Ithaca

I really enjoyed this book. As the first installment of a series, you expect to have a fairly open-ended narrative that could reasonably continue, but I felt Ithaca did a nice job wrapping up the immediate story satisfactorily. The narrator being Hera was an unexpected but nice touch, allowing us to get a truly omnipotent view of the action with some snarky observations thrown in for good measure. Despite (or perhaps because of) her Goddess nature, Hera is an unreliable narrator, prone to favoritism and grudges, and this adds some interesting color to her interactions with the minor cast, especially Athena and Clytemnestra.

Penelope is a smart woman and a capable leader, but as a main character I felt I didn't get a great picture of her. Hopefully she comes into focus more in subsequent books.