Salt and Fury By Liz Shipton

 

A Delightful Mishmash of Genre

I am always down for a good Greek mythology retelling.  Partly because I studied Classical Hellenic history at university, and partially because they have become ubiquitous stories that permeate Western literature.  So when I saw on TikTok Philinna Wood looking to ARC readers for her sophomore novel, a retelling of the story of the Minotaur with a heavy dash of Fae, I was all for it.

Let's go over a little background on the author since she is an indie author and not likely to get that much press.  If you can consider my blog press.  On her own webpage, she describes herself by saying:

"I'm a Greek author who loves fantasy romance and Greek mythology.  So I thought to combine them both and write a new fae fantasy romance series inspired by Greek mythology!"

She goes into more detail on the author page of her novel, saying that she currently lives in Greece with her family.

Current cover

Truly she seems like an author who loves writing about the things she loves, and I am all for that kind of energy right now.  

Now into the book itself.  The Fae Gods Maze is a title that is very much a "what it says on the tin" type, but I'm in no way angry with it.  There are far too many "a this of that" titles in fantasy these days, and anything that deviates from it is frankly a breath of fresh air.  As you read above it is a mixture of traditional Greek mythology mixed with the modern literary archetype of Fae.  I have an entire half-written blog post about the differences, but that is a long winding tangent for another day.  Also, the cover for this book is very good.  It hits all the themes without hitting you over the head.

Photo from author's website

The novel itself follows Avra, the eldest daughter of King Agamelas, as she travels through the maze her father created below their kingdom to hold the Minotaur.  Along the way she finds family, and love, and gains the ability to accept exactly who she wants to be as a person.  Of course, fairly early on the plot deviates from the original of the myth it's based on, but we'll get to that later.

For the non spoiler portion of my review, I will say the following.  While there are predictable portions (not a fault of the author, I'm just great at pattern recognition, and this falls into a particular genre I practically devour), they are handled in such a way that I wanted to keep reading to see exactly how the conflict was going to be resolved.  It was not so much the plot beats I was waiting to see happen, but rather the unpredictability of the character's reactions that made the story a page-turner.  

I would recommend this for anyone who likes the trappings of mythological retellings but wants something that at its heart is a story about self-realization and love.  I will say, mind the trigger warnings.  Specifically mature language, murder, graphic violence domestic violence, sex, and torture.  You're warned before you even get to the table of contents on the Ebook version, so don't just flip by it.  I will also add animal harm to this list.  It isn't graphic, but it is in the plot.  So if cute fluffy animals being sacrificed, even in mention, isn't your thing, I won't say don't read, but be very mindful that it will appear.

For my Goodreads score, I gave this five stars.  I got to the last page, and I wanted to flip back to page one to enjoy it all over again.  Highly recommend it if it sounds like something you'd be interested in.

Now if you want something a bit more in-depth, but with no ending spoilers, I'm going to get into it here.

I always love starting with the high points, so let's go there first.  The relationship between Avra, Namrela and Werkan was spectacularly done.  It progresses in a believable way, nothing feels overly coerced or contrived.  They are all simply people making the best of the situation that they are in.  The romance and spice were believable and didn't feel rushed.  Both take a back seat to the plot when needed, and that is a big selling point for me.

All of the characters interact in believable ways, and the plot progresses in a cohesive manner that makes for quick and enjoyable reading.  The world-building heavily pulls from classical Greece for set dressing, but it is completely normal as it is a Greek mythology retelling.  There could have been a few more tweaks to make it a more separate thing besides some renaming, but all in all, not bad.  So far, ten out of ten.

Namrela and Werkan's back story not so much.  For clarification, they are both in love with the same woman, but Namrela is unable to be openly with her as they are both women and their families look down on that.  Werkan, Namrela's brother, also loves this woman, and pursues her.  Their shared love interest is then with Werkan to cover up her relationship with Namrela, which is actively going on.  I think I would have shrugged it off more if they hadn't been siblings.

Now, on to the main beat of the novel.  Nex, the minotaur, changes into a handsome man.  Needless to say, I was disappointed.  Before you start clicking keys in the comments, this was not a 'beauty and the beast' type deal.  He literally changes into said handsome man five pages after he is first introduced as the minotaur.  Not only was I deprived of the monster love I thought I'd signed up for, but it makes the rest of Nex's plot thread come across less like he is actually conflicted, and more that he is just kind of self flatulating.  All in all, is arc is more about Avra's perception of him changing, rather than anything in the plot showing exactly how he had changed.  Also, not the biggest fan of the big reveal about his character, but it works with the narrative, so I let it go.

Overall this was definitely a five-star book for me.  Philinna is coming out with a sequel sometime in the next year that is not a continuation but takes place in the same 'verse.  I'm definitely looking forward to reading it. 

If you'd like to read The Fae Gods Maze for yourself, it is currently available on KU, as well as in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardback form on Amazon.