Lore Olympus Review
Saturday is the perfect time to wander through the stacks (that’s librarian-speak for “bookshelves”) and talk about books and the people who write them. Pull up a comfy chair and settle in, because today I want to chat about the wildly successful Webtoon turned physical book (the fourth volume of the print comic hits the shelves on June 6th!), Lore Olympus.
The Eisner-award winning webcomic by Rachel Smythe exploded on the scene like a firework when it first came out on the platform WEBTOON. Pretty soon, people were cosplaying as the characters, writing fanfiction based on the story arcs, and the webcomic was picked up for publication by one of the big five. It’s a modern, sleek re-imagining of the classic Hades and Persephone myth that tackles big issues and plucks on all the heartstrings you have. Once you start to read it, it’s not hard to see how people got hooked so fast.
Personally, I feel like I have a lot to learn about writing compelling romance plots from Rachel Smythe. I devour each volume of Lore Olympus that comes out and sit back to ask myself, “Why did that work so well?” I don’t want to write Lore Olympus – it already exists and there’s no way I could do it better. But if I could write with the same level of mastery as Smythe, I would be very happy indeed. She understands the push and pull between people, not just strictly romantic, but just in general — what draws people together and what keeps them apart.
Is there a particular piece of media that you think is exemplary in its genre? That makes you want to tear it apart and put it back together just to see how it works? That’s certainly Lore Olympus for me, but what is it for you? Let’s chat about it in the comments below!
Robin Jeffrey 