Tartarus

Andrews-Katz (Balls and Chain) packs his first full-length fantasy solidly with Greek mythology, but it causes a little stylistic whiplash as he jumps from grandiose but bland reimaginings of ancient myth to snarky dating drama to hackneyed mentoring of magic powers while on a dangerous but highly structured quest. Overzealous oil drilling releases Echidna, Mother of Monsters, from her undersea prison into the Pacific Northwest. Her desire for revenge on the Olympians who imprisoned her leads her to target gallery owner Annelise Petrakis and her artistic twin, Adrian, who are unaware of being of the lineage of Apollo and Artemis until a series of erotic dreams and a connection to older artist Zack Wilson help Adrian come into his own as a healer in order to save his sister. Andrews-Katz’s experience writing gay romance comes through in hot scenes between Zack and Adrian, and in the flow of the friendships in his sympathetic depictions of both teasing and support in the queer community. But too much time is spent on Echidna’s backstory before she’s downgraded to a generic monster in the long and uninspired fight scenes of the climax. (Dec.)