Early on in the book, Clovis explains to Piper and Jason that he knows a lot about mythology and the gods because he spends so might time sleeping and dreaming. His words turn out to be prescient: each of the characters gains important information about their allies as well as their enemies in dreams.

In dreams, it seems the barriers between the mortal and immortal words are thinner; both gods and giants can communicate through them. However, dreams rarely provide all the necessary information. Messages from dreams must be inspected for clues before real-world action can be taken.

This book contains modern reinterpretations of many myths. While the gods resemble the gods of classical myths, they have also made a home in New York. Likewise, the backstories of fictional characters like Medea and King Midas get new twists: Medea claims that the anti-feminist sentiment of her time gave her a bad rap, while King Midas laughs at the idea that he would ever repent. As the novel retells and reinterprets ancient Greek and Roman myths, it encourages that it, too, be decoded.