Julia's House for Lost Creatures
Ben Hatke
ISBN: 9781596438668
By the author of Zita the Spacegirl. Julia's house is built onto a giant tortoise, and it's moved in to a lovely spot by the sea - but things are too lonely! So Julia puts out a sign advertising space for Lost creatures, and boy do they show up in droves. The company is great, but the extra housework and messes not so much. How will Julia solve her problem and keep her new friends at her house?
Ribbit!
Rodrigo Folgueira, illustrated by Poly Bernatene
ISBN: 9780307981462
The frog family are distressed by a large pink visitor that only says "Ribbit!" and they work themselves (and a lot of rubbernecking forest creatures) up into a frenzy worrying about this strange pig and what terrible things it could possibly want with them. Finally the Wise Old Beetle offers some common sense, but it's too late for the frogs - or, maybe not? Are frogs afraid of heights? "Tweet tweet!"
If I Had a Gryphon
Vikki Vansickle, illustrated by Cale Atkinson
ISBN: 9781770498099
A dark brown girl laments in rhyming couplets about how ANY fantastical pet would be a better option than her current disappointing hamster. Until she gets a bit further into the scenarios, and realizes that perhaps a fantastical pet may have some significant downsides. Cute and quick, despite covering a lot of ground. Reads VERY fast.
Showing posts with label mythology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mythology. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
New Arrivals: Graphic Novel: Lowriders in Space, Cathy Camper & Raul the Third
Lowriders in Space
Cathy Camper, illustrations by Raul the Third
ISBN: 9781452121550
Read February 15, 2015
Graphic Novel, bilingual (English/Spanish)
Tri-tone ball-point-pen illustrations wind crazily through the pages of a mythic "lowrider" origin story.
This was super-cute. A trio of mechanics toils away in a shop, dreaming of the day when they can labor for themselves (and not get yelled at by the big boss). Lupe Impala (yes, she's a girl, yes, she's a deer, yes she's a mechanic) is the leader of this tiny pack, and she's joined by a mosquito auto-detailer (he uses his schozz to paint the fine lines) and a washing-and-buffing master octopus (who is frankly just adorable).
The trio enter a contest for trick cars that promises a prize of the car filled with cash, and they start work on their ancient rust-bucket Chevy (yes, it's an Impala, how did you guess?), raiding the local abandoned air-field for useful bits and pieces. After the car is kitted out, their first test drive shoots them out into space, where really loose mythology and astronomy bedeck and gift their car with beautiful stellar flourishes and details.
Between the totally mesmerizing art (really - everything is drawn with a ballpoint pen in blue, black, or red, on old paper-bag-colored paper) and the sheer joy of the madcap narrative, this really is a great cultural intro for just about anyone.
Really stunning, and I'm glad to have it in our collection!
Cathy Camper, illustrations by Raul the Third
ISBN: 9781452121550
Read February 15, 2015
Graphic Novel, bilingual (English/Spanish)
Tri-tone ball-point-pen illustrations wind crazily through the pages of a mythic "lowrider" origin story.
This was super-cute. A trio of mechanics toils away in a shop, dreaming of the day when they can labor for themselves (and not get yelled at by the big boss). Lupe Impala (yes, she's a girl, yes, she's a deer, yes she's a mechanic) is the leader of this tiny pack, and she's joined by a mosquito auto-detailer (he uses his schozz to paint the fine lines) and a washing-and-buffing master octopus (who is frankly just adorable).
The trio enter a contest for trick cars that promises a prize of the car filled with cash, and they start work on their ancient rust-bucket Chevy (yes, it's an Impala, how did you guess?), raiding the local abandoned air-field for useful bits and pieces. After the car is kitted out, their first test drive shoots them out into space, where really loose mythology and astronomy bedeck and gift their car with beautiful stellar flourishes and details.
Between the totally mesmerizing art (really - everything is drawn with a ballpoint pen in blue, black, or red, on old paper-bag-colored paper) and the sheer joy of the madcap narrative, this really is a great cultural intro for just about anyone.
Really stunning, and I'm glad to have it in our collection!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Nonfiction: The Way Into Narnia, Peter J. Schakel
Ran across this while shelving, and enjoyed a different take on the Chronicles of Narnia.
The Way Into Narnia: A Reader's Guide
Peter J. Schakel
ISBN: 0802829848
Finished October 1, 2014.
The author is a Lewis scholar, and has written several other books about Lewis, and about the Chronicles in particular. I especially think that his second book: Imagination and the Arts in C. S. Lewis: Journeying to Narnia and Other Worlds (2002, ISBN: 9780826219374) would be an interesting read.
However, back to this one. Here, we look at the Chronicles in the light of Lewis and Tolkien's desire to create new myths or "fairy" stories of other worlds and places that would resonate spiritually with readers and inspire them in various ways. The premise is sound, and we're treated to a nice introduction that deals with Lewis' background in imagination, education and spirituality (and lacks thereof, and recovery thereof) that led him specifically to want to write stories of a "Secondary world" that would allow him to make allusions and references and suppositions (not allegories) of truisms that he held to be inspiring and important in this "First" world of everyday life.
Once we get into the breakdowns of the individual books, the premise lags a bit, as the majority of the mythos involved here is Christian, and while the author tries gamely to keep it to a minimum, the obvious fact remains that many of the important plot points of the books, or important character moments, are extremely deeply rooted in a very Western, very Christian, very theological sense of the world and how to live in it. That is as it is, but it makes the treatise on the books being created fairy stories a bit thin in places, and no amount of caviling about how Lewis was inspired by Northern mythos or sentiment, or drew on Spenser and MacDonald's realms of "faerie," or inserted the gods and heroes of Classical mythology will change that those all appear in addition to and as supports to the overarching Christian figures and themes.
The real interest here for me is how the author gets into the spirited debate over reading order. Much like with Star Wars, there is a very deep and sometimes acrimonious split between different camps of equally devoted fans, and like everyone else, I have my own deep-seated opinions. I was happy to see that the author largely agrees with me, although I have to be difficult and admit that I prefer my own slightly weird ordering scheme (Lion, then Magician, then Horse, then Caspian and Dawn Treader as quickly as possible together, then Silver Chair to close us out, leaving The Last Battle out entirely.)
The author points out several extremely pertinent textual areas which clinch that Lion should be the first Narnia book read. There we are introduced to the world of Narnia along with the Pevensies, and we get to discover and learn with them who Aslan is, and what this new strange world is. Once we've made the initial discovery, then we can backtrack to Magician, and see how it all began, after we are already familiar and attached to the world.
Schakel also spends a good portion of his writing time on elaborating the differences in editions between the first British edition, the edited first US edition, and the subsequent "unified" edition in 1994 that reverts back to the (in the author's and in my own opinion) less powerful and more problematic first British edition. In addition to lamenting the textual difficulties, he also warns against the unfortunate disappearance, reduction, or miniaturization of many the illustrations from subsequent editions, limiting the power and impact of the story on children reading for the first time (or as is more likely) being read to, and perusing the illustrations on their own to remember the stories and characters.
Sadly, all the illustrations are only in the British edition, the better edited text is in the first US edition, and there are multiple line editing mistakes and omissions in the US edition as well. Looks like I'll be creating my own patchwork edition to correct all the faults and present the best possible reality of the Chronicles to my hypothetical future children.
The Way Into Narnia: A Reader's Guide
Peter J. Schakel
ISBN: 0802829848
Finished October 1, 2014.
The author is a Lewis scholar, and has written several other books about Lewis, and about the Chronicles in particular. I especially think that his second book: Imagination and the Arts in C. S. Lewis: Journeying to Narnia and Other Worlds (2002, ISBN: 9780826219374) would be an interesting read.
However, back to this one. Here, we look at the Chronicles in the light of Lewis and Tolkien's desire to create new myths or "fairy" stories of other worlds and places that would resonate spiritually with readers and inspire them in various ways. The premise is sound, and we're treated to a nice introduction that deals with Lewis' background in imagination, education and spirituality (and lacks thereof, and recovery thereof) that led him specifically to want to write stories of a "Secondary world" that would allow him to make allusions and references and suppositions (not allegories) of truisms that he held to be inspiring and important in this "First" world of everyday life.
Once we get into the breakdowns of the individual books, the premise lags a bit, as the majority of the mythos involved here is Christian, and while the author tries gamely to keep it to a minimum, the obvious fact remains that many of the important plot points of the books, or important character moments, are extremely deeply rooted in a very Western, very Christian, very theological sense of the world and how to live in it. That is as it is, but it makes the treatise on the books being created fairy stories a bit thin in places, and no amount of caviling about how Lewis was inspired by Northern mythos or sentiment, or drew on Spenser and MacDonald's realms of "faerie," or inserted the gods and heroes of Classical mythology will change that those all appear in addition to and as supports to the overarching Christian figures and themes.
The real interest here for me is how the author gets into the spirited debate over reading order. Much like with Star Wars, there is a very deep and sometimes acrimonious split between different camps of equally devoted fans, and like everyone else, I have my own deep-seated opinions. I was happy to see that the author largely agrees with me, although I have to be difficult and admit that I prefer my own slightly weird ordering scheme (Lion, then Magician, then Horse, then Caspian and Dawn Treader as quickly as possible together, then Silver Chair to close us out, leaving The Last Battle out entirely.)
The author points out several extremely pertinent textual areas which clinch that Lion should be the first Narnia book read. There we are introduced to the world of Narnia along with the Pevensies, and we get to discover and learn with them who Aslan is, and what this new strange world is. Once we've made the initial discovery, then we can backtrack to Magician, and see how it all began, after we are already familiar and attached to the world.
Schakel also spends a good portion of his writing time on elaborating the differences in editions between the first British edition, the edited first US edition, and the subsequent "unified" edition in 1994 that reverts back to the (in the author's and in my own opinion) less powerful and more problematic first British edition. In addition to lamenting the textual difficulties, he also warns against the unfortunate disappearance, reduction, or miniaturization of many the illustrations from subsequent editions, limiting the power and impact of the story on children reading for the first time (or as is more likely) being read to, and perusing the illustrations on their own to remember the stories and characters.
Sadly, all the illustrations are only in the British edition, the better edited text is in the first US edition, and there are multiple line editing mistakes and omissions in the US edition as well. Looks like I'll be creating my own patchwork edition to correct all the faults and present the best possible reality of the Chronicles to my hypothetical future children.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
The Gospel of Loki, Joanne M. Harris
The Gospel of Loki
Joanne M. Harris
ISBN: 9781473202351
Read Sept 10, 2014
Old Norse Mythological Cycle re-telling, possibly related to two novellas: Runemarks and Runelight.
The title itself is interesting, taking the flyting (think modern celebrity roast) poem "Lokasenna" and expanding it into a biased account of a larger narrative regarding the Aesir and Vanir of old Norse mythology.
Is it proper mythos? Nope. Anyone who reads fantasy novels to get actual real-world religious or mythological understanding really ought to know better. Not that they can't be read and enjoyed, nor that they can't be correct or insightful at times, but if this work is what you're basing your understanding of Norse mythos, or using to influence your personal way of life, or to establish your worship practices? Please just don't.
Is it mythic? Nope. The characters use odd and strangely dated slang ('chillax' would be the worst example, but there are many others, including a reference to a "teenage dirtbag" that literally made me roll my eyes). The mythic stories are hung into a vaguely chronological framework, and worked into episodes of a larger struggle (heralded by the "inevitable" approach of Ragnarok) between Loki and the Aesir and Vanir family and associates of his blood-brother Odin. The focus on family squabbles and individual mythic stories makes the whole seem much less epic in scope - even the eventual arrival and descent of Chaos (ie, Ragnarok itself) is framed as a personal struggle between Loki and the various people who have wronged him (the list is quite long at this point).
Is it fun? I thought so! It was a quick read, the stories themselves were familiar - Loki convincing Thor to dress up as a bride, the death of Baldur, Odin as the Wanderer, Loki's flyting episode - all were there, as well as many others that I've either forgotten or never learned (or were made up?).
Loki himself is the perfect unreliable narrator, his narcissism preventing him from ever making deep attachments or from casting himself as the eternal victim or from plotting over-reactive revenge for any slight. He reminds me of a family member, and I read the whole with a conflicting sense of exasperated affection and a burning desire to smack the shit out of him. That seems to be pretty accurate for the character.
Not earthshaking, not the best I've ever read, but for a very light-hearted introduction to the utter pompous asses of the Aesir and Vanir, and the utter self-absorbed vanity that is Loki, there are many worse things to read.
Joanne M. Harris
ISBN: 9781473202351
Read Sept 10, 2014
Old Norse Mythological Cycle re-telling, possibly related to two novellas: Runemarks and Runelight.
The title itself is interesting, taking the flyting (think modern celebrity roast) poem "Lokasenna" and expanding it into a biased account of a larger narrative regarding the Aesir and Vanir of old Norse mythology.
Is it proper mythos? Nope. Anyone who reads fantasy novels to get actual real-world religious or mythological understanding really ought to know better. Not that they can't be read and enjoyed, nor that they can't be correct or insightful at times, but if this work is what you're basing your understanding of Norse mythos, or using to influence your personal way of life, or to establish your worship practices? Please just don't.
Is it mythic? Nope. The characters use odd and strangely dated slang ('chillax' would be the worst example, but there are many others, including a reference to a "teenage dirtbag" that literally made me roll my eyes). The mythic stories are hung into a vaguely chronological framework, and worked into episodes of a larger struggle (heralded by the "inevitable" approach of Ragnarok) between Loki and the Aesir and Vanir family and associates of his blood-brother Odin. The focus on family squabbles and individual mythic stories makes the whole seem much less epic in scope - even the eventual arrival and descent of Chaos (ie, Ragnarok itself) is framed as a personal struggle between Loki and the various people who have wronged him (the list is quite long at this point).
Is it fun? I thought so! It was a quick read, the stories themselves were familiar - Loki convincing Thor to dress up as a bride, the death of Baldur, Odin as the Wanderer, Loki's flyting episode - all were there, as well as many others that I've either forgotten or never learned (or were made up?).
Loki himself is the perfect unreliable narrator, his narcissism preventing him from ever making deep attachments or from casting himself as the eternal victim or from plotting over-reactive revenge for any slight. He reminds me of a family member, and I read the whole with a conflicting sense of exasperated affection and a burning desire to smack the shit out of him. That seems to be pretty accurate for the character.
Not earthshaking, not the best I've ever read, but for a very light-hearted introduction to the utter pompous asses of the Aesir and Vanir, and the utter self-absorbed vanity that is Loki, there are many worse things to read.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Stormdancer, Jay Kristoff
Stormdancer (The Lotus War, Book One)
Author: Jay Kristoff
Thomas Dunne, 2012
ISBN: 9781250001405
Steampunk Bushido in a ravaged Japan-analogue where "blood lotus" destroys the land, but makes airships, trains, and mechanized armor and weaponry possible. Crazed young Emperor demands his Hunters return to him with a mythical Arashitora - a giant griffin.
Really mixed feelings about this one.
Spoilers aplenty - you've been warned.
First real set of grouses - the metal-encased priests. I'm left not entirely sure what their motivations are, and whether they really believe their rites and taboos, or if that's just to keep the rank and file in line. It bugs me that they're so much of a player, but they're left nearly entirely a mystery. (I know there's a series upcoming - I can still be unhappy about what isn't in THIS book.)
Also not happy that the reveal about the "fertilizer" for the red lotus is left until so close to the end and then thrown in casually like that. A potential knockout like that is should be a bit more than "the character goes back home and continues to feel somewhat sorry for the people riding the Soylent Green conveyor belt until he turns a corner and then forgets about them because he has other things on his mind." If you're going for cannibalism and human sacrifice, it just feels odd to have it casually thrown in there.
Red Lotus. So... it's a fuel. And a drug. And clothing. And food. And a lubricant. And a decoration? And.... I start to lose faith in a miracle plant that does all things for all people. Just not realistic to me, magical kingdom or not.
Gritty realism vs romantic inter-species partnership. It could be done where these two genres coexist nicely, I'm sure. But here it's like the fan-fic equivalent of the "magic horsies" of Valdemar (yes, I know they're Companions, and aren't actually horses - I'm making a point here) crashed into Warhammer 40K. I get sucked in by the happy lovely interactive mental/emotional bond and then POW - exploding brains! Severed limbs! Emotionally withdrawn heroes soldiering on while comrades are hacked squishily to death behind them! Yeesh.
The Dad. I feel like I'm being a little unfair with this grouse, but really, the "child who doesn't realize the massive sacrifice dad has made for them until he's gone, and their reunion is seconds before he dies" trope is making me a little nuts. I understand it's difficult to have a teen protagonist really be an active protagonist with parents in the way. I understand that conflict and drama and pain are a great way to build character, and dead/threatened/dying parents are a great easy path to that conflict and drama and pain. I know that having the "mentor" die off in the first book (movie) of the trilogy is the accepted way to go. I got it. But really for the love of goats, try to make it a little varied? I know I'm not the target audience - I read way too many books, and remember them all too well. I also think too hard about all this stuff, and most people don't. But I have to say, if I'm rolling my eyes during the climax of your book because I JUST KNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN THAT WAY, GODDAMNIT, it makes it hard for me to connect with the surviving characters and want to continue on with them in the future.
(On the other hand, nice fakeout with the inheritance. That was classy.)
Final grouse - Really didn't like that the Princess was resolved offscreen. Not a fan of that choice at all. Maybe there was a page-number limit, maybe there was a difficulty getting a "face" character over there to see what happened, but unless the author is abusing the "if you don't see them die and see their corpse, they aren't really dead" trope (and I would qualify a between-book resurrection as an abuse) then I feel like she got shafted as a character.
OTHERWISE, I really enjoyed it! :)
Author: Jay Kristoff
Thomas Dunne, 2012
ISBN: 9781250001405
Steampunk Bushido in a ravaged Japan-analogue where "blood lotus" destroys the land, but makes airships, trains, and mechanized armor and weaponry possible. Crazed young Emperor demands his Hunters return to him with a mythical Arashitora - a giant griffin.
Really mixed feelings about this one.
Spoilers aplenty - you've been warned.
First real set of grouses - the metal-encased priests. I'm left not entirely sure what their motivations are, and whether they really believe their rites and taboos, or if that's just to keep the rank and file in line. It bugs me that they're so much of a player, but they're left nearly entirely a mystery. (I know there's a series upcoming - I can still be unhappy about what isn't in THIS book.)
Also not happy that the reveal about the "fertilizer" for the red lotus is left until so close to the end and then thrown in casually like that. A potential knockout like that is should be a bit more than "the character goes back home and continues to feel somewhat sorry for the people riding the Soylent Green conveyor belt until he turns a corner and then forgets about them because he has other things on his mind." If you're going for cannibalism and human sacrifice, it just feels odd to have it casually thrown in there.
Red Lotus. So... it's a fuel. And a drug. And clothing. And food. And a lubricant. And a decoration? And.... I start to lose faith in a miracle plant that does all things for all people. Just not realistic to me, magical kingdom or not.
Gritty realism vs romantic inter-species partnership. It could be done where these two genres coexist nicely, I'm sure. But here it's like the fan-fic equivalent of the "magic horsies" of Valdemar (yes, I know they're Companions, and aren't actually horses - I'm making a point here) crashed into Warhammer 40K. I get sucked in by the happy lovely interactive mental/emotional bond and then POW - exploding brains! Severed limbs! Emotionally withdrawn heroes soldiering on while comrades are hacked squishily to death behind them! Yeesh.
The Dad. I feel like I'm being a little unfair with this grouse, but really, the "child who doesn't realize the massive sacrifice dad has made for them until he's gone, and their reunion is seconds before he dies" trope is making me a little nuts. I understand it's difficult to have a teen protagonist really be an active protagonist with parents in the way. I understand that conflict and drama and pain are a great way to build character, and dead/threatened/dying parents are a great easy path to that conflict and drama and pain. I know that having the "mentor" die off in the first book (movie) of the trilogy is the accepted way to go. I got it. But really for the love of goats, try to make it a little varied? I know I'm not the target audience - I read way too many books, and remember them all too well. I also think too hard about all this stuff, and most people don't. But I have to say, if I'm rolling my eyes during the climax of your book because I JUST KNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN THAT WAY, GODDAMNIT, it makes it hard for me to connect with the surviving characters and want to continue on with them in the future.
(On the other hand, nice fakeout with the inheritance. That was classy.)
Final grouse - Really didn't like that the Princess was resolved offscreen. Not a fan of that choice at all. Maybe there was a page-number limit, maybe there was a difficulty getting a "face" character over there to see what happened, but unless the author is abusing the "if you don't see them die and see their corpse, they aren't really dead" trope (and I would qualify a between-book resurrection as an abuse) then I feel like she got shafted as a character.
OTHERWISE, I really enjoyed it! :)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Dark of the Moon, Tracy Barrett
This YA (and deeply gory, although totally non-sexual) novel has a subtitle: "The myth of the Minotaur as it has never been told before" and that's most likely true.
Bad stuff first:
The narration switches between two protagonists, Theseus and Ariadne, and you can't tell the difference between them. Your only clue is when a specific reference to places or people is given which allows you to place the reference. For characters which are brought up and appear so very different - there should be a different narrative "voice" for each. This is a really glaring problem, and it dragged me right out of the story each time the narrator switched. No good.
"The Goddess." Oh for fuck's sake, give the damn goddess an actual NAME already! I don't CARE that Kretans don't go in for calling people by names - this is just a bad choice all around, and worse when there's multiple narrators and characters who cycle between names. All of this "The Goddess" and "The Goddess-Who-Was" and "The Goddess-Who-Is" and "The Goddess-Who-Will-Be" dear sweet god - just name them each something allegorical or representative and get over it! Argh! I don't know why that pissed me right off, but it did, and by the end of the book, I practically wept with relief when a bit character said that she worshipped "Selene."
Religion bashing? I personally didn't care for the messages passed on about religion and worship, especially of the "Goddess:" yes, she's evil and bitchy and requires that you sacrifice all that you love, and walk in fear and trembling lest she suddenly get bitchy about something that never bothered her before but might start bothering her now, and she'll totally smite everyone if everything isn't done perfect, and even then she might just smite you anyway just because. But seriously - love her! She's our loving wonderful Mother Goddess! Just a little bit... co-dependent and abusive-relationshippy for me. Maybe that was the point, but it just didn't sit well at all.
Historical context? Anyone? I really was expecting some serious appendage going on at the end, to explain all the crazy-ass priestess things and the multiple cities of the Goddess, and the origins of Theseus, and basically breaking down the things the author made up out of whole cloth, the things the author based on legends and "histories," and things which were actually based on archeological findings and cultural studies. I really really felt the lack there, as I had no idea whether the things I was reading about were in any way based on reality. I would have liked this a lot more if there had been some background available.
Ok, enough with the bad.
Good concepts! Good secondary characters! Poor, dear Minos! I loved dear Asterion. I loved the explanations and depiction of the bull-dancing, and the concept of the Minos and Priestess combination. I even loved the complex succession cycle, and the complicated ties of relationship based on whether certain people were mortal or Goddess when they had their offspring. Really really cool stuff!
I also liked that Theseus happened to be a convenient "spare" and needed to figure out what to do about himself. I think he got gypped in his portrayal and his own character development, but it was a very clever idea. I especially liked Medea: "dear, another one of yours?"
Finally, I enjoyed the naked ambition of Prokris, although I think that might have been a little overdone for the time-period. She was a great scheming character, and I loved her black-hearted ruthlessness.
I even enjoyed the twist on the basic myth, and the "explanation" at the end as to why the mythos is the way it is.
Overall, an interesting take on the Minotaur legend, and not a bad story, just some really bad writing decisions.
Bad stuff first:
The narration switches between two protagonists, Theseus and Ariadne, and you can't tell the difference between them. Your only clue is when a specific reference to places or people is given which allows you to place the reference. For characters which are brought up and appear so very different - there should be a different narrative "voice" for each. This is a really glaring problem, and it dragged me right out of the story each time the narrator switched. No good.
"The Goddess." Oh for fuck's sake, give the damn goddess an actual NAME already! I don't CARE that Kretans don't go in for calling people by names - this is just a bad choice all around, and worse when there's multiple narrators and characters who cycle between names. All of this "The Goddess" and "The Goddess-Who-Was" and "The Goddess-Who-Is" and "The Goddess-Who-Will-Be" dear sweet god - just name them each something allegorical or representative and get over it! Argh! I don't know why that pissed me right off, but it did, and by the end of the book, I practically wept with relief when a bit character said that she worshipped "Selene."
Religion bashing? I personally didn't care for the messages passed on about religion and worship, especially of the "Goddess:" yes, she's evil and bitchy and requires that you sacrifice all that you love, and walk in fear and trembling lest she suddenly get bitchy about something that never bothered her before but might start bothering her now, and she'll totally smite everyone if everything isn't done perfect, and even then she might just smite you anyway just because. But seriously - love her! She's our loving wonderful Mother Goddess! Just a little bit... co-dependent and abusive-relationshippy for me. Maybe that was the point, but it just didn't sit well at all.
Historical context? Anyone? I really was expecting some serious appendage going on at the end, to explain all the crazy-ass priestess things and the multiple cities of the Goddess, and the origins of Theseus, and basically breaking down the things the author made up out of whole cloth, the things the author based on legends and "histories," and things which were actually based on archeological findings and cultural studies. I really really felt the lack there, as I had no idea whether the things I was reading about were in any way based on reality. I would have liked this a lot more if there had been some background available.
Ok, enough with the bad.
Good concepts! Good secondary characters! Poor, dear Minos! I loved dear Asterion. I loved the explanations and depiction of the bull-dancing, and the concept of the Minos and Priestess combination. I even loved the complex succession cycle, and the complicated ties of relationship based on whether certain people were mortal or Goddess when they had their offspring. Really really cool stuff!
I also liked that Theseus happened to be a convenient "spare" and needed to figure out what to do about himself. I think he got gypped in his portrayal and his own character development, but it was a very clever idea. I especially liked Medea: "dear, another one of yours?"
Finally, I enjoyed the naked ambition of Prokris, although I think that might have been a little overdone for the time-period. She was a great scheming character, and I loved her black-hearted ruthlessness.
I even enjoyed the twist on the basic myth, and the "explanation" at the end as to why the mythos is the way it is.
Overall, an interesting take on the Minotaur legend, and not a bad story, just some really bad writing decisions.
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