In Ulley’s Odyssey by R. M. Gayler, Ulley rules a bioengineered habitat, Ithaca. He mines ice on Jupiter’s satellite, Europa, to provide his world with water and air. The Consortium, led by the cruel Chancellor Helmut Mintaur, forces Ulley to join them in their war against the peaceful planet Troia. After the violent destruction of Troia, Ulley realizes his fatal role in the tragedy and decides to escape into dangerous deep space, even if it means that he will never see Ithaca and his family again. On Ithaca, Ulley's wife, Pennae, tends to the war veterans, hoping against all hope that her husband will come back one day and help her save the habitat from the Consortium. Will Ulley find enough courage to return home?

Ulley’s Odyssey by R. M. Gayler is a magnificent and enthralling space opera that appeals to mature fans of dystopia, drama, adventure, science fiction, and novels based on mythology. The author shows the classic myth from an unexpected futuristic point of view. Gayler's imaginative and breathtaking world-building will resonate with the lovers of Homer's ageless poems. Phemus is an impressive example of the modern interpretation of a mythological creature. The novel is character-driven with a multilayered main character. Ulley is a miner, a husband, and a father. He is down-to-earth and has no ambitions beyond his beloved Ithaca. Yet, his mindset is unique, and his resourcefulness is boundless. The victory over Troia brings Ulley only guilt and remorse, which is unusual for an epic hero. The narrative is emotional, and the pace is well-balanced. This book is the first part of Ulley’s adventures, and the second one promises to be no less thrilling.

After the fall of Troia, Captain Ulley disappears from official records when he alters the course of his warship, the Homer, and breaks from the Consortium fleet in Ulley's Odyssey by R.M. Gayler. Branded missing while political forces move to claim his home habitat of Ithaca, Ulley travels through uncharted systems where survival depends on negotiation with alien intelligences, artificial minds, and detachment from sentient planetary ecosystems that distort memory and perception. Each offering of supplies, knowledge, and passage comes at a cost he cannot fully measure. Meanwhile, his wife Pennae battles legal and military pressure on Ithaca, and his son Telly follows fragmented traces of the war’s aftermath across ruined worlds, as Ulley fights to reach home before others decide his fate for him.

Ulley’s Odyssey by R.M. Gayler is absolutely among the very best alternative readings of Homer's work in a classic science fiction space opera that ticks every single box and finds strength in recognition and consequence. Readers familiar with Homer will easily spot touchstones that are spectacularly reimagined, from Ulley as a lone commander resisting the lure of a false distress call that echoes the Sirens, to a perilous passage between twin cosmic hazards that mirrors Scylla and Charybdis. Gayler allows Ithaca to function as more than a destination, and we see it serving as a political home under siege through courts, occupations, and legal traps. The writing style is far more accessible than Homer's epic poetry, which, while respected historically, is a story generally pushed upon unwilling teenagers as opposed to being selected reading in adulthood. Overall, this is an excellent novel in its own right and a pure delight to read. Very highly recommended.