‘The gods show us the way, and condemn us for following in their footsteps.’
There’s something infinitely fascinating about Greek mythology and its many retellings. There’s so much of it out there and yet I don’t think I could ever grow bored of it. Truthfully I’ve lost count of how many books featuring it I long to read but trust me when I say there’s a lot of them. In the past I’ve read and adored offerings within both the adult (‘Circe’, ‘Ariadne’) and young adult (‘Lore’) genres and there’s still so much of it that I long to explore. ‘Daughter Of Darkness’ feels somewhat like a mash up of a new Greek inspired tale and a retelling. Although the details differ greatly from the little that I remember of the original tale.
With this novel the authors have created a new and intriguing group of individuals blessed – or cursed – with god given powers. These abilities vary within Orders based upon who the powers come from and the system that’s formed within society as a result is fascinating. There are lots of rules, regulations and rituals based upon these ‘gifts’ as well as a well thought out belief system within these Orders and a lot of misogynist prejudice. All in all it’s a Greek inspired world and magic based system that I’d happily explore more thoroughly and can’t wait to learn more about within book two.
From the start there’s a lot of rivalry within this novel; the central characters feature a couple of friendlier bonds but a lot of hostility too. This makes for an interesting group of individuals to follow; a group that, unlike in many fantasy novels, are reluctant to ally together. Raised to compete with those around them, working together does not come easy to this group of Theodesmioi. Together, despite their conflict, they form an interesting group and grow realistically over the course of the narrative. Everyone had their moments of intrigue and all the characters are ones that I’d happily learn more about.
Truthfully there are only a couple of minor issues that I had with this novel, although they are generally ones that could well be addressed within book two. There were certain elements of Chryse that I wish had been explored further for example. And one of the antagonist’s seemed to lose their menace a bit too rapidly, although perhaps that’s just me. Regardless of that I adored this novel as a whole and found Deina and her companion’s trip into the Underworld fascinating.
If you’re a fan of Greek mythology and/or fantasy novels then I recommend checking ‘Daughter Of Darkness’ out. It offers an intriguing new take on some of what mythology has to offer, features an interesting mix of – often conflicting – characters and doesn’t shy away from the darkness and brutality that mythology often shares. I, for one, an intrigued to see how things tie up in book two.
There’s something infinitely fascinating about Greek mythology and its many retellings. There’s so much of it out there and yet I don’t think I could ever grow bored of it. Truthfully I’ve lost count of how many books featuring it I long to read but trust me when I say there’s a lot of them. In the past I’ve read and adored offerings within both the adult (‘Circe’, ‘Ariadne’) and young adult (‘Lore’) genres and there’s still so much of it that I long to explore. ‘Daughter Of Darkness’ feels somewhat like a mash up of a new Greek inspired tale and a retelling. Although the details differ greatly from the little that I remember of the original tale.
With this novel the authors have created a new and intriguing group of individuals blessed – or cursed – with god given powers. These abilities vary within Orders based upon who the powers come from and the system that’s formed within society as a result is fascinating. There are lots of rules, regulations and rituals based upon these ‘gifts’ as well as a well thought out belief system within these Orders and a lot of misogynist prejudice. All in all it’s a Greek inspired world and magic based system that I’d happily explore more thoroughly and can’t wait to learn more about within book two.
From the start there’s a lot of rivalry within this novel; the central characters feature a couple of friendlier bonds but a lot of hostility too. This makes for an interesting group of individuals to follow; a group that, unlike in many fantasy novels, are reluctant to ally together. Raised to compete with those around them, working together does not come easy to this group of Theodesmioi. Together, despite their conflict, they form an interesting group and grow realistically over the course of the narrative. Everyone had their moments of intrigue and all the characters are ones that I’d happily learn more about.
Truthfully there are only a couple of minor issues that I had with this novel, although they are generally ones that could well be addressed within book two. There were certain elements of Chryse that I wish had been explored further for example. And one of the antagonist’s seemed to lose their menace a bit too rapidly, although perhaps that’s just me. Regardless of that I adored this novel as a whole and found Deina and her companion’s trip into the Underworld fascinating.
If you’re a fan of Greek mythology and/or fantasy novels then I recommend checking ‘Daughter Of Darkness’ out. It offers an intriguing new take on some of what mythology has to offer, features an interesting mix of – often conflicting – characters and doesn’t shy away from the darkness and brutality that mythology often shares. I, for one, an intrigued to see how things tie up in book two.