interesting but uneven. ( )

Be prepared. This volume is pretty much all about rape. I mean, the theme is, "Boys who rape shall all be destroyed," but still. It's a lot of rape.

This volume makes a dodge, and rather than spending much time on the storylines of volume one, it centers on He (Helen) after the war. There are enough references here to Greek mythology of One Thousand and One Nights to make me feel vaguely ashamed of my classical reading deficiencies, but of course this story is different enough that you don't need to know the references.

Continues to be an amazing spectacle, but I may be burning out on the violence. ( )

I find this series to be intriguing. I find the art to be well done, but over the top. The same goes with the story. In this volume, we get the gender swapped story of Helen (of the Illiad fame) merged with Scheherezade, the lady who was slated to die each morning but told a story that never ended mixed with the story of Romulus and Remus from Greek Myth, set in a science fiction future with the Gods(esses) killed most men because they were too violent.

The story follows a different character than Odyssia. Instead Helen, we have a Sebex (half man half women?) that is very revered sex slave- its hinted that the war was started of him(her?). The sebex and Ene, his mistress, end up on a world that is hidden from the Gods, and Men have made it free. The world is ruled by two brutal brothers, Sons of Gods, imprisoned/hiding? on this world due to a horrible crime they committed. Ene wants to escape, the brothers have been scorned, and generally, its not a nice place to be.

This book is very graphic - and contains elements of some very dark actions (think children as sex slaves). While the book makes very clear that this is horrifying - there is a lot of gray area, and I think some readers will be quite put off.

Which leaves me to what I actually thought of it- its a difficult book to read. What exactly is happening is never clear - however its the best story within a story within a story I have read in awhile. The Sebex (never named) was an incredibly deep character. So ultimately - I find this series very intriguing. I'm not sure I like it or not, but there is so much happening with little explanation - that I will keep reading. ( )