Origin of the Sphinx

Author: Raye Wagner

Book Format: PDF

Obtained: From author in return for a fair and honest review

My Rating: 4 stars

Pages: 56

Published: June 6, 2013 by Studio Opolis LLC

Synopsis:

In Ancient Greece, the invocation "May the Gods watch over you" was more than a spoken blessing. It was an entreaty for divine benevolence.

When Damon sees a beautiful woman alone, far from civilization, he can’t help but be drawn to her. But his life–as it should have been– is altered and twisted by the immortal touch of deity.

Damon’s daughter, Phoibe, is raised to be wary and distrustful of the gods.

And so she must choose–

If Phoibe marries a mortal, she risks eternal solitude for a moment of love.

If she follows her heart, she risks spurning a god.

The gods are powerful, and their knowledge is vast.

But the gods…

The gods are far from perfect.

Origin of the Sphinx is a novella detailing the story leading up to the creation of the mythological creature, the Sphinx. It is the beginning of the Sphinx series.

Review:

The author contacted me and requested a review of this novella. I do not know much about Greek Mythology, so I decided that I would give it a look.

Damon is a mortal that happened upon Hera – Queen of the heavens and goddess of marriage, women, childbirth, heirs, kings, and empires – one night and they ended up spending the summer together. The following year Hera returns, after leaving without a word at the end of the previous summer, and hands him a child, Phoibe. The child turns out to be his, but is a demigod.

When Damon falls for another woman, and decided to take her as his wife, Hera returns and lets her know that as long as they have Phoibe they will never be able to have children of their own. So, they send her to live with a local weaver, Priska, to be raised.

When Phoibe reaches womanhood she has to decide between a mortal, Isaak, who she absolutely adores and if very much in love with. Or, Apollo – God of light, music, arts, knowledge, healing, plague and darkness, prophecy, poetry, athleticism, manly beauty, and enlightenment – who she also found herself falling for.

After some thinking Phoibe finally makes her choice…little did she know that her choice was going to have dire consequences.

To me, this is a nice, refreshing novella. The author did a good job in developing the characters and story line. I feel that this story could be enhanced and turned into a really good novel as well. I rated it 4 stars because it was able to draw me in and keep my attention all the way through.

Available from: Amazon