A delirious and gripping story of fatherhood and masculinity, told through the reimagined destinies of Greek mythic figures Daedalus, Icarus, King Minos, and the Minotaur.
Daedalus of Crete is many things: The greatest architect in the world. The constructor of the Labyrinth that imprisoned the Minotaur. And the grieving father of Icarus—plunged into the sea as father and son flew from the grasp of the tyrannical King Minos.
Now that Daedalus is dead, he seeks to reunite with Icarus in the Underworld. Daedalus will confront any terror to see his son again—whether it be the vengeful spirit of Minos, the cunning Queen Persephone, or even the insatiable ghost of the Minotaur.
But a shocking realization follows in his wake. As Daedalus encounters the souls from his past, he begins to worry that his identity as a husband and father, mentor and friend was all a lie. And that the truth, stalking him in the labyrinth of his own heart, might be too monstrous for him to bear.
"Poetic and poignant... Suffused with a striking emotional depth, building up to a gut-wrenching climax. Overall, Daedalus is Dead reads like an achingly beautiful letter from a flawed father to a vanished son... A short and searing book that had me in tears by the end."
Locus Magazine
"An accomplished and powerful story about love, obsession, and the labyrinth of lies that we build around ourselves. Sullivan breathes new bold life into old myths by asking one devastating question: Why did Icarus do it?"
