Zoe and Zeus #1: The Dig

Mythologies about all the prominent civilization and about their Gods is based on truth but do they tell the truth or not....hmm..... I present before you all my views The Dig by Audrey Hart.

Here is the summary of the book:

Zoe Calder has always been an outsider. Stashed away in boarding schools since her parents died, Zoe buries herself in the study of ancient worlds. Her greatest thrill is spending her summers with her archeologist aunt and uncle on digs around the world. And one day, while investigating a newly unearthed temple in Crete, Zoe discovers a luminous artifact that transports her to ancient Greece. As Zoe quickly learns, the Olympian Gods are real, living people—humans with mysterious powers… Powers that Zoe quickly realizes she has come to possess, as well. However, when the people of ancient Greece mistake Zoe for an Olympian, the Gods must restore the balance of the ancient world… No matter what. Zoe is forced to play a confusing and dangerous game as Hera rallies the gods against her—all except for Zeus, the beautiful, winged young god who risks everything to save her. Out of time and out of her element, teenager Zoe Calder finds herself in ancient Greece, battling against the power of the Olympians and the vengeance of a scorned goddess—all for the strange and mysterious boy she has come to love.

As I mentioned above every mythology is based on a truth (keyword 'truth') but then if you find out that your favourite Gods and Goddesses of case in point Greek Mythology are not personified as old bearded gods but teenagers with a few differences to their orientation......hmmm....difficult decision to make because most importantly it destroys your beliefs....but most importantly you would also like to know this change as well. But lets face the truth Greek Mythology is not new and definitely tampering with said mythology is also not new. We have seen Disney's version of the mythology (Hercules), we have seen Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians, we have also marveled at the remake of Clash of the Titans and the recently released Immortals. So without much further ado lets get to the main things shall we.

The Dig centers around teenager Zoe Calder whose favorite time of the year is going on the architectural haunts with her Uncle and Aunt. Zoe is not your typical teenager. She is introverted and she is definitely realistic. She prefers books to attending dances or social gatherings and is much more interested in said architectural haunts. But on a particular dig in Crete she goes beyond the red taped area and viola, Curiosity killed the cat and now you have yourself a time traveler. Zoe unfortunately washed up in the past....ancient Greece, the time of the Greek Gods to be exact. After a surprising encounter with a nymph and saving her, Zoe that she is not on some movie set or parade but actually in ancient Greece and she has the power of bending the Earth to her will.

So Zoe sets out to meet the Oracle who lived at the base of the Mt. Olympus, home of the Gods and get some answers. Everything changes when Zoe reaches Mt. Olympus. Which is definitely not the paradise as the myths depict and while there Zoe see the truth and has to alter every belief she had about the Greek Gods and gets entangled in their already tangled life. There relationships break, new ones form and Zoe must do a little soul-searching too.... but when the time comes will she want to return to the present? Well now that you readers will have to see.

Our protagonist Zoe is very introverted but she has a level of bravery that makes her the perfect candidate for the heroine. She is also very diplomatic and she is well...an outcast....a loner, who doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. She is what you would call an old head on young shoulders. But then she meets the teenager Zeus and sort of forms a healthy relationship with him. Zeus, well he is not the bearded dude we see in every text but is healthy and young....and hot. Through the whole book the best parts were when Zoe and Zeus were together, whether it was on her journey to Mt. Olympus or at the mountain or afterwards.

But Zeus is a very conflicted character. He has developed what you call a dual characteristics, i.e., he behaves in a different way when outside of Olympus and he is different when he is on Olympus. Although that can be expected because they have eternal youth and have been living together as a tight knit group for many millenia. He has a certain bit of superficiality to him that Zoe vigorously avoids. Although Zoe and Zeus make a perfect couple but they bit and piece of his character and his choices that don't really add up.

But on the whole The Dig is an interesting read, light and funny. And that little twist up the toga - the oriental changes to the Greek Gods was well received (although it was very well strange), the little innuendos about Gossip Girls, Sex and The City, Rihanna's Umbrella and Kim Kardashian added to the flavor. It was also well paced and an easy read and the scenes had a graphic quality about them, like you could actually picture it in your heads....

Oh the ending is making me want to know what is going to happen next.