by Erin Hayes
(Elysium Legacies #1)
Publication date: September 27th 2013
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Mythology
Caught between life and death, all Callie wants is to live again.
Homicide detective Callie Saunders knows that death isn’t all pearly gates and angels. After being hit by a bus, she finds that it’s the ancient gods and goddesses of Greek mythology who are in charge of everything.
So when Hades offers her a deal, she accepts. If she wants to be brought back to life, she’ll have to figure out who is trying to kill his son. But if she fails, both her soul and the world will be destroyed.
With the odds mounting against her, it’ll take everything she has within her to wake up from death. But the rules are constantly changing. And someone wants her to stay dead.
(This book was formerly titled Death is but a Dream. The covers and titles have changed for The Elysium Legacies, but the content is still the same.)
The other books in the series
Blood of the Gods: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Gods-Elysium-Legacies-Book-ebook/dp/B01MQVIJSX
Ruin of the Gods (releases September 8, on sale for $0.99): https://www.amazon.com/Ruin-Gods-Elysium-Legacies-Book-ebook/dp/B0721LL3ZX
Want a chance to win a copy? Enter here.
Sci-fi junkie, video game nerd, and wannabe manga artist Erin Hayes writes a lot of things. Sometimes she writes books.
She works as an advertising copywriter by day, and she’s an award-winning New York Times Bestselling Author by night. She has lived in New Zealand, Hawaii, Texas, Alabama, and now San Francisco with her husband, cat, and a growing collection of geek paraphernalia.
Excerpt
“You’re blackmailing me,” I sneered at him, fury raging within me at the realization. “You want me to do something in return before you allow me to wake up.”
He raised his hand in a gesture of supplication. “Not blackmail,” he assured. “I’m looking to employ you for a time.”
I recoiled. “Employ me? As what? Muscle? Is this the Underworld’s version of the Mafia?” Now that I thought about it, Hades did remind me of a mob boss. He even looked like some I knew. “I don’t play that, sorry.”
Hades grinned. “I want to make a deal with you, Callista. You find out who is trying to kill my son. Give me a name and a motive. And I’ll restore you to life.”
I grew up watching Hercules and Xena on TV, which was my first foray into the world of Greek mythology. In that world, gods and goddesses played with mortals like you and me. There were elements of action, and there were elements of drama. Most of all, I remembered it being fun.
Move forward about ten years. I was in high school, and I was an avid Japanese manga fan. Back then, I wanted to draw my own comics. I drew a character and labeled her as Hades’ daughter. I created an entire world around that character and a young adult story to go with it. This isn’t that story. At least, not in that form. In fact, since then, I’ve evolved that story many times, to where it’s almost indistinguishable from the original idea. It’s never left me though, so ten years after that first drawing, and nearly twenty years after watching my first Hercules episode, I sat down to write this book.
I will say, that while I spent a good deal of time researching Greek mythology to tell this story, I have taken a few liberties in order to create a modern story. Some of the characters are reimagined. For others, I chose the source that met my ends. And then we come to the royal family of the Underworld. A lot of mythology says that Hades, as the God of the Underworld, was unable to produce offspring because Death can’t create Life. Some texts even said that the Furies were his children.
I did find an article that talked about Plutus, the God of Wealth, who was often confused with Pluto, the God of the Underworld, who was also in charge of wealth. Another source said that he actually was Hades’ son, which I honestly found to be pretty cool and a great foil to myths about the Underworld. My wheels started turning, and that character played a big role when I started setting up the plot for this story.
I hope you enjoy this book that is nearly twenty years in the making. I know I enjoyed writing, developing it, and seeing my characters come to life. I hope you like this crazy ride for Callie.
