Audiobook Review - Heroes

• Title And Author: Heroes by Stephen Fry
• Publisher: Penguin
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 469 pages or 15 hours

As you guys are probably aware, I got a little obsessed when I listened to the audiobook version of Stephen Fry’s Mythos. So much so, I did the super rare thing and bought the physical copy of the book. That was how obsessed I got with this. 

So, when I discovered that there was a second edition to the Mythos Volumes, Heroes, I preordered that audiobook faster than I thought possible. I had this reaction when I discovered I could preorder Michelle Obama’s audiobook, Becoming (which am slowly listening to now. Am trying to savour that one!). 

Following on from Mythos, Heroes follows the tales of Greek heroes - from Jason aboard the Argo and his quest for the Golden Fleece, Oedipus solving the riddle of the Sphinx, Bellerophon capturing this winged horse Pegasus and the Labours of Heracles… 

So, what do I think of this, seeing how much I loved Mythos? 

… well… 

Ok, now, before you jump to the wrong conclusion, I did like this. I did. Honest. This was a sequel and companion to Mythos that I wanted. But, whereas I devoured Mythos at a stupidly fast pace, Heroes took a little longer for me to get into. Maybe it’s because of work and the work flow the past few weeks or because this didn’t grab me the same way as Mythos, but I didn’t rush through this like I hoped. 

Not sure why. The myths Stephen wrote about and read were interesting (though I couldn’t help thinking that the Ancient Greeks were a tad sexist as we only had one female hero and the other women mentioned were either quite passive or manipulative and when their lies got found out, they hung themselves. They always hung themselves), but there was always something about these stories that made me pause and go “These heroes aren’t exactly heroic. They are really flawed. And murderers. Most of these are murderers and yet, we praise them…” 

Basically, it made me look at the myths and go “Wait, hang on…” and question them. 

I did really enjoy Stephen Fry reading this, though some of the voices were a bit ropey (mainly the Northern accents). 

Yet, even with me picking holes in Heroes, I do think it’s a really good comapnion/sequel and I do think I will keep going with this. The next volume, I think, is going to tackle the Trojan War and the Fall of the Gods, and that intrigues me…