Maniai: The Girl and the Blood Slide - George Saoulidis

What If There’s a Pattern to the Madness?

More and more people are reported being obsessed with unusual tasks and tested positive for rabies. But when an investigator finds a pattern to the madness and tries to tell people, will anyone listen?

Do you want to know what’s next for the inexperienced investigator? Do you wanna meet the crazies? Then read this thrilling patchwork of the weirdest bio-scare ever encountered.


To start, I need to tell you that I do not usually pick up novellas unless I have already read part of the series. I also don't pick up mystery titles, and yet this one intrigued me. Under the genres of the book were Greek mythology and sci-fi, and I thought 'wow, I wonder what those two look like when they're all mixed up'. To be frank. I was disappointed.

I'll start with the good. The two main characters were likeable and believable, even if I can't actually remember their names. They didn't get built up on yet, but I noticed a small amount of chemistry that no doubt will end up being used to its full potential later in the series. The others? Well, you don't really get much more than snippets of the other characters.

It is a good, intriguing story, and by the end i would say most people would be completely hooked. The story builds for a long time, and nearing the end some rather exciting things happen, so it was such as shame for the very end to be a let down.

This novella is clearly the first in a series, and therefore there is a fair bit of build up, but being completely honest here, the things that grabbed my attention in the blurb didn't make an appearance at all in my opinion. No mythology, no sci-fi, just a mystery that actually doesn't get solved at all.

This book ends with the story in mid-swing, leaving questions I would rather have been answered. Perhaps if this novella was wrapped up a bit more neatly I'd have read the next case file, but as it is, I don't think I will be taking this nay further. Great for adults who like a good mystery, but at the moment, there's not much more to it.

1/5

The Girl and the Blood Slide on Goodreads

Thanks to Mythography Studios and George Saoulidis for the e-book - this has not affected my judgement.

Blog Tour Guest Post: Seven Seeds of Summer - Chantal Gadoury + Giveaway

Seven Seeds of Summer

Chantal Gadoury

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Waldorf Press

Published: March 15, 2014

Synopsis
Seven Seeds of Summer follows the story of Summer, a college art student who has grown up in a house full of Greek mythology and legends. Summer grew up with a love for the darkest of all Gods: Hades, which caused tension between her and her mother. Summer comes home to Point Judith, Rhode Island, to find a mysterious figure on their family beach. The figure comes to her with questions about a familiar myth of her childhood: of Persephone and Hades. He proceeds to tell her of a new version of the story with a different ending that Summer never knew; an ending that includes herself.

A trip to Greece leads to tragic twists, leaving Summer in the arms of the strange figure whom she had met before. He takes her on a whirlwind through the busy streets of Athens, to the lowest point of Greece where his lair awaits: The Underworld. Determined to find out the secret of herself and her piece in the story, Summer goes with him, and tries to make herself at home in his world.

Summer has to decide to follow her heart or follow the same footsteps of the mysterious woman in her past life.

Seven Seeds of Summer on Goodreads
Seven Seeds of Summer on Amazon.com

Guest Post - For The Love of Hades, by Chantal Gadoury
Have you ever read a story that just stuck with you for the longest time? It almost played like a movie over the few years that you might have thought about it? Faces seemed to etch themselves out slowly, a curve of a line, a smirk, and then finally a face? Perhaps this is how Summer started to discover “Hades” as she imagined him - or rather, “Remembered” him.

For me, the myth of “Persephone and Hades” very much played out like this. When I was 7th grade, we were reading “The Odyssey” and part of the section in our books was more “Greek Mythology.” The first story was Persephone and Hades, and I was completely enraptured by the story. It was beautifully sad, wonderfully romantic and yet, eerie and interesting. It was a story that I knew I wanted to store for later in my memory. This is why, when approaching the story of “Seven Seeds of Summer,” their story was so strong in the book.

When I decided to revisit Persephone and Hades, it was more of trying to come up with a new, fresh idea. I wanted to retell a good, “fairy tale” - but something not a lot of people were familiar with. I took a lot of different books that I loved and tried to weave them into the story and character “building blocks” of “Seven Seeds of Summer.” I was taking a Novel class in college, and wanted to try something different than to the more “modern” novels that were being written in the class. I knew that I wanted to try something at least in a some-what fairy tale world, with an edge of the modern world; thus creating Summer as the character in our time, bringing the element of the past, (Hades) to the future.

For the character of Hades - I put a lot of thought into him. I took novels and stories that I knew, people that I knew in my life, and started to map out this person who at first was going to be very dark, and more cruel; I realized quickly that he needed to have some redeeming parts to him, for others to like. He needed to appeal to not only my readers, but Summer as well. I thought it would be more interesting to have Hades feel more like a human, than this untouchable God. I wanted the audience to feel for him, to understand the conflict of being untouchable and yet relatable. While he knew his power, and knew who he was - he also knew that he felt pain as others did. He loved, just as others did. And he had a love for not only Persephone, but grew a love for Summer as well. The developing love for Summer became the struggle throughout the novel; there would be times that Summer would just insist for me to stop writing; she wanted to know if Hades really loved her or loved her because she reminded him of Persephone. It became an arch to the story, without even trying. Hades is as “Shrek” would say - an onion. He has layers, and I know that I didn’t get to tap into all the layers that creates him; there’s still an element of mystery and surprise that I’d still like to discover - hopefully in a sequel, if I can ever think of a sequel for their story.

Summer was a little easier - I found myself relating to her more than anything. I think now, looking back at “Seven Seeds,” Summer is very much a part of me. She and I have a lot of things in common, and some things - are just things I wish we had in common. We both enjoy to paint, we both love people deeply, and we’re both very stubborn and can be quite determined.

I remember hearing once, “Write what you know” and while, perhaps I don’t know everything there is to know about Greek Mythology - this story reflects on things that I’ve learned in my years of growing, not only as a writer, but a person; a hopeless romantic and a friend. Love and Friendship inspired this novel, and without it, it wouldn't be in the form for others to enjoy.

I hope that everyone who reads Seven Seeds of Summer enjoys it! I hope they fall in love with the characters and ride a long with the story.

Thank you for having me on your blog!
And enjoy!

Chantal Gadoury

Author Bio
Chantal Gadoury is young author who currently lives in a small town in Delaware with her two cats, Theo and Harper and her boyfriend, Robert. Chantal likes anything Disney, plays a mean game of Disney trivia, enjoys painting, and has a interest in British History. Chantal first started writing stories at the age of seven and continues that love of writing today. As a recent college graduate from Susquehanna University, with a degree in Creative Writing, this is her first book.

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Kyra_x

Tour Stop (Guest Post): Curse of Prometheus: A Tale of Medea - Morgan St. Knight

Curse of Prometheus: A Tale of Medea - Morgan St. Knight

Genre: Paranormal/urban fantasy

ISBN-13: 978-0991396092

The ancient world's most notorious sorceress has just become the modern world's only hope for survival.

Synopsis:
How do you fight a God of light who has been seduced by darkness? That’s the challenge Medea Keres must meet. Posing as a wealthy young heiress in modern day Atlanta, no one knows she is the original Medea, the sorceress from ancient Greek legends.

As priestess of the witch goddess Hecate, Medea is charged with hunting demons that would otherwise overrun the world. Now she must face a far greater adversary. One of the twelve shining Olympian gods has turned rogue, violating the edict against human sacrifice. As the body count quickly rises, Medea knows her enemy is getting stronger.

With the help of the underworld nymph Orphne and the hero-god Heracles, she must find a way to unmask the evil so that the other Olympians will take action.

But as she probes deeper into a blood-soaked labyrinth of suspense and intrigue, Medea finds a net of deceit and treachery that will require all of her cunning to escape.

Curse of Prometheus on Goodreads
Curse of Prometheus on Amazon.com
http://www.talesofmedea.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tales-of-Medea/697399940306618


When You Need All The Bada** You Can Get

By Morgan St. Knight (author of “Curse of Prometheus: a tale of Medea”)



So here’s the story: a god has gone mad and has set up a bloodthirsty cult in Atlanta, Georgia. Not a vampire, not a demon, not a shape-shifter. A god. A nearly-omnipotent Greek god from Olympus, who is getting stronger by the minute by consuming human blood.

Who you gonna call? Sabrina? Samantha with her twitching nose? Oh, I know. Maybe those three sisters can look in their book and come up with a potion and a cute little rhyming spell that sounds like it came from a get-well card.

Or - stay with me here - you can call a sorceress who zooms around the sky in a fiery chariot drawn by dragons, is the granddaughter of not one, not two, but three Titans (including Helios the sun god) and just so happens to be high priestess of Hecate, the goddess of witches.

Well, I know who I’d pick. And I did. Thus we have “Curse of Prometheus: a tale of Medea.”
I’ve always had a soft spot for Medea. I first read about her when I was in second grade. I had already developed a fascination with witches thanks to reruns of “Bewitched”, which I watched when I came home from school for lunch every day.

But here was a witch like no other. Medea didn’t ride around on a broom. She had a flying chariot. She charmed a dragon to sleep so that Jason could get the Golden Fleece. When the crew of the Argo was threatened by an unstoppable bronze giant the men all wanted to run, but Medea stood her ground and called up death-spirits to destroy the monster.

Medea was tough, but she could also be compassionate. She restored youth to Jason’s father, healed Heracles of madness, and healed the Athenian king Aegeus of infertility after he gave her sanctuary. On the other hand, she betrayed her own father to help Jason and tricked the daughters of King Pelias into chopping him up and boiling him alive.

And then there was the part where Jason decided to ditch her, and she sent a cursed robe to his mistress, the princess of Corinth. When the princess put it on she burst into flames, taking the palace and her father the king with her. An epic revenge if there ever was one. In short, Medea is a complex person. If you’re her friend, she’ll get your back. If you betray her, she’ll get you, period.

I don’t paint her as some noble figure who only does good in my book. She can be very selfish. She shamelessly lusts after a man who has just lost his fiancée to the blood cult, and she even more shamelessly seduces a man who most of us would consider to be off-limits.

It’s not too hard to see why Medea goes to extremes. She is, after all, the dedicated priestess of Hecate, who is a very powerful goddess in ancient mythology. Apollonius of Rhodes says Medea didn’t sit around the palace all day, as many another princess might, but was always busy at Hecate’s temple. The link with such a powerful, and oftentimes dark, deity would be a good indication of Medea’s proclivities.

Medea’s birthright also is impressive. Her paternal grandfather is Helios, and her maternal grandparents are Okeanos and Tethys. All three are Titans, and while they play a relatively benign role in mythology, it pays to remember that all of the Titans were primal gods who represented uncontrollable forces of nature, rather than the principles of high civilization and evolution embodied in the gods of Olympus. When you've got that kind of blood flowing through your veins, it’s bound to influence you, and probably not for the best.

It’s often said that everyone has their own demons, but in Medea’s case it’s probably not just a metaphor. I have no idea what - or who - she feeds them, but I have no doubt she feeds them well. If a rogue god is after me, I’d much prefer to have help from someone like Medea than the more common “good” witch. Maybe it’s just me, but if there’s a fight involved a sorceress who’s got plenty of experience with shedding blood is much more reassuring than one whose spells sound like they came from Hallmark.

Author Bio:

Morgan St. Knight live in Atlanta, and is a lifelong student of mythology, the occult, and comparative religion. With more than 25 years of experience as a journalist, Morgan enjoys the occasional foray into fantasyland to escape the grim realities of life. He is currently working on the sequel to "Curse of Prometheus" and is developing a second paranormal series which also takes place in the South.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morgan.stknight.5
Twitter: @morganstknight

Excerpt:
The man in front of me held up a restraining hand. A hand that, like the rest of him, was changing again, shifting from the image of my father to someone new.

He was becoming far younger. Barely twenty now. The face so familiar, tanned from months on the unforgiving waters of the Black Sea as he sailed with his comrades to my birthplace in Colchis.

I kept myself from looking into eyes that should have been a soft amber-brown. I knew they would be red, and that I would be lost if I glimpsed them. Instead I focused on the hair. A rich chestnut, curling slightly where it met his shoulders. It matched the short beard, streaked through with gold from the relentless sun.
The beard framed a mouth that still had the fullness and softness of youth, not a trace of chapping despite his exposure to the cruel elements. It was a mouth that begged to be kissed and promised to be marvelous at returning it.

I avoided that temptation, though it was hard. Instead I allowed my hand to trace the arm. So well-muscled from his turns at the oars, which he insisted on taking even though he was leader of the band.

He leaned into me, the feeling of his body so familiar against mine. I smelled honey and salt, and a slightly heavier musk wafted to my nostrils now and again. The scent of hardship and deprivation willingly embraced, the sadness of friends lost along the way, and an underlying fear that he would never again see his home.
If the situation had been any different I could have almost forgiven him for taking Jason’s form. Almost, because no matter how much it hurt to see my first love’s likeness again, there was something else too.

This was how he had looked when we first met alone, after he landed in Colchis on the quest for the Golden Fleece. It was enough to remind me the breathless excitement of infatuation which I’d mistaken for love. I’d never felt quite the same way with any other man.

“Sweetly done,” I murmured, allowing my lips to just caress the edge of his ear. “But we have a saying these days. I’m over you.” I pulled back and turned away.

The movement was so subtle I almost mistook it for an errant shadow. Orphne?

I glanced back to my right. The movement came again. It wasn’t Orphne. Nyx had just appeared, quickly. She saw that I was looking, put a finger to her lips to silence any possible giveaway I might make, and just as quickly vanished.

Was she going to help me somehow? She had some tricks up her sleeve, but I doubted they’d be enough to get us very far. Still, she had the one thing I desperately needed now: the element of surprise.

“I was right,” I sighed as I took a few thoughtful paces. “You’ve been stuck on holy Olympus too long. You think these images from my past will hurt me. But you’re wrong. I long ago came to terms with my father and Jason, and their memories. They wronged me, but in revenging myself I committed my own wrongs. I forgave them. I had to, so I could forgive myself.”

There was a slight sound of footsteps behind me. But they were softer than they should have been for a man of Jason’s size.

“And have you really forgiven yourself?”

My veins ran cold at the sound of the child’s voice. My breathing quickened, but my heart slowed so much it might have been pumping lead. My eyes squeezed shut involuntarily at the pain that voice sent surging through me.

A small, cool hand slipped into mine.
“Have you forgiven yourself,” the voice repeated. “Mother?”

Kyra_x

Review: Necessary Evil and The Greater Good - Adam Ingle

Mestoph, a demon, and Leviticus, an angel, are bored with their day jobs in Hell Industries and Heaven Inc. so they concoct a plan to bring about the very thing that has been forestalled by their squabbling organisations; the end of the world. But the best laid plans of angels and demons oft go awry, and soon the pair find themselves chasing a Greek goddess to Iceland while fighting off various attempts at their lives.

This novel is insanely ambitious. It uses various mythologies, people and religions to great effect; Norse, Greek and Christian elements all fuse into one story-line, and what could have been entirely nonsensical actually turns into an amusing, confusing adventure. Let's not forget to mention cameo appearances from some of the worlds' most notorious bad guys and inspirational good guys.

Necessary Evil and the Greater Good is a novel to be taken with a pinch of salt. The adventure its-self is complex, convoluted and strangely compelling. I found myself constantly wondering what on earth could go wrong next for our characters.

Mestoph and Leviticus are both great characters in their own right, with Mestoph just winning out with his family issues and the fact he can't really get over his demonic tendancies. Although they are plotting the end of the world, you end up really rooting for them. My favourite, however, was Stephanie, a human who has got caught up in their plans. She deals with the situation really well, and is not afraid to voice her opinions and fight for her life is she needs to. I loved her dreams/nightmares and the way that they foreshadowed events to come. Coming up a close second in running for best character is Sir Reginald Pollywog Newcastle III, a little Scottie dog with a big personality and a rather large secret. My only critisism in these characters is that I never really found myself empathising with them, apart from Stephanie.

The ending was certainly the best part, and is particularly interesting if you happen to know a little bit about Norse mythology. The climax is huge and the scenes really keep you reading. However, it does tail off at the end with a couple of funny scenes and a fairly unexpected revelation.

All in all an entertaining read, but it did confuse me a little bit at the start and the middle as the plot got more complex. I think it was just a little too explanation heavy to begin with and that might have been why. It is definitely something for fans of Good Omens, as the style and the subject matter is similar, but it is is no way a rip off. It wasn't quite for me, but anyone who likes a good adventure and books that adult mythological retellings would definitely enjoy this book.

Thank you to the author who kindly gifted me a copy of this novel. This has not affected my rating.

Kyra_x

Wrath of the Titans

CAUTION: SPOILERS

The sequel to 2010's Clash of the Titans in now in our cinemas - following the Greek Mythology trend once again. And it truly does follow in its predecessors' footsteps with non-stop adventure and stunning effects.

Perseus has chosen to live his life as a human - he has a son now, but his wife, Io, is dead. The Gods are weakening as humans pray to them less and less; soon, all their work will be undone and the Titan, Kronos, will be free to destroy the earth.When Zeus is captured and taken to the Underworld, it is Perseus's duty to bring him back before Kronos is unleashed.

What follows is an unrelenting stream of action that is filled to the brim with Greek Myth, all of which doesn't even happen to Perseus in the stories. It may help to read up beforehand if you don't know it too well, as some things can be difficult to understand. You may need to know, for example, that Poseidon fathered the cyclopes'. The mixture of mythology is interesting, too. In the first film, the mythology simply pertained to Perseus. But here, we see ideas that come from the stories of Theseus, Jason, Orpheus and Hercules too. I think the writers of the film have real skill to combine so many elements into one flowing narrative, and I think they work extremely well together.

Sam Worthington returns in his role as Perseus, but I felt that the character lost some of his personality in this sequel. One point that i found frustrating about the film was the way that Perseus seemed much weaker and less able to fight. In fact, in most of the fight scenes, he seems to be getting beaten up. Yes, he is meant to be about 10 years older, but that does not mean he wouldn't have retained his strength through fishing every day.

Rosamund Pike, who you may have seen as Jane in Pride and Prejudice, is the replacement actress for the part of Andromeda. She does it so well, I think you can hardly tell the difference (apart from that her hair is blonde now). With the likes of Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Bill Nighy as supporting actors, the film stand up extremely well. One surprising performance was found in the virtually unknown actor, Toby Kebbell, who played Agenor - the son of Poseidon. His portrayal was different to that of the other actors, and he injected a sense of comedy and fun into what could have been all too serious. You may have seen him in Prince of Persia as Prince Garsiv.

The concepts of the film were extremely interesting. For example, it includes a labyrinth that is quite unlike any that I have seen before. However, the best setting is undeniably the Underworld, especially that of Tartarus - the prison of Kronos and the other Titans

Overall, I think the film delivers and entertaining sequence that has been well thought through, if not so well acted at times. It clearly leaves us with the message that family, brotherhood and father-son dynamics are far stronger than anything else that can be thrown at you. Mythology buffs will love this take - as long as they're not too intent on having the story correct. I give it a 9/10

Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan

Having read all the previous Percy Jackson series, as well as having seen the film Percy Jackson and The Lighting Thief, I decided to go on to what seems to be the next series in the world of Percy Jackson. This time we follow an amnesiac called Jason on an adventure that takes him to California, Chicago and even to Canada on a giant fire breathing hunk of metal. But enough of that, or there could be spoilers.

As a... fan, of Greek mythology, I very much enjoyed the portrayal of it in in 21st century from the original Percy Jackson series. This book goes one better and plays around with its previous ideas to create something even more memorable. I rather like the way that Jason can't remember who he is, as it means that we only know things about him when he learns them.

The back stories to the characters are clever and interwoven with the main plot very well, and yet it took me a while to see what was coming. The book is told by the three main characters, from their viewpoint, meaning that as a reader you get to see into all their minds and learn to understand them as separate people and also be continually wondering what secrets they all seem to be hiding.

I also like the way that the plot is almost carried on from the end of the first set of books, meaning that the reader can easily pick it up without wondering too much about what has happened since, as only a few things have and they are explained to you fairly early.

There are a couple of twists in the plot, however, I could see some of them coming and guessed two major plot points extremely early. Of course, it helps that I have a rather good knowledge of Greek myth (and other myth too), but I think others with not so good a knowledge would have figured it out long before the characters did. However, since this book is for teens rather than 20 year olds, I think that's OK.

Overall I give this book a 9 out of 10.

The Eagle

This film is about a young Roman (Channing Tatum) who is stationed in Britain to look after a small settlement. After battling with the native tribe, he is injured and honourably discharged from the army as a result, since he will never fully recover. While Marcus (the Roman) recovers, he sees a fight to the death between a British slave (Jamie Bell) and a gladiator. The slave, Esca, is saved by him after being defeated when he makes the crowd shout for him to live. The slave then serves him out of debt and together they embark on a quest to find the Eagle: a golden statue held by a legion that was lost in the north.

This film made me very thoughtful. As a British inhabitant myself, it made me both proud and disgusted at my heritage. They valour and bravery of both the main characters was something that I appreciated, as well as the attention to detail. The British tribes, for example, had their own language that was separate from the roman language (this was English for the film). The costumes were also paid attention to, which made it much more realistic. It was interesting to see the original British tribes and how they contrasted with the regimented life of the Romans.

The tenuous friendship between the two characters is also something that really got to me. When travelling into Scotland through Hadrian's wall (which, by the way, was huge compared to how it really was/is) the relationship between them becomes confused. They are no longer a master and a slave, they are equal, sometimes tipping this balance completely the opposite way. Sometimes you wonder if they will betray each other in some way, and this adds some suspense to the film.

The actor who particularly stood out for me is Jamie Bell. He has come a rather long way from his all dancing role as Billy Elliott, and although he did appear in King Kong as the rather creepy cabin boy on the ship, his role in this film was so much more impressive. He gave the character many more dimensions than you would first think, and he has a mysteriousness that makes you question your perceptions of him. I really love this actor.

Channing Tatum was pretty good, but didn't give too much away about his stoic and quite aloof character. It was a little bit disappointing actually, though Jamie Bell more than made up for this. I would, however, like to mention an appearance from the ever more popular Mark Strong, known more for his role in the recent Sherlock Holmes film as Blackwood. He is a terrific actor, and I can't wait to see him in other films soon.

Like all other Roman or Greek films, there will always be one that it will be compared to, and that's Gladiator. But I think I'd like to be different and compare it more to other films in the action genre. As it goes as an action film, it is pretty good. The fight scenes are good and keep your interest, it has flashback and dreamlike sequences that make for a little bit of intrigue, and it has subplots that are easy to follow, as well as the main plot of finding the eagle.

All in all, I think this film deserves 7/10 stars.