The boy watched the star fall. It fell very slowly, and it was not one light but a multitude of lights spinning lazily through the night sky. Then great silver fish flew through the sky and other mysterious lights began to appear on the mountain. At last a great thunderbolt struck the ocean. The sound was flat and hollow and unbelievably loud, as if a giant had stamped on the earth. And the sign of the Goddess appeared in the sky – the sign of the Sacred Mushroom. These are the events that mark the arrival of the Atlantis, the doomed starship, bringing new gods who would change the life of the boy and his people forever.
This charming story takes the Greco-Roman mythology and recasts it as a fantastical story of aliens shipwrecked on Earth. The conflicts are relatively simple, as are the characters, making it a refreshing change of pace from hard, gritty epics about challenging moral choices.
The story does sometimes slow down with minutia or with a section of exposition here or there, but the subject matter is entertaining, making it easy to slip through. It’s a quick, easy read not requiring much thought to enjoy.
People who love Greco-Roman mythology will get a kick out of this story.