Hades' Daughter
Sara Douglass
(Reviewer - Kate Holmes)
2003 Tor Books
ISBN: 0765305402
Ancient Greece is a place where the gods hold mortals cheap, mere playthings to amuse, delight, & 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.
Associate Reviewer Kate Holmes writes:
Set in Bronze Age Greece, Hades' Daughter is a story of gods, more than one beautiful goddess, heroes and villains. It is a story of myth & fantasy, romance & adventure. The protagonist, the Trojan Brutus, historically considered a simpleton, is portrayed more as a barbarian obsessed with the idea that he has been chosen by the Goddess Artemis to rebuild Troy. With this single-mindedness purpose, Brutus becomes a mere pawn in the Troy Game, a game in which the Greek Gods manipulate mankind with their legendary beauty & charm. However, while Brutus dreams of greatness, the evil goddess Genvissa uses him to her own ends.
Nothing is as it seems as these characters out of legend play a deadly game of which they never tire. Human lives are worthless, human pain ignored, as Brutus, a puppet, leads his homeless people through storm & battle in the quest for a new Troy. A woman made his wife through terror & force becomes the unwitting instrument of death & much sorrow for Brutus, but also the mother of his son. She determines to make what she can of the marriage & so when Cornelia sees Brutus being tempted by the beautiful but deadly Genvissa, she devises to give him a daughter which she believes will bring him back to her. Her plan, however, is hopeless, as the malevolent Genvissa insinuates herself into Brutus' mind, enslaving him hopelessly.
In sporadic chapters named “Cornelia Speaks”, Cornelia tells the story from her own position, while other chapters are set hundreds of years in the future when the gods gather once more to bring the game to a close.
As the first book of a trilogy demands, Hades' Daughter left me hungry for more, & looking forward with great anticipation to the next installment of The Troy Game
Sara Douglass, a historian, with an extensive knowledge of the period she brings this genre to an entirely new level. Hades' Daughter, her most ambitious fictional work to date, is a treasure of historical fantasy/fiction.It is also available as an e-book for Microsoft reader.
Reviewer's Bio
She is a Canadian wife, mother, grandmother, & avid reader. She has hungered for knowledge her whole life which has led her to haunt her local library & used book stores, looking for “old friends.” She has several bookshelves over which presides a print of Amergin, an ancient wizard from Celtic myth.
A welcome addition to her study, Della, her computer (named for its maker), has become a large part of her world. For some time Kate Holmes reviewed for another ezine, & as a means of giving herself a more varied reading experience, has joined RebeccasReads as a Associate Reviewer.
Books make great gifts: no calories, carbs or cholesterol!
RebeccasiReads.com
