Review of "Labruula Awakens: The Chronicles of Rekule" by Paul Wood

Score: 92/100 (9.2 out of 10)

What if the beings we call "gods" and "goddesses" today were actually vulnerable, fallible, flawed human beings who lived long ago?

Welcome to 1750 BC—where Olympians and Titans walk side by side, not as mythic archetypes, but as villagers, stonemasons, and councilmen struggling through love, duty, prejudice, and the discovery of a power that could change their world forever.

Paul Wood’s Labruula Awakens is an emotionally resonant and thematically rich origin myth cloaked in fantasy. Told through the reflective lens of Rekule, a young Olympian orphan turned reluctant hero, the novel begins as a coming-of-age story before unfurling into something much deeper: an exploration of how ancient power, when unearthed, exposes not just supernatural energy—but the cracks in society, friendship, and even destiny itself.

The novel's greatest strength is its intimacy. We don’t simply watch Rekule discover a glowing stone—we feel the surge of energy ripple through his body. We ache with him in heartbreak, sweat beside him, and flinch as old alliances buckle under political pressure and unspoken resentment.

Themes of forbidden love (especially between Rekule and Chalene), class tension (Olympians vs. Titans), and the burden of leadership (Atlas, Zekku, and Lapetus) are presented with nuance, not bombast. And when the crystals—mysterious, glowing stones with life-enhancing power—enter the narrative, they are less a MacGuffin and more a mirror: amplifying who each character already is inside.

The pacing is deliberate, sometimes too much so, but it rewards patient readers with emotional payoffs and one of the most gripping council scenes we've read this year. Lapetus’s transformation is terrifying and awe-inspiring, cementing the novel’s central warning: power may feel like a gift—but it always demands a price.

Intimacy defines this book from beginning to end. No, not the sensual or sexual kind of intimacy (this is more like a YA novel), but the kind of intimacy that comes from a small, close-knit group of people living a small, close-knit kind of life.

The most surprising thing we noticed about this book is how not epic it is. Yes, there are relatively large battles. Yes, there are relatively large stakes. Yes, multiple kingdoms/nations like Egypt and Sumaria get involved. But all in all, this is the story about a guy—Rekule—and his village.

Think of it like Little House on the Prairie but in Ancient Eurasia rather than the American midwest.

Rekule, his companions, fellow villagers, rivals, and enemies are not these godly, unstoppable forces. Yes, they develop powers due to the crystals, but they're a lot more like bending powers from Avatar rather than the world-changing, continent-altering powers you'd expect from deities.

And that's something that we both liked and disliked about this book. If you hold these mythological characters in high esteem, you might be bothered by how weak, vulnerable, and small they all seem. Seriously, if your view of Atlas, Uranus, Thanatos, and Chaos (Chaose) is them being these humongous, larger-than-life beings who can lift the sky or alter the planet, then you might find yourself seriously disappointed. All of these mythological characters just seem so... nerfed and neutered.

They're just... people. Mostly-mundane humans with mostly-mundane human problems. What surprised us was how petty and petulent they all seemed. Then again, the Greek gods (in particular) were known to be quite petty and petulent. They started the Trojan War over a beauty contest, after all.

The problem we had was that so many of these characters acted like 12 or 13 year olds who just discovered puberty along with discovering these magic rocks. They don't act like mature adults. They all seem like kids!

So, we were asking ourselves: Is this supposed to be like Teen Titans?

These aren't Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman, this is more like Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Robin.

They just seem so... disappointingly small.

We have Rekule over here crushing on Chalene like a hormonal kid who has never seen an attractive girl before. He's over here being like (to paraphrase): "Oh, my gosh! My BFF Thanatos! How am I supposed to fight my BFF Thanatos?!"

Even when Thanatos is gloating about an unspeakable, irreversible act, Rekule is like (to paraphrase): "OMG! My BFF Thanatos!"

And Thanatos isn't this powerful, imposing god of death, he's just as immature as Rekule is, albeit a little taller. There's nothing really grandiose or impressive about him beyond that. So, he really doesn't come across as a threat at all.

Similarly, Uranus and Chaos (Chaose), the main villains of this novel, are not these big, bad, impressive figures. They're just... dudes... Power-hungry, corrupted, yet underwhelming dudes. Uranus doesn't come across as this big, bad king, god, or tribal leader. He comes across as some rival or bully like Gary from Pokemon or Seifer from Final Fantasy VIII.

Why are these characters so... underwhelming and disappointing?

What do you think of when you think of the word "god"? What do you think of when you think of the word "Titan"? Do you think of these larger-than-life, impressive, imposing figures who could ruin your day in an instant? Or do you think of small, immature, petulant characters with magic rocks and bending powers trying to work out who their BFF is or who to date next?

But we'll digress a little bit... the relationship between Rekule and Chalene is kinda cute. We'll admit that. It's like watching two teenagers fall in love for the first time. There's a charm to that—a puppy love kind of charm. And Rekule and Chalene face obstacles like being betrothed to Uranus and even death itself. That's good. The book doesn't make it too easy for this pairing.

.And we'll digress again... the crystals are more than magic rocks. They introduce a bending-like magic system to the book that's fairly interesting. Nothing overly impressive, but interesting.

We're told that Rekule's rash is due to his affinity with his crystal, which is greater than the others. His body longs to be a part of the crystal and the skin is "in the way." That's actually pretty cool.

What else is pretty cool? Well, there are multiple battles with different stakes and dynamics. The final battle is particularly awesome, even involving people from foreign lands like Sumer and Egypt.

We hate to say it, but unfortunately, a lot of these battles amount to the characters just protecting the village like it's some tower defense video game. It really does seem like that a lot of the time.

One last thing that we felt held this book back is the humongous cast of characters. There are way too many characters in this book. Yes, many of them have ties to mythological counterparts, but it just seems so superfluous and unnecessary a lot of the time. You don't need like 20+ characters to tell a sub-300 page story. Someone is going to get short-changed and not developed.

We did like Mnemosyne. What's kind of weird about her is that she's a lot less about memory and more like Diana, a huntress. That's still cool, but it doesn't seem to fit. In fact, we feel that way about a lot of the characters. Like, why name Thanatos "Thanatos" if he's not going to represent death? Why name Mnemosyne "Mnemosyne" if she's not going to represent memory? Why name Atlas "Atlas" if he's not going to be a particularly physically imposing?

There are times when we said to ourselves: Why even try to tie this into Greek mythology? Why not just tell an epic fantasy story or a fantasy romance with your own characters? That's pretty much what ends up happening, for better or for worse.

But if you're a fan of the Percy Jackson series, you might enjoy and appreciate this.

This book also has one of the best and coolest book covers of the season.
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