A Game of Retribution cover art

A Game of Retribution

Hades Saga, Book 2

Preview

Try for $0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Game of Retribution

Written by: Scarlett St. Clair
Narrated by: Tyler Donne
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $27.83

Buy Now for $27.83

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Become enchanted by the fantasy world of gods and mortals in bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair's reimagined New Greece. Listeners are "hopelessly addicted" to the story of Hades and Persephone told from Hades's point of view.

Hades, God of the Dead, does not take sides or bend the rules. He makes no exceptions to these values—not for god or mortal, even his lover, Persephone, Goddess of Spring.

Usually, fear prevents retaliation.

But not this time.

When Hera, Goddess of Women, approaches Hades with a plan to overthrow Zeus, he declines to offer help. As punishment, Hera sentences Hades to perform a series of labors. Each feat seems more impossible than the last and draws his attention away from Persephone—whose own tragedy has left her questioning whether she can be Queen of the Underworld.

Can Hades maintain the balance he craves?

Contains mature themes.

©2022 Scarlett St. Clair (P)2022 Tantor
Fantasy Fiction Romance Ancient Greece Greek Mythology
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about A Game of Retribution

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    18
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great companion to the series

This story gives us more than just Hades perspective on the previous books, we’re getting much more story. We get to see the how Hades uncovers the machinations of the Gods, learn more about their motivations and relationships.

The performance was good, but I found it difficult to hear accents given to characters that were not given accents by the performance provided in the other audiobooks. It’s really hard to hear the voices that were done so marvellously by someone else interpreted differently, but for the most part he does nail down the characters well. You do just have to get used to the different voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Spicy and Intense

Overall Rating: 5/5 ⭐️ Spice Rating: 3.75/5 🌶

This is the second book in Scarlett St. Clair’s Hades Saga. This book picks up directly after the events of A Game of Fate and can be read concurrently with A Touch of Ruin from the Hades X Persephone series.

This book is told from Hades’ perspective, and runs during the same time as A Touch of Ruin. However, it is important to note that this is not just ATOR from Hades’ POV, but rather it is a separate book and contains other important plot elements that are not present in ATOR but that will contribute to the storyline as both series’ progress.

A Game of Retribution was beautifully narrated by Tyler Donne who also narrated A Game of Fate. Donne does an excellent job of bringing St. Clair’s Hades to life. His voice is dark, sultry, and conveys just the right amount of lust and violence. The flow between sections is seamless, and not at all choppy which I like. Additionally, there is very clear differentiation between characters, so it is easy to tell who is speaking and when. The pacing I found to be a bit too slow. However, I find this is normally the case when I listen to audiobooks. I recommend listening to this one on 1.3X speed. While I love Donne’s narration, his voices used for the female characters are sometimes a bit awkward, particularly during explicit scenes. It can sometimes be difficult for male narrators to do female voices without them sounding cringy, and I found the voice used for Persephone to be a bit awkward, but it didn't deter me from listening. Overall, Donne provided excellent narration, and really brought the characters (especially Hades and Hermes) to life.

What I really love about the way St. Clair has written the Hades Saga and the Hades X Persephone series’ is that each, while having overlapping timelines, are entirely unique. St. Clair does a good job of showing Hades’ character and what is going on in his head behind the scenes. One thing that Persephone and Hades both struggle with throughout the series’ is communication, and I loved being able to see how Hades’ justified his lack of communication, and I also loved being super annoyed with Persephone for once. However, as this is now the 5th book in the series, I do hope that the miscommunication issues get left behind for the remainder of the books because at this point it is starting to get a bit old.

The characters felt real, and had a good number of flaws that contribute to their likability. Personally, I loved seeing Hades’ vulnerabilities shine through in this book. In A Touch of Ruin you eventually learn that Hades was scared to share the entirety of his realm with Persephone because he feared her moral compass would shun it, but it is really charming having a glimpse of how deeply he fears her rejection in AGOR. Also, Hades' love and possessiveness of Persephone is pretty much everything I want.

Scarlett’s writing style continues to mature as she writes more and more. This book was significantly less awkward than A Touch of Darkness (which I still loved, but sometimes had a few cringe moments in). The book is wonderfully ~spicy~ but not in a way that the plot is taken over, and I thought overall it was quite well balanced.

My main critique is that some of the tropes used in the first several books in the two series are starting to get a bit old. The jealousy, mistrust and miscommunications are good in furthering the plot in the first few novels, but what I really want to see now is Hades and Persephone grow and mature together as a couple.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a decent amount of spice, fantasy, and mythological retellings. If you’ve read St. Clair’s A Touch of Darkness series, it is essential you read these books too before the release of A Touch of Chaos. Scarlett’s suggested reading order is as follows:

A Touch of Darkness
A Game of Fate
A Touch of Ruin
A Game of Retribution
A Touch of Malice

There are two more releases coming for this series: A Touch of Chaos (2023) and A Game of Gods (2023) but Scarlett hasn’t declared where they will fit into the order.

World-Building: 5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Romance: 4.5/5
Writing Style: 4/5
Plot: 4.5/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!