Pluto

(written as of chapter 12)

The author mixed the ideas from Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" (where the god-like Offices of Death, War, Nature etc were hold by mortals) and Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson" (demigods being trained etc) with other ideas.

Most of the story so far is basically introduction to the concepts, with the real story of a bigger mystery only beginning in chapter 10 (after a timeskip).

It seems like a nice start to a number of rarely used concepts in fiction (from the other reviews few people remember the old "incarnations" series as it was written 1983-1990 with one last late book 2007), with more emphasis on the adult "incarnations" and less on the teenager-focused books of Riordan.

Looking forward to see how it develops.

Not my cup of tea. I like more novels with orginality. But this story has very few grammar mistakes, is funny, interesting, and includes good ties with greek and roman culture. Keep going author! Looks amazing already.

This has the potential to turn in to a very sucessful book.

Higher quality then I have seen in many published books.

Now its no groundbreaking new idea, but very well executed and different enough to give it its own flare. The characters we got to know are quite interesting, the plot is good too. what I wish to see is maybe a bit more in depth character developement, but ehh up to chapter 10 its more like an introduction and the main plot is probably going to start in the following chapters.

It’s in the point one percent of stories of RR that has excellent writing and grammar compelling characters, who actually feel real, and an interesting premise. I won’t comment on the plot because so far as of 10/10 the introduction of the story just rapped up but I will be following Pluto and will update my review accordingly. Just read it even if it’s not your thing the story is quantitatively better than the majority of stories you can find on the site.

Talia, a demigod and daughter of Athena, is offered an unexpected job. We follow her as she works through Minotaurs and paperwork to make the world safer. 

This is a story with perfect grammar and an immersive world building. The characters are fun and they have their own personality. The story itself is a whodunnit for book one, it is wholesome if a bit basic. I recommend Pluto for people who want a light and relaxed read, you will not be disappointed.

This novel is brilliantly written. Its pacing, dialogs, characters, descriptions and plot all exude a great deal of care and focus put into them. It's clear the author did his research before starting to write. It wouldn't surprise me to see this novel on the sheleves of a book store one day, so long as its standard of quality doesn't decline.

The mythical beings are too nice. I can't suspend my disbelief enough. I can smell an unnecessary love affair from ch 5. Meh.

I don't normally seek out supernatural mysteries or urban fantasies but I'm still enjoying this story. If you do like those kinds of stories then you'll likely enjoy this quite a bit. Even with it not being something I normally tend to read I do think this is well written and I'll probably keep reading.

I think this story is a little too plot driven, like things are only happening to the characters and they aren't actually doing things themselves. It's not a huge problem though.

This novel ticks all the right boxes for me. Based heavily on mythology in the modern world (Athena no longer a virgin goddess?) this novel has all the characteristics of being something absolutely amazing. Despite only being 12 chapters long as of writing, there's plenty to get you almost instantly hooked.

Spelling and grammar are impecable, the characters that have been revealed so far have their individual personalities and from what I can tell, there doesn't appear to be any stereotypes (unless you call a child of Aphrodite being a bit of a loose lover a stereotype).

All in all, an excellent novel and I look forward to reading more.

I'd be remiss reviewing Pluto without drawing a comparison to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, because it's strikingly similar. Both series feature demigods - children of the Greek pantheon in particular - in the modern era being trained to harness the powers of their parents and patrons, fight a menagerie of mythological creatures, and interact with a fascinating cast of gods, mythological beings and famous historical figures while pursuing an underlying goal.

And like Percy Jackson, Pluto is written and paced beautifully, is a smooth read, and never gets dull. Comparatively, Pluto features an older cast with protagonist Talia and her peers in their early twenties and most of the remaining cast being at least several hundred years old, but other than fewer training scenes and more 'wink wink nudge nudge' to the tone it still retains that effortless young adult flow.

I loved the characterisation of the cast. Pluto plays the Greek gods true to their myths, if erring a little on the fluffier side than the legends would have them. They're both believable and likeable as characters, as are their Avatars - demigod servants who carry out their divine wills. As a daughter of Athena and Avatar of Hades, Talia is a smart, collected and competent main character, which I found very satisfying. And each of the side characters have their own distinct personalities and quirks, adding to their charisma and memorability.

The story is enjoyable to read from start to finish. Pluto delivers iconic scenes and settings with a strong sense of place, each one host to a mini-adventure or encounter progressing the plot in some way. Most of the questions I had in the early chapters were at least acknowledged by the middle of Book Two, if not always answered, which was a big plus. Sometimes I wished the characters spent a little more time questioning the status quo and/or exploring how to better make a meaningful impact on the world with the resources and contacts at their disposal, but it's not really that kind of story and that's okay. 

Pluto's biggest shortcoming by far is its glaring plot holes, especially in Book Two. I came across multiple instances of absolute game-changing inconsistencies or oversights which basically unravelled the entire thread of the story. And yet, the characters and storytelling are so charming I almost didn't care. Kudos to author MagusJosh for creating such a fun, engrossing read that instead of it being a deal-breaker, I was able to ride it out and still feel like I'd enjoyed a very satisfying adventure - right up to and especially at the conclusion.

All in all, I can heartily recommend Pluto to anyone who's read any of the Percy Jackson series and enjoyed it, as well as fans of mythology in general. This story knows its stuff. But I'd strongly encourage giving it a look to any fantasy appreciator who can stomach the occasional plot hole - it's just a great-quality adventure in general.