Kindl, Patrice. Lost in the labyrinth.

Houghton Mifflin, 194p. bibliog, c2002. 0-618-16684-X. $16.00. JS *

Kindl, author of the YA novels Goose Chase, The Woman in the Wall, and Owl in Love, retells the ancient story of the maze and the Minotaur in this compelling tale. As she states in an Author's Note at the end, "This book is an attempt to reconcile the archeological findings with that myth," so the story differs in some ways from the traditional tale. For one, she has a queen rather than a king as the powerful ruler of Crete. Our heroine is the queen's gentle 14-year-old daughter, Xenodice, who loves animals, the handsome Icarus, and also her strange younger brother, who is hall-man, half-bull, kept hidden in the depths of the Labyrinth under the palace. This brother is known as the Minotaur to the Athenians, who send seven sons and seven daughters to the queen every year, to compensate for the killing of the queen's son in Athens. This year, one of those Athenian sons is the brash hero Theseus, son of the Athenian king, who is determined to kill the Minotaur. Xenodice's imperious older sister, Ariadne, falls in love with Theseus, and betrayals ensue, resulting in terrible tragedies. This is a fine version of the story in its own right, as well as an excellent companion to any study of mythology and ancient history. Kindl's writing is both terse and poetic, with a wry humor and a deep understanding of character. A powerful version of the myth: for all libraries.