With this third book in the Olympians series, George O'Connor proclaims, "Let me just state this up front--Hera is my favorite goddess." And it shows. He characterizes Hera as a complex character with passion and emotion. She gains our sympathies from the start, when she refuses to be treated like the string of women she has seen Zeus with before, and agrees to be his queen only if he'll marry her. This more mature entry in the series is better suited to a young adult audience, given the nature of Zeus and Hera's tensions. Zeus sires children outside their marriage, including a boy named Alcides, who's abandoned by his mother for fear of Hera's wrath. Hera promises to save his life if Zeus will agree that, as a man, Alcides be subjected to 10 labors. The child would later be known as Heracles, meaning "the glory of Hera." O'Connor aptly makes the point (through Jason of the Argonauts) that Heracles would not be the legend he is without Hera's tests.
The first two action-packed labors (to kill the lion of Nemea and then the hydra of Lerna) merit nearly a half-dozen pages each of action-packed panel illustrations. The triumphs firmly establish Heracles's intelligence and strength. For all Hera's resentment of the affair that produced Heracles, her appreciation of his accomplishments comes through, too. She not only fulfills her promise to grant him a place in Olympus if he can complete his tasks, she welcomes him and offers her daughter Hebe as his bride. O'Connor gives detailed, often playful notes about his well-researched sources for another stellar addition to his top-notch series. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness