology.

I really enjoyed Heroes, and it's made me want to read more books by Stephen Fry! Really well told and clever!

I really liked it. Having read Mythos before, Heroes follows the same line with humour in the stories we thought we knew. Some of them I heard/read before, but those retellings were pretty dry. The humour in these stories make it fresh, something they might have done centuries ago too, when the stories were played on stage.

The second book of retelling of Greek mythos by Fry. He is a great storyteller, so reading the familiar stories is still very much fun. And if you are new to the mythos - then you are in for a real treat!

Thank you for this e-copy for review. My full review will be posted on my social media accounts, Amazon, and Goodreads.

I've been loving Greek mythology for many years, and I've been reading so many different books, comics and graphic novels using the myths (as well as other media), and I'd like to believe I know a fair bit about the mythos itself, and perhaps that's why I finished Heroes feeling a bit bored. I had high expectations about Heroes after having read Mythos last year and loving that book, however I just felt myself getting bored with this one and I had to force myself to finis it. It had nothing to do with the language or writing style, but rather just having re-tellings of stories I've already heard and know a great deal about.

Some good things that I did enjoy was that Fry did mention that each myth has different interpretations and the he explained why he'd chosen the version presented in the book, but also that the myths are stories and stories tend to have several different versions to them, that I liked. And I do enjoy Fry's style of writing, making it both sort of fiction as well as non-fiction.

This is an excellent book, again, another gem written by Stephen Fry.

A lot of people don't know or realize that as an actor, Stephen is also a writer too. I've read a few of his Sherlock Holmes stories and he does quite a good job. But, I think when you get him on a topic he will certainly go to town.

Especially on Greek Heroes. While his first book focused on Greek Myths, he shines in Greek Heroes. Everyone and their mother has read Edith's Greek Mythology book in school or on the side, but it is nice to read a book well documented and developed by someone who takes care at letting you experience the characters in a new light.

I enjoyed this book and I look forward to any others he will release in the future.

This was a fun dive into the world of Greek heroes. Stephen Fry did an awesome job of transitioning these tales in to something more digestible for modern readers. The storyline flowed well and never felt segmented or like the end of a chapter. I can't really give you criticism in the material itself because it is stories of our past. One critique I do have is the ebook layout for your reviewers. The watermark blocked a large chunk of words on each page.

Stephen Fry is so smart that whenever I read something by him I feel like I get smarter! This edition was no different.

Name: Heroes
Author: Stephen Fry
Genre: Greek Mythology
Age:+8
Review:
This book is a sequel of Mythos. If you have already read Mythos, this book is gonna be a huge disappointment.
Heroes is a retelling the valorous tales of Mortal heroes from Greek Mythology, from Jason on his quest for the Golden fleece to Heracles. The stories are brief and lacks consistency.
If you have already read Greek Mythology, there's not much in this book. But if you have never read Greek Mythology and would like to know about its great heroes, this is the book for you.

Heroes is a follow-up to Stephen Fry’s original book of Greek mythology, Mythos, which I haven’t read but now plan to. Whereas Mythos focuses on the titans and gods of Greek mythology, Heroes focuses on the mortal heroes (as the name suggests). It includes sections on Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Jason, Atalanta, Oedipus, and Theseus.

I love Greek mythology, and I love Stephen Fry, so this was the perfect combination. Fry’s writing style was pretty much exactly what I expected, the perfect blend of information and humor. He stayed true to the original stories while still providing a fresh take on each of them with his more modern perspective. It makes for a very accessible but well-researched guide to the mortal heroes of Greek mythology.

Because he has to fit the stories of eight heroes into one book, Fry doesn’t go into a lot of detail in each one. I actually preferred this; I have a hard time getting through nonfiction because of the lack of a story, but the fast pacing of Heroes kept me reading. My favorite stories were those of Heracles and Jason, partially because they were the longest and most complex, which gave me time to get more invested.

Because it covers so much ground in just a few hundred pages, Heroes leaves out some details, so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking for a comprehensive guide to the heroes of Greek mythology. Instead, I’d recommend it to those of you who, like me, are interested in Greek mythology but intimidated by the classical or academic sources. It was an enjoyable read and it convinced me to add Mythos to my “to read” list.

It also seems to me like Fry might add a third book to this series, one that covers the Trojan War and the events of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and if he does, I’ll read that one too.

I have always been fascinated by Greek mythology and this opportunity to read and review a copy of Heroes by Stephen Fry, courtesy of Netgalley, was too good to pass. And I am glad I took it up, for it is unlike any other text I have ever read on the subject! Stephen Fry has delightfully retold the stories of the well known heroes Perseus, Heracles, Jason, Oedipus and Theseus, and the somewhat obscure - for me, at least - Bellerophon, Atalanta, and Orpheus.
Fry's narrative is funny, fast-paced, and hugely entertaining - especially the reimagined dialogues and the quirky footnotes. Understandably, many of the episodes from the lives of these heroes have been described only briefly due to the vast scope of this undertaking; each of the heroes is worth a separate book of his / her own. But the brevity does not affect the fun in any manner, and the reader is treated to an unconventionally engaging insight into the world of whimsical gods, fearsome monsters and heroic mortals undertaking fantastic quests. Adding to the fun are the excellent illustrations, ranging from millennia old archaeological pieces to centuries old artistic masterpieces.
Though it will not serve the purpose of serious readers looking for a detailed account of the heroes, this book will appeal to those readers who wish to get introduced to Greek mythology in a light-hearted way. I enjoyed it a lot!
(A small complaint about the review copy: the 'copyright' watermark was way too opaque for the actual text to be clearly readable)

I absolutely love this series!

Generally I don't read much nonfiction because the lack of story tends to lose my interest, but Fry's tales are a perfect blend of interesting facts and humor. While I've read a number of books about mythology, there was still much here that I didn't know.

After the popularity of other recent fiction titles like Circe, this is a great book to give readers who are hungry for more freshly told tales of the Ancient Gods and Heroes.

I am a huge fan of Greek Mythology, and I really enjoyed the previous book by Stephen Fry called 'Mythos', so my expectations with 'Heroes' was high.

The reading is not heavy or boring, it is light and delightful, sometimes very funny (because is a fun way to learn some topics, or revisit them). This book, in specific, talks about some Greek heroes, like Heracles, Perseus, Oedipus, Jason and some others. For me is always a fun reading, because I love the theme. Although, is important to say that in Greek mythology exists some weird and confusing stories, so deep and intricated that sometimes is hard to explain very well. But the book is gorgeous! With paintings, pictures, maps and references 'Heroes' is a very good reading.

The book almost lacks the charm that Mythos had. Though it does make a refreshing change to the more staid retellings of the Greek Myths. I would love to see what Fry does with the War on Troy. There is a bit of tongue in cheek about the book. If you want to get a younger person interested in the Greek myths, this is a good place to start.