Daedalus Is Dead
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A delirious and gripping story of fatherhood and masculinity, told through the reimagined Greek myth of Daedalus, Icarus, King Minos, Ariadne, and the Minotaur.
Daedalus of Crete is many things: The greatest architect in the world. The constructor of the Labyrinth that imprisoned the Minotaur. And the grieving father of Icarus, who plunged into the sea as father and son flew from the grasp of the tyrannical King Minos.
Now, Daedalus seeks to reunite with Icarus in the Underworld, even as he revisits his own memories of Crete, hoping to understand what went so terribly wrong at the end of his son's life. Daedalus will confront any terror to see Icarus again—whether it's the cruel punishments of Tartarus, the cunning Queen Persephone, or the insatiable ghost of the Minotaur.
But the truth, stalking Daedalus in the labyrinth of his own heart, might be too monstrous for him to bear.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sullivan's lovely debut puts an inventive spin on Greek myth. Master inventor Daedalus and his son, Icarus, attempt to escape imprisonment by the cruel King Minos using man-made wings. The plan ends disastrously when Icarus ignores his father's warnings and flies too close to the sun, melting the wax attaching the feathers to the wings, and causing him to plummet to his death in the sea ("You fall in silence, as if the gods are waiting for the sound of impact"). From there, Sullivan's tale veers into less familiar territory. Bereft at the loss of his only child, Daedalus starts a new life in Sicily, only to be tracked down by Minos; though he outsmarts the king and survives their confrontation, Daedalus dies shortly thereafter from an injury. He then endeavors to reunite with Icarus in the underworld, in the process encountering dead heroes and monsters. Daedalus narrates this quest in present tense and through direct address to his late son, creating a sense of intimacy and tenderness. ("Icarus, no good thing has happened to me that I haven't wanted to share with you.") Along the way, Sullivan gradually peels back the layers of Daedalus's past, including several revelations that will shift readers' views of the inventor significantly. In the crowded field of revisionist retellings, this stands out.
