A short novel which centres on the mythical craftsman Daedalus, most famously renowned for creating the minotaur's prison, the labyrinth, and his attempt to escape Crete by wing with his son Icarus who dies after flying to close to the sun.

It's refreshing to read a novel based on Greek myth which is not another feminist reimagining of a mythical heroine. The story also has an original premise - what happens to Daedalus after his death as he seeks the ghost of his son in the Underworld, driven to ask him why he behaved so stupidly when flying away from Crete. Also present in Hell - I liked this - is Daedalus' nemesis, king Minos of Crete, newly appointed judge of the recently arrived dead. And it should be remembered a man cunningly murdered by Daedalus.

These are clever ideas, but I am not convinced the author made the best use of them. The tale does seem to lose its way rather as it proceeds. Daedalus attempts to enlist the aid of queen Persephone, steals the horses and chariot of Hades, gatecrashes a party on Olympus, asks for help from his old friend Ariadne, now the consort of Dionysus. It's all a bit frantic, full of good ideas, not quite fulfilled in the overall narrative. It's well worth a read though.