The amount of times I cried while reading this novella. Stellar writing that connected you deeply with Daedalus that when his story begins to unravel you feel betrayed yet still want him to have some bit of mercy. A great continuation to the story of Icarus that doesn't undo or rewrite - because it is a continuation - but adds depth and heartache that the original myth had.

Daedalus Is Dead is a Greek myth retelling of the story of the famous inventory of the Labyrinth and his search for his son through the Underworld. This book with appeal to fans of Jennifer Saint's Ariadne and Susanna Clarke's Piranesi.

This was haunting and devastating in the most beautiful way; a fever dream of myth and memory, grief and guilt. The prose is deliriously poetic, the kind that leaves you breathless, and the mythology is reimagined with a brutal intimacy that makes old stories feel painfully new. Absolutely gripping, emotionally harrowing, and unforgettable.

If Piranesi pulled you in with its eerie, enclosed atmosphere, Daedalus is Dead will feel familiar: a haunting, introspective journey through grief, memory, and myth.

Told as a letter to Icarus from the afterlife, this retelling doesn’t just revisit the myth, it refracts it. Daedalus becomes both architect and unreliable narrator, building a story as layered and shifting as the Labyrinth itself. Most effective to me was the subversion of expectations with our classic Minotaur and the development of that character relationship.

The prose leans lyrical, the structure hypnotic. It doesn’t chase clarity, it invites reflection. For readers who enjoy myth through a psychological, poetic lens, this one quietly burrows in and stays.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for the early e-ARC copy!

This... was something. It intrigued me at first because that OPENING gripped me by the throat and promised to not let go, but the swirling delirious storytelling lost me about 30% of the way in. I love the myth/story of Daedalus and the Labyrinth, so I was intrigued enough to keep going, but I don't think I really got anything from it on the backside. I think people who read Piranesi have a chance of liking this one, because it feels very claustrophobic and as though Daedalus is stuck in the Labyrinth the whole time, and Piranesi has a similar vibe stuck in that never ending house. I loved Piranesi, but can't say the same about this one, unfortunately.

Glad I read it though, it did some interesting stuff with the myth and characterization of Daedalus for sure.

Hated this. The prose was way too purple and I could not care about anything. The most pretentious way possible to tell this story. Which is a shame because I actually think the concept is quite good.

Thank you Netgalley!

Wow, I was incredibly impressed by this. The prose was beautiful and this interpretation of Daedalus is incredible. The story is told as Daedalus speaking to his deceased son Icarus after they’ve both died, with Daedalus recounting the events that brought them there and the efforts Daedalus made in the Underworld to reunite with his son. Slowly we start to realize that Daedalus is not recounting events honestly and is actually a pretty bad person—and that Icarus in life had realized that about his father right before his death. Daedalus LOVED his son, but that still didn't make him a good father. It was so incredibly done and I loved it.

Something I particularly loved was how it was repeatedly highlighted that Asterion, the Minotaur, was just a little boy. The contrast between how Daedalus loved his own son and how he aided in the mistreatment of Asterion was incredibly poignant and one of the earliest signs that Daedalus was an incredibly unreliable narrator.

I’m not usually a fan of open endings, but in this case I loved it. The story is one big letter to Icarus that ends, presumably, right before they reunite. We never actually get to see Icarus or hear his response to Daedalus and it feels so poignant.

Going back to Icarus and Asterion, the way I personally interpreted the ending is that Icarus and Asterion were the same person. We know Icarus’s soul went through the River Lethe and reincarnated sometime, somewhere, into something. Icarus loved and dreamed of being a hero, whereas Asterion consumes the thing that makes heroes, heroes. As Daedalus cries and bargains for the return of the son, the Minotaur appears on more than one occasion. The Minotaur chases Daedalus, but never attempts to harm him, something that makes Daedalus remark “I made you.” It seemed so obvious to me that I was certain it was going to be the reveal, however, the open-ending didn't disappoint me in the slightest.

Everytime I thought this book was done stabbing my heart, a new and sharper blade awaited on the next page.

This has been a great year for mythological retelling and renovating.

Daedalus is Dead takes a unique and unforgettable approach to the classic myth of Icarus and his wings. It speaks of fatherhood and creation, to forgetting and forgiving, and the impossibility of true understanding.

I don't think it would be possible for the emotional core of this novella to be any stronger than it is.

Myths retellings are all the rage now. And so, this debut, rather impressively, takes on a story of the man who made both the famous wings and the labyrinth. The former melted and the latter became a slaughterhouse, so you better believe he has some regrets. In life and in death.
This slim novel (or chunky novella) follows him in both, alternating timelines to reveal the "real story" behind the known story.
Daedalus is a dedicated father and a brilliant inventor, but also so much more, his fate inextricably tied to his masters, Minos, his daughter Ariadne, and his son, the Minotaur.
The more Daedalus story unravels, the more his metaphorical wings melt, until he's just another man, faulted and flawed and crashing down.

At first, I thought it was downright courageous of someone to write (and someone to publish) a book with a male protagonist in this day and age in the genre that usually sees female retellings. But as the book progresses, it becomes clear that this was only permitted to dismantle the protagonist, which is, frankly, tiresome and cliched, this "every man's a villain" thing that's happening in fiction.
Still, the story is clever, the writing is lovely (and only slightly overdone in purple), and this is a rather impressive debut. And, it stands to mention, an absolutely stunning cover. Thanks Netgalley.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I'm really excited for this book to get published because of how good it is. There's been a huge trend of books retelling old Greek myths but I rarely ever see Daedalus's story told.

Sullivan does a great job of telling this heartbreaking story through the eyes of Daedalus. He may have been a genius architect in Greek mythology but that doesn't make him a good father. I also liked how Sullivan left us wondering about Icarus's last thoughts. The readers and Daedalus are left to decide if we think Icarus was trying to not only escape his prison but also his father as well.

I think this book will be getting a lot of hype when it's released. It really delves into some common themes in Greek mythology while also exposing a side of Daedalus that is never talked about. Overall, great read!