Daedalus is Dead by Seamus Sullivan

TL;DR: This one is going to leave me thinking a while (in a good way).
Source: NetGalley – Thank you to the publisher!!

Plot: We explore Daedalus’s life leading up to and after Icarus’s death. Including his attempts to find his son in the afterlife.
Characters: No one is perfect, but they’re all fascinating.
Setting: Hell and several infamous Greek locations such as Crete, mentions of Athens, etc.
Fantasy: This is a retelling of sort and leans heavily into that feeling very fantastical.

Summary:

Daedalus of Crete is many things. The greatest architect in the world. The constructor of the Labyrinth that imprisoned the Minotaur. And the grieving father of Icarus—plunged into the sea as father and son flew from the grasp of the tyrannical King Minos.

Now that Daedalus is dead, he seeks to reunite with Icarus in the Underworld. Daedalus will confront any terror to see his son again—whether it be the vengeful spirit of Minos, the cunning Queen Persephone, or even the insatiable ghost of the Minotaur.

But a shocking realization follows in his wake. As Daedalus encounters the souls from his past, he begins to worry that his identity as a husband and father, mentor and friend was all a lie. And that the truth, stalking him in the labyrinth of his own heart, might be too monstrous for him to bear.

Thoughts:

For such a small novella this one packs a lot in, and does it well. We see, through alternating time lines, the life of Daedalus and Icarus leading up to Icarus’s death and then Daedalus’s quest to be reunited to his son at any cost. We see Daedalus’s life, then afterlife and while it’s narrated to his son, we also realize that not everything is as he says at times (leading to some absolutely fascinating scenes).

Daedalus is grappling with grief, guilt, and more in this. He built and enabled to mistreatment of the Minotaur, something we see in detail. We also see a lot of his relationship with Ariadne (my favorite portions). His relationships with the various gods and famous beings of myth, all leading up to his seeking of Icarus.

This one is going to leave me thinking. We have a lot to be taken apart, and I feel like I can’t talk on much without spoilers but it’s a wildly impressive debut especially for its length. I love the way the world is built, the flaws of all of our characters, and the settings we’re given. I happily would have read an even longer version of this. If you’re interested and enjoy retellings definitely pick this up.