A Game of Gods by Scarlett St. Clair is the final book in the Hades Sage, though it is not the final book in the Hades and Persephone series as the two series will merge in one final book. And while this book was the last from Hades side, it was not only told from his POV, we also got Theseus and Dionysius. Similar to the other books in this series, this book occurs at the same time as A Touch of Malice, see my reading guide for how to read these together.
Synopsis
Hades, God of the Dead, has finally made Persephone his in every way possible. With their wedding on the horizon, the couple should be ecstatic. But Demeter is wreaking havoc on their bliss by battering the whole of New Greece with erratic and dangerous weather. At the same time, Theseus continues with his agenda against the Gods, allying with the hate-group Triad in an effort to bring down all of Olympus.
Hades refuses to allow anything to stop him from securing Persephone as his bride, but he must play a deep strategic game with the Gods of Olympus to safeguard their future. And it is not entirely clear which Gods are truly on his side.
Book Details
- Published: July 25, 2023
- Page Count: 587 pages
- Genre: Fantasy
Thoughts on A Game of Gods
A Game of Gods focuses on what Hades, Dionysius, and Theseus were doing during the events of A Touch of Malice, so if you’ve already read that book then the entire plot of this book is spoiled. Though there are additional things that happen that Persephone is ignorant of. Those being:
- Dionysius hunting for the ophiotaurus with Ariadne, which had been resurrected due to Hades completing the trials of Hera in A Game of Retribution. The beast is later slain by Theseus.
- Hades trying to stop the demi-gods and figuring out how to prevent them from destroying the worlds/gods.
And everything Theseus. His are more just his possessive thoughts, so I didn’t feel like calling that plot or anything knew, since we kind of already knew that. Plus, most things that happen with Hades we know about from A Touch of Malice since he works on being more open about what he does. Though there’s a lot he keeps to himself rather than telling Persephone like the fact he owes Theseus a favor from A Game of Fate. Granted, she does learn of it when Theseus comes to collect, which in turn is what traps Hades.
But due to already seeing the growth of Hades and Persephone in A Touch of Malice, there wasn’t a lot I found new or interesting there, since we already saw it from the other perspective. Since Hades isn’t as separated in this book as he was in the past two.
So, I think that really made Dionysius and Ariadne a breath of fresh air. We get to experience the new relationship between the two and follow their investigation into both finding Medusa (who no one finds) and the ophiotaurus (who if killed and the entrails burns will guarantee the downfall of the gods). I think Medusa will come back during A Touch of Chaos, though I don’t know what role she’ll play since her power in this universe only activates upon her death. And as much as I want to see people turned to stone, I don’t want to see anyone person killed just for a weapon that can used against the gods. The demi-gods already have more than enough especially with the net Demeter made.
I don’t think the Theseus chapters were necessary, especially since the majority of them were just him going “I own Ariadne, how dare she leave me” to “I get off on the pain of others.” There wasn’t much plot advancement there, and most of that stuff we could gather already from the other chapters. Not to mention through Ariadne as she discusses her past with Dionysius.
Overall, I would give this book a 3.5 out of 5-star rating. I enjoyed reading this book even if there wasn’t a lot new from Hades. I would’ve loved some more character growth from him, but we just don’t see that. Sure, he communicates more but he almost regresses into wanting to lock Persephone in the Underworld as she keeps getting hurt in the crossfire. Hopefully, we see that growth in A Touch of Chaos and considering Hades is taken out of the action to a degree, that should be interesting to see what will happen in the future. And if they manage to succeed against the demi-gods when they have a means to ensure victory.
If you’ve read A Game of Gods, what did you think? Or what do you think is coming for the final book of this series?
Love ya,
Mae Polzine
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