Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful; Lose yourself in fantasy.
Review: Hades' Daughter is a very well written book, and I enjoyed it very much. Yes the characters can be annoying, but I think it portrays my life very well, what with people constantly being angry at one another. Its not like life is a fairy tale and everybody gets along.
It was easy to get lost in the story and imagine yourself there. It helped me escape the real world for a while.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch out!
Review: "Hades' Daughter" is a revision of Greek Mythology. I should have been known when I saw the word 'revision' that I was in trouble. But I bravely went forth and gave this book a try because I love Greek Mythology, especially the Trojan War. The plot is that Ariadne was cast aside by her husband Theseus. She gives birth and then called upon her murdered brother Asterion for help to curse him and all of Greece. A hundred years later, Brutus, a Trojan exile, sacks the city Meopotama, kidnaps spoiled Cornila, and then sets forth to build Troya Nova ( I am not making that up). Both Brutus and Cornila are having dreams of a goddess beckining them o a land far to the north (modern day England). Basicly it is the Book of Exodus from the "Bible" and "The Aneneid" slapped together (indeed, Moses gets an honorable mention here). The idea is a good one, and that carries you much further than it should have. But after awhile it dawns on you that this book is really very smutty. It has every form of dieviant sexual behavior known to man; beasiality, rape, incest, and a few other things I can't mention here. The characters are pretty weak, and the story gets real thin after awhile. Just avoid this book, please.
Rating: 
Summary: It's all Greek to me
Review: Greek mythology is full of mythical creatures, gods tormenting great heroes, epic battles, and is generally quite exciting and a lot of fun. The characters, be they mortal or gods, are well known through the telling and re-telling of myths and legends through the millennia since the events were supposed to have happened. Somehow, Sara Douglass manages to strip the personality from the characters and excitement from the oft told tales, leaving the protagonists as cardboard cut outs meandering through a number of seemingly unrelated and uninspiring events.The central character Cornelia is a spoiled brat, and several misfortunes befall her. However, it's hard to feel any sympathy for her because her own arrogance brings much of it on her own head. Her tormentor, and husband Brutus (now there's an original name), is the brooding, silent type, but is also a leader of people trying to rediscover their lost kingdom of Troy. Other characters come from ancient British mythology, and they are involved in incestuous relationships and fiddling with magic, but ultimately further confuse the messy story. As if this were not enough, Douglass also intersperses the story with flash-forwards to London during the Second World War, which shows the characters are still alive 3000 years after the original events. Through it all there are episodes of graphic and gory violence, and unnecessarily brutal sex scenes. It is impossible to connect with any of the characters because they are so fatally flawed, and I actually found myself hoping something horrible would happen to some of them. Unfortunately, it was telegraphed so early in the piece who survives it made such wishes utterly futile. This is a thoroughly disheartening read. It promises so much and delivers so little, taking the lively world of the ancient Greeks and wringing all excitement and vitality from it.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting... but somewhat tedious
Review: Hades Daughter starts out with the short story of Ariadne and Theseus. She betrays her father, her brother, and her entire heritage for the love of this handsome prince. When he tosses her aside for her younger sister, Phaedre (who can bear sons where Ariadne can bear only daughters), Ariadne draw upon her power as Mistress of the Labyrinth and her brother's darkcraft to destroy the game, Theseus, and everything allied with him. This is the basis of the entire series.
A number of years later, we are introduced to the key characters, Brutus, Cornelia, and Genvissa. Every one of these characters is significantly flawed in some way, and rather than add to the character, it makes them more tedious. Brutus is greedy and abusive. He takes his wife in 15 year old Cornelia and brutally rapes her on the night of their "wedding". But it doesn't stop there. The mental abuse and even beatings follow well into her labor, and up to and beyond the birth of thier child. Cornelia is a spoiled and naive young child, but this is to be expected of an adolescent princess. Her stubborness, rather than endearing her to the reader, makes her more annoying. Finally, there is Genvissa, daughter-heir of the line of Ariadne. Genevissa is manipulative and power hungry. During the one point in the book where she speaks of love, it is completely unconvincing.
The story revolves around a love triangle created by the three characters. Brutus is drawn to Cornelia, and insists she become his wife and go with him to create Troia Nova. Genvissa is a witch who casts enchantments to convince Brutus, the homeless King of now broken Troy, to build Troia Nova on the far away shores of Langarlia. Her goal, of course, is to lure Brutus to her side. Cornelia, through this long journey, finds herself falling in love with her husband. Brutus, on the other hand, tires of Cornelia and finds himself now drawn to the enigmatic and powerful Genvissa.
The basic plot of the book is that Genvissa plans to rebuild the Labyrinth with Brutus, a Kingman. Deceptively simple, this book has many twists and turn that guarantee to keep the reader interested and offguard.
Despite the tediousness of it's characters and the brutality (and even bestiality), the book tells a good story. Douglass has a way of capturing the attention of her readers and getting them involved in a story, even if they despise what is being done in said story. I reccomend you read this book, if only to read the second, God's Concubine, which is INFINATELY better than the first.
Rating:
Summary: Good, if you don't mind jerks as heroes
Review: I got annoyed with this book the first time I tried to read it, and didn't finish it. Mostly I was irritated with the three main characters, all of whom are less than sympathetic. Cornelia is childish and weepy and naive--though she does have the excuse of being fifteen, and of constantly having to make major life decisions even though the people around her are manipulating and deceiving her. Brutus doesn't have the excuse of being a teenager--he's a brute and a wife-beater and a rapist and a cad, and it never seems to occur to him that perhaps Cornelia would act out less if he either treated her with respect or let her go. Genvissa is a one-dimensional stock femme fatale. Between the three of them, they manage to all treat each other like dirt and make me want to throw things at them.
Yet I found myself, months later, still drawn to the story. So I read it again. This time, I finished the book, enthralled with the story of the Minotaur and his evil designs, and of these three flawed and very human people trying to oppose him and getting tangled up in their personal agendas along the way. What's more, Cornelia develops and grows as a character during the course of the book. Genvissa doesn't change much, and Brutus actually becomes *more* of a jerk, but the series continues into the characters' later incarnations, and perhaps the characters will grow in their future lives.
For now, though, consider me sucked in anyway. It is with anticipation that I've just begun reading the second book, Gods' Concubine.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting premise undermined by annoying characters.
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I liked it enough to finish it and to probably read the next volume in the trilogy. On the other hand, there were times that I couldn't wait to be done with it and move on to something better. I'll not summarize the plot here, except to say that "Hades' Daughter" is a historical fantasy built around the relationship of three antagonistic major characters and one villain. The three antagonists also form a romantic triangle, of sorts. The heroine has a love/hate relationship with the hero, who is in love with the third. There are enough hints given by Douglass that the hero and heroine really should be together, but one or the other always manages to say or do the wrong thing and make the other mad. At times, reading the book was like watching a soap opera where you want to figuratively bash the lead characters over the head because they're making so many dumb mistakes. Frankly, I didn't find any of the three major characters particularly likeable. Brutus, the hero, is best described by his name--brutal. He conquers the heroine's father's kingdom, forces her into marriage and rapes her, and then obsesses about another woman. Why Cornelia, the heroine, would ever care about him is beyond me, but she does. Genvissa, her rival, is manipulative and power-hungary. There were other minor characters that were more likable, but for me, the unpleasantness of the main characters destroyed much of the book's pleasure. That's a shame, because in many ways I like the way Douglass writes. She has the ability write long, involving stories with interesting motifs. The idea of magical mazes underlying cities is an intriguing one, for example, and Douglass can move a narrative along with good descriptions. I also liked the idea of the same characters interacting again and again in different lives. In the end, I'll probably read the next volume, but I'll wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting premise undermined by annoying characters.
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I liked it enough to finish it and to probably read the next volume in the trilogy. On the other hand, there were times that I couldn't wait to be done with it and move on to something better. I'll not summarize the plot here, except to say that "Hades' Daughter" is a historical fantasy built around the relationship of three antagonistic major characters and one villain. The three antagonists also form a romantic triangle, of sorts. The heroine has a love/hate relationship with the hero, who is in love with the third. There are enough hints given by Douglass that the hero and heroine really should be together, but one or the other always manages to say or do the wrong thing and make the other mad. At times, reading the book was like watching a soap opera where you want to figuratively bash the lead characters over the head because they're making so many dumb mistakes. Frankly, I didn't find any of the three major characters particularly likeable. Brutus, the hero, is best described by his name--brutal. He conquers the heroine's father's kingdom, forces her into marriage and rapes her, and then obsesses about another woman. Why Cornelia, the heroine, would ever care about him is beyond me, but she does. Genvissa, her rival, is manipulative and power-hungary. There were other minor characters that were more likable, but for me, the unpleasantness of the main characters destroyed much of the book's pleasure. That's a shame, because in many ways I like the way Douglass writes. She has the ability write long, involving stories with interesting motifs. The idea of magical mazes underlying cities is an intriguing one, for example, and Douglass can move a narrative along with good descriptions. I also liked the idea of the same characters interacting again and again in different lives. In the end, I'll probably read the next volume, but I'll wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Really quite good
Review: I have read two trilogies (The Axis Trilogy and the Wayfarer Redemption - ordered from Australia) from Sara Douglass and thoroughly enjoyed them. I was a bit nervous about this one because of the subject matter and the reviews I read here. Personally, I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable book. I was so intrigued by the subject matter that I found myself wanting to learn more about prehistoric England and find out what was history and what as fiction - more on that in a sec. I will admit that some of the reviewers are correct in their assessment that none of the characters seem to be the "good guys". As Douglass has said that the Game itself is the main character in the series - it has it's own agenda and plans - this was obviously intentional and, personally, I enjoyed this aspect of the story. I felt that the characters had *much* more depth because they were all flawed (some seriously) and sometimes made horrible decisions. As to the link between this story and actual history, after reading this book, I read the "The History of the Kings of Britain" by Geoffrey of Monmouth written in the 12th century. Much of the "history" included in the book comes directly from this. Overall, I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone. I'll warn you that I had to get about 150 pages into the book before it really took off but the last 250 pages simply flew by.
Rating:
Summary: good easy read
Review: I really enjoyed this book and read it twice. I especially like the fact that the characters are reborn again in different times ( leading up to the next book in the series). I also felt the idea of using a Labyrinth as tool of magic was fresh and orginal!
Rating:
Summary: Not so good.
Review: If you've read The Wayfarer Redemption, you're likely going to feel a sense of déjà vu. There's the strong, magical man, and the woman with a destiny calling, and there's the legacy of an ancient empire to restore to grandeur. Hey, it might have worked a second time, if the characters weren't so odious. While I eventually felt some small sympathy for Cornelia, who at least shows some positive changes in her personality, the other characters might have gotten swallowed up into Tartarus, and nobody would have much cared. Perhaps in future novels of the series, the male protagonist won't be a jerk, through and through.
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