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The Nightmare: A Short Story
Hades, the ruler of the deadlands, finds light in the gloomiest of places and struggles to protect the only shred of innocence left in a world controlled by gods. A short story of 7,000 words.
23 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 30, 2018
1 person is currently reading
About the author
Rachel Sandell
3 books9 followersRachel Sandell is a writer and editor from Washington State, where rainy days necessitate long books, hot chocolate, and plenty of magic. Though she specializes in speculative fiction and harbors a love for the dark and enchanting, she also dabbles in poetry and is the archive project coordinator for Fireweed: Poetry of Oregon. She is an MFA student at the Rainier Writing Workshop, and her short stories have appeared in SORTES magazine, Night Picnic Press, and Leading Edge magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 21, 2019
Summary
This story takes a look at two questions:
What were the god of the Underworld's thoughts about falling in love with Persephone?
What if Hades was good and Zeus was the malicious one?
The result is a story from Hades point of view about falling in love with Persephone. The story is entirely from his perspective and his thoughts and that serves as the appeal that carries the story through. The result is an interesting story with potential to be even better, but something that I still enjoyed.
Structure
Since the story is told by Hades himself, I found it a bit difficult to understand the structure. While I can understand the story and follow along, I found myself afterwards wondering how I was supposed to interpret the storytelling.The best that I can think of is that it was reflecting while also moving forward in the present. That would help explain why the ending does not appear to reflect the beginning. However, because Hades is the narrator and speaking in past tense, it's a bit difficult to confirm if that was the case.
Accessibility
While Rachel does a fair job of providing most of the details needed to enjoy the story, my gap of knowledge surrounding Greek mythology made some things a little difficult to understand. However, even with a gap of knowledge, I found the book easy enough to read. After reading the story and then Wikipedia, I can see the story follows enough on course which can help explain some things I was left wondering after reading the book, though not all.
Characters
Of all of the characters, Hades is the most developed and his perspective is what made me interested. He comes across like a bitter introvert who thinks the world hates him, but at the same time, doesn't understand why. We see the signs of trickery and we can understand why Hades feels like Zeus was always tricking him, but I was never satisfied with an answer why. This leads Zeus into being simply a villain with no understandable motive. The closest hint I get is that Hades might potentially be more powerful than all of the gods. If this is the case, perhaps it makes sense that Hades does not understand the reason himself, but that still left me wondering long after I read the story. At the same time, that could be a good setup for a followup.
Now while Hades' crush on Persephone is understandable and a good depiction on what a guy of that type might think, I did not find the actual portrayal of Persephone appealing. The impression I got was of a female stereotype who does not have a good reason for falling in love with Hades. At least not any reason that we see. The same applies to the other gods' hatred and actions as well such as Demeter taking her rage on Earth when she is angry with Hades.
Perhaps the second best-developed character is Hermes, the messenger god. A guy who perhaps best understands Hades is not evil and yet is fearful of Zeus, leading to some personal turmoil.
Moral Caution
The only morally objectionable action by Hades is taking Persephone without her consent and against her will. While he did obtain Zeus' permission, I would certainly emphasize to my son that it is not a good way to make your crush like you. However, since that is being true to source material, I cannot blame Rachel for following that path. At the same time, if the reader does not have any background knowledge of the source material, then that might leave them with a bad taste.
Writing Lessons To Glean
All of that being said, since Hades himself is a well-developed character and his thoughts are interesting enough, the story being carried by his narration works out very well. Aside from taking Persephone without her consent, he's not a guy to hate. By having a decent character with interesting thoughts, that can be enough to entice the reader and be enjoyable.
However, that is not to say the narration and thoughts do not have room for improvement. There are a few times where one paragraph took up the entire screen on my kindle. A few of these, I think could have been broken up into multiple paragraphs which would have helped with keeping my place on the page and organizing the content. In addition, I had at least one occasion where I backtracked figure out if I had not skipped a page by accident. In the end, these issues were minor enough that they did not detract enough from the experience, but if there would be a revision, I would promote paying attention to them.
Conclusion
Personally, I liked the story in the end and have no regrets for paying $1 to read it, even though I was not at all interested in the underworld or Hades. And yet, Rachel did a good job that enticed me to buy the story with just the 10% preview on the Amazon page. I was worried that there would be horror elements, but there was nothing compared to what I can expect to find in Greek Mythology. I certainly do not expect it to give me a nightmare, but I can admit it makes me think a lot.
I do think the story can be improved, maybe even reworked to help address the issues I had. Perhaps the biggest issue is that I'm not sure who the target audience is and therefore cannot make an accurate recommendation. All I can say is I like it and I think it's worth to at least preview it, but I do not have a name for the type of audience that would like the book. All I know is that I somehow happen to be one of it.
This story takes a look at two questions:
What were the god of the Underworld's thoughts about falling in love with Persephone?
What if Hades was good and Zeus was the malicious one?
The result is a story from Hades point of view about falling in love with Persephone. The story is entirely from his perspective and his thoughts and that serves as the appeal that carries the story through. The result is an interesting story with potential to be even better, but something that I still enjoyed.
Structure
Since the story is told by Hades himself, I found it a bit difficult to understand the structure. While I can understand the story and follow along, I found myself afterwards wondering how I was supposed to interpret the storytelling.The best that I can think of is that it was reflecting while also moving forward in the present. That would help explain why the ending does not appear to reflect the beginning. However, because Hades is the narrator and speaking in past tense, it's a bit difficult to confirm if that was the case.
Accessibility
While Rachel does a fair job of providing most of the details needed to enjoy the story, my gap of knowledge surrounding Greek mythology made some things a little difficult to understand. However, even with a gap of knowledge, I found the book easy enough to read. After reading the story and then Wikipedia, I can see the story follows enough on course which can help explain some things I was left wondering after reading the book, though not all.
Characters
Of all of the characters, Hades is the most developed and his perspective is what made me interested. He comes across like a bitter introvert who thinks the world hates him, but at the same time, doesn't understand why. We see the signs of trickery and we can understand why Hades feels like Zeus was always tricking him, but I was never satisfied with an answer why. This leads Zeus into being simply a villain with no understandable motive. The closest hint I get is that Hades might potentially be more powerful than all of the gods. If this is the case, perhaps it makes sense that Hades does not understand the reason himself, but that still left me wondering long after I read the story. At the same time, that could be a good setup for a followup.
Now while Hades' crush on Persephone is understandable and a good depiction on what a guy of that type might think, I did not find the actual portrayal of Persephone appealing. The impression I got was of a female stereotype who does not have a good reason for falling in love with Hades. At least not any reason that we see. The same applies to the other gods' hatred and actions as well such as Demeter taking her rage on Earth when she is angry with Hades.
Perhaps the second best-developed character is Hermes, the messenger god. A guy who perhaps best understands Hades is not evil and yet is fearful of Zeus, leading to some personal turmoil.
Moral Caution
The only morally objectionable action by Hades is taking Persephone without her consent and against her will. While he did obtain Zeus' permission, I would certainly emphasize to my son that it is not a good way to make your crush like you. However, since that is being true to source material, I cannot blame Rachel for following that path. At the same time, if the reader does not have any background knowledge of the source material, then that might leave them with a bad taste.
Writing Lessons To Glean
All of that being said, since Hades himself is a well-developed character and his thoughts are interesting enough, the story being carried by his narration works out very well. Aside from taking Persephone without her consent, he's not a guy to hate. By having a decent character with interesting thoughts, that can be enough to entice the reader and be enjoyable.
However, that is not to say the narration and thoughts do not have room for improvement. There are a few times where one paragraph took up the entire screen on my kindle. A few of these, I think could have been broken up into multiple paragraphs which would have helped with keeping my place on the page and organizing the content. In addition, I had at least one occasion where I backtracked figure out if I had not skipped a page by accident. In the end, these issues were minor enough that they did not detract enough from the experience, but if there would be a revision, I would promote paying attention to them.
Conclusion
Personally, I liked the story in the end and have no regrets for paying $1 to read it, even though I was not at all interested in the underworld or Hades. And yet, Rachel did a good job that enticed me to buy the story with just the 10% preview on the Amazon page. I was worried that there would be horror elements, but there was nothing compared to what I can expect to find in Greek Mythology. I certainly do not expect it to give me a nightmare, but I can admit it makes me think a lot.
I do think the story can be improved, maybe even reworked to help address the issues I had. Perhaps the biggest issue is that I'm not sure who the target audience is and therefore cannot make an accurate recommendation. All I can say is I like it and I think it's worth to at least preview it, but I do not have a name for the type of audience that would like the book. All I know is that I somehow happen to be one of it.
December 5, 2019
Though it was short, I completely adored this version of Hades and Persephone. Sandell uses so many evocative descriptions to show the way Persephone changes and brightens Hades' life. It was an absolutely beautiful retelling.
May 7, 2019
I really like this story! It explores a classic Greek myth from a perspective not typically examined. (And anyone who knows me can tell you I'll have a soft spot for period-true retellings of Greek mythology.)
The prose is strong and the character of Hades compelling. Though the story's not long (as stated in the title), I thoroughly enjoyed his journey within it.
The only small issue I had with it was that Persephone's choices toward the end don't feel fully motivated by what came before. I was able to get over this with little trouble, however, and continue to enjoy.
Great story! If you like mythology, I highly recommend it.
The prose is strong and the character of Hades compelling. Though the story's not long (as stated in the title), I thoroughly enjoyed his journey within it.
The only small issue I had with it was that Persephone's choices toward the end don't feel fully motivated by what came before. I was able to get over this with little trouble, however, and continue to enjoy.
Great story! If you like mythology, I highly recommend it.
December 1, 2019
Do you like Greek mythology?
Yes.
Do you like twisted retellings of old stories from Greek mythology?
Yes
Do you like stories told from a villain's perspective?
Hell yes.
This isn't just any old Greek retelling in short story form. No, I feel like this one in particular really struck a chord with me. You know, that kind of chord that really rings out in perfect tune and gives you those lasting goosebumps up your arms. Maybe it was just me, but damn, Rachel Sandell knocked this one out of the park.
Rave over, let's get on with it.
The story itself is only approximately 7,000 words, and is told in the perspective of Hades. It's a retelling of the Persephone story, and explores Hades's point of view instead along with some differences in scenario and situation.
Hades was an extremely well-developed character, and also happens to be the one narrating the story. While it's an uncommon structure it was one I very quickly got used to reading in, and I feel that it helped the story along that much more. I absolutely loved this twist on a classic story and I look forward to reading more of Sandell's work in the future.
Yes.
Do you like twisted retellings of old stories from Greek mythology?
Yes
Do you like stories told from a villain's perspective?
Hell yes.
This isn't just any old Greek retelling in short story form. No, I feel like this one in particular really struck a chord with me. You know, that kind of chord that really rings out in perfect tune and gives you those lasting goosebumps up your arms. Maybe it was just me, but damn, Rachel Sandell knocked this one out of the park.
Rave over, let's get on with it.
The story itself is only approximately 7,000 words, and is told in the perspective of Hades. It's a retelling of the Persephone story, and explores Hades's point of view instead along with some differences in scenario and situation.
Hades was an extremely well-developed character, and also happens to be the one narrating the story. While it's an uncommon structure it was one I very quickly got used to reading in, and I feel that it helped the story along that much more. I absolutely loved this twist on a classic story and I look forward to reading more of Sandell's work in the future.
December 16, 2018
Good twist on the classic Olympus stories
I love hearing stories from the villian’s perspective, and seeing how Hades interacted and viewed the other gods was very cool. Great retelling of the Greek myths!
I love hearing stories from the villian’s perspective, and seeing how Hades interacted and viewed the other gods was very cool. Great retelling of the Greek myths!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews