I’m going to date myself horribly here, but…I’m an old-school fan of the guy in the grey hat. Think Kerr Avon ofBlake’s 7.The guy you could never quite predict. Or Han Solo until about halfway throughThe Empire Strikes Back. Are they going to do the right thing? Are they going to follow their heart? And it’s so satisfying when they do! Of course, it’s equally satisfying when they go right ahead and sucker punch the bad guy, ‘cuz hey—only the good guys give warnings, right?
The King of the Underworld must be a bad guy, right? And those folks up on Olympus are the good guys? Yeah…maybe rethink that a bit. There’s more to this Hades than you’ll find in dusty old mythology. He cares for his realm and its denizens, and he’s looking for a queen to share his kingdom and be his equal partner.
Held in Demeter's overprotective grip, power burns deep and seductive in Persephone. She will do whatever it takes to win her freedom and the Olympian Duel of Yule.
When Hades, King of the Underworld, swaggers into the baking competition, Persephone's competitive spirit rises to meet his challenge. The two clash over more than cookies. Until a little chaos interrupts the competition. She shouldn't trust Hades, but a fiery death with Ares doesn't appeal. An escape to the Underworld leads to a passion that burns hotter than Tartarus.
Persephone is all too aware of Olympian rules. Loving Hades comes with a…
I have a passion for the written word and the art of storytelling. Though I’m not a fatalist, I’ve had a lifelong interest in stories and films about cataclysm and apocalyptic tales, regardless of scale. Films like Poseidon’s Adventure, The Towering Inferno, and all of the both good and bad zombie movies the years have produced were mainstays in my childhood. Seeing how ordinary people responded to extraordinary circumstances to overcome and sometimes succumb to their frailties have been driving influences for me. I try to reflect that point of view through the characters in my novels. I think those moments have a way of defining our own humanity.
Zeus is Undead is a sequel to the playful Zeus is Dead and is equally as clever and entertaining. I’m a sucker for great story-telling and building a narrative around the history of Greek myths got my attention. In the previous story, Zeus’ death meant his longstanding order of maintaining distance and no interference between the gods and the world of the mortals evaporated, leading to fun mischief and the introduction of gods, demi-gods, and mythic monsters into our modern world. Zeus is Undead goes further by adding zombies into the mix. Just a lot of fun.
Outstanding Humor Novel: 2019 IAN Book of the Year Awards Gold Medalist: 2019 Readers' Favorite Book Awards
Sometimes all a fallen goddess needs to regain her power is a trusty sword and a worldwide zombie apocalypse...
Athena’s had a rough eighteen months. Formerly goddess of wisdom, battle, and crafts, her divinity has been revoked. Zeus no longer trusts her, and a 7-foot ice cream sundae now holds her honored position as his bodyguard. Yet when the dead start rising from the grave without authorization, things start looking up. What better way to prove her worth to Zeus than to solve…
I’m an Egyptologist by training and a storyteller by nature. Fascinated by the origins of patriarchy since I was a small girl raised by strong women in a patriarchal context, I turned to Greek and Roman history for answers. I earned an MA and a richer understanding of the civilizations that influenced the classical period, which led to the study of Egypt and Mesopotamia and finally to a Ph.D. in Egyptology. At heart, I’m more creative than scholar. Telling stories that bring ancient Egypt to life and leave readers better informed of the challenges women have faced, and sometimes overcome, is my passion.
I love how Lynn shows you the story first through Demeter’s eyes, then Persephone’s. The vastly different perspectives of mother and daughter resonated.
But my favorite thing about this book was the unique and empathetic picture it drew of Hades. Lynn managed not only to challenge my idea of the goddesses but of the god at the heart of the story as well. Unexpected but appreciated.
A daughter pulled between two worlds and a mother willing destroy both to protect her... Demeter: a goddess of life, living half of one. Demeter did not always live in fear. Once, she loved the world and the humans who inhabited it. After an act of devastating violence, though, she hides herself away among the grasses and wildflowers. Her only solace is her daughter... Before she was Persephone, she was Core. Core is as bright as summer and devoted to her mother, even during their millennia in exile from Olympus. But she craves freedom. Naive and determined, she secretly builds…
I believe with all of my heart that each one of us was created with two achingly powerful inner drives: 1) the longing for new worlds and 2) the desperate urge to do something meaningful. I simply could never believe that human beings are all simply cosmic accidents produced by some sort of cosmic casino. I believe God created people and gave us each an instinct to seek our true home. The books I write—all 22 of them—are tales of flawed individuals, thrown into unexpected, life-changing events, and given the chance to journey through many astoundingly lush worlds, all in an effort to do the seemingly impossible.
Harry Dresden is a detective in modern day Chicago. He’s also a wizard.
Jim Butcher twists the fantasy genre by setting the story in modern times but creating an international subculture of vampires, Sidhe, archangels, demons, bigfoot, and pretty much any other mysterious bit of folklore. Heck, you’ll even meet Hades!
This series has hooked me from the beginning but not just because of all the mystical, cool, fantasy, creepy, awesomeness. It’s the cast of characters that connect so deeply with me. In Skin Game, Harry begins to fear that the use of his power is changing him, turning him into something of a monster. In a sense, he’s questioning his humanity and his heart.
I have gone through this self-exploration so many times. When I read Skin Games, I found myself in tears because Harry’s plight so closely connected with my own. It was deeply encouraging. Oh, and by…
Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, is about to have a very bad day. As Winter Knight to the Queen of Air and Darkness, Harry never knows what the scheming Mab might want him to do. Usually, it's something awful.
This time, it's worse than that. Mab's involved Harry in a smash-and-grab heist run by one of his most despised enemies to recover the literal Holy Grail from the vaults of the greatest treasure horde in the world - which belongs to the one and only Hades, Lord of the Underworld.
Dresden's always been tricky, but he's going to have…
I’ve always been fascinated by folklore and religious myth. A passion further inspired by my path as an Eclectic Pagan, and my pursuit of a Masters in Mythological Studies. My interest in mythology was first inspired by my mother as she told us bedtime stories filled with the exploits of heroes, of gods, and angels. My upbringing in Christianity introduced me to the mythologies of Judaism, which eventually led me into the greater world of Paganism and an entire universe filled with a multitude of pantheons filled with their own gods, heroes, and legends.
Book 14 of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series, Acheron is a heartbreaking masterpiece. Delving deeply into the heartbreaking past of Acheron, a demi-god and leader of the Dark-Hunters, we at long last discover his origins and true self. After years of solitude and betrayal, he is given his final redemption and love. My favorite in this stellar series.
Eleven thousand years ago, a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. But the strongest steel is forged from the fires of hell...Acheron's human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, he became the sole defender of mankind. Only, it was never that simple. For centuries, Acheron has fought for our survival and hidden a past he'll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence. Now his survival - and…
The question I have for Christian authors is this: are we Christian authors or authors who are Christian? The realm of horror is the perfect genre to explore the human condition in all of its depravity. Why do Christians avoid this genre when at the end of the day? I grew up watching horror movies with my grandmother and I enjoy the thrills and chills, the questions the genre asks, and the various ways horror can be depicted. Christians understand the dark forces that underlie our natural world. And we understand the darkness within ourselves. But unlike Hollywood horror, we know what the solution – Christ. So that’s why this is a passion of mine.
Hades Proper is a sci-fi horror book that deals with questions of God, hell, goodness, and faith.
When I read this book, I was blown away at how relatable the characters were. The book reads pretty fast as we are taken from a massive earthquake that opens a fissure deep to the center of the earth.
After the scientist sends instruments to read what the interior of the earth is, we discover that this fissure leads to what can only be described as Hades Proper. For those familiar with Sheol, in the Old Testament, Hell was divided into two sides, the Paradise side, and the Hell side.
When our cast of characters go down this fissure, they find the Paradise side abandoned but filled with all kinds of wonders. But then, the plot thickens as they cross over into the Hell side. It’s a great book sending all sorts of…
After an onslaught of simultaneous, worldwide earthquakes ravages the Earth, a team is sent to explore a crevice that may go down farther than man has ever been able to go.Dr. William Roth is a brilliant scientist. A successful geophysicist. A prominent atheist. An alcoholic with a scarred past. When he is tasked with leading a team of 7 people on a mission that will take them deep into the Earth, he jumps at the opportunity. Millions have died around the world, the planet is in mourning. This could be the light, the hope that the world needs, and he…
I’ve been making up magical worlds ever since childhood, when I populated the creekbanks and vacant lots in my hometown with ghosts, fae, Land of Oz residents, and other creatures from my imagination. Fantasy and forbidden love have always been my two main allures in reading, and different varieties of sexuality and gender identity also fascinated me once I became more aware of such issues in college, through books as well as my anthropology classes. I was recently pleased to learn there’s at least one cool label for me as well—demisexual—and nowadays I love populating my fantasy novels with queer characters. Everyone deserves adventures in the otherworld!
The story of Persephone and Hades is my favorite Greek myth—and a lot of other people’s, to judge from how many of us have written about it. Therefore I’ve read lots of the novels that retell it, but The Dark Wife stands out for being the only Sapphic version I’ve found! Here Hades is a goddess rather than a god, and rather than abducting Persephone, she shelters her in the Underworld, where Persephone can avoid the sexual predators among the gods above. (Of which there are a lot, in canonical myth; let’s be honest.) Though set in the deliciously spooky land of the dead, the romance between the two goddesses is sweet and comforting, and the writing is as lyrically pretty as a classical poem.
Three thousand years ago, a god told a lie. Now, only a goddess can tell the truth. Persephone has everything a daughter of Zeus could want--except for freedom. She lives on the green earth with her mother, Demeter, growing up beneath the ever-watchful eyes of the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. But when Persephone meets the enigmatic Hades, she experiences something new: choice. Zeus calls Hades "lord" of the dead as a joke. In truth, Hades is the goddess of the underworld, and no friend of Zeus. She offers Persephone sanctuary in her land of the dead, so the…
I grew up with the cartoon Beetlejuice, fascinated by the composed Lydia running around a bright and insane afterlife. Any cheerfully gothic story I would latch on with glee. Perhaps this is why fantasy has always been my favourite genre, and why I cannot help but mix dark and light, and why my first novel naturally took place in the afterlife. I wrote my first book for my brother, because he was as interested as me in all the weird in the world, but unlike me, he had dyslexia and hated reading. He received the story in instalments and to my amazement and pride, he just gobbled them up.
This must be one of the strangest works I have read in a long while, and I admire it deeply. It surfs on the documentary graphic novel trend. It exists to teach people about the disastrous impact of intensive farming on the environment, and more particularly on dirt. Not a very attractive topic, despite how serious it is – but, and that’s where this comic is so innovative, it twists all this knowledge around a suspenseful battle royal orchestrated by Hades in the Underworld. Unlikely, isn’t it? I loved discovering the facts while cheering on my main characters, two lost 16 years old, who struggle to survive in the underground. While it is directed at teens, I would recommend it to the above 16 only, as there is gore (this book follows the Hunger Games pattern of only one survivor) and nudity.
Hades, God of the Underworld, is seeking a successor. The prize? His fabled horn of plenty, source of boundless wealth. But to winnow down the applicant pool, Hades has devised a series of challenges as deadly to hopefuls as they are enlightening to readers, taking us all on a tour of the soil: its uses and abuses, riches and resources. Beneath our feet lies a world teeming with life, whose fate is intimately tied with our own. In this fantasy adventure Mathieu Burniat deftly blends pop science and mythology to educate and enthrall on a topic vital to our troubled…
This is a different version of how Persephone and Hades became a couple.
It has humour but also deals with issues of mental and emotional abuse, arranged marriages, sexism, and female rights. I quite enjoyed the story, and the way the author addressed these ongoing concerns was effective. Worth reading.
To hell with love, this goddess has other plans...
Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying.
The real story is much more interesting.
Persephone wasn't taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.
Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld's annoyingly sexy, arrogant…
I’ve long had a passion (read: obsession) with the apocalypse in whatever form it takes. I’ve written viral pandemics, zombie outbreaks, post-nuclear survival, dystopian totalitarianism, extinction-level-event, alien invasion, WW3… all of them have the theme of the great reset. The ability to reinvent yourself in the new world. The erasure of your life and the clean slate to try again and become who you want to be. I read and listen to this genre as well as write it because I'm passionate about the worlds writers create and the way their characters adapt to overcome the challenges my own have faced. As a former police officer, I’ve probably spent too many night shifts pondering the end of the world.
Nick should be considered royalty when it comes to the post-apocalypse. He has numerous series with vastly different settings, but all of them are a masterclass in characterisation and story craft. His books draw me in with slick action and characters I care about from the get-go. He tackles the real issues without rubbing it in the reader’s face, and his work makes you question what you would do if the world went sideways.
The New York Times and USA Today bestselling series
They dive so humanity survives …
More than two centuries after World War III poisoned the planet, the final bastion of humanity lives on massive airships circling the globe in search of a habitable area to call home. Aging and outdated, most of the ships plummeted back to earth long ago. The only thing keeping the two surviving lifeboats in the sky are Hell Divers -- men and women who risk their lives by skydiving to the surface to scavenge for parts the ships desperately need.
