BOOK REVIEW | ASTERIUS | SUSANA IMAGINARIO

 

For today’s post, I am looking at Asterius, the new novella in the Timelessness Series by SUSANA IMAGINÁRIO.

As I have said before, the Timelessness Series is one of my favourite series. 

The new novella will be released on 21 DECEMBER 2024.

ABOUT THE BOOK

My Name is Asterius, yet I have never seen the stars.

You all know me as the Minotaur.

This is my story.

The Minotaur himself relates to a mysterious listener the events that led to his death in the Labyrinth as he reflects upon the meaning of good versus evil, right versus wrong and monsters versus heroes

There are those times in my reading life where I get genuinely excited and one of those times is when Susana Imaginario pings me and says ‘I’ve got a new book out, do you want to read it?’ And then I virtually bite her hand off in my fervour.

I make no bones in saying that The Timelessness series is one of my favourite series of all time and is very dear to my reading heart, so whenever a new one comes out, I like to read it a couple of times before it comes out.

Asterius retells the story of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Now I am sure that you know the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Asterius, the half bull, half human lives in the maze designed by master architect Daedalus on the island of Crete, and is given a sacrifice of seven men and seven women every seven years (yes, I know that there is a proliferation of the number seven in the story) until Theseus comes along with a ball of string and a pretty specific sword given to him by King Minos of Crete’s daughter, Ariadne. He manages to kill the Minotaur and then find his way out of the labyrinth. (I am sorry for the spoilers if you didn’t know this, but I thought I was on safe ground due to the fact that the story has been in the public domain for a couple of thousand years)

So, getting back from that little aside, Asterius tells the story of the Minotaur who is chronicling the events leading up to his death and how he died.  Except this is Susana Imaginario telling the story, and things (as usual!) are not what they seem. For one, we get to see Asterius’s humanity rather than the monstrous alter ego that is portrayed in the myths and legends.

In Asterius, the minotaur has a distinct humanity. More so than some of the supporting characters in the story.

As expected, Asterius is a brilliant addition to the Timelessness series. Asterius is a sympathetic character and much like other fictional monsters, you can’t help but feel sorry for the creature, and even though you know the inevitable ending (again – a couple of thousand years people) how this ending comes about is cleverly upended by Susana Imaginario.

One of the highlights of the tale is the interactions between Theseus and Asterius as they talk over a number of different subjects  and how he came to be in the labyrinth.

The book is full of the sly wit and snarky humour that I have come to expect with these books, although there are portions of the book that are a little dark, but this is to be expected with the subject matter.

Asterius is a really good addition to the Timelessness series and leads to some interesting questions as to how this will fit into the wider arc of the series.