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Ariadne: A Tale of the Minotaur
Three thousand years before The Hunger Games, a conquered nation was forced to send their finest youths to fight and die, facing an invulnerable creature they had no hope of overcoming.
ARIADNE: A Tale of the Minotaur is a contemporary retelling of the classic tale of Theseus and the Minotaur, a story with more twists and turns than even the Labyrinth holds.
Prophesied in lost Atlantis, the Grand Conjunction is rapidly approaching, the day when a unique astrological alignment makes all things possible. But more is at stake than the fate of young Theseus, prince of Athens, and his fellow Athenian tributes. This single day will decide the destiny of nations, a vanished people's resurrection--and give birth to a god.
It is also the story of Daedalus and Icarus, of an immortal yearning for love, and the greatest and basest that humanity offers. A power will soon be released that will destroy the world unless it is tamed by the newborn god who is born of a man and monster. But who is the man, and who is the monster?
The secret lies not only in the Labyrinth, but IS the Labyrinth.
And the only person who can save two worlds and tame the monster is the weakest and meekest of all: Ariadne, the beautiful daughter of Minos, king of Crete.
ARIADNE: A Tale of the Minotaur is a contemporary retelling of the classic tale of Theseus and the Minotaur, a story with more twists and turns than even the Labyrinth holds.
Prophesied in lost Atlantis, the Grand Conjunction is rapidly approaching, the day when a unique astrological alignment makes all things possible. But more is at stake than the fate of young Theseus, prince of Athens, and his fellow Athenian tributes. This single day will decide the destiny of nations, a vanished people's resurrection--and give birth to a god.
It is also the story of Daedalus and Icarus, of an immortal yearning for love, and the greatest and basest that humanity offers. A power will soon be released that will destroy the world unless it is tamed by the newborn god who is born of a man and monster. But who is the man, and who is the monster?
The secret lies not only in the Labyrinth, but IS the Labyrinth.
And the only person who can save two worlds and tame the monster is the weakest and meekest of all: Ariadne, the beautiful daughter of Minos, king of Crete.
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 6, 2013
10 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
S.D. Hines
2 books4 followersCurrently living in Alaska and providing health care to the Alaskan Natives, S.D.Hines loves hiking, backpacking in remote places, being a dad, and (obviously) writing. The Author of MEDUSA and ARIADNE: A Tale of the Minotaur, he is working on ARACHNE (all on Kindle).
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 8, 2020
This was a good introduction to the Theseus/Minotaur myth, but for a book called 'Ariadne', I feel it did her character an injustice.
Most of Ariadne's intelligence and intuition has been seriously watered down, and her character is driven by the want of a lover/partner over anything else - it made me cringe. I can't give away a lot about what her character is missing without including spoilers, but let's just say...it's not good. There's so much more to her as a mythological figure and I just feel like this book missed the mark.
There is also a point at which Antiope literally says "I am not like the other girls" to Theseus, and is included in the story as a jealous rival to Ariadne for his affections, which is a pretty unnecessary and tired trope.
One thing I will say is that the author does well to present Theseus as a victim of his own hubris, it's very easy to dislike him and we are glad when Ariadne declares that he isn't worth her time. That being said, the female characters in the book are still really poor. It's a shame.
There are quite a few typos in the book which threw me off. King Minos is called 'Midas' on several occasions - a totally different figure in Greek mythology.
All this being said, it was a decent read even if I didn't enjoy the way Ariadne's character was portrayed. The story is compelling and I enjoyed how much depth the multiple narrators gave the book.
Most of Ariadne's intelligence and intuition has been seriously watered down, and her character is driven by the want of a lover/partner over anything else - it made me cringe. I can't give away a lot about what her character is missing without including spoilers, but let's just say...it's not good. There's so much more to her as a mythological figure and I just feel like this book missed the mark.
There is also a point at which Antiope literally says "I am not like the other girls" to Theseus, and is included in the story as a jealous rival to Ariadne for his affections, which is a pretty unnecessary and tired trope.
One thing I will say is that the author does well to present Theseus as a victim of his own hubris, it's very easy to dislike him and we are glad when Ariadne declares that he isn't worth her time. That being said, the female characters in the book are still really poor. It's a shame.
There are quite a few typos in the book which threw me off. King Minos is called 'Midas' on several occasions - a totally different figure in Greek mythology.
All this being said, it was a decent read even if I didn't enjoy the way Ariadne's character was portrayed. The story is compelling and I enjoyed how much depth the multiple narrators gave the book.
July 31, 2014
Great way to get into Greek mythology.
I was not too familiar with the Ariadne story other than her part with helping Theseus in the Labyrinth. This story gave some good background and character development of Ariadne who is a heroine, indeed.
I also liked learning about the Minotaur and watching his character and person evolve throughout the story. Fascinating.
And, this story's perspective of Theseus makes a more well-rounded version - one who is not as golden as portrayed in other retellings.
I was not too familiar with the Ariadne story other than her part with helping Theseus in the Labyrinth. This story gave some good background and character development of Ariadne who is a heroine, indeed.
I also liked learning about the Minotaur and watching his character and person evolve throughout the story. Fascinating.
And, this story's perspective of Theseus makes a more well-rounded version - one who is not as golden as portrayed in other retellings.
September 25, 2020
Incredibly well written. The story line keeps you flipping pages, and the endless symbolism and underlying messages and metaphors very much apply to just about any modern culture and our personal challenges in life.
Worth reading without hesitation.
On a personal note, it was additional fun to binge watch the Netflix show “Dark” after reading the book.
Worth reading without hesitation.
On a personal note, it was additional fun to binge watch the Netflix show “Dark” after reading the book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews