Pagan Passions

In a wildly altered Earth where the Greek and Roman gods have returned in full power, war is outlawed, prudery has vanished, and New York has become a city of temples, sacred symbols, and public rites. William Forrester, an Athenan teacher and reluctant demi-god, must navigate a society where religion, desire, and political power are inseparable—while staying faithful to Athena and the woman he loves. His problems begin in the classroom, where a beautiful freshman devoted to Venus tries to seduce him in exchange for a passing grade, turning an ordinary history lesson into a comic, tense collision of professionalism and temptation. That uneasy mix of satire, sensuality, and supernatural order deepens as Forrester lectures on humanity's arrogance, war, and divine punishment, even as he finds himself unnervingly drawn to one attentive student. The pressure mounts during New York's Autumn Bacchanal, a riotous Dionysian festival of wine, music, confetti, chanting, and tightly controlled chaos. With Diana's guidance, Forrester is pushed to stand in for the god of revelry, endure the procession, and confront the vast machinery of divine rule. Along the way, he learns the gods are part of a larger system of occupied "nodes," that many ancient deities were substitutes or constructs, and that the pantheon survives because humanity still needs it. By the end, Forrester discovers he has passed his trial—and that Diana herself is a substitute god. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.