Author: leanbhpearson

LGBTQI and Disability Author of Horror & Dark Fantasy
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Aztec Mythology: Mictlán

In Aztec cosmology, the soul intakes a journey to the Underworld after death and they have four destinations: the Sacred Orchard of the Gods, the Place of Darkness, the Kingdom of the Sun, and a paradise called the Mansion of the Moon.

The most common destination for a soul is Mictlán (Place of Darkness) with nine levels, crashing mountains and rushing rivers, and four years of struggle. There are 13 Heavens over which various gods and goddesses preside and provides the cultural basis for the Day of the Dead customs and celebrations.

Mictlantecuhtli is the skeletal Lord of the Land of the Dead – the supreme ruler of Mictlán. He oversees the place of eternal smoke and darkness along with his consort Mictlancihuatl.

Mictlán ruled by its Lord and Lady, is a gloomy place a soul reaches only after wandering for four years beneath the Earth, accompanied by a “soul-companion,” usually a do which was customarily cremated with the body.

Aztec myth tells how Quetzalcoatl (Nahuatl language means “feathered serpent”) journeyed into Mictlán at the dawning of the Fifth Sun (the present world era), and restored humankind to life with from the bones of those who had lived before. Bones are like seeds: everything that dies goes into the Earth, and from it new life is born in the sacred cycle of existence.

Quetzalcoatl’s Descent To Mictlán

At sunset, Mictlantechutli (Lord of Underworld) and Tonatiuh (Star God) take their place to illuminate the world of the dead.

Legend tells that after Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca created the world, the day and night, they placed Mictalntecuhtli and his wife Mictlancihuatl as Lord and Lady of the underworld.

The counterpart of Mictlán is the paradise known as Tlalocán, or the home of the god Tlaloc, where the dead who drowned or were struck by lightning would dwell.

The 4 houses of the dead:

•Chichihuacuauhco

•Mictlán

•Ilhuuicatl-Tonatiuh

•Tlalocán

Chichihuacuauhco is the first mansion, a place of dead children. In its middle there is a large tree whose branches drip milk so the children could might feed and gain strength. These children will return to the Earth when our world of the Fifth Sun is destroyed. That is why children died young so they might repopulate the Earth for the future.

Mictlán is the second house. Those who succumbed to illness and old age went to dwell in Mictlán. The soul must make a 4 year journey and pass through nine layers of the Underworld and various daunting tests. These included the dead coming to the river Apanohuaya which is impossible to cross without the help of an Itzcuintli (xoloitzcuintle), a special dog each family raised and cremated alongside the mourned deceased.

Among the Aztecs, the god Xolotl was a monstrous dog. During the creation of the Fifth Sun, Xolotl was hunted by Death and escaped him by transforming himself first into a sprout of maize, then into maguey leaves and finally as a salamander in a pool of water. The third time that Death found Xolotl, he trapped and killed him. Three important foodstuffs were produced from the body of this mythological dog.

Mictlantecuhtli, Lord of the Dead, had kept the bones of a man from a previous creation. Xolotl descended to the Underworld trying to steal these bones so that man could be reborn into the new world of the Fifth Sun. Xolotl recovered the bones and brought man to life again by piercing his penis and bleeding upon them. Xolotl is seen as an incarnation of the planet Venus as the Evening Star (the Morning Star was his twin brother Quetzalcoatl).

Xolotl is the canine companion of the Sun, following its path through both in the sky and the Underworld. Xolotl’s strong connection with the Uderworld, death and the dead is demonstrated by the symbols he bears. In the Codex Borbonicus Xolotl is pictured with a knife in his mouth (symbol of death), and has black wavy hair like the hair worn by the gods of death.

Upon recognising his dead master, the dog barks, then rushes to help the deceased to cross the river and carries its master upon his back while swimming.

After the crossing, the soul is stripped of all clothes, beginning the second part of his journey between two mountains that conflicted with each other. This pass is called Tepetl Monamiclia, where the deceased would make warily make their way hoping the two mountains wouldn’t clash and crush the passing traveler.

At the end of the pass, a descent down a hill strewn with flints and sharp obsidian (same material used to make knives) and the soul would call to Ilztepetl. But the stones still mercilessly cut the feet of the dead as they passed.

Celhuecayan, the eight mountains is covered i perpetual snow that falls constantly and is whipped up by strong winds.

The soul the arrives at the foot of a hill, the last part in the journey called Paniecatacoyan. These moors here are cold and large, where the dead would walk endlessly crossing the desolated land.

The soul then take a long path, where they are struck with arrows. This place is Temiminaloyan and the arrows are fired by unseen hands.

At the end of the path is Tecoylenaloyan, where the soul exists with thousands of fierce beasts. When any of the beasts reached them, the souks would throw open their chests and let the beasts eat their hearts.

The souls os then forced to dive into the Apanuiayo (black water river), and where the Xochilonal dwells. The soul must swim in this lake, dodging the animals, including the terrifying lizard to get to the next test.

Finally, tired, injured and exhausted with suffering, the soul reaches Chicunamictlan, where they would meet Mictlantecuchtli, the fierce God of the Death who would receive them with vengeance.

Here the soul’s cycle ends forever and here they would live until their bodies and their lives extinguish.

The long journey lasted for four years, in which the deceased came to his eternal rest.

The mansion where most of the dead arrived were those who would diedof natural causes.

The is the Kingdom of the Sun.

Here the warriors, slaughtered at the hands of their enemies, rest. Those souls of women who died in childbirth are counted among these. For among the Aztecs, pregnant women were like warriors who symbolically capture her child for the Aztec state in the painful and bloody battle of birth. Considered as female aspects of defeated heroic warriors, women dying in childbirth became fierce goddesses who carried the setting sun into the netherworld realm of Mictlán.

Mictlán is a place outside of the time. A wonderful infinite place, and a beautiful plain, at every day the sun rose, warriors beat their shields.

After four years, these warriors would turn into rich bird-feathers, small, living creatures eating the flowers.

Those who had died by drowning, lightning, and other deaths related to water and rain arrived at Tlalocán, the Mansion of the Moon, a place of unending springtime and a paradise of green plants. This place belongs to Tlaloc.

Tlaloc is also associated with caves, springs, and mountains, most specifically the sacred mountain in which he was believed to reside. His animal forms include herons and water-dwelling creatures such as amphibians, snails, and possibly sea creatures, particularly shellfish.

The dead arriving here would be happy, fresh and unconcerned. These dead hadn’t been cremated, but buried.

And so, between the mansions the dead Aztecs were divided, each person going to their designated place in the Mexican Underworld.

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Bitters

** I received an ARC for an honest review **

Publisher’s Description

The giant metal man has stood for hundreds of years, head tilted back, mouth open. All the dead of the town are disposed of this way, carried up the long, staircase that winds around him and tipped in. At his toe emerges the Bitters, the lifeblood of the town, keeping them healthy and prosperous as the sick and needy come to buy and drink.

McNubbin is a happy man with all he wants in life. He’s carried the bodies up since he was 14, a worthwhile, respected job. But when he notices broken girl after broken girl, he can’t stay quiet, and speaking up will change his perfect life.

Summary

I recently read the dark fiction novella Bitters by Australian horror and dark fiction author Kaaron Warren.

The focus of Bitters is the township that both owe their existence and health to the gold statue of the Man.

After a post-apocalyptic plague hundreds of years before, the dead were thrown into the Man and the putrified liquid called Bitters used as tonic. Over time, scientists removed any sick or drug users from those whose bodies ended up in the Man and the resultant Bitters gave health to the township who benefited from the Man. But a darker secret lurks within the township and the control of those who do a duty in carrying bodies to the top of the statue to deliver them into the Man, those who carry salt and bugs for the quickening the process of decay and those who provide the Bitters into bottles.

Review

Bitters was an expertly crafted dystopian and post-apocalyptic novella that leaves no doubt that Warren is a master storyteller as her tale draws the reader deep into the mindset of the town that hosts the famous strong male statue and to whom they consign the bodies of the dead and reap the benefits of an elixir from the putrefied remains. Despite the darkness and horrifying truth of the Man – Warren focuses on the members of the township who owe their livelihoods and health the grim task they carry out daily. Warren writes without judgement but a sense of compassion for the characters who prosper from the deaths of others. A powerful dystopian novella that haunts you long after the last page has been turned.

Conclusion

A great read for fans of dystopian tales, dark fiction and psychological horror. A highly recommended read!

** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **

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Norse Mythology: Loki

Loki (Old Norse: Loki “knot/tangle”) is a wily trickster god of Norse mythology. While treated as a nominal member of the Aesir, Loki occupies a highly ambivalent and unique position among the gods, giants, and the other kinds of spiritual beings that populate pre-Christian Norse religion.

Loki is the father of three monsters with giantess and witch of the Iron Wood, Angrboda (Old Norse: “Anguish-bringer”). Their daughter Hel became the ruler of the underworld; Jormungand, a great serpent (also known as the Midgard Serpent encircled the entirety of Midgard sea) is fated to be slain and slay Thor during Ragnarok; lastly, Fenrir, the giant wolf who bites off one the god Tyr’s hands when chained by the Aesir and slays Odin during Ragnarok.

Loki also had a wife from among the Aesir – Sigyn (“Friend of Victory”) and two sons named Nari and Narfi, whose names might mean “Corpse.” They are sacrificed and their entrails used to bind Loki until he’ll break free at the beginning of Ragnarok.

Loki often runs afoul of societal expectations but also the “the laws of nature.” Loki is also a shape-shifter and in the form of a mare, he birthed Sleipnir, Odin’s shamanic stallion.

In many tales, Loki is a schemer, coward, shallow and focused only on his self-preservation. He’s also playful, malicious, and can be helpful. But all tales portray him as irreverent and immoral.

Loki’s recklessness finds him in the hands of the furious frost-giant, Thrazi who threatens to kill him unless he kidnaps the goddess Idunn. To save his own life, Loki agrees and shape-shifting again, steals Idunn away and delivers her to Thrazi. The Aesir then threaten him with death unless he rescues Idunn. He agrees to this for self-preservation and shape-shifting into a falcon and transforms Idunn again and carries her back to Asgard in his talons. Angered, Thrazi pursues him in the form of an eagle. When he has almost caught up with Loki, the Aesir gods light a fire around the perimeter of their fortress. The flames catch Thrazi’s feathers and burns him to death.

After Thrazi’s death, his daughter, frost-giantess Skadi, marches on Asgard demanding compensation for slaying her father. One of her demands is that the Aesir make her laugh, something which only Loki can accomplish.

Loki both helps and hinders the gods and the giants, depending on what course of action most benefits him at the time.

During Ragnarok, when the gods and giants engage in their fateful struggle and the cosmos is destroyed, Loki joins the giants and captains a ship made by Hel called Naglfar, “Deadmen’s nails,” that brings many of the giants to the battlefield. Loki and the Aesir god Heimdall will mortally wound each other.

Loki is best known for his malevolent role in the death of Odín and Frigg’s son Baldr. The prophesied death of the beloved god Baldr, Frigg secures a promise from every living thing not to harm her son. But no oath is obtained from a young mistletoe. Loki discovers this omission and carves a spearhead from the mistletoe. While the Aesir are enjoying testing the immortality of Baldr, Loki gives the spearhead to Baldr’s brother, the blind god Hodr who isn’t participating in the festivities. Loki aims for Hodr and Baldr is struck and dies.

After Baldr’s death, the Aesir god Hermod rides Sleipnir into the underworld to implore Hel to release Baldr. Hel demands that if Baldr is truly loved by everything and everyone, every being in the Nine Worlds must weep for Baldr and then she will release him from the Underworld. Loki disguises himself as a giantess named Thok (“Thanks”), who is the only one in the Nine Worlds who doesn’t weep for Baldr. In turn, he must remain with Hel in the Underworld.

For this last crime against the Aesir gods, he is bound within a cavern with a venomous serpent hanging above him, dripping poison onto his face (the viper care of Skadi). Loki’s very faithful wife Sigyn, sits beside him holding a bowl catch the venom. But when the bowl needs emptying, she mist leave Loki’s face unprotected and drops of venom fall onto his flesh and he writhes in agonised convulsions that cause earthquakes. Here, he will stay until breaking free at Ragnarok.

For many centuries of Norse mythology study, the meaning of Loki’s name has been elusive. A recent, the philologist Eldar Heide suggests from Nordic folklore in periods more recent than the Viking Age, Loki often appears in contexts likening it to a knot on a thread. In fact, in later Icelandic usage, the common noun loki means “knot” or “tangle.”

Manifestation: A master shape-shifter who appears in many guises.

Consort: Aesir wife Sigyn and the giantess Angrboda

Sacred animals: Wolves, snakes and possibly spiders (web-weaving).

Star symbol: Sirius also known as Lokabrenna (“Loki’s Brand”) in traditional Norse astrology

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The New Wife

Publisher’s Description

Bluebeard’s seventh wife is the first to survive his wrath, courtesy of ghostly warnings and the timely intervention of her brothers. The village burns her murderous husband, his crimes laid bare and his wealth passed on to her… but even after his death, Bluebeard’s house won’t allow anyone to leave. All wives—living and dead—remain trapped in their husband’s manor, even as the man who terrorised them proves to be less dead than they had hoped.

Haunted by his vengeful ghost, can the wives find a way to break the curse that would bind them in darkness and torment forever?

Summary

I recently read the novella The New Wife (Never Afters Tales) by Australian dark fiction author Kirstyn McDermott.

The protagonist (following the Blue Beard tales) is a young woman who marries a very rich older man. When he leaves the house for a business affair, he tells her she can go anywhere in the house except his private room in the tower. Driven by curiosity about her new husband, she eventually unlocks the door to his tower room. Inside, she finds the corpses of his previous wives. She also is accosted by their ghosts – each bearing the brutal marks of how their husband killed them.

The key to the husband’s tower, now stained with blood, cannot be cleaned. On the husband’s unpredicted return, the new wife gains the assistance of the other wives’ ghosts and the housemaid skilled in witchcraft to finally end the bloody reign of the husband.

Review

The New Wife has strong characters and supernatural elements in a fascinating new re-imagining of the ‘Blue Beard’ fairytale tropes which is masterfully executed by McDermott. A dark fantasy tale that moves at the pace of a supernatural thriller while staying true to the fairytale foundations. An exciting new addition by McDermott to the fairytale retellings that should be highly prized.

Conclusion

A perfect novella for fans of Angela Carter, fairytale retellings, dark fiction and ghost stories. A fabulous blend of fairytale retelling, supernatural thriller and dark fantasy. A highly recommended read!

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Voodoo Folklore: Baron Samedi

Baron Samedi is the leader of the Barons and possibly the Gedés. He presides over a sprawling, confusing, complex clan of spirits. Baron Samedi literally means Baron Saturday, which may sound innocuous compared to Baron Cemetery but a connection through Christianity is Saturday was between the crucifixion on Friday and resurrection on the Sunday. Thus, the Saturday, belongs to Baron Samedi, Lord of the Dead. Or another possible explanation for the name is that Samedi is related to ‘Simbi’ or zombie in Haitian and there is only a coincidental resemblance to the French word for Saturday.

Baron Samedi spends is mostly in the invisible realm of the Haitian voodoo spirits. He is known to be outrageous – drinking rum and smoking cigars, swearing profusely, and making filthy jokes. The other spirits in the Guede family behave similarly but lacking the suaveness of Baron Samedi.

Despite being married to the loa, Maman Brigitte, the Baron chases after mortal women and lingers at the crossroads of life and death in the human world.

When someone dies, the Baron is said to dig their grave and meet their soul as it rises from that grave. He guides them into the underworld and only Baron Samedi has the power to accept an individual into the world of the dead. He also makes certain those who have died rot in the ground as they should, and no soul can return as a brainless zombie. For this act, he will demand payment which varies upon his mood at the time. On many occasions, he accepts gifts of cigars, rum, black coffee, or grilled peanuts but he may ask others to continue wearing black, white or purple.

Baron Samedi, is the head of the Guede family, the group of loas that control life and death. This powerful family of spirits possesses numerous abilities. The Baron is also a giver of life and can cure any mortal of a disease or wound provided he believes it is a worthwhile act to save the individual. The Baron even has the power to overcome voodoo hexes and curses. An individual who is cursed by a hex or other black magic is not guaranteed death if the Baron refuses to dig their grave. As the Master of the Dead and Guardian of Cemeteries, no one can enter the underworld without his permission. In this way, he can prevent death.

He a powerful healer and is especially sympathetic to terminally ill children. He can be just and kind. The Baron prefers children live full lives before joining him in the cemetery and underworld.

Baron Samedi is the crossroads where sex and death meet. The Spirit of an undying life-force and he may be petitioned for fertility. He is the guardian of ancestral knowledge and the link to ancestral spirits.

Baron Samedi is syncretized to Jesus because they both share the symbol of the cross. Baron Samedi’s associations with the cross may pre-date Christianity. In Congolese cosmology, the cross is the symbol of the life cycle: birth-death-rebirth.

Also known as: Bawon Samdi (Creole); Baron Sandi (Spanish); Baron Saturday

Classification: Lwa

Favored people: Children; women seeking to conceive; funeral workers; grave diggers; any whose work brings them into contact with death

Manifestation: an older, dark-skinned man in formal attire, dressed completely in black. He wears a black top hat, black suit, and may be smoking one of his beloved cigars. He wears impenetrable black sunglasses (one lens may be missing because he simultaneously sees the realms of the living and the dead.

Iconography: A chair chained to a cross.

Attributes: Coffin; phallus; skull and cross-bones; shovel; grave; black sunglasses; cross.

Offerings: Black coffee, plain bread, dry toast, roasted peanuts. He drinks rum in which twenty-one very hot peppers have been steeped. Cigars, cigarettes, dark sunglasses, Day of the Dead toys (the sexier and more macabre the better); A skull and crossbones pirate flag; beautiful wrought-iron crosses are crafted in his honor.

Colours: Black but also red or purple

Day: Saturday

Feasts: 2 November, Day of the Dead.

Time: Twilight tends to be a good time to invoke him or make requests.

Consort: Madame Brigitte. They may both be petitioned together for fertility, protection, or to save sick children.

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Norse Mythology: Freyr

Freyr (Old Norse Freyr, “Lord”) is one of the Vanir gods and is also counted among the Aesir gods as a hostage after the Aesir-Vanir War.

Fryer’s father is the Vanir god Njord. Freyr has been the lover of numerous goddesses and giantesses and rumoured to include his own sister, Freya. Incest seems a common practice among the Vanir deities but not the Aesir.

Freyr was one of the most widely venerated divinities amongst the pagan Norse and other Germanic peoples. The reasons are easy to understand with the well-being and prosperity dependent on his benevolence which manifested in sexual and ecological fertility, bountiful harvests, wealth, and peace. His role governing fertility is symbolised in his golden-bristled boar Gullinborsti and its enormous, erect phallus.

It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that Freyr was a frequent recipient of sacrifices at the blessing of a wedding or the celebration of a harvest. During harvest festivals, the sacrifice traditionally took the form of his favored animal, the boar.

His prominence even among the Aesir is clear in being included among the receiptients of prized dwarf-made gifts like Skíðblaðnir, a ship which always has a favorable wind and can be folded up and carried in a small bag.

Freyr dwells is Alfheim – the homeland of the elves. Freyr is never stated as a ruler of the elves and the relationship between the gods and the elves is ambiguous in many cases.

On land, Freyr travels in a chariot drawn by boars. This is another mythological feature that was reflected in historical ritual. From medieval Icelandic sources, priestesses and/or priests of Freyr traveled throughout the country on a chariot which contained a statue of the god. A similar practice occurred with the early Germanic goddess Nerthus – a Proto-Germanic form of Freyr’s father’s name, Njord.

During Ragnarok at the doom of the gods, it is Freyr and the fire giant Surt who are fated to destroy each other.

Also known as: Frey; Fro; Frothi; Frodi; Yngvi; Ing

Classification: Vanir god

Favoured people: Seafarers; lovers; brewers

Iconography: In his shrine at Uppsala, Freyr was represented as a virile man with a large, erect penis. An alternative image portrayed him as a young boy traveling across the sea. His image was often featured on armor and weapons.

Attributes: A sword that is removed independently from its scabbard and creates carnage wherever it is directed at. A ship whose sails always attract favourable winds but could be folded up and carried.

Associates Colours: Brown, gold, green.

Mounts: A chariot drawn by two boars. A massive, golden-bristled boar. A horse named Bloody Hooves.

Place of Veneration: Shrine in Uppsala, Sweden, where it continued to be a place of veneration to Freyr long after most of Scandinavia had converted to Christianity.

Associated Runes: Ehwaz, Fehu, and Ingwaz.

Offerings to Freyr: The Yule boar, or a male pig, is the annual sacrificial boar offered to Freyr in winter. Libations of fresh water, barley wine, ale, or mead.

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Polyphemus

** I received an ARC for an honest review **

Publisher’s Description

When lead vocalist of Polyphemus Stephen Oaks’s near-fatal on-stage overdose leaves them under pressure from their label, the band’s remaining members must find a new vocalist, pick up the pieces and forge on without him.

Unfortunately, he’s fresh from rehab and desperate to reunite with his old band, In fact, he’s so desperate that he’ll bargain with dark forces and sacrifice everything – and anyone!

After the final encore is played and the house lights come down, there is no telling who will remain or who they’ll be in allegiance to. For Polyphemus, obsession costs far more than mere murder.

Summary

I recently read new horror novel Polyphemus by Australian author Zachary Ashford.

The protagonist is Stephen Oaks – a recovering junkie and former lead vocalist to the death metal band Polyphemus. After his addiction causes him to abandon the band when they most needed him – his return from rehab comes at a cost to his pride and desire to reunite the band and repay the debt he owes them.

Unfortunately, Stephen Oaks fresh from rehab is willing to do anything to recover his position in then and band their trust. He must be more than he was before. So he bargains unknowingly with a dark, demonic force that will grant him his greatest desires of fame – at the cost of his humanity and that of his band. For Stephen Oaks, the question becomes: how much will he and his band sacrifice for fame?

Review

A well-written and crafted dark tale of Faustian deal with a demonic force for the price of fame. The balance of fame versus humanity isn’t a new concept, but Ashford does a nice reinvention of demonic forces feeding off the energy a band generates – their audience. The cost of fame is high and the loss of humanity is brutal and raw. A dark fiction tour de force.

Conclusion

Perfect for fans of Faustian deals, death metal, raw and brutal horror but also dark fiction that reveals the cost of fame and humanity. A recommended read!

** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **

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Ferren and the Angel

** I received an ARC for an honest review **

An angel falls from the sky and crashes to the ground!

Miriael, the Fourteenth Angel of Observance, has been shot down in the thousand-year war between Heaven and Earth. Damaged and helpless, she prays for extinction.

The young tribesman Ferren finds her lying in the grass. She ought to be an enemy, since his people are on the side of the Earth. But seeing her there, unable to fly, his curiosity outweighs every rule and every warning.

Ferren knows almost nothing about the terrifying world he’s grown up in. Now he’s going to learn the truth about the war, the Humen army camp and what military service really means. His unique friendship with Miriael is about to change the course of history.

Summary

I recently read YA novel Ferren and the Angel (The Ferren Trilogy, #1) by English-Australian author Richard Harland.

Ferren is the protagonist, a young boy on the cusp of manhood belonging to one of many scattered tribes of the People. These subservient groups are dependent on the larger organisation called the Humen. When the angel Muriel falls from the sky during open warfare with Heaven – it is Ferren who finds and befriends her.

During the ongoing warfare between the militarised Humen forces and the angels of Heaven, Ferren and Muriel discover nothing is as it seems. The machines used by the Humen forces hold a horrific secret and the robotic soldiers are a darker truth that makes the People question their allegiance to the Humen authority.

Review

Ferren and the Angel is well-written and strongly crafted post-apocalyptic novel. Harland writes powerful characters inhabiting a broken world and deceived by the Humen authority using the scattered tribes to fuel their war with Heaven. Harland shows these elements through Ferren’s and the angel Muriel which confront the grey shades of morality by the contrasting darkness.

Conclusion

An unusual and powerful post-apocalyptic YA novel that’s highly recommended for fans of dystopian fiction, angelology, strong characters and a great coming-of-age read.

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Greek Mythology: Nyx

Nyx is a very unique goddess. She has the ability to bring sleep or death. Even Zeus feared Nyx because she was older and stronger than him. She is the only goddess he’s ever known to fear.

She is often described as a winged or riding in a chariot across the sky, shrouded in mist with stars and the night unveiling behind her. She resides in the western part of Hades, where she and her daughter Hemera (Day) pass each other at sunrise and sunset.

Nyx is not a personification of evil in Greek mythology. She’s never spoken of having done anything more ‘evil’ than Zeus himself in any mythology. Yet, it is her mysterious and dark nature, that lead her to be viewed more villainous than she is.

In Greek mythology, Nyx married Erebus – the God of darkness. Nyx and Erebus had Hemera (Day) and Aither (Light). Hemera is literally Nyx’s opposite. When Nyx brings the dark veil of the night over the world, she is chased away each morning by Hemera.

Curiously, Nyx also created her own dark spirits including the Fates, Sleep, Death, Strife, and Pain. Other of Nyx’s children include Geras, Moros, Nemesis, the Keres and the Oneiroi.

Nyx appears in many important ancient greek poems. In the fragments of poetry Nyx is the first of all in creation. Before there was anything, there was darkness or ‘night’ and it was here that Nyx came to be. She is often portrayed in symbolism as a moon or stars due to her ending the daytime and bringing the night.

Nyx is considered either be helpful or harmful: she brings sleep and relief, or the opposite- she can bring pain and death.

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Staying Dead

Publisher’s Description

Welcome to the world of the Cosa Nostradamus, where magic crackles on every corner, and not every person you meet is human….

If you’ve lost something of value, and you can’t go to the police, you need a Retriever. And if that item is magical?

You need Wren Valere. An exceptional thief – with exceptional Talent.

Normally, Wren loves her job. But some clients are worse than others, and some jobs just scream trouble from the start. And with this one, involving a real estate mogul and a stolen spell, she and her business partner Sergei may have gotten into more than can handle alone…

But some secrets shouldn’t stay buried. No matter the cost.

Summary

I read Staying Dead (The Retrievers, #1) by US urban fantasy author Laura Anne Gilman.

Wren – a self-proclaimed thief with a high level of magical abilities and a distrust of the Mage Council, the organisation she rightfully belongs because of her unique and strong Talent. Wren prefers to work with her partner Sergei who negotiates jobs that require Wren’s particular level of skill and keeps the distance between Wren and her clients.

When a magical-infused protection stone is stolen from a wealthy and commanding businessman, Sergei and Wren take the job to determine how the stone was stolen and steal it back. To this end, Wren and Sergei quickly become embroiled in the dealings of the Mage Council and the mysterious group known as the Silence.

Wren successfully finds and steals back the protection stone but finds a darker side to the magic, how it serves to protect the building and the businessman which makes her question her own morality.

Review

Staying Dead was an intriguing urban fantasy with a mystery at its heart. Gillman creates unique and strong characters which are human and engaging. A solid first novel to a series.

Conclusion

A unique urban fantasy that’s sure to please fans of paranormal, supernatural urban fantasies and dark fantasy. Highly recommended!