Hades' Daughter

(Book One of The Troy Game)
by
Sara Douglass

Tor, January 2003, 592 pp.
ISBN: 0-765-30540-2

Genre: Fantasy

Subgenre: Historical
Reviewed: 3/3/2003

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

Above them the clouds roiled, thick and black, and lightening arced down to strike in the low hills of the island.

"What think you, Theseus?" she suddenly yelled, making him flinch. "What think you? No one can afford to betray the Mistress of the Labyrinth!"

"No?" he said, meeting her furious eyes evenly. "Are you that sure of your power?"

"Leave me here and you doom your entire world. Throw me aside for my sluttish sister and what you think her womb can give you and you and your kind will --"

He hit her cheek, not hard, but enough to snap off the flow of her words. "And who was it showed Phaedre the art of sluttishness, Ariadne?"

Stricken with such cruelty, Ariadne could find no words to answer.

Theseus nodded. "You have served your purpose," he said.

He focused on something behind her, and Ariadne turned her head very slightly.

Villagers were walking slowly down the path to the beach, their eyes cast anxiously at the god-damned skies above them.

"They will care for you and your daughter," Theseus said, and turned to go.

"I have served my purpose, Theseus?" Ariadne said. "You have no idea what my purpose is, and whether it is served out . . . or only just beginning. Here. In this sand. In this betrayal."

His shoulders stiffened, and his step hesitated, but then Theseus was gone, striding down the beach to the waiting boat.

The sky roared, and the clouds opened, drenching Ariadne as she watched her lover desert her.

She turned her face upwards, and shook a fist at the sky and the gods laughing merrily behind it.

"No one abandons the Mistress of the Labyrinth!" she hissed. "Not you, nor any part of your world!"

She dropped her face. Theseus was in the boat now, standing in its stem, his gaze set towards the ship where awaited Ariadne’s sister.

"And not you, nor any part of your world, either," she whispered through clenched teeth. "No one abandons me, and thinks that in so doing they can ignore the Game. You think that the Game will protect you."

She hissed, demented with love and betrayal.

"But you forget that it is I who controls the Game."

Synopsis

In the prosperous city of Mesopotamia, Cornelia is the 15-year old princess. In their city are the people of Troy, who were conquered almost 100 years ago. They are not free, but the servants of the people of Mesopotamia. Brutus, descendant of the king of Troy, and also descendant of Aphrodite, has been communicating with the goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus. She helps Brutus conquer Mesopotamia, but her plans are slightly skewed when Brutus takes Cornelia for his wife.

After Mesopotamia falls, Brutus and 100 ships carrying 10,000 Trojan, head toward Albion. On the way, they find more Trojans who had settled in Iberia and built the city Locrinia. Earlier, the city had suffered a devastating earthquake and the city was now crumbling. They join Brutus on his journey northward to Albion.

But little does Brutus know that Hera is not who she appears to be. Genvissa has used the disguise of Hera to draw Brutus and the rest of the Trojans to her in Albion (England) so she can finally end the action that her great-great-grandmother set in action almost 100 years before. It was time to reenact the Game.

Hades' Daughter by Sara Douglass is the first of the four book series: The Troy Game. The story takes place in the Late Bronze Age, about 1100 BC. There are quick flashes to 1939 in London, where the Game will come to its conclusion. The main characters in this story are: Genvissa (sixth daughter-heir of Ariadne and the MagaLlan of Llangarlia), Brutus (leader of the Trojans), Membricus (Brutus' former lover and now his adviser), Asterion (the murdered Minotaur, half-brother to Ariadne), Cornelia, (Brutus' wife, and the central character of the entire series), Corineus (Brutus' captain), Coel (a Llangarlian mystic and warrior), Loth (a strange, enigmatic Llangarlian man), Aerne (Gormagog of Llangarlia), and Mag (Mother Goddess of Llangarlia).

Review

Having absolutely loved Sara Douglass' previous series, The Wayfarer Redemption, I was excited to start reading this book. Unlike her previous books which were pure fantasy, this book mixes fantasy with historical persons and occurrences. The story revolves around the volatile relationship between Brutus and his sixteen year old wife, Cornelia, and his obsession not only with rebuilding the Trojan Empire in what will become England, but with the black witch Genvissa.

Hades' Daughter has a plethora of interesting characters and the storyline is intriguing. Sara Douglass weaves a magical tale of deception, longing, disappointment, and magic that brings this story to life.

In the beginning of the story, I had a hard time figuring out who I was supposed to like, in other words, the hero, and who I wasn't supposed to like, the villain. At first I thought Brutus was supposed to be the hero. That didn't last long. Cornelia, on the other hand, was a spoiled princess who soon hated Brutus and everything he does to her. Later in the story, she falls in love with him even though he has spurned her. At this point, I no longer liked the weak-willed Cornelia. So, I was again at a loss of who I was supposed to be cheering for. Maybe all of this will help Cornelia be a stronger person so she can later defeat Genivissa. This was the only issue issue I had with the story.

Overall,  Hades' Daughter by Sara Douglass is a good read and I found the historical references quite stimulating. 

I rated this book a 7½ out of 10.