Except that's not really what happened.
Ariadne is She-Who-Will-Be-Goddess, a priestess in training who will succeed her mother as She-Who-Is-Goddess, a living incarnation of the moon goddess and ruler of the island of Krete. Though she longs to leave Krete and see other lands, leaving the island would mean giving up her status as goddess - and destroy the island. So her whole world is her mother and Asterion, her brother. Huge and muscular, Asterion doesn't know his own strength - although he's not a monster, he breaks all his toys, even when those toys are human. The last children brought in to keep him company were dead before anyone thought to check on them, and so he is now kept imprisoned in his rooms beneath the palace. Ariadne is one of the few who can calm her brother, and keep him company without getting hurt. Rumors of his monstrousness have spread across the sea as far as Athens, where he is known as the Minotaurus, a terrible creature to whom the Kretans sacrifice children.
Theseus has always been told that his father is the sea god Poseidon, a fact that has led to years of merciless bullying by the other boys in his village. When his mother finally reveals that his father left something for his son beneath a huge boulder, Theseus spends an entire day figuring out how to move it - revealing a rotted pair of sandals and a short sword with the mark of the King of Athens, also known as Erecthus Poseidon. With no money for passage on a ship, Theseus sets off across the treacherous overland route to Athens to seek his destiny at the court of his father.
When Theseus arrives on Krete with a shipful of tribute children from Athens, Ariadne is one of the first to see the handsome stranger disembark. Lonely and curious about the outside world, Ariadne loves that Theseus does not seem to be afraid of her status as goddess. At first Theseus befriends Ariadne to glean more details about the fearsome Minotaurus and perhaps find a way to escape. As the pair spend more time together, a tentative friendship forms - one that may bloom into more, if they're only given time. But when a series of tragedies changes everything about Krete, Theseus and Ariadne must choose between saving the world they know or the people they love the most.
A unique twist on the myth of the minotaur (remember him as the terrifying creature who killed Percy Jackson's mom?), Dark of the Moon is rich with mythic and historical detail. Instead of a hero, Theseus is a young man with a talent for tale-telling searching for his place in the world. Ariadne is a sheltered princess with strong opinions who wants nothing more than to make sure her brother is safe before she explores the world. The tale of how Theseus and Ariadne escape their fates to forge their own destinies before passing into myth is for readers who love tales from Greek mythology and historical stories steeped in old magic. If you've read Marion Zimmer Bradley or Juliet Marillier's books, check out Dark of the Moon @the library today!
Megan
(Who can't wait to start Fateful by Claudia Gray - werewolves on the Titantic? Yes please!)