The Icarus Aftermath – Book Review

Have I got a great read to share with you today, my noble questers and curious bookdragons! If you love space opera, Greek mythology, found family, banter, and feels… let me introduce you to The Icarus Aftermath by Arielle M. Bailey.

First off, I love this girl to pieces, She’s intelligent, witty, and has a deep understanding of people—all of which shows up in her writing.

Secondly, The Icarus Aftermath is basically Greek mythology meets Star Wars. And even I, not having an extensive background in either of those things (hang on, don’t take my nerd card) loved the combo!

About the Book

With their best captain gone, Talos steps up to lead the Rebellion’s fighters. First objective: take out the Labyrinth. Only problem? No one can find its key.

Koralia thinks she can find it, or at least an alternative. She didn’t count on uncovering secrets that could rock the galaxy to its core. Now she’s rushing to find a solution before everything blows up in their face.

If they don’t destroy the Labyrinth soon, the Rebellion, the planets they protect, and an entire race of people are all doomed.

Greek Mythology meets Star Wars in this retelling of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth.

Find the book:

• Goodreads
• Amazon

Connect with Arielle Bailey:

• Instagram
• intuitivewritingguide.com

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Okay, does that not sound like a GREAT STORY already? I’m a sucker for rebellion plots, for one thing. And for another, these are rebels worth caring about.

Ensemble Cast of Nuanced Characters

Stars, these characters. My favorite thing was that nobody was defined by just ONE THING. They’re layered, nuanced, and human.

We’ve got Koralia, who’s more than just a smart, kick-butt Amazon warrior. She’s also a woman grieving the loss of the love of her life. She doesn’t shut everyone out and fly solo, even though she could. She actually reaches out with kindness and loyalty in the midst of what she’s going through.

Then there’s Talos, the serious, stressed commander dude trying to figure out how to fill his dead brother’s shoes. Yet he’s also someone who’s observant, cautious, attentive, and can even crack some smiles.

Oh, and let’s take about Mikon, my love. (I am adopting him.) Mikon isn’t just a playful, youthful half-olympian who has trouble handling his emotions. He’s also surprisingly mature and aware of others.

And Xuthos isn’t just your run-of-the-mill bad boy. He also has admirable undercover skills, a great memory, and a vulnerable side.

I could go on, but as you’ve probably already surmised, this is a character driven story. Yes, there’s definitely a plot. It’s about a rebellion called the Kallistratus trying to take down a space Labyrinth (c’mon now, that’s just awesome) and stop a threat that’s growing across the galaxy.

But in a way, the whole plot is there to serve the characters. How they’re growing, changing, and processing grief is what takes center stage, and all the rebellion stuff matters to us mainly because it matters to them.

Spaceship, Spaceship, Spaceship!

Ahem, that was a Lego Movie reference.

Speaking of plot, though, you can expect…

• high stakes action
• spaceship battles
• espionage-y moments
• politics
• family drama
• one of my favorite plot tropes, which I won’t actually mention here because #spoilers
• an ending that was a great balance of inspiring pre-battle speeches, a ticking clock, action, pain, and hope

I read in someone else’s review that this felt like episode one of an epic TV show, and I agree! Thought it’s more like the first several episodes, and I’m so curious to see where it’s all going to lead! Apparently there’s something like another seven books planned. 😀

Found Family & The Swearing Ban

THE SWEARING BAN, oh my goodness. Among the Kallistratus, you have to earn the right to curse. (A rule which leads to some of my favorite funny moments, by the way.) I loved that little idiosyncrasy about them.

I just love the Kallistratus in general. If found family is your favorite thing in the world, then you need this book in your life. These people aren’t related by blood, but they chose each other and treat each other like siblings. Hooray for truckloads of platonic guy-girl relationships! And another cheer for the way the story took time for real, hard, honest conversations… but also peppered it all with humor.

Have you ever wished your favorite movie/show would give you an episode of everyone just hanging out and doing domestic life together? (I always wanted that for the Avengers, haha, and the closest we ever got was that party in Age of Ultron where everyone’s trying to lift Thor’s hammer.) The Icarus Aftermath does that. It doesn’t take away from the ongoing storyline, but you get slices of their lives and daily interactions… their banter, pranks, and the way they love each other.

(While we’re on the topic of swearing and relationships, by the way, I’ll just take this moment to mention there’s talk of people sleeping around—I mean, this is based on Greek mythology, hello, but way milder than some of the myths actually are. And yes, there is a bit of language, but I’d peg it all at a PG-13 movie rating. Do, of course, use your own discretion in deciding age appropriateness.)

Realistic Grief

This story is exactly what the title says. The Icarus Aftermath. It’s about a family dealing with the loss of one of their own, a beloved brother in arms.

Icarus is only around for one scene before he perishes. And you’d think that starting off a space battle and the death of a central character might be a cheap way to begin a story, because how are you supposed to care about someone you’ve only read about for three pages? But even though this breaks a lot of the writing advice I’ve heard, it turned out beautifully. Somehow there was enough emotion and humanity captured in chapter one that I felt the loss right away. I felt the shock and horror of Icarus’s loved ones watching him go down in flames.

And as I got to know him better through the eyes of his chosen brothers and sisters, his superior, and his lover, I felt their grief all the more keenly and grew to love Icarus after the fact. I cared about him as an extension of caring about everyone else who knew him.

The subject of grief was explored in such a real way, too. It’s not a one-time event but an ongoing thing that comes in waves and takes characters by surprise in the middle of the simplest tasks. They’re having a conversation and all of a sudden someone is crying because they miss him, or they’re angry that he’s gone and at a loss for what to do with the empty space he left.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book open with a crucial character death like this before. At least not the FIRST book in a series. I mean, there are books like Insurgent by Veronica Roth, in which characters deal with deaths from the book before. But to open up with a death and then spend the rest of the story dealing with that? Props to Arielle for handling it so well!

Next Book, Please?

I can’t wait to see where this series goes! I want to see what the rebellion is going to be go against, and above all, I want MORE OF THESE CHARACTERS.

The Icarus Aftermath gets five glowing stars from me!

Audeamus.

Let us dare.