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christilovesbooks_smut's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Stygian, book 42 of the Dark-Hunters/Were-Hunters/Dream Hunters series, by Sherrilyn Kenyon (McQueen) @mysherrilyn. This is a reread of this series for me. Long overdue, at that! 😂 I am reading this series in the order from Sherrilyn’s website. Do NOT read this book before reading Dragonsworn as this book is meant to be read after it due to spoilers.
Well, heck, I DID not see that twist at the end! 😳😳😳 I loved this book about Urian, though I think it could have been shorter by a few hundred pages as a lot of duplication happened from the last 2 books. If you like MF & PNR, this is a book for you. I can't give more tropes without spoilers.
inessova's review against another edition
2.0
** This is NOT a romance **
I have conflicted feelings about Stygian. It started very well, I loved everything about Urian and his family. The only thing that bothered me was how shallow a certain major character portrayal was.
The second half of the book was a total mess. A lot of jumping, a lot of copy chapters from other books. They weren't even rewritten. Very few sentences about Urian were added here and there, but for somone who read the other books, and it's necessary to understand the story since this is not a standalone,it was very annoying and boring. I didn't like Dragonsworn the first time I read it. I didn't need whole chapters of it.
Some characters aren't even reintroduced, they're just there. While others who we know and love are described again and again.
Now about the romance, which I think is a very big part of Urian's story
The Urian/Phoebe relationship was awefully depicted, and like Stryker I, too didn't understand why Urian even liked Phoebe. Plus we don't see their mariage at all, except for some sex scenes... *eyeroll*
I also didn't like how little we know about Sarraxyn. We never know where she is, what's she's doing or with whom.
But what annoyed me the most about the relationships, both of them, is that both times when Xyn or Phoebe has disappeared, Urian didn't do anything to look for them. He just assumed they were dead, spent centuries / almost a decade in total misery, and didn't make the effort to make sure they were actually dead. He knew Xyn was in a war, he knew she had brothers, but didn't go looking for them or even suppose she was trapped or emprisoned somewhere which is not very far fetched since she was a prisoner when he knew her.
Then, there's the closure or lack thereof the It was so badly written, and even though he chose Xyn before finding Phoebe, it was not convincing.
I read this book in two days, all of 600+ pages, that's how much I wanted to know what happens to Urian. But to think I waited for his book for over 5 years... It's such a let down.
Best thing in this book is Stryker. Crazy but I just loved how much he cared and adored his children. And after all, all he ever did was for their sake.
So I would give 4/5 for the first half, and 1.5/5 for the second.
-- Update : one day later
The more I think about the second half the more angry and frustrated I become.
Ugh...
I have conflicted feelings about Stygian. It started very well, I loved everything about Urian and his family. The only thing that bothered me was how shallow a certain major character portrayal was.
Spoiler
XynThe second half of the book was a total mess. A lot of jumping, a lot of copy chapters from other books. They weren't even rewritten. Very few sentences about Urian were added here and there, but for somone who read the other books, and it's necessary to understand the story since this is not a standalone,it was very annoying and boring. I didn't like Dragonsworn the first time I read it. I didn't need whole chapters of it.
Some characters aren't even reintroduced, they're just there. While others who we know and love are described again and again.
Now about the romance, which I think is a very big part of Urian's story
The Urian/Phoebe relationship was awefully depicted, and like Stryker I, too didn't understand why Urian even liked Phoebe. Plus we don't see their mariage at all, except for some sex scenes... *eyeroll*
Spoiler
I also didn't like how little we know about Sarraxyn. We never know where she is, what's she's doing or with whom.
But what annoyed me the most about the relationships, both of them, is that both times when Xyn or Phoebe has disappeared, Urian didn't do anything to look for them. He just assumed they were dead, spent centuries / almost a decade in total misery, and didn't make the effort to make sure they were actually dead. He knew Xyn was in a war, he knew she had brothers, but didn't go looking for them or even suppose she was trapped or emprisoned somewhere which is not very far fetched since she was a prisoner when he knew her.
Then, there's the closure or lack thereof the
Spoiler
Urian/PhoebeI read this book in two days, all of 600+ pages, that's how much I wanted to know what happens to Urian. But to think I waited for his book for over 5 years... It's such a let down.
Best thing in this book is Stryker. Crazy but I just loved how much he cared and adored his children. And after all, all he ever did was for their sake.
So I would give 4/5 for the first half, and 1.5/5 for the second.
-- Update : one day later
The more I think about the second half the more angry and frustrated I become.
Ugh...
kathydavie's review against another edition
2.0
Twenty-seventh in the Dark-Hunter paranormal romance series and revolving around Urian and his crappy life over thousands of years from the start of Apollo's curse to today. It also means that events in other stories are part of this story's background. (It's also seventh in the Lords of Avalon series, third in Dark-Hunter: Dragons Rising Trilogy, twelfth in Were-Hunters #12, and forty-third in Hunter Legends.)
The description for Stygian claims you should read Dragonsworn before reading this lest you suffer from spoilers. I don't see how anyone could suffer from any spoilers. There's so much in here, you'll be overwhelmed.
My Take
This got a "2.5" simply because it's another epic novel of humongous proportions with huge chunks of text that feel very repetitive, more chunks that impart obscure information that I finally gave up on trying to understand, convoluted chunks that carried such a range of information I couldn't figure out where some of it fit in or how it related to other characters...and then there were some good bits.
I did appreciate how Kenyon pulled so many different characters together from her Dark-Hunter universe, and it feels as though she's leading up to at least one major resolution, even as she sets us up for more. Then again, I get so confused with the thousands of characters many of whom have some sort of alias or alter ego. Even Kenyon gets confused over which name is married to which other name.
It is so weird to read this side of the Apollites and Daimons. In spite of this need to drink blood and eventually souls, turns out that Apollites are the same as any other group of people, nice guys, well, other than that whole soul-eating thing. They love, hate, harass, tease, abuse, just like everyone else. And with Kenyon emphasizing how they eat bad people...bring it on, baby.
This prophecy from an oracle saying that if the Apollites all die, the curse will lift. So if there are no Apollites, who cares about the curse? Why on earth would one branch of Apollites think culling another would be enough?
Why does Cassandra think Stryker is Apostolos and that they're screwed? Apostolos is Acheron and the leader of the Dark-Hunters, like the guy Cass is married to.
It's simply a re-hash of the other stories with a number of the prime characters reflecting on themselves and the past, and they learn that they're horrible at communicating, indulge in petty jealousies, and how selfish they are. Yeah, it's a good use of third person global subjective point-of-view, since we're hearing the inner thoughts and emotions of so many of the characters.
The Characters
For a clearer background of early events and almost all of the characters, see my review at KD Did It.
The Atlantean pantheon was...
...created by Braith who became Apollymi the Destroyer who believed Archon was the resurrection of Kissare, and so took him as her king. Epithymia was the goddess of desire and a right bitch who lived to hurt others. Dikastis is the god of justice. More include Ilos, Isorro, Asteros, Nyktos, Paidi, Teros, Phanen, and Demonbrean. Misos and Thnita are the rulers of the underworld.
The pregnant Bet'anya Agriosa, a.k.a., Bethany or Bathymaas reborn, is Symfora's half-Egyptian, half-Atlantean daughter and a goddess of divine justice, balance, and life , married to Styxx of Didymos who was the human twin Apollymi had bonded Apostolos with at birth.
A second son was supposedly killed by Apollo (see Styxx), and I suspect that his death made Apollymi crazy, and she put all the Atlantean gods into stasis, using ypnsi sap, and losing most of the Atlantean pantheon. Her attack also devastated most of the world. She was then tricked by Artemis and imprisoned in Kalosis by the gods.
Charonte demons serve Apollymi and include Xedrix and Sabine.
Kalosis is the...
...Atlantean hell where Apollymi is imprisoned, so that she can see the human world but not participate in it.
The Apollites were...
...named for their creator, Apollo, the Greek god of the sun. This means that Stryker's aunts are Aphrodite and Artemis. Satara is another of Artemis' handmaidens, and Strykerius' evil sister.
Spathi
Strykerius "Stryker" Apoulos (he can change into a red dragon and a black) is the son of Apollo and leader of this band of Apollites with the blood of two gods in him; Apollymi treats him as her son. The Illuminati are Stryker's personal attack force with Trates as his second-in-command, and Zolan is his third.
Zephyra "Phyra" was the woman Stryker loved, but Apollo made him give her up and marry Hellen. Their children include Dyana who will change her name to Tannis and marry Erol; Archimedes (marries Hagne, and they have four children); Theodorous (he marries Praxia); the twins Aklimos and Telamon (Natassa is his wife, and their children are Elias and Thesally); Ophion; Alkimos and Telamon are twins; and, Atreus and Patroclus who are also twins.
Urian is a twin with Paris. Urian will have a variety of "titles": Urian Kleopas, (His Father's Glory), a Spathi as he is a warrior; a Rigas because he leads groups into battle; for his fierceness and skill in battle, Urian becomes known as Urian Deathbringer, Thánatago, and he will forge his own Thánati team to hunt the Dark-Hunters. Spawn is his second-in-command, and Eleni is one of his Thánati.
Davyn will be Paris' lover and wife. The blind Xanthia and her children, Geras and Nephele, were part of Davyn's family's village and are rescued.
Medea is a half-sister with Zephyra as her mother.
The Peterses are...
...the last living line of Apollo. Phoebe Peters is the woman with whom Urian falls in love. Her sisters include Nia and Cassandra. Jefferson Peters is their human father.
The Amazons are...
...a group of Apollites who serve the northern goddess Marzanna, who bonded them to fire demons. This means they can still have children, and they are not immortal. Bethsheba is their current queen and wants to buy Urian. Ruyn Widowmaker is Sheba's half-brother and the son of a demon (a former ally of Apollymi's who turned his back on her). Ruyn is also a survivor of the Primus Bellum, and he introduces the Spathi to bloodwyne.
Elysia is...
...an underground bunker Urian and Davyn helped build. Braden and his family have been civic leaders ever since; Shanus takes over as leader later. Millicent and Dr Lakis are doctors (they might be the same person).
Shapeshifters were...
...born of a magic that spliced animal DNA with that of the children of King Lycaon VI of Arcadia who unknowingly married an Apollite bride, Mysene. Lycaon's sister, the goddess Shala is married to Dagon (the god who did the splicing).
There are two breeds of shapeshifters: Arcadians have human hearts so that is their natural form and they shift into their animal form at puberty, and Katagaria have animal hearts and that is their base form. Neither dies at the age of twenty-seven nor do they need blood. They can live for hundreds of years and their magic remains intact. The downside is that the Arcadians and Katagaria must battle each other forever, and the Fates choose their mates.
More Gods
The Titans
Helios was the Titan god of the sun, and Kenyon states that he is also "the god of sorcery and the blackest craft". The third generation of Titans became the Olympians, a.k.a., the Greek gods. Leto is the mother of Apollo and Artemis.
Katra is Apollymi's granddaughter (through Acheron and Artemis) and is her Abadonna. Katra serves both Apollymi as her spy and Artemis, her mother. Sin is her husband (Devil May Cry, 10), a Sumerian god, and they have a son and a daughter, Mia. Sin has a few brothers including, Set, the Egyptian god of evil, darkness, and chaos, and Zakar who is Sin's twin brother. Seth is Set's son.
Dragon and Mandrake Gods
Sarraxyn, a.k.a., Xyn, is a silvery orange dragon (drakona) trapped as the guardian of the Atramentian Falls in Kalosis. Her brothers include Falcyn is a war god, a.k.a., Veles (Maddor, the leader of the mandrakes, is the son taken from him through Falcyn's fault); Max; Illarion; Hadyn; and, Gadryn. Malstrom is the brother who sold Xyn to Misos, the Atlantean war god. Xyn's parents are Helios and Lilith. A dragon's egg is not a child, but an artifact they use to heal. Blaise du Fey is a mandrake chosen by the sorceress Merlin to be a Grail knight; he's also Maddor's son and Ormarra his mother. Varian du Fey is sneaking around with Kaziel. Aeron.
Chthonians were...
...originally created to be the check-and-balance on the gods with the power to kill a god without destroying the universe in the process. Savitar is the Omegrion (the leader of the Were-Hunters??) and lives on an island and surfs.
Katateros is...
...the island home of the Atlantean gods where Acheron, a.k.a., Apostolos or Elekti (Apollymi's second son whom she thought dead) has his home base. Simi is his Charonte protector who lives as a tattoo on his body; Xirena "Xixi" is Simi's sister. Alexion, one of Artemis' first Dark-Hunters, is his steward and married to Danger. Soteria "Tory", an archeologist, is the woman Ash loves. Sebastos is their son. Geary is one of Tory's cousins. Theo had been Tory's grandfather. Pam is Tory's best friend. And terrible at keeping secrets.
Styxx of Didymos was Acheron's twin and the reincarnation of Aricles of Didymos. He was also Protostratelates, a general, of the Stygian Omada, the only army that ever fought on Atlantean soil and won. Estes had been their disgusting uncle. In the Sahara, his dog is Skylos, Jabar is the horse, and Wasima is the camel.
Princess Ryssa was their spoiled rotten sister and Apollo's mistress who was assassinated and caused Apollo to curse the Apollites.
The Dark-Hunters are...
...are led by Acheron. Wulf Tryggvason is a Dark-Hunter married to Cassandra Peters. Their children will include Erik, Phoebe, Tyr, and Jeff. Chris is Wulf's squire. Zarek, a.k.a., Z; Cuthbert Ruriksen; Lucian, a.k.a., Spawn, had been a Daimon; Kyrian is Julian's best friend (he's married to Amanda Hunter and they have kids); Julian of Macedon is a long-time friend of Ash's; Valerius Magnus is married to Tabitha; Rafael Santiago and Celena had baby Ephani; Samia had been an Amazon and murdered many of them; and, Xander is part sorcerer who deals with transmutations and is the only non-demon who can bargain with Jaden and Thorn (Brynna Addams and Kit Baughy can talk Xander into most things).
Solren is the more formal version of father, while baba is the children's version. Matera (formal) and mata (informal) means mother. M'gios means my son. Xōrōn are blood whores. Erini Laws are peace laws. Limanis are portals. The Eye of Verlyn will deplete the powers of any god with which it comes into direct contact.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a deep blood-brown that radiates out into a more chocolate brown. A huge circle sits slightly off-center with an outer border of a Greek key in an even darker brown with an inner border that morphs into a curling wave for almost half of the border. Within its center is an embossed dragon with holes in his wings and his head in a marbleized black and chocolate. Info blurbs at the very top and above and below the title are in white — the series information has a double bow with arrow to the left of the series info. At the top is the author's name in an embossed gold with a copper shading and the same for the title at the bottom.
The title is all about Urian, the Stygian heir. Of course it could also relate to the darkness in which the Apollites grew up...or the extremely dark and gloomy contents of the story.
The description for Stygian claims you should read Dragonsworn before reading this lest you suffer from spoilers. I don't see how anyone could suffer from any spoilers. There's so much in here, you'll be overwhelmed.
My Take
This got a "2.5" simply because it's another epic novel of humongous proportions with huge chunks of text that feel very repetitive, more chunks that impart obscure information that I finally gave up on trying to understand, convoluted chunks that carried such a range of information I couldn't figure out where some of it fit in or how it related to other characters...and then there were some good bits.
No kidding..."The meek only inherited earth six feet beneath their feet."Another reason Stygian is so big, is Kenyon is pulling in the histories of other characters who have already been in other stories, particularly from Styxx's story (22). There's one section jumps from one idea to "hours later" and provides absolutely NO clue as to what happened between. I thought I'd missed a page... In fact, I'm wondering if she didn't simply do a copy-paste on some of this and maybe didn't grab a chunk that should have come with. As you read, you'll definitely wonder as Kenyon leaps from what could be one completed story to the next. Sure it all, eventually, leads to a conclusion, but that's what the series does too. Ahem. If this were meant to be a story about Urian, it didn't have to take this many pages to give us the background on Urian's family and his relationship with his father.
I did appreciate how Kenyon pulled so many different characters together from her Dark-Hunter universe, and it feels as though she's leading up to at least one major resolution, even as she sets us up for more. Then again, I get so confused with the thousands of characters many of whom have some sort of alias or alter ego. Even Kenyon gets confused over which name is married to which other name.
"...he was so allergic to stupidity that it caused him to break out in rampant sarcasm."I'm sure glad we don't deal with gods in our world. What a backstabbing bunch of creeps they are! And they're not any better at accepting their own faults, as they rage at what other gods do to them.
"...loyalty given is seldom returned." That the gods will use who they will and never reward them nor fulfill their promises. The gods' supporters will be thrown aside like garbage, for the gods are "no better than the ones they'd hated, and for all the reasons they hated the other side".The Apollites are nasty people at the start and incredibly cruel to Urian. Their feeding method is quite arousing, and sex becomes an essential part of it of which Kenyon makes quite the graphic point the first time Urian feeds from a living Apollite.
"I'd sooner trust my enemy than a friend, as I can afford to lose an enemy."I did like and respect Urian. He did the best he could with what he had and how he managed to be such a decent person when everyone treated him so very, very, very bad, I don't know. Maybe it was the cutting that helped? What was with his family, joining in on the derision of the rest of their people? Why wouldn't they stand with him against outsiders?
It is so weird to read this side of the Apollites and Daimons. In spite of this need to drink blood and eventually souls, turns out that Apollites are the same as any other group of people, nice guys, well, other than that whole soul-eating thing. They love, hate, harass, tease, abuse, just like everyone else. And with Kenyon emphasizing how they eat bad people...bring it on, baby.
This prophecy from an oracle saying that if the Apollites all die, the curse will lift. So if there are no Apollites, who cares about the curse? Why on earth would one branch of Apollites think culling another would be enough?
Why does Cassandra think Stryker is Apostolos and that they're screwed? Apostolos is Acheron and the leader of the Dark-Hunters, like the guy Cass is married to.
It's simply a re-hash of the other stories with a number of the prime characters reflecting on themselves and the past, and they learn that they're horrible at communicating, indulge in petty jealousies, and how selfish they are. Yeah, it's a good use of third person global subjective point-of-view, since we're hearing the inner thoughts and emotions of so many of the characters.
The Characters
For a clearer background of early events and almost all of the characters, see my review at KD Did It.
The Atlantean pantheon was...
...created by Braith who became Apollymi the Destroyer who believed Archon was the resurrection of Kissare, and so took him as her king. Epithymia was the goddess of desire and a right bitch who lived to hurt others. Dikastis is the god of justice. More include Ilos, Isorro, Asteros, Nyktos, Paidi, Teros, Phanen, and Demonbrean. Misos and Thnita are the rulers of the underworld.
The pregnant Bet'anya Agriosa, a.k.a., Bethany or Bathymaas reborn, is Symfora's half-Egyptian, half-Atlantean daughter and a goddess of divine justice, balance, and life , married to Styxx of Didymos who was the human twin Apollymi had bonded Apostolos with at birth.
A second son was supposedly killed by Apollo (see Styxx), and I suspect that his death made Apollymi crazy, and she put all the Atlantean gods into stasis, using ypnsi sap, and losing most of the Atlantean pantheon. Her attack also devastated most of the world. She was then tricked by Artemis and imprisoned in Kalosis by the gods.
Charonte demons serve Apollymi and include Xedrix and Sabine.
Kalosis is the...
...Atlantean hell where Apollymi is imprisoned, so that she can see the human world but not participate in it.
The Apollites were...
...named for their creator, Apollo, the Greek god of the sun. This means that Stryker's aunts are Aphrodite and Artemis. Satara is another of Artemis' handmaidens, and Strykerius' evil sister.
Spathi
Strykerius "Stryker" Apoulos (he can change into a red dragon and a black) is the son of Apollo and leader of this band of Apollites with the blood of two gods in him; Apollymi treats him as her son. The Illuminati are Stryker's personal attack force with Trates as his second-in-command, and Zolan is his third.
Zephyra "Phyra" was the woman Stryker loved, but Apollo made him give her up and marry Hellen. Their children include Dyana who will change her name to Tannis and marry Erol; Archimedes (marries Hagne, and they have four children); Theodorous (he marries Praxia); the twins Aklimos and Telamon (Natassa is his wife, and their children are Elias and Thesally); Ophion; Alkimos and Telamon are twins; and, Atreus and Patroclus who are also twins.
Urian is a twin with Paris. Urian will have a variety of "titles": Urian Kleopas, (His Father's Glory), a Spathi as he is a warrior; a Rigas because he leads groups into battle; for his fierceness and skill in battle, Urian becomes known as Urian Deathbringer, Thánatago, and he will forge his own Thánati team to hunt the Dark-Hunters. Spawn is his second-in-command, and Eleni is one of his Thánati.
Davyn will be Paris' lover and wife. The blind Xanthia and her children, Geras and Nephele, were part of Davyn's family's village and are rescued.
Medea is a half-sister with Zephyra as her mother.
The Peterses are...
...the last living line of Apollo. Phoebe Peters is the woman with whom Urian falls in love. Her sisters include Nia and Cassandra. Jefferson Peters is their human father.
The Amazons are...
...a group of Apollites who serve the northern goddess Marzanna, who bonded them to fire demons. This means they can still have children, and they are not immortal. Bethsheba is their current queen and wants to buy Urian. Ruyn Widowmaker is Sheba's half-brother and the son of a demon (a former ally of Apollymi's who turned his back on her). Ruyn is also a survivor of the Primus Bellum, and he introduces the Spathi to bloodwyne.
Elysia is...
...an underground bunker Urian and Davyn helped build. Braden and his family have been civic leaders ever since; Shanus takes over as leader later. Millicent and Dr Lakis are doctors (they might be the same person).
Shapeshifters were...
...born of a magic that spliced animal DNA with that of the children of King Lycaon VI of Arcadia who unknowingly married an Apollite bride, Mysene. Lycaon's sister, the goddess Shala is married to Dagon (the god who did the splicing).
There are two breeds of shapeshifters: Arcadians have human hearts so that is their natural form and they shift into their animal form at puberty, and Katagaria have animal hearts and that is their base form. Neither dies at the age of twenty-seven nor do they need blood. They can live for hundreds of years and their magic remains intact. The downside is that the Arcadians and Katagaria must battle each other forever, and the Fates choose their mates.
More Gods
The Titans
Helios was the Titan god of the sun, and Kenyon states that he is also "the god of sorcery and the blackest craft". The third generation of Titans became the Olympians, a.k.a., the Greek gods. Leto is the mother of Apollo and Artemis.
Katra is Apollymi's granddaughter (through Acheron and Artemis) and is her Abadonna. Katra serves both Apollymi as her spy and Artemis, her mother. Sin is her husband (Devil May Cry, 10), a Sumerian god, and they have a son and a daughter, Mia. Sin has a few brothers including, Set, the Egyptian god of evil, darkness, and chaos, and Zakar who is Sin's twin brother. Seth is Set's son.
Dragon and Mandrake Gods
Sarraxyn, a.k.a., Xyn, is a silvery orange dragon (drakona) trapped as the guardian of the Atramentian Falls in Kalosis. Her brothers include Falcyn is a war god, a.k.a., Veles (Maddor, the leader of the mandrakes, is the son taken from him through Falcyn's fault); Max; Illarion; Hadyn; and, Gadryn. Malstrom is the brother who sold Xyn to Misos, the Atlantean war god. Xyn's parents are Helios and Lilith. A dragon's egg is not a child, but an artifact they use to heal. Blaise du Fey is a mandrake chosen by the sorceress Merlin to be a Grail knight; he's also Maddor's son and Ormarra his mother. Varian du Fey is sneaking around with Kaziel. Aeron.
Chthonians were...
...originally created to be the check-and-balance on the gods with the power to kill a god without destroying the universe in the process. Savitar is the Omegrion (the leader of the Were-Hunters??) and lives on an island and surfs.
Katateros is...
...the island home of the Atlantean gods where Acheron, a.k.a., Apostolos or Elekti (Apollymi's second son whom she thought dead) has his home base. Simi is his Charonte protector who lives as a tattoo on his body; Xirena "Xixi" is Simi's sister. Alexion, one of Artemis' first Dark-Hunters, is his steward and married to Danger. Soteria "Tory", an archeologist, is the woman Ash loves. Sebastos is their son. Geary is one of Tory's cousins. Theo had been Tory's grandfather. Pam is Tory's best friend. And terrible at keeping secrets.
Styxx of Didymos was Acheron's twin and the reincarnation of Aricles of Didymos. He was also Protostratelates, a general, of the Stygian Omada, the only army that ever fought on Atlantean soil and won. Estes had been their disgusting uncle. In the Sahara, his dog is Skylos, Jabar is the horse, and Wasima is the camel.
Princess Ryssa was their spoiled rotten sister and Apollo's mistress who was assassinated and caused Apollo to curse the Apollites.
The Dark-Hunters are...
...are led by Acheron. Wulf Tryggvason is a Dark-Hunter married to Cassandra Peters. Their children will include Erik, Phoebe, Tyr, and Jeff. Chris is Wulf's squire. Zarek, a.k.a., Z; Cuthbert Ruriksen; Lucian, a.k.a., Spawn, had been a Daimon; Kyrian is Julian's best friend (he's married to Amanda Hunter and they have kids); Julian of Macedon is a long-time friend of Ash's; Valerius Magnus is married to Tabitha; Rafael Santiago and Celena had baby Ephani; Samia had been an Amazon and murdered many of them; and, Xander is part sorcerer who deals with transmutations and is the only non-demon who can bargain with Jaden and Thorn (Brynna Addams and Kit Baughy can talk Xander into most things).
Solren is the more formal version of father, while baba is the children's version. Matera (formal) and mata (informal) means mother. M'gios means my son. Xōrōn are blood whores. Erini Laws are peace laws. Limanis are portals. The Eye of Verlyn will deplete the powers of any god with which it comes into direct contact.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a deep blood-brown that radiates out into a more chocolate brown. A huge circle sits slightly off-center with an outer border of a Greek key in an even darker brown with an inner border that morphs into a curling wave for almost half of the border. Within its center is an embossed dragon with holes in his wings and his head in a marbleized black and chocolate. Info blurbs at the very top and above and below the title are in white — the series information has a double bow with arrow to the left of the series info. At the top is the author's name in an embossed gold with a copper shading and the same for the title at the bottom.
The title is all about Urian, the Stygian heir. Of course it could also relate to the darkness in which the Apollites grew up...or the extremely dark and gloomy contents of the story.
jpro1990's review against another edition
3.0
The first half of the book was phenomenal! The second half was scenes we've seen in other books but from Urian's POV, i.e. a waste of pages. Thankfully the last couple chapters were new but still so frustrating for a book that started out so strong.
debbiecollectsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this series. maybe Simi needs her story told.. wouldn't that be fun...
dfayette's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I absolutely loved reading Urian’s side of the story. The whole book brings back memories and characters from past books and makes everything add up. I enjoyed the whole ride.
birdloveranne's review
2.0
Seriously sorry I got the audio book of this. I liked Holter Graham for the Nick books, but this one was terrible. His Simi voice was absolutely horrendous. His Appolomi voice was terrible. Even his pronunciation of the main character's name rubbed me raw.
Then there is the story. Last I heard this series was paranormal romance. Well not this one. There is NO romance whatsoever. You get a summary of the previous books in the series, most of them, spanning 11,000 years. You get a couple of sentences where you find out where the love interest has been for the last 11,000 years and I hardly even think it was more than one sentence before she was returned. There is no romance whatsoever between them. This would have worked better as a short story or a novella, because that's about the length of the actual story of the two main characters.
Extremely disappointed, and I recommend this book to NO one. But do remember, the author at the time was being poisoned to the point of death by her husband (now ex). So it's a miracle she was able to publish anything at all. Still, I recommend skipping this.
Then there is the story. Last I heard this series was paranormal romance. Well not this one. There is NO romance whatsoever. You get a summary of the previous books in the series, most of them, spanning 11,000 years. You get a couple of sentences where you find out where the love interest has been for the last 11,000 years and I hardly even think it was more than one sentence before she was returned. There is no romance whatsoever between them. This would have worked better as a short story or a novella, because that's about the length of the actual story of the two main characters.
Extremely disappointed, and I recommend this book to NO one. But do remember, the author at the time was being poisoned to the point of death by her husband (now ex). So it's a miracle she was able to publish anything at all. Still, I recommend skipping this.
zowieadamson's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed the book up until he decided to get with the dragon and not stay loyal to Phoebe. We have been spoiled in the earlier books with men who love their women wholeheartedly and I was hoping for the same outcome here. Had Urian stayed loyal and gotten back with Phoebe this book may have been a 4 or 5 star, unfortunately I had to start skimming through the last part of the book and I only did that to find out what happened to Phoebe. The dragon seemed like an afterthought tacked in at the end of his so called grief for his wife (Phoebe) yet he loved her so much that he quickly cast aside his wife and dumped her back with her sister (rolls eyes). I'm a little bummed that a character that I loved became a character I wouldn't want to read about ever again.
romancejunkie1025's review against another edition
5.0
A return to the magic and a truly great read. So many twist and turns and lots of interplay with previous stories. Can't wait for whatever is next.
sucitta's review against another edition
5.0
The best Kenyon book in a long time. HOWEVER--
[edited after I have been able to process my thoughts]
[PLEASE BE AWARE OF SPOILERS!]
I have small issues with things, but that is typical with Kenyon considering this series is very, very dragged out. The big issue being, what seems to be an issue for others, is how the second half of the book is copy/pasted from past books. Look, I get it. I get why she does this, and honestly, I do appreciate it. It's hard to remember EVERYTHING. I only reread certain books; I reread a few before reading Stygian. So while it didn't hinder the overall story for me, I didn't need a copy/paste of Dragonsworn; I skimmed that book just to get through it because I knew I had to read it before reading Stygian.
Phoebe could've been handled so much better considering how much Urian loved her, and how much she loved Urian. Everything was so anti-climatic and rushed between them just to get Urian back to Xyn. It felt like Kenyon purposely made me dislike Phoebe when we really didn't know Phoebe at all before this book. I found myself not liking her BECAUSE it felt like Kenyon didn't know how to write her now, and only did so to quickly get on with Urian/Xyn. And this is NOTHING against Xyn because I really like her.
It’d be great if Kenyon would stop with unnecessary No Homo jabs when she introduces characters who ARE homosexual but continues to keep them in the background. She gives a sprinkling of characters who identify outside of being heterosexual, but her stories and her characters are still Very Aggressively Heteronormative and just once I'd like to have a Hero/Hero or Heroine/Heroine Dark-Hunter book. I LOVE Davyn, but we'll probably never get more with him outside of HeeHee Flirting With Urian And Other Guys And Telling Them They Have A Nice Butt. Queer characters deserve better and deserve to have a story too.
I keep coming back to her books because she’s a great storyteller and world builder, and I still love so many of her characters. I enjoyed this book because of Urian as a character and he’s always been one of my favorite Kenyon characters.
I still don’t care about the dragons. It feels like none of their stories were really fleshed out. I get that she did them because Xyn is part of Urian’s story, but Xyn deserves her story to be told too. I’d much rather have hers than her brothers’. She really did three (3) books back to back that were all copy/pasted stories and that's lazy storytelling. I know Kenyon is better than that, because I've read it.
This review seems really harsh and that I didn't love this book, because I did! I haven't loved a book of hers in a long time, and I think the last one I really loved/read as fast as this one was Styxx. I still love Kenyon's Dark-Hunter universe, but I know she can do better with many things. And as a longtime reader, I expect better.
[edited after I have been able to process my thoughts]
[PLEASE BE AWARE OF SPOILERS!]
I have small issues with things, but that is typical with Kenyon considering this series is very, very dragged out. The big issue being, what seems to be an issue for others, is how the second half of the book is copy/pasted from past books. Look, I get it. I get why she does this, and honestly, I do appreciate it. It's hard to remember EVERYTHING. I only reread certain books; I reread a few before reading Stygian. So while it didn't hinder the overall story for me, I didn't need a copy/paste of Dragonsworn; I skimmed that book just to get through it because I knew I had to read it before reading Stygian.
Phoebe could've been handled so much better considering how much Urian loved her, and how much she loved Urian. Everything was so anti-climatic and rushed between them just to get Urian back to Xyn. It felt like Kenyon purposely made me dislike Phoebe when we really didn't know Phoebe at all before this book. I found myself not liking her BECAUSE it felt like Kenyon didn't know how to write her now, and only did so to quickly get on with Urian/Xyn. And this is NOTHING against Xyn because I really like her.
It’d be great if Kenyon would stop with unnecessary No Homo jabs when she introduces characters who ARE homosexual but continues to keep them in the background. She gives a sprinkling of characters who identify outside of being heterosexual, but her stories and her characters are still Very Aggressively Heteronormative and just once I'd like to have a Hero/Hero or Heroine/Heroine Dark-Hunter book. I LOVE Davyn, but we'll probably never get more with him outside of HeeHee Flirting With Urian And Other Guys And Telling Them They Have A Nice Butt. Queer characters deserve better and deserve to have a story too.
I keep coming back to her books because she’s a great storyteller and world builder, and I still love so many of her characters. I enjoyed this book because of Urian as a character and he’s always been one of my favorite Kenyon characters.
I still don’t care about the dragons. It feels like none of their stories were really fleshed out. I get that she did them because Xyn is part of Urian’s story, but Xyn deserves her story to be told too. I’d much rather have hers than her brothers’. She really did three (3) books back to back that were all copy/pasted stories and that's lazy storytelling. I know Kenyon is better than that, because I've read it.
This review seems really harsh and that I didn't love this book, because I did! I haven't loved a book of hers in a long time, and I think the last one I really loved/read as fast as this one was Styxx. I still love Kenyon's Dark-Hunter universe, but I know she can do better with many things. And as a longtime reader, I expect better.