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The Game of the Gods: Pantheons    by E. J. Dabel Amazon.com order for
Game of the Gods
by E. J. Dabel
Order:  USA  Can
Sea Lion, 2012 (2012)
e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Ricki Marking-Camuto

E. J. Dabel continues his Pantheons series with The Game of the Gods. Isaiah Marshall, minus an arm, is back after training for a year with the old man. When he returns to Kaliber Academy, he finds there have been some changes.

Sure, all of his godling friends and his Greek god enemies are still there, but some unexpected old friends show up, too. And then there is the giant stadium being built to showcase the gods' abilities in the form of a new sport, Tasselball. Isaiah has about a week to learn how to play before the Greek gods and godlings of Kaliber square off in a televised scrimmage between the Celtic gods. However, there are more games being played among the gods than Tasselball, and Isaiah seems to be in the middle of everything.

In The Game of the Gods, Dabel solved some of the major problems from Pantheons – such as there being more than just a hundred and some gods amongst all the pantheons. However, this episode felt a little more disjointed than the first. It seemed as if the first section (Isaiah coming back from training and facing off against the Maoi gods) could have been its own book, with the second (concerning the training and playing of Tasselball) being the next part of the series. Despite this, the story never lagged and actually gave a deeper look at some gods and mythology with which the average reader may be unfamiliar.

E. J. Dabel really does bring the many gods to life in this series that will appeal to the more reluctant of readers. The ending of The Game of the Gods made it clear that there is much more in store for Isaiah as his Pantheons adventures continue.

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