Blood of Hercules (Villains of Lore, #1)

Content Warning: This section includes descriptions of child abuse and neglect, violence, trauma, and forced marriage.

“The future hinged before me on a razor-sharp edge: apocalypse and peace were two sides of the same coin.”

In this excerpt, the character of Fate underscores the duality that haunts the plot of the novel. While Fate alludes to the potential consequences of her prophecy, it is also clear that most of Mas’s characters demonstrate various forms of duality. For example, although Alexis has undergone a great deal of pain, she is the one most capable of inflicting pain on others. Likewise, although Augustus is considered to be a mind breaker thanks to his powers, he is also implied to have endured excessive psychological abuse throughout his life.

“I arched my eyebrow. ‘Are you questioning my abilities—young boy?’”

Fate speaks these words to Zeus, and the passage serves to establish the fact that even the mighty Spartans are not quite as permanent, immortal, or all-powerful as they would have others believe. Instead, they must acknowledge that certain entities, such as the Fates, are indeed their elders. Their habit of swearing by Kronos also supports this interpretation.

“No one knew where the human-esque immortal Titans with razor-sharp teeth, black veins, long claws, and superspeed came from, or why they tore humans apart for fun. Their existence was unfortunate if you wanted to live (I didn’t).”

In this passage, Alexis’s words take on a bleak, cynical tone as Mas uses the scene to demonstrate that humans—and likely Spartans—have learned to acclimatize to impossible circumstances in a way that normalizes the Titans’ presence. Alexis’s matter-of-fact and incurious attitude toward the origin of the Titans implies that she simply accepts them as part of her life, and her mindset is indicative of humans’ readiness to adapt to the presence of beings they cannot defeat and problems they cannot solve.