VPLAs People’s Choice AwardVote Now

VPLAs People’s Choice AwardVote Now

The Medusa Situation

Title: The Medusa Situation
Author: Gabiann Marin
Publisher: Clan Destine Press

Shortlist: John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing

The Medusa Situation joins the Greek goddess Hera and her Olympian family as they accept their forced divine retirement and live out their immortality in the Aussie suburbs.

Their once exciting, all-powerful, and totally worshipped lives have been replaced by endless days of quiet resentment and mystical reality TV programs.

That is until the day Stheno and Eurydale, sisters of the more infamous gorgon of legend, turn up on Hera’s doorstep asking for help because Medusa’s head has been stolen. Again.

In a race against time Hera and her step-daughter, the goddess Athena, join forces with a rag tag bunch of ancient Greek deities and mystical creatures to find the culprit and recover Medusa’s head before it creates havoc across the mortal and divine realms.

The novel is Janet Evanovich meets Natalie Haynes, an entertaining urban fantasy which examines issues of justice, male entitlement and the ways in which powerful women have been treated throughout the history of storytelling.

Judges’ report

Spare a thought for retired Greek goddess Hera, finally kicking back in suburban Marrickville bingeing episodes of her favourite talk show Oh My God! with her deadbeat husband Zeus, only to unexpectedly find herself roped into a girl power revenge saga centred around a missing head with a powerful death stare. Retirement plans be damned, this is a family matter (again). Will the truth-telling Athena lie in the name of justice? Will Hera’s brothers betray her? Is the goddess of women a bad feminist? Gabiann Marin’s madcap take on the secret lives of gods and monsters is funny, inventive, and gently satirical, cleverly entwining the tropes of ancient mythology with those of contemporary bureaucracy.

Extract

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About the Author

Gabiann Marin

VPLA book photography by Sarah Walker

The 2025 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards are proudly supported by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund and Creative Victoria.