Hades' Daughter; March Discussion Title

[dwndrgn]

Hades' Daughter, Sara Douglass

This is posted early as a reminder to folks to try and find a copy for themselves and get to reading for March's discussion.

[Culhwch]

Yes, do. It's quite large.

[BookStop]

I've ordered my copy.

[Aadaenyaa]

I received my copy yesterday from Amazon, read the first chapter whilst I was making dinner- I have to say, so far the reviews I read at Amazon have been incorrect. The user reviews basically panned it- I've not found anything wrong with it so far, as a matter of fact, it will be my reading material this afternoon while I sit in the dentist's office lol. I was a bit concerned reading the reviews, while they seem warrantless.

[Teresa Edgerton]

I now have my copy. I don't know if I'll start reading it immediately, or wait until sometime next week.

[dsmith]

Just started reading it- I like it so far.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Really? I'm about a quarter of the way through, and I'm disliking it intensely.

Whoever suggested that we read this book is getting coal in their Christmas stocking from me next year.

[Culhwch]

I'm having a tough time getting into it, too. I'm very slack, I'm still in double-digits when it comes to page count. I have read Sara Douglass before - her first series, I can't recall the name, but I wasn't overly fussed with her then - certainly not enough to have picked up this book off my own bat...

[Brown Rat]

I'm on page 57, and I'm about to start skimming. So far, I don't like any of the characters (all of them seem nasty and villainous), there's too much exposition, and the book just seems to keep starting over and over again. Bleh . . .

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by Brown Rat

there's too much exposition

Yes, I thought so, too. The first part of the book felt like a synopsis or a first draft. Then I got into the meat of the story and realized I hadn't known when I was well off.

[dsmith]

I forced myself to actually read the whole book this time (I did skim through some parts) and I didn't like it- I definately won't read the rest of the series. At first I liked some of the characters, but after reading a while I started to hate them all.

[Brown Rat]

I'm on page 74, and that may be it for me. On page 70, I started skimming, and even the skimming isn't helping me avoid distaste. As you say, Teresa, the current narrative isn't any better than the previous exposition.

It is rare--extremely rare--for me not to finish a book once I have begun reading it. It's been four years since the last time I didn't finish a book, and I've read approximately 350 books during that period.

[ladyflorange]

I'm going to pick it up from my local library later today hopefully!

[BookStop]

Well, I'm on page 59 but I'm not enjoying the book either. I'll push ahead a while longer, but after reading all the prev posts on it, I am having doubts that I'll ever want to finish.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Well, to jump start the discussion (maybe), and until someone turns up who actually likes the book, so that we have a chance to debate some good and bad points, I'll mention the one thing I did like.

The idea of a network of labyrinths, each at the heart of a great city, is very appealing. It really struck a chord. I'm not caring for the way she handles it, but I think it's a really fantastic concept to build a story around.

Although I'm a bit puzzled: all those she mentions seem to be unicursal. This makes sense in one way, as these are the kind that turn up at ancient sites we believe to have magical or mystical significance. But it's impossible to get lost in a labyrinth with only one path, and if the one at Knossos is supposed to be the same as the others, what use would Theseus (the cad!) have for Ariadne and her thread?

The Cretan labyrinth is often pictured as unicursal, but it doesn't make sense. Even Daedalus, who created it, was supposed to have a very hard time finding his way out. So, logically, it would have to be a multicursal maze.

I wonder if Douglass addresses this at any point in the story?