Verses of Athine
The Daughter of Ares Chronicles
Shannon McRoberts
Shannon McRoberts
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Obsidian Poet Press
Date of Publication: April 2013
ISBN: 978-1483934112
ISBN: 9781301957460
ASIN: B00C0FZ53A
Number of pages: 358
Word Count: 97,100
Cover Artist: Shannon McRoberts
Book Trailers: http://www.youtube.com/user/shannonmcroberts
Book Description:
Take what you know about mythology and throw it out the window....
Do you have any idea what Zeus, Odin, Pandora's Box, Atlantis, Machu Picchu, Hera, Nike, Dragons, Vlad, Clones, and Vampires have in common? Athine does!
Athine is not your ordinary immortal born goddess. Learn of her mysterious origins, learn why Zeus hates her so much, find out where vampires come from, and learn what really happened to the dragons.
The Daughter of Ares Chronicles follows Athine as she uncovers the secrets of her destiny while interacting with key figures from many mythologies.
This printed version contains novellas one through four in one complete edition.
Short Excerpt:
“Athine, hold the sword in one hand and cast a spell with the other!” My mother, Raelin, was always barking orders. It was always practice and then practice some more. Didn’t she know how bored I was? I had been practicing for eons to protect a land that was at peace. I could cast magic with my eyes closed and my fighting skills were second nature to me. Why did I need to practice so much if my skills were already honed?
“Mother, this is useless. No one has attacked Olympus, Draosia, or Ximira for several centuries. Why must I keep practicing to be a protector of the lands with these poorly made weapons? They break when I use them. How can I possibly fight with this stick?”
“Athine, you are a goddess of war born from three different bloodlines. You must to live up to your legacy. That is why you have to keep practicing. I do not know why the weapons keep breaking. Maybe if you focused more on using your Sh’cersay and less on your poor attitude the weapons would perform better.”
Ah yes, my ever present poor attitude. Perhaps it was borne out of sheer boredom. I had no desire to be a warrior protector. That was supposed to be my mother’s job. Yet, she kept trying to make it mine. Something about a vision or prophecy; I never really paid attention.
“Athine, stop day dreaming. Andraste and Sabrina will be here tomorrow for your A’samrad. Do you want to embarrass your grandmother by not completing the rite of passage? As a potential ruler of Ximira and maybe even Olympus you are expected to do well. Anything less would be an embarrassment to the bloodlines; all three of them.”
“Embarrassment? Potential ruler? Has anyone asked me if I cared lately? I practice day in and day out just for the possibility that I may be ruler of a humdrum, peaceful country. Maybe if I did fail the A’samrad you all would let me be. I have no desire to be a ruler. I do not care that my entire family is of noble immortals that love to rule. I want to see other worlds. I want to live a life of adventure.”
How much clearer could I get? I had no desire to rule any of these lands, yet they all hoped I would rule one day. Any of my other siblings, cousins, aunts, or uncles would love to play this role. I was meant for so much more, but alas no, becoming a “ruler” keeps being dumped on my lap. I secretly wished I could fail the A’samrad and become an embarrassment. That way I could go off on an adventure and discover what lay beyond the walls of our palace. I knew there were harsher worlds out there ready for me to conquer. I just had to get out of this world to find them.
About the Author:
My name is Shannon McRoberts. I am an independent artist, author, and poet. I have been self-publishing books of all kinds since 2005. My first book was a poetry book called Poetry for the Chronically Heart Broken and Depressed. That book has since been replaced with a more robust collection called Erosion of the Heart. I am currently working on bringing this book to paper format and expanded distribution through Smashwords.
My first ever sci-fi book, The Secret of Genetic Corp X, has been compared to Blade Runner. I am also currently working on having this book brought back to a paper edition.
My favorite series, The Daughter of Ares Chronicles, features Athine, an immortal born goddess that I created for the series. In this series, I take mythologies of all kinds and turn them on their ears!
When I am not working or creating fantasy worlds for my characters to live in I enjoy being lost in MMORPGs, good books, and in the company of my friends and family.
I currently live in Kentucky with my wonderful husband and beautiful daughter.
Authors Links
@obsidianpoet | https://www.facebook.com/ObsidianPoetPress
My Review
I enjoyed this fantasy book a lot, although I had a hard time getting into it in the beginning, a little too many characters were explained and felt more like history lessons, but I forced through it (not being able to keep track of so many strange names) and it picked up really well from there.
This book has lots of the greek mythology type stuff in it that I found very interesting.
The story is mainly about Athine, who we do not even see until after 20% as its telling of her parents to see how we get to her.
Athine is supposed to save them all. ( I won’t go into detail of all the books, that are in this one book now, so not to spoil anything)
Harmonia is the prophetess that brought her mother to Olympus as her visions said it was how to save them. But not knowing it would not be her mother, but her, Athine instead, so she had trained her whole life for it, not knowing for what or even when.
It’s interesting, and if you like books with the Greek mythology, I think you would like this one, and the rest of the series that is now in this one book. Once your past the major lineage of characters, you will enjoy if you like fantasy books.
I give it 5 out of 5 stars, I originally gave 4 out of 5 for just the first book, only because I did have a hard time in the beginning, like too much info and people to fast. But once you get past all that, and into the rest of the books, it flows nicely and I really liked them.
The story is mainly about Athine, who we do not even see until after 20% as its telling of her parents to see how we get to her.
Athine is supposed to save them all. ( I won’t go into detail of all the books, that are in this one book now, so not to spoil anything)
Harmonia is the prophetess that brought her mother to Olympus as her visions said it was how to save them. But not knowing it would not be her mother, but her, Athine instead, so she had trained her whole life for it, not knowing for what or even when.
It’s interesting, and if you like books with the Greek mythology, I think you would like this one, and the rest of the series that is now in this one book. Once your past the major lineage of characters, you will enjoy if you like fantasy books.
I give it 5 out of 5 stars, I originally gave 4 out of 5 for just the first book, only because I did have a hard time in the beginning, like too much info and people to fast. But once you get past all that, and into the rest of the books, it flows nicely and I really liked them.
I do recommend this book, give it a try.
I was provided this book for my honest review
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