Ares: Bringer of War by George O'Connor - Blog Tour

To climb atop a pile of your enemies...and want more. That..is Ares.

O'Connor, George. Ares: Bringer of War (Olympians, 7). First Second (Roaring Brook Press), 2015.
76 pages. $9.99. 978-1-62672-013-8.

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Genre: Greek Mythology Graphic Novel
Cover Appeal: Color choice screams WAR! And Ares' stance tells you he glories in it! This is how covers should be done! Middle Schoolers and above.

Immediately After:
Whoa! That last line was great!

Students can't seem to get enough of graphic novels or Greek Mythology and this series combines both.

We are introduced to Ares in comparison with his sister Athena. Ares is bloodthirsty and the joy he gets from the chaos comes through in the graphics. The Gods  are watching the Trojan War enter into it's 10th year. The stakes are high in this war as  many demi-gods are involved and each God wants to help his or her child. Zeus asks that they stay impartial but that does not happen. In addition to seeing the Gods involvement, we also witness the war from the fighters. These two levels give Ares: Bringer of War a level of complexity not seen in the previous graphic novels. I sense much discussion to ensue from this one. I already have students waiting for it as they've read all the other books - some several times.

Layout
O'Connor's artwork is always vivid but I think he's outdone himself. There are some FANTASTIC spreads and throughout Ares: Bringer of War that portray so much emotion and life. Here are a few but please go to the Macmillan Ares page and DO NOT miss O'Connor's Olympians site.

Overall
I gave this a 3 out of 4 stars because the different storylines made it confusing. I had to go back several times to understand what was happening. The previous books in the series were more straightforward.  A wonderful part of each book is O'Connor's End Matter. He not only gives you more information about the featured God but he has "Geek (Greek) Notes" where he discusses particular panels, questions for discussion, and a bibliography.

Blog Tour

Thank you to First Second books and Macmillan for including me on this tour! Using the above affiliate links will bring a small measure of support to The Brain Lair and I thank you in advance.