The Flame in the Maze

The Door in the Mountain #2

by Caitlin Sweet

The Flame in the Maze picks up the thread of the tale begun inThe Door in the Mountain. The Princess Ariadne schemes to bring her hated half-brother Asterion to ultimate ruin. Asterion himself, part human, part bull, grapples with madness and pain in the labyrinth that lies within a sacred mountain. Chara, his childhood friend, tries desperately to find him, accompanied by Prince Theseus, who has sworn to kill him. In a different prison, Icarus, the bird-boy who cannot fly, plans his escape with his father, Daedalus and plots revenge upon the princess he once desired. All of their paths come together at last, in an unforgettable blaze of fire, hatred, love and hope."

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings

300 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2015

About the author

Caitlin Sweet’s first fantasy novel, A Telling of Stars, was published by Penguin Canada in 2003. Her second, The Silences of Home, was published in 2005. Between them, they were nominated for Aurora Awards, a Locus Best First Novel Award, long-listed for the Sunburst Award, and ranked in the top 5 of SFSite’s Best Novels of 2005. For a few years she was deluded enough to think that she might write some epic trilogies. Eventually she returned to her senses and wrote a stand-alone novel, The Pattern Scars, which was published in fall 2011 by ChiZine Publications. In 2014 came The Door in the Mountain (which won the Copper Cylinder Award), and in 2015, its sequel, The Flame in the Maze. You can find her blog at www.caitlinsweet.com.

Reviews

[Alsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disclaimer: This review is not a comment on the author's overall writing ability, because her other books have stunned me to awe and tears and admiration. This one just didn't, sadly.

This book didn't know what it wanted to be. The Polymnia section was dark and beautiful and psychologically creative, but it's the only part of the book that seemed to have a solid sense of identity. The rest was muddled, or focused on characters that were new while treating them as protagonists, or retold earlier plot points with unnecessarily duplicated storytelling, or had too much insta-love, or turned a former main POV character into an object of ridicule. I don't get why Ariadne, whose POV dominated the first half of the first book, had no real purpose or story arc in this second one. Why set her up to be slightly sympathetic, or at least knowable, and then turn her into a raving, colossally narcissistic harpy with no purpose? She wasn't even really an antagonist in this book, just a pathetic bully. Even the style was confused - was it horror, was it a teen romance, was it a re-envisioning of a classic myth? I know those three descriptions sound like they ought to meld into a fascinating mix, but unfortunately they don't meld effectively here. The story jumps about from one to the other without much success.

The godmark concept is still great. There was a lot of potential here. I wish I could have liked it more. I'll still joyfully leap on anything Caitlin Sweet writes next, so bring it on.

[Kaitlyn D'Andrade]

For my book talk assignment, I read The Flame In the Maze by Caitlin Sweet, which is a mythological fantasy book.

This book starts and ends in Ancient Greece on the island of Crete, when the Greek religion and influences are at the peak of their power. On Crete lies a kingdom and a mystical mountain generally referred to as “The Goddess’s Mountain”. Though Crete is the location everything takes place in, the novel switches points of view to different characters, resulting in multiple main settings within Crete. To begin, we have the courtyard of the castle in Crete. This is where everyone meets to view performances, make announcements, and celebrate. It, “...had no roof: it was a courtyard, bounded on all sides by blue-washed walls and scarlet columns. Ariadne could see the three entryways to the other workrooms; ... This courtyard was wondrous too, with its towering blocks of marble, some already carved in shapes of men or beasts, others shrouded,”(Sweet 34). On a different side of the island is an enclosed cave by a cliff where the character Icarus is held captive. The place is so dismal and cluttered that it makes Icarus uncomfortable. It is stated that, “No time and all time passed in their darkness Icarus had never even imagined... He and daedalus never used this tunnel anymore... but knew precisely what he’s see now: the rusted lock; the ever so slight space between it and the even ruster door ...he groped the passageway and found the water minos had spoken of(though it was not a passageway: more of a cleft...)”(Sweet 247). The final location is the main altar room of the Labyrinth beneath the mountain. Lots of time is spent in this room for those who are trapped in the Labyrinth. It has, “So many tunnels: tunnels cut out of rippled bands of rock, with ceilings of transparent crystal that glowed ... tunnels lit by tiny lamps embedded in the walls, ... flitting always above their heads; others that were completely dark... Strange shapes, like the steps that were actually jutting, frozen runs of the mountain’s lava; other steps that were even and squared off, ....A cavern ablaze with jewelled stalactites.... Water dripping somewhere, nowhere, everywhere”(Sweet 88). Characters take refuge in this location for it’s food, water, and slight show of sunlight. This novel is set in Ancient Crete, where the environment will challenge, define, and motivate characters throughout the book.

The main character of this novel is a girl named Chara. She was raised a slave, first growing up with and tending to her friend Prince Asterion, but then given to Princess Ariadne as a present once she got older. Chara is very determined and persistent: as soon as she sets her mind to something she does it no matter what’s in her way. When a conflict rose which put all her friends in danger, she went to great measures to save them in a case that was determined hopeless by others. Chara states, “‘In Athens you are a prince. Someday you will be king, there. Here though, beneath the mountain, I am queen. Heed to me now, as I will one day heed to you. No more of this. Now it’s time to save a god,’”(Sweet 189). This demonstrates how she wasn’t going to let one person get in the way of her saving Asterion. In order to do this, she had to first charge into the Labyrinth, one of the most dangerous places one could encounter in their lifetime. As explained, “Polymnia had counted on finding at least three Athenians, but had dreamed of four or five. Instead, though she could still hear screams and cries all around her, there was just one girl. Her cheeks were streaked with oozing cuts,”(Sweet 129). This shows that people get injured and die off extremely quickly when in the Labyrinth, so the fact that Chara was willing to go through that means she is intrepid. Not to mention, she is very creative. She easily comes up with clever rhymes which she used to comfort Asterion since he was young, and pass the time. One of these rhymes is, “The hermit crab’s got pretty clothes. Alas, he hasn’t got a nose...”(Sweet 198), representing that she was creative in her methods of making him smile. Therefore, Chara uses her determination, bravery, and creativity efficiently throughout the plot.

The Flame in the Maze, the second and final book in the series, starts after a recent arrival of Athenian sacrifices to the labyrinth. Certain people who live during this time have a god-mark-or a power given to a mortal as a blessing from the gods but Princess Ariadne has no god-mark. Nearly everyone around her has one though, including her half-brother Asterion turns into a bull at the presence of heat—and even Icarus, son of the genius Daedalus, was blessed to be part bird, though he hasn’t figured out how to fly yet. Every two years, King Minos demands fourteen young and god-marked Athenians as tribute, and they’re fed into a Labyrinth under the Goddess’s mountain, so they would die according to the Goddess’s desire. Ariadne was the one who suggested to her father that Asterion should be thrown in the sweltering hot Labyrinth as well, in attempts to get rid of him. Ariadne later would send a letter to Theseus, prince of Athens, to get him to kill this “monster” and take her back to Athens. Theseus disguised himself as one of the regular sacrifices to get in, but little did everyone know that the slave Chara had also switched places with a sacrifice to get in. Chara intends to save Asterion who is her best friend, as well as all her other friends—but first she must find him and prove to Theseus that Asterion is infact human and should not be killed. All the while, Icarus, a friend of Chara and Asterion though they believe him to be dead, is actually locked up in a cave with the craftsman Daedalus. But after four years of patience and work, Icarus is able to escape and meet up with Phaidra and Sotiria, who both want to help and save their friends in the Labyrinth. The main conflict of this novel is person vs. person, since King Minos and Ariadne put their cunningness and malice up against other main characters simply to achieve what they desire. Chara, Icarus, Asterion, and Phaidra have been fighting and resenting against their evil years before the Labyrinth was even created. After four years of working towards it, all the characters will finally cross paths again. The waiting is up—just in time for King Minos to decide that since he’s slowing dying from his fire god-mark, he should sacrifice himself in the mountain immediately. This would cause everyone in the Labyrinth to die, so now they must race against the clock to save each other.

After meeting up with Asterion again, Chara recites a poem they made as children: “‘I've missed you,’ clicked the crab. And the fishing crane clacked, ‘Me?’ ‘Why yes,’ crab said, ‘You showed me that there is sky as well as sea.’”(Sweet 203). At that moment, Chara’s poem represents how much they miss each other, because not only does it talk about missing someone but it represents the rhymes they made and all the fun they had. It’s saying he made her happy and gave her perspective and which she is thankful and misses him for who he is. On the contrary, to me this means something more remarkable. In the beginning of the poem, the downside lurks above the character. A crab is caught by a fishing crane, and this is one of the last places a crab would like to find themselves. But then the poem gives the message of looking to the bright side, and making the most of what you’ve got. Taking time to realize your surroundings. You could say that most crabs would hate the fishing crane for putting them there, but this crab in particular sees the whole picture. A new world was relieved to him, as he took time to appreciate both sky and sea.

I had an incredible time reading this book. Mythology is one of my favorite areas, and the time period it takes place in is a favorite of mine. I would definitely recommend this book to those interesting in history or in search of action. I felt that the characters were well developed, since the backgrounds were rich in detail. You will be able to find at least one of the characters very relatable, between misunderstood Icarus and Asterion, family rivalries, and empowering characters like Chara and Theseus. Meanwhile, the contrast between Ariadne’s personality and everyone else’s was major and quite interesting. She completely redefines the word “desperate” and is one of the most hateable people imaginable. Not too many books take the time to consider the antagonist’s point of view. This book had many interesting deep meanings and morals, but what I disliked it is how it felt like the author was forcing too much romance into it just to attract a teenage audience. I feel it could have left me with a little something more to think about, as that would make it more empowering and valuable as a book. But in the end, it is one of the better series I’ve read. I enjoyed the book so much that I found it hard to stay calm when I wasn’t reading it. Therefore, I rate it 9 out of 10 stars.

SPOILER ALERT
Chara and her crew of Athenians finally meet up with Asterion, and he barely escapes being killed by Theseus. Icarus, who has figured out how to fly, gets everyone out, and the group decides to escape Crete as soon as possible through Theseus’s ship. Suddenly, a heartbroken Athenian named Meliana summons darkness and runs to inform King Minos of the group. With King Minos after them, the group makes it to a cliff, and Icarus flies everyone, one by one, to the ship that awaits. But as Icarus is flying last, King Minos, who has caught up, shoots icarus with a flaming bow. He dies, and as his friends scream the ship makes a getaway. Some days later, King Minos successfully sacrifices himself to the gods, causing a firestorm of huge proportion; their ship wrecks on an island full of people who are unaccepted by society, and so they spend time here rebuilding the ship. An Athenian who is able to create dead things into other dead things creates a fake bull head for Theseus to take back to Athens, and everyone else sets off for Athens, though Theseus surprises Ariadne by leaving her in the wake, and Chara and Asterion decided to stay on the island. Everyone, except Ariadne, is content in where they are and looking forward for the future.

The theme of The Flame in the Maze is hope can always be found, and can save lives. This appears repeatedly, as each character uses hope in some way to get out of their situation. In Icarus’s case, he had been thrown in a cave and everything taken from him. At first, all he could think was “Days and days sunk within this stone place, listening to broken bones and heart and voice.”(Sweet 247) But later, Icarus and Daedalus came up with the idea of making Daedalus fake fingers out of the cave’s stone. This was them being hopeful, and after the new idea you could immediately see the positive results: “Time didn’t matter, after all. better to grow the false bone carefully, to be sure of its strength, so that it wouldn’t snap the moment Daedalus touched the lock. .... Imagine their surprise... Patience settled over him,”(Sweet 257). As for Chara, Asterion, and others in the Labyrinth, they were released from a place that made a character say, “‘Everything here frightens me.’ Phoebe's words trembled...”(Sweet 177) through their immense hope that they would find a way out. That hope payed off, and they found themselves, “...choking on tears and yet more laughter under the open sky,”(Sweet 322). On the contrary, Ariadne had given up hope and respect for herself all because she felt that she would never be significantly recognized if she didn’t have a god-mark. Instead she used her malice and cruelty to get what she wanted, and in the end hope gave up on her the same way she gave up on it. In conclusion, the power of hope has been enforced throughout this novel.

[Nighteye · Rating 5 out of 5]

The dark and stuning followup to The Door in the mountain.
A great tale familiar yet twisted and so enjoyable to read and there are lights in here as well as much larger darker patches even if the light are there thanks to some caracters inside.

As usual the darker themes kind of creeps onto you during reading the book while some charactes goes from likable to nonlikable or stay the same during the books.
Still there are some light in this dark and Godmarked-filled world where the Gods don't really care about the humans they have makred.
Some, like Icarus and Asterlion, are marked in kind of a cruel way but the caracters really are what makes this book amazing whith the diverset. also the books amazing settings, it's almost that you can see it in front om you being down there in the labyrinth which not nececery is a nice thing but marks a really really good book :)

[Dare Talvitie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a dungeon crawl.

Sure, it's a smart reimagining of an ancient Greek myth, written with the ruthlessness typical of the author. It has numerous, interesting, well-written characters -- some carrying over from The Door in the Mountain, some new. It's a twisting, non-linear story featuring bad things happening to all kinds of people. At times, it's so horrific that you feel like you don't want to keep reading, knowing that you will anyway.

But still, it's a dungeon crawl. This is a good thing in my book.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sequel to Caitlin's first book of the set! You could really feel the struggles with the characters and you really got to know them better in this book. There was love, suspense, friendship, hatred. It was all very well balanced and I felt it was executed wonderfully. The main view point from the first book was Ariadne, the girl you loved to hate. Even though she was vicious and selfish, I held out with my faith that she would suddenly snap and realize how awful she was....but...she never did. You rooted for your favorites and hated a few that weren't. Great book!! I would definitely recommend these to anyone who loves mythology.

[Josef Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good mythological novel that surpasses the first book in the series

For a full review, please go to http://www.examiner.com/review/the-fl... or http://areviewerdarkly.blogspot.com/ and follow me on Twitter @josenher