Book excerpt: Saberhagen, continues the Book of the Gods series that began with The Face of Apollo. Shiva has overthrown the rightful King Minos of Crete and in his place put a minion of the gods of Death. Sacrifices are demanded. Theseus, a young hostage, and his companions are doomed, unless Princess Ariadne, her brother Ariadne is the daughter of the King Minos. The creature in the Labyrinth is her brother Theseus is a young man sentenced to be sacrificed by the gods, with whom Ariadne falls deeply in love. She conspires to spare him from his grisly fate, but doesn't count on Dionysus stepping in to complicate matters. With mystical beasts and whimsical gods confronting them at every turn, Ariadne and Theseus must find their way through a maze of events that are as twisted as they are dangerous.