Rachel Smythe

Can I just say this? I loathe Apollo. That being said, loved this volume. Hades and Persephone get married but their bliss is short lived. There is so much going wrong in this book, I'm curious how it will all work out in the last volume. As usual, graphics are amazing as well as the characters.

It had been a while since I read the first volume, but it came back pretty quickly. This comic is perfect. I can't rave about it enough. I love what Rachel Smythe has done with an old Greek legend. She has brought it into the twenty first century and made it fresh and relevant. The gods and goddesses are so fleshed out and contain so many human flaws which make them relatable. The art is also amazing. It's a slow burn romance between Persephone and Hades and even though I know how it ends - show more I can't wait for this series to continue so I can watch it play out. show less

A goddess beginning her time as an eternal maiden and the king of the underworld have a complicated relationship and they’ve just met, what’s going to happen next? Oh, and things aren’t what they seem. Lore Olympus Volume Three by Rachel Smythe finds the two protagonists once again finding themselves together this time thanks to the machinations of Hera whose plans of everyone else including Persephone and Hades.

Covering episodes #50-75 of the webcomic finds Hades and Persephone show more combatting the gossip by different means, mainly by doing things that are toxic to themselves or hiding away from the truth as well as staying away from one another. However, when Hera selects Persephone as Olympus’ representative for an intern exchange program with the Underworld, things once again are complicated between the two protagonists. Yet Smythe begins branching out the story with subplots featuring Eros, Minthe, and planting the seeds for others as the series while slowly pulling away layers of the protagonists’ stories including a mysterious event in the past. The art’s quality is excellent and Smythe shaping of the story is engaging, dominated by character-driven narrative but with a mix of worldbuilding and humor.

Lore Olympus Volume Three by Rachel Smythe continues the quality storytelling that she had established earlier and that the story is about to expand in a natural way that makes the reader want to know what is going to happen next. show less

The fallout of Zeus’ arrest warrant for Persephone and Demeter along with Persephone’s disappearance in the Underworld, meanwhile Apollo hides his true self from Artemis with the help of their mother, and then Minthe finds herself in some crosshairs. Lore Olympus Volume Six by Rachel Smythe sees Hades offer protection to Persephone after Zeus’ arrest warrant which allows them to slowly get closer, unfortunately when Minthe goes to confront Hades who wants to move on she says too much show more in front of the wrong person.

Covering episodes #127-152 of her webcomic, Smythe focuses on Persephone and Hades revealing to each other their dark secrets and traumas while Zeus, Hera, Apollo and Artemis continue their own arcs while Minthe’s arc appears to have come to an end. As Smythe really focuses on the relationship building between the two protagonists, it isn’t the “romantic” cliché tropes but something that aims to incorporate their traumas and secrets to build trust, which is something nice to read—not the traumatic stuff obviously just how it’s incorporated—that makes this series unique in my reading so far. Persephone’s situation puts a rift between Hades and Zeus, a split among the Olympians which doesn’t seem like it’ll end well especially given the latter’s bad marriage with Hera who Persephone confides in about Apollo’s pictures. Persephone starts coming between Artemis and Apollo, each of whom view her for different things. Then finally Minthe confronts Hades about being replaced and in her anger reveals what she instigated with Zeus, unfortunately in front of Persephone and the result isn’t good for Minthe. Persephone being the inciting incident to various subplots is par for the course for this genre, but how Smythe crafts the twists and turns independent of Persephone after that gives this story more depth. Yet if the glimpses seen in these episodes, Smythe is laying down clues of what could possibly happen in the future of the overall story. I was really engaged throughout this volume, and I can’t wait to get to the next.

Lore Olympus Volume Six by Rachel Smythe seems like the webcomic is a transition point as the protagonists are starting to really invest in one another while dealing with other issues that are happening in reaction to them either as a couple or individually. The artwork by Smythe continues to be fantastic, which given it was why I was drawn to the first volume is a relief. show less