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Publisher:
Tor Books |
Release
Date: January 2003 |
ISBN:
0-765-30540-2 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Hardcover |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Fantasy |
Reviewed:
2003 |
Reviewer:
Jo Rogers |
Reviewer
Notes: Violence, sexual situations |
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Hades'
Daughter
The
Troy Game, No. 1
By Sara
Douglass
Theseus
sailed from Crete with Ariadne and her sister Phaedra, but he did
not take Ariadne, now pregnant with Theseus' child and within days
of delivery, all the way to Athens. Instead, he left her on an island
in the Aegean Sea. There, he said, she could give birth comfortably
on land, for she could not give birth at sea. He said he would come
back for her when he could return from Athens.
Ariadne,
however, knew better. She knew he would never return. As a Mistress
of the Labyrinth, she could never bear him a son, and he wanted
a son. Phaedra, her beautiful younger sister, could bear a child
of either sex. Ariadne knew then that Theseus would never marry
her, never acknowledge their daughter. He would, instead, make Phaedra
his wife. She vowed to wreak her revenge on both of them, swearing
she would destroy Theseus' entire world.
Soon,
Ariadne went into labor, but hard as she tried, she could not bring
her daughter forth. When she saw the midwives of the island begin
to debate over which knife to sharpen to cut the child from her
and she saw the Death Crone beside her, Ariadne decided it was time
to make a deal. The Death Crone complied, giving Ariadne her life,
her daughter's life and a visit with her brother's shade. Then,
she began to wreak her vengeance.
A
labyrinth was concealed somewhere beneath each ancient city. All
the evil that would beset or destroy the city was trapped within
the heart of this labyrinth. Using the magic Asterion taught her,
Ariadne unraveled the magic of each labyrinth, one city at a time.
She saved only one.
The
story then moves forward a hundred years. Ariadne is long in her
grave. But she has passed her powers down to her youngest daughter,
and to the youngest daughter of each succeeding generation. Her
great-great-granddaughter now holds the power. She is the one who
will bring the revenge to fruition.
Brutus,
the man that holds the kingship bands of Troy is the one Genvissa
sought. But he complicated her plans when he kidnapped and married
the daughter of the king of Mesopotama, the city Ariadne spared.
Genvissa can't just get rid of young Cornelia, for she carries Brutus'
son and heir. She continued her plans, though, because she is sure
Brutus will leave Cornelia for her. Cornelia can give him a son,
but only Genvissa can give him what he wants most - a city of his
own to rule.
The
story goes back and forth between ancient Albion - Great Britain
to us - and London on the eve of World War II. This is where Brutus
and the reborn Asterion will have their final battle for the kingship
bands. The fate of the world will rest on the outcome.
Hades'
Daughter is the magnificent beginning to what seems to be another
Sara Douglass masterpiece fantasy series. Though I have given you
a few tidbits of the plot, there is much more than I have told.
You must read the book to get the whole story. And this is just
the beginning! I anxiously await the next installment!
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