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The war between humanity and Faerie devastated both sides. Or so 15-year-old Liza has been told. Nothing has been seen or heard from Faerie since, and Liza’s world bears the scars of its encounter with magic. Trees move with sinister intention, and the town Liza calls home is surrounded by a forest that threatens to harm all those who wander into it. Then Liza discovers she has the Faerie ability to see—into the past, into the future—and she has no choice but to flee her town. Liza’s quest will take her into Faerie and back again, and what she finds along the way may be the key to healing both worlds.

Janni Lee Simner’s first novel for young adults is a dark fairy-tale twist on apocalyptic fiction—as familiar as a nightmare, yet altogether unique.

From the Hardcover edition.

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From Library Journal

In a post-technology world in which the Olympian deities are distant memories, Jeremy Redthorn discovers a divine artifact that transforms his life and heralds the return of the gods. Equally at home with both sf and fantasy, Saberhagen (Beserker Fury, LJ 8/97) here shows off his skill at revitalizing old mythologies in this rousing series opener. Combining the epic quest with a story of one young man's rite of passage, this title should appeal to YA readers as well as to the author's many fans.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In fine form, Saberhagen turns to a world that recalls (and may actually be) that of his Swords series. The ancient classical gods have returned but are at war among themselves, and this yarn opens with a battle to the death between Apollo and Hades. Although Hades appears the victor, the face of Apollo is carried off by one of the sun god's human votaries. It ends up entering the body of 15-year-old Jeremy Redthorn, turning him into an avatar of Apollo who possesses many attributes of the god. That noticeably improves his sex life and gives him the power to summon swarms of bees against his enemies, but it also imposes responsibilities equal to the new powers and thrusts him forcibly into the front lines of the cosmic battle of good and evil. Saberhagen offers classical scholarship, wit, and brisk pacing in an admirable coming-of-age story that should appeal even to readers unfamiliar with the Swords books and attract Swords-familiar readers in swarms. Roland Green

From Publishers Weekly

This followup to The Face of Apollo plants one foot in the mythology of ancient Greece and the other in Saberhagen's wry take on the frailties of human nature-a slippery position, as it turns out. The novel is based on the myth of Prince Theseus, who is shanghaied to Crete as tribute to evil King Minos, cajoles Princess Ariadne into stringing him through the deadly Labyrinth and kills the monstrous Minotaur. To Saberhagen, though, Theseus is an opportunistic pirate who uses, then dumps, Ariadne in his pursuit of a god's Face: a mask "as clear as fine glass" that, when donned by a mortal avatar, sinks below his skin and endows him with divine attributes--but not with immortality. Meanwhile, Alex, a soldier smitten by hopeless love for Ariadne, becomes the avatar of Dionysus, god of wine and ecstasy. Aided by the genial Minotaur Asterion, the source of Saberhagen's pithiest reflections on human foibles, Alex/Dionysus swashes his way through several rousing Aegean adventures to rescue Ariadne, but his knees buckle at the sight of Hades, Lord of the Underworld, whose "great game" of eternal warfare against Apollo, god of the sun, anchors this fantasy series. Despite all the fun, Saberhagen's redo of classical myth has pitfalls. Jerky shifts in point of view disrupt the action; names seemingly snatched haphazardly out of Bulfinch's Mythology tend to distract. Most problematic of all, Saberhagen waters down mighty gods into mere rollicking humans, denaturing deities who for time immemorial have given Western culture its metaphors for the human condition. Something necessary to human imagination is thereby lost--and the old magic just isn't there.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

After the brutal death of her royal father, the princess Ariadne resolves to prevent her beloved Theseus from becoming a sacrifice to the whims of the dark god who presided over the assassination. Saberhagen (The Face of Apollo) gives the familiar story of Theseus and the Minotaur a whimsical twist as gods and heroes come together in an elaborate scheme to further the twin causes of love and justice. The author of the popular Berserker series brings his storytelling expertise and gracious wit to bear in this seriocomic mythic fantasy that belongs in most libraries.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

Mutant livestock such as mastodroms and cameloids roam a land very like Greece, where Saberhagen places a mild retelling (with obligatory debunking from the hero's viewpoint) of the Hercules legends. Our hero here has admittedly superhuman strengthAbeing an acknowledged son of ZeusAbut is humble about his prowess, leadership skills and even appearance. His famous first task, the killing of the Nemean lion, occurs in the course of a normal chore assigned to troublesome youths: guarding remote herds. Other tasks he stumbles into by even greater chance, while more are assigned by Hermes, the messenger of the gods. But Hercules regards the codified list of his 12 Labors as ranging from misinterpretation to complete fabrication by his fans. Saberhagen, the veteran author of some three dozen novels, including a series featuring Count Dracula and the SF Berserker books, sticks fairly close to familiar territory, offering a classical fantasy with centaurs and rare but convincing appearances by the gods. He drops a few unsatisfying hints that magic and divinity are based on an unexplained technology (one word, "odylic," describing this mysterious technology, dates from 1850: briefly, this seems to be a clue, but goes nowhere). This tale will satisfy those who like hero stories, but the book, third in a series (The Face of Apollo; Ariadne's Web), lacks the frisson possible to SF with plausible explanations, as well as the power of some other retellings. (Dec.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The third of the Books of the Gods continues Saberhagen's exploration of classical mythology as a springboard for fantasy. In it, Hercules is an experiment of Zeus'--a type of mortal hero who can survive to champion the gods in their battle with the Titans. From his mid-teens, Hercules proves that Zeus knew what he was doing. Hercules lacks heroic stature, but he has street smarts, along with magical strength and magical invulnerability. He progresses through his various labors and other adventures over the years, with Saberhagen sometimes interestingly varying some of them, such as Hercules' aborted attempt to accompany the Argonauts. As the book proceeds to its climax, Apollo and Theseus arrive from previous volumes of Saberhagen's series. Finally, there is the long-anticipated battle with the Titans. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Publishers Weekly

Best known for several long-running series (Berserker, Swords, Dracula), Saberhagen is now working inventive changes on Greek myths. The story of Jason and the Argonauts provides the basis for this fourth myth-based novel (after 2000's The Arms of Hercules), in which a naked man staggers out of the sea, shipwrecked and amnesiac. He knows only that his name is Proteus and that he must be part of the Argo's crew as they search for the Golden Fleece. Repairing the character's missing memory is a deft way to introduce readers to the tangle of alliances and betrayals behind the original myth. In fact, however, even readers who think they know the story will be surprised. Things don't always happen according to the myth for one thing, bystanders sometimes weren't observing carefully; for another, it's clear that super-science rather than magic underlies many of the strange events. It's impossible to say whether the book is set in an alternative past before "history" jelled or in the far future, when our history has been forgotten. Fair enough: readers should be wary as they watch gods interfering with mortals while plotting against each other and also trying to avoid hostile, superhuman giants in this bewildering, dangerous world. This isn't one of Saberhagen's best books, but the hints of hidden motives and secret powers are intriguing enough to keep fans alert for the next book in the series.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The fourth of Saberhagen's Books of the Gods series is about Proteus, the hero who finds and acquires the face of the sea god, Triton, in the course of a battle with giants. But Proteus comes out of that battle and from the sea with no memory of who or what he is. He stumbles into the camp of Jason's Argonauts, on their way to Iolchis and the Golden Fleece. Acceptance into their ranks doesn't bring back much of his memory, but he keeps encountering, usually under dangerous circumstances, people who seem to know who he is. He doesn't regain his assumed identity as Triton until Jason and company are fleeing Iolchan treachery with the Golden Fleece and the lovestruck Medea, and then he gets scant reward for saving his comrades. Or perhaps not so scant, since he consequently finds his way back to home and wife. In any event, this is another ingenious and absorbing reworking of classical material from Saberhagen. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Publishers Weekly

In his fifth Books of the Gods entry, veteran Saberhagen (the Berserker, Dracula and Swords series) offers a naturalistic retelling of Germanic myth, steering his usual middle course between the grittily realistic and the fantastic. One survivor of God of the Golden Fleece (2001) wanders into the middle of a Wagnerian cast and plot, including Wodan, Brunhild, Baldur, assorted Valkyries, flying horses, gnomes and a battle between the gods and the Underworld on the plain of Asgard. Armed only with cunning and a shabby piece of the Golden Fleece, Haraldur ("most call me Hal, to save themselves a little breath and effort") manages to sneak into Valhalla, single-handedly defeat a berserker, steal a Valkyrie's steed, penetrate Loki's stronghold, discover the stolen treasure of the gnomes, witness (or cause) the deaths of three gods and fight side-by-side with Wodan in the Last Battle. Despite the operatic overtones of his material, the author grounds his tale in a very unromantic reality. The noble figures and ideals of the old stories, like Valhalla, look better from a distance. Up close, draughty halls and leaky roofs do not a warrior's paradise make. The separation of appearance and actuality gives the book a dollop of ironic humor and a chance for Saberhagen to introduce his own superscience clues about the powers of the gods. Fans will recognize his technique of blurring the relation of the setting of both myth and history to produce a hybrid that allows him much free rein of invention within the standard story lines.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Haraldur the Northman has recently returned from his adventures with Jason in search of the Golden Fleece and meets Baldur, a young man in search of the Valkyrie Brunhilde, held captive by the god Loki inside a ring of fire. When two men form a partnership of would-be heroes intent on rescuing the maiden and, incidentally, investigating rumors of a hoard of gold within the fiery ring, they plumb the secrets of the gods of Valhalla and the mysterious gnomes who inhabit the caverns beneath the earth. The author of the "Book of the Gods" (e.g., The Face of Apollo, Ariadne's Web) series turns his attention from Greek to Norse myth with a rousing tale of love and adventure, spiced with humor and likeable characters. A good selection for most fantasy collections and for libraries owning the rest of the series.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Amazon.com Review

Tired of do-gooder heroes saving the day? Meet Parker--just Parker to you, bub--a one-man wrecking crew, cunning, fearless, and more than just a little cold-blooded. Writing again under hard-boiled alter-ego Richard Stark, Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Donald E. Westlake returns to the violent world of his legendary criminal creation with Breakout.

This time around Parker has picked certain members of his crew wrong and the job goes south right into the county lockup. Alone and isolated, the antihero finds himself without much wiggle room. But experienced Stark readers know, wiggling is what the slippery Parker does best. In Breakout, he wiggles himself out of jail and right into an even more dangerous situation involving an armory, a tunnel, and a jewelry wholesaler.

While there are rough spots here and there, Breakout is simply another fun-to-read Parker novel, taking readers again to the flip side where the bad guys win and the good guys are never as good as they should be. Call it a great escape because, with this Parker novel in particular, that's just what it is. --Jeremy Pugh

From Publishers Weekly

This fifth book about master criminal Parker since his welcome return from a 20-year hiatus is packed so tightly with the painstaking details of everything from the dank tedium of prison life to the architecture and construction of a Midwestern shopping complex that it comes as a shock to realize the volume isn't bigger than it is. Stark, the nom de crime adopted for this series by MWA Grand Master Donald Westlake, is an artist of compression, with the ability to create a complex, frightening character in very few words. Of an Asian lawyer visiting Parker in prison, he writes, "Li was amused, not by Parker in particular but by his own entire life; it made him easy to be around, but suggested there were circumstances when he might not be completely reliable." But Stark is also remarkable because he seems to know how everything works and can explain it without slowing down the story. Stuck in a fortress-like holding prison "on the outskirts of the only large city in this big empty midwestern state" after a robbery goes bad, Parker links up with two other prisoners in a totally logical way, then plans a breakout (the first of several in the book) so credible that we're swept up in its mechanics. But before he can return to his haven in rural New Jersey, Parker has to pay off the help he received by taking part in another robbery that falls apart in a different way that's just as exhilarating. Watching artists like Stark and Parker at work is a great pleasure, which an increasing audience will be delighted to share.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.