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A review by guybrarian133
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
2.0
(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)
Written in the tradition of Madeline Miller’s Circe and Natalie Hayne’s A Thousand Ships, Ariadne is another contemporary retelling where a female character (or characters) steps out of the small side roles they’ve held in their respective myths for thousands of years and onto center stage. This time, it's the daughters of King Minos, Ariadne (along with her younger sister Phaedra) whom author Jennifer Saint shines the spotlight upon.
Until now, my experience with the title character was her crucial but ultimately bit role in the tale of Theseus and the minotaur, where after quickly falling for the hero she supplies him with the ball of thread that he needs to eventually escape the labyrinth, Then afterward, at least according to several variations, their relationship quickly meets its end when she is left on the island of Naxos for the wine god Dionysus. Given the relative brevity of her appearance in the original myths, I was interested to see how Ariadne would be fleshed out. And Saint definitely does not disappoint on this front. Given that Ariadne is the mortal granddaughter of the sun-god Helios and the sister of a bull-man-beast that dines on Athenian youth in a horrid tribute system set up by her father, she is given a considerable to say on matters like family, love, and the cruelty and pettiness of the gods in a matter that both seem realistic yet also fits in perfectly well with the fantastical setting that she inhabits. Later on in the story, after becoming acquainted with Dionysus, she ends up having to contend even more with the nature of the ultimately flawed Olympian gods, who are simultaneously too human in so many aspects and not human in others. To say the least, it all gets quite complex for her, and it’s this aspect of the story that I found to be the most engaging.
Unfortunately, that aspect of the book ended up being fairly limited. Most of the rest of Ariadne ends dragging heavily as little more than a largely untouched beat-by-beat retelling of the original mythology. This includes several instances where characters basically sit down and then give their entire backstory to Ariadne. Now granted, this may be helpful for readers who may not have a strong familiarity with Greek mythology going into this title. However, I write this as someone who has already read a fair share of classic Greek mythology, and was looking to gain a fresh perspective on an age-old tale through the eyes of a traditionally sidelined character. I didn't reach for Ariadne because I wanted to hear about the tale of Theseus or the origins of Dionysus for the umpteenth time, but that's what I ended up getting.
The book definitely deserves praise for making Ariadne more realized as a person than she's probably been in millennia. Unfortunately, overall I consider this a disappointing case of squandered potential.
Written in the tradition of Madeline Miller’s Circe and Natalie Hayne’s A Thousand Ships, Ariadne is another contemporary retelling where a female character (or characters) steps out of the small side roles they’ve held in their respective myths for thousands of years and onto center stage. This time, it's the daughters of King Minos, Ariadne (along with her younger sister Phaedra) whom author Jennifer Saint shines the spotlight upon.
Until now, my experience with the title character was her crucial but ultimately bit role in the tale of Theseus and the minotaur, where after quickly falling for the hero she supplies him with the ball of thread that he needs to eventually escape the labyrinth, Then afterward, at least according to several variations, their relationship quickly meets its end when she is left on the island of Naxos for the wine god Dionysus. Given the relative brevity of her appearance in the original myths, I was interested to see how Ariadne would be fleshed out. And Saint definitely does not disappoint on this front. Given that Ariadne is the mortal granddaughter of the sun-god Helios and the sister of a bull-man-beast that dines on Athenian youth in a horrid tribute system set up by her father, she is given a considerable to say on matters like family, love, and the cruelty and pettiness of the gods in a matter that both seem realistic yet also fits in perfectly well with the fantastical setting that she inhabits. Later on in the story, after becoming acquainted with Dionysus, she ends up having to contend even more with the nature of the ultimately flawed Olympian gods, who are simultaneously too human in so many aspects and not human in others. To say the least, it all gets quite complex for her, and it’s this aspect of the story that I found to be the most engaging.
Unfortunately, that aspect of the book ended up being fairly limited. Most of the rest of Ariadne ends dragging heavily as little more than a largely untouched beat-by-beat retelling of the original mythology. This includes several instances where characters basically sit down and then give their entire backstory to Ariadne. Now granted, this may be helpful for readers who may not have a strong familiarity with Greek mythology going into this title. However, I write this as someone who has already read a fair share of classic Greek mythology, and was looking to gain a fresh perspective on an age-old tale through the eyes of a traditionally sidelined character. I didn't reach for Ariadne because I wanted to hear about the tale of Theseus or the origins of Dionysus for the umpteenth time, but that's what I ended up getting.
The book definitely deserves praise for making Ariadne more realized as a person than she's probably been in millennia. Unfortunately, overall I consider this a disappointing case of squandered potential.