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| Click to check out Hazel's Character Purgatory! |
Welcome to day three of the blog tour for "The Flower of the Underworld"! Today, I'm showcasing a review and an excerpt. But first, an announcement for other events going on today/tonight:
Hazel will be hosting a live Q&A on her Instagram account on Thursday night (April 25th) from 8-9PM EST so get your questions ready for her! She will also be taking questions from Twitter for those who don’t have an Instagram account during the same time. Feel free to ask questions about Flower of the Underworld, or just writing and books in general, Hazel isn’t afraid to go off topic. If you’ll be asking questions on Twitter please make sure to @artfulscribbler with the hashtag #FlowerQ&A. |
| Click to get the Kindle version! |
Now, onto the book itself:
Title: Flower of the Underworld
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Mythology Retelling
Synopsis: What happens when the Lord of the Dead
accidently falls in love with the Goddess of Spring?
Well, when there
are brothers with crazy political agendas and overprotective mothers involved,
a simple romance may not be as simple as it looks. Hades wants nothing more
than to woo Persephone, but his fellow Olympians have other ideas. Zeus and
Poseidon seem set on starting World War Three, Persephone’s mother wants her
daughter to marry Ares, the insufferable God of War to make sure the earth
doesn’t get destroyed in the process, and Hades is being pressured by his
brothers to join in a fight he never wanted a part of. He’s definitely going to
need some help with this one. Calling on his friends Hermes, Artemis, and
Apollo, they do the only thing they can: kidnap Persephone themselves and team
up to try and stop Zeus before his plans succeed.
This modern
retelling of Hades and Persephone is part romance, part political intrigue and
guaranteed to be a version you’ve never heard before.
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EXCERPT
“Hello, brother,”
I said.
He actually
started, whipping around. The look on his face darkened and his upper lip
lifted in a sneer. “Hades.”
“So,” I said, striding
forward until it was only the desk that separated us. “You lied to me.”
“Can you blame
me?” Zeus scoffed. “You with your righteous attitude, your pity toward the
pitiful human maggots. Not that you agreed to help anyway.”
“So you were
going to recruit my subjects and, what? Just assume that they would follow you and do your bidding?”
Zeus narrowed his
eyes at me. “I have ways of making people cooperate. You know that.”
I snorted. “Yeah,
I know how you work, Zeus. And I can’t say any of this is surprising to me. But
I still stand where I did before. I’m not going to help you kill humans, but I
can promise you that I will do everything I can to stop you.”
Zeus moved around
the desk and chuckled. “Oh, little brother. How naïve you really are. You have spent
so long locked away in the dark reaches of the Underworld, you just don’t know
what it’s like up here anymore.”
“I know enough,”
I said. “I know enough not to lump all the humans with the bad apples. I am the
one who separates them after they die, after all. Those who deserve punishment
get it, and those who lived good lives are given rest. Perhaps you need a
little faith—and a little patience.” I saw his anger as I quoted his words to
Ares earlier.
“I would be
cautious, Hades, before I decide you are too much trouble,” Zeus said in a cold
voice, his eyes steely grey. “There is room yet with the Titans in the deepest
reaches of the Underworld and I doubt they would be happy with the god who has
been their jailor, keeping them locked away for so long.”
I smiled,
anything but intimidated. “Get rid of me if you dare. But what do you think
will happen if I’m no longer in charge down there? If you want to deal with the
dead walking the earth, then be my guest, but I’m thinking that might put a
damper on your plans.”
Zeus’s fist
clenched in pent up anger, and his jaw ticked.
“And remember,” I
added. “Every soul that dies comes to me. Whatever you do, I’ll know about it.
You can’t hide it from me.” I turned toward the door. “And I would be careful
with your ‘alternate methods’ if I were you. You don’t want this to turn into
another Typhus incident. I don’t think you want that many monsters, do you?”
Zeus’ face
twitched and I knew I had struck a nerve.
I slipped out of
the room just as I heard something crash against the door behind me,
accompanied by Zeus’s cry of rage. Never was one to keep his cool for long, my
brother.
REVIEW
The thing I loved most about this was the characters. All of them have their quirks, and everyone has a modern twist. For example: Artemis is a Dungeon Master! I don't know why I find this so funny/interesting, but I do and I love her. Also, Hades' workload is more like that of a desk job than anything (papers to sign, people to shuffle around, etc.).
There were lots of funny moments, with wry/sarcastic characters (mostly Hades, but Apollo can contest in the sarcasm/bluff department), lovable characters (Persephone is so darn sweet, and Hermes is a wonderful--if sometimes overbearing--best friend) and straight up embarrassing situations (non spoilery example: bumping into two womanizing friends while out on a sort-of-kind-of-date. And them trying to be "helpful").
For those wondering how the world compares to the Percy Jackson series: aside from the presence of the Greek gods, it really doesn't. The world setup is different, with the existence of gods/goddesses being out in the open, for one. Also, Hades isn't as sarcastic a narrator as Percy. Hades is more wry than anything, able to notice the juxtaposition of foibles and strengths of character and situation.
Magic (if you want to call it that?) seems to be innate to the gods, and each has abilities according to whatever their job is. Hermes can travel super fast, Persephone nurtures plants, Hades can shadow travel, etc.
In accordance with the modern setting of the story, they're presented more like super-powers than anything.
I'd love to get into all the little things and favorite scenes that made this book work so well, but there'd be too many spoilers!
Suffice it to say, if you like old legends with a modern twist, you'll enjoy this story.
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Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway, and be sure to add this to your to-read shelf!
Purchase Links:
Amazon
Paperback: under review
Author links:
Website: http://hazelwest.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/artfulscribbler
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modern_bard67/
About the Author: Hazel B.
West is the author of several novels including historical titles like On
a Foreign Field, By Blood or By Bond; Wolfsblood, a
book about werewolves in Roman Britain and the Modern Tales of Na Fianna
series, which feature modern Irish warriors with swords and fast sports cars
and lots of faeries.
As to what she
prefers to consume (aside from bacon and coffee) she can often be found with
her nose in dusty tomes about mythology and folklore, serial killers, and other
dark and gruesome things. She has an almost unhealthy penchant for stories
about siblings, particularly brothers, and you can probably win her over by
alerting her to any books or shows that feature this. She is a true book dragon
and has a lovely hoard of books (and Pop Figures). When she's not writing,
she's probably still being antisocial, reading books, drawing, or
binge-watching the same shows over and over because there's nothing else quite
like Supernatural and Merlin. She also likes to listen to music because, who
doesn't? Hazel's particularly fond of modern folk and classic rock, which is
usually what makes up the majority of her book playlists.
