Review of Death's Daughter

Just to forewarn you that this blog will contain spoilers for various books, mostly those in the science fiction genre but may contain other books from different genres as well.  In my previous post I mentioned I was starting to read Inhuman Resources.  I am still reading this book but I had just recently completed the novel Death’s Daughter. 

The funny and witty words of Amber Benson bring old myths and legends to an original storyline called Death’s Daughter.  Death’s Daughter is a fantasy science fiction novel. It is the first book in the Calliope Reaper-Jones series published in 2009. This novel brings myths to life and contains magic. Death’s Daughter is an entertaining and satisfying novel.

The intended audience for Death’s Daughter is anyone and everyone who loves the fantasy genre and can appreciate the ancient Greek references and influences. It is for anyone who likes realistic characters in an unrealistic world and strong entertaining main character.  Death’s Daughter is a book for those interested in a fun and entertaining story, one that caught and kept my interest throughout the whole book.

Myths and legends changed with new modern ideas gave this author a brand new world to convey her story and adjusted it as she pleased. The major myths of the book are an underworld kingdom, death personified as the Reaper, the three headed dog guarding the gates to the underworld, and the concept of immortality. These myths can all be traced back to ancient Greek and some, like the Reaper, even farther back.  In this book, the three headed dog is personified. They can talk, are intelligent, and can be stubborn, but they are also a lot like normal dogs.   The idea of immortality has also been modified by the author in the world of Death’s Daughter. Each immortal has one and only one weakness in the entire universe, unlike many stories where immortals have no weaknesses. The Reaper, death personified, has also been changed and in this series is the CEO of Death, Inc and the only time a CEO can die is when they retire or quit. When a new CEO is brought in the members of the board have to set three tasks that needs to be completed by the new CEO candidate. All of these tweaks in the myths help make the story more and more interesting as you read how it affects the characters.  

The main character is Calliope Reaper-Jones, nicknamed Callie. She is the daughter of the Reaper and her mother is a mortal made immortal, as Callie’s father can make his family live an immortal life as long as he does. Callie wanted to be a normal person with no knowledge of the supernatural world, but she had to come back when her father was kidnapped and she had to take over the position of CEO at Death, Inc.  This is the basis for the entire plot and the twists and turns of the story are instrumental in creating the surprises that appear in the story.

Callie does go through major character development in Death’s Daughter. She learns about the world she wants to forget and loses some of her ignorance to it. She also begins to understand her father in a way she never has now that she has his power and responsibility.  Callie also

starts, in this novel, to appreciate the work that her father does even if she doesn’t want to do it herself.  She realizes she can’t run away from who or what she is and that she has to learn to accept it and move on.

The majority of the characters that appeared the most were three-dimensional in this novel; they are very lively. These characters all show a variety of emotions: anger, fear, ignorance, happiness, among others and they each changed in some way. Only characters that are mentioned briefly can be described as flat: Thalia, Callie’s sister and the antagonist, the Devil, Indra, a movie actor, Brian, Callie’s blind date in the beginning, Callie’s mother, who in her own way is an antagonist to Callie’s protagonist and Callie’s father, who we barely meet except in Callie’s memories.  They all show only one side of them and stay consistent throughout the story.

Amber Benson, the author, is also an actress.  Her most famous role was as Tara, a witch, in the Buffy: the Vampire Slayer series.  She was in seasons three through six. I really enjoyed the TV series.

Death’s Daughter is one of those books that I could sit down and read in one sitting.  It grabbed my attention from the start.  I recommend this novel to anyone with a liking for the supernatural fantasy genre.  I hope if you do try this novel you will like it as much as I have.