A masterfully told tale that seamlessly weaves the modern world with ancient myth, opening with a grand cosmic legend: The Creator sowing the seeds of the universe from seventeen "Pure Sheep Particles."
In the modern era, Alex, a young man born and raised in Athens, Greece, is relentlessly haunted by mysterious dreams of a catastrophic deluge that submerged the ancient civilization of Atlantis. During a summer voyage in his youth, he witnessed a colossal vortex erupting from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea and secretly recorded its exact coordinates.
Years later, while studying at Harvard University, Alex befriends Noah, an elderly professor of the history of science, alongside his close friends Thomas, Elena, and Maria, an erudite historical writer. In the summer of their senior year, Alex invites the group on a sea voyage back to that very uncharted location. It is during this expedition that an extraordinary phenomenon occurs, thrusting Alex into a profound journey of spiritual awakening.
He discovers he is the reincarnation of Heracles, the ancient demigod of strength. Within the mythical realm of Atlantis...........
A masterfully told tale that seamlessly weaves the modern world with ancient myth, opening with a grand cosmic legend: The Creator sowing the seeds of the universe from seventeen "Pure Sheep Particles."
In the modern era, Alex, a young man born and raised in Athens, Greece, is relentlessly haunted by mysterious dreams of a catastrophic deluge that submerged the ancient civilization of Atlantis. During a summer voyage in his youth, he witnessed a colossal vortex erupting from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea and secretly recorded its exact coordinates.
Years later, while studying at Harvard University, Alex befriends Noah, an elderly professor of the history of science, alongside his close friends Thomas, Elena, and Maria, an erudite historical writer. In the summer of their senior year, Alex invites the group on a sea voyage back to that very uncharted location. It is during this expedition that an extraordinary phenomenon occurs, thrusting Alex into a profound journey of spiritual awakening.
He discovers he is the reincarnation of Heracles, the ancient demigod of strength. Within the mythical realm of Atlantis...........
 
 
The Heel of Gods by Thien Nhan is the first book in the series, The Secret Atlantis. Alex is a young man native to the city of Athens and has always been drawn to the history and mythology of the Mediterranean world. As a teenager he saw an unusual phenomenon, a huge vortex, deep in the Mediterranean sea and became determined to discover the truth behind it. Years later, as a new graduate of Harvard he has become convinced it holds the secret to the location of Atlantis and with a group of friends he sets out on a voyage to find the same location he visited years before and see what is actually there. However, before he has the chance to investigate things end up becoming more dangerous than he suspected and he finds himself on a mysterious journey.
The book was pretty good and I did enjoy reading it as it has an interesting premise, one that I think potentially holds a lot of promise actually. There were a few minor things that I found confusing though and I wasn’t sure what to think of them. A big one was the lack of depth to the story which I know is not an easy one to explain. Reading the book I felt like there was nothing beyond the surface of what I was reading. No hidden anything about the characters or the plot and nothing behind any of what was presented either. There doesn’t seem to be much of a backstory or explanation for many of the characters or the events that take place. Because of that I feel like the story is lacking depth to it. I would like to know simple things like how did Alex and Elena meet and even when did they meet and how long have they been together. What led him to becoming so close with Noah? The story introduces these connections without explaining what created them or even really hinting at it very much. Not counting that, the story was interesting though and I did enjoy reading about Alex and his determination to find the truth about Atlantis. Honestly, I found that part rather inspiring as many people would have been discouraged and even changed their mind over time but he just became more determined to find the truth. Outside of that I had no real issues with the story and as I said I did enjoy it overall. It gets three out of five stars from me.
I would consider this book to be a young adult fantasy story so it would probably hold the most appeal to older teens and young adults who tend to enjoy the fantasy genre already. There wasn’t really any potentially difficult content though it did contain relatively mild adult references so it probably shouldn’t be read by readers younger than about fourteen or so. It was pretty good overall though and worth the read.