Hades' Daughter

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In the ancient world, Crete is not the only land with a Labyrinth at its heart. Labyrinth magic protects Troy and the Greek city-states, as well. Then Theseus steals away Ariadne, Mistress of the Cretan Labyrinth, who for love of him betrayed her own father. But Theseus abandons Ariadne for her sister, and in revenge, Ariadne unweaves the magic of all the world's remaining Labyrinths, unleashing an age of catastrophe. The gods weaken, Atlantis sinks, and Troy falls. Then Brutus, the warrior king of lost Troy, is promised a new Troy and a new Labyrinth if he carries out the destructive will of a mysterious, beautiful figure who appears to him in visions. But is she the goddess Artemis, as she claims, or a vengeful woman who has abandoned both mortality and mercy?

FROM OUR EDITORS

In Hades' Daughter, gods and men mingle. Set in ancient Greece, this mythological fantasy unfolds the many-layered tale of Adrianne, the mistress of the labyrinth, and a revenge that has been postponed many generations.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Ancient Greece: A place where the gods hold mortal lives cheap, mere playthings to amuse, delight, and abuse at their will." "But those puny mortals are not wholly devoid of power, for at the cores of their fabulous city-states lie the Labyrinths, where they can shape the powers of the heavens to their own design. When Theseus entered the Labyrinth and came away with the prize of freedom and his beloved Ariadne, Mistress of the Labyrinth, his future seemed assured...until he abandoned her for the unforgivable sin of bearing him only a daughter, and the world changed. From that day forward, all the Labyrinths in the ancient world started to decay. It slowly became clear that power was fading from the city-states." "Was it the natural decline that comes to all cultures or was it because the power of the Labyrinth had been corrupted by a woman spurned?" "A hundred years pass - Troy has fallen and the Trojans are a scattered and humbled people. The warrior Brutus is of the line of kings and gods. He wears the golden kingship bands of Troy proudly - but they are his only mementos of a former glory, for he is a man without a country and is left little else but pride and a memory of the latent power that he could wield if but given a chance. When he receives a godsent vision of a distant shore where he can rebuild the ancient kingdom, he will move heaven and earth to reach his destiny." "Ever westward he is drawn, to a lovely and mystical green land that offers him a haven - and a dream of power and conquest. Nothing will deter...not even the entreaties of the young princess whom he took as his wife and bedded against her will. First her hatred - and later her love - torment and bind him. She is the only one who realizes the danger he is stepping into, and she will do anything to save him...and his son, whom she carries in her womb." "For in the mists of Albion there lies a woman of power - a woman who has used her siren call to cloud Brutus's mind and has her own re

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In this dazzling start to a new trilogy, Australian author Douglass (StarMan) once again combines mythology, fantasy, magic and romance to produce a consistent, well-rounded story full of seriously flawed characters both abhorrently evil and enthrallingly empathetic. Ariadne, daughter of the Minoan king of Crete and Mistress of the Labyrinth, has betrayed her family for the sake of her lover, Theseus. When Theseus deserts her after she gives birth to a girl, Ariadne spits out a curse ("No one abandons the Mistress of the Labyrinth!... Not you, nor any part of your world!") that sets in motion a twisting, turning plot that centers a century later on Troy and the efforts of Brutus, the leader of that fallen city, to regain his kingdom. Brutus has already murdered his father to clear his path to the throne, and when an opportunity to seize another kingdom presents itself, he grabs it with no thought to the consequences. Ariadne, now in the form of Genvissa of Llangarlia, uses Brutus's greed and self-confidence to take another step forward in her revenge-a revenge that involves renewing "the Game" and the Labyrinth at its heart. The deliciously despicable main characters all play their part in the Game and in the making or breaking of the Labyrinth, leading to many unintended results. Douglass continually surprises, and readers will eagerly await the next two books, which promise to carry the action up to modern-day London. (Jan. 27) FYI: The author has won two Aurealis Awards. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The hero Theseus's defeat of the Minotaur, with the help of Ariadne, daughter of the Minoan king, heralded a series of events that resulted in the fall of the ancient world and the destruction of the sacred labyrinths that laid at the heart of each city-state. A century after Troy's downfall, Ariadne's descendant, Genvissa, joins forces with Brutus, the last Kingman of Troy, to create a new city in the far reaches of the barbarian world and rebuild the labyrinth that once brought power and prosperity to their ancestors through the enactment of a mystical "Game." Only a few individuals, including Brutus's hostage-wife, Cornelia, realize the darkness hidden within the Game and pledge themselves to wage an eternal war against it. The new series by the Australian author of The Wayfarer Redemption creates an epic saga of good vs. evil that begins in the ruins of the ancient world but creates ripples that echo down the centuries to the modern era. An intriguing premise and compelling characters make Douglas's latest a strong choice for most fantasy collections. Highly recommended. Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Those old Greek myths covered a lot of territory, but there was just so much space left to fill that it's surprising more authors haven't taken the chance to do so. Diving right in, though, is Australian fantasist Douglass (The Wayfarer Redemption series), who starts off her new multivolume saga in the aftermath of the destruction of the Labyrinth. Theseus, sailing triumphant back to Greece, abandons Ariadne, his pregnant bride who had helped him defeat the Minotaur-Asterion-in favor of her younger sister. Ariadne, Mistress of the Labyrinth, then makes a pact with the half-alive Asterion, as well as Death herself, to enact her revenge for the betrayal she suffered. She sets about unraveling the Game, the loose web of divine magic that held the ancient world together: the result brings death and destruction everywhere. Jump forward a century and we find Brutus, leader of a band of Trojans who've been wandering the earth since the fall of their city. Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and one of the only deities who was not destroyed in the conflagration unleashed by Ariadne, comes to Brutus with a deal: Do whatever I ask and we'll rebuild Troy. Next, Brutus' men, aided by Artemis' magic, have conquered the Greek kingdom of Mesopotamia, which holds many Trojans enslaved, and Brutus has taken the virgin princess Cornelia as his bride. All this is only setup for the ancient world-spanning epic that Douglass sets into play, which ultimately involves the reunification of the male and female divine essence (or something of the sort) and occasionally jumps forward to London 1939, a plot strand that will hopefully be explained in later volumes. This initial installment has a breathless tone to it, withits copious bloodletting and the characters' ravenous sexual appetites, but all the carrying-on becomes tiresome.