New title imagines Atlantis as real world prehistory

via GIPHY

So here’s a press pinata I’m bursting open today. My new title Poseidon and Cleito is on sale for a special pre-order price of $2.99 at Amazon, with delivery to your e-reader on August 29th. Thereafter, it’s on early release from Kindle Exclusive for $5.99 and available EVERYWHERE on December 5th.

My suggestion: use the three bucks you save to get a nice, grande iced coffee from Starbucks.

How about a look at the cover?

Nice, right?

Are you a book blogger, reviewer, or Goodreads user? Drop me a line, and I’ll send you an e-ARC to take a look at: ajpeters@andrewjpeterswrites.com. You can add the title to your Goodreads shelf here.

Here’s the publisher’s press release to tell you about the story:

Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy is pleased to announce the release of Andrew J. Peters’ fourth book Poseidon and Cleito, the story of how Poseidon became Poseidon and an intriguing portrait of the woman who Plato mentioned as his wife.

In the tradition of David Gemmell and Guy Gavriel Kay, Peters reimagines a well-known mythological character from a human perspective while illuminating a minor, female figure who was relegated to the margins by writers of the age.

Says Peters, “I consider Poseidon and Cleito my most ambitious book to date. Everyone knows Poseidon. It’s almost sacrosanct to break from the canon in portraying him. But I’ve always been curious about the origins of myths and the possibility that men became gods through the passing down of sagas that were embellished over the centuries. Similarly, I wanted to give a voice to a character who the Greeks didn’t tell us much about. Why didn’t Plato have more to say about Poseidon’s wife Cleito, other than putting her name in as a place-keeper in his very detailed account of the history of Atlantis?”

With rich description of its prehistorical setting, Poseidon and Cleito is parts speculative biography, a complex love story, and an action-adventure seasoned with a touch of fantasy. Peters plans to launch a series from this first book in his Atlantis saga.

“Poseidon and Cleito explores the Atlantis story from its early years,” Peters says. “It’s a kingdom that lasted for many centuries, and this first book provides some hints of what led to its demise and erasure from history. A mysterious magical element is introduced that will be developed more in future installments.”

The book is available through Kindle Exclusive through November, with worldwide retail release on December 5th.

Peters is best known for his portrayal of gay characters in mythic fantasy via The Seventh Pleiade, a 2014 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention, and his 2015 title Banished Sons of Poseidon. Both took inspiration from the Atlantis legend.

Says Peters, “I guess I’ve become an Atlantologist like Lewis Spence and Edgar Cayce. I’m drawn to conspiracies.” On writing a book with heterosexual characters and relationships, he says he was undaunted. “In a way, Poseidon and Cleito is a prequel to my earlier work, and I handled the material with the same subversive approach, though not with the specific intention of ‘queering’ popular mythology. That didn’t feel right for this particular story. But there are gay supporting characters and bisexual supporting characters. I don’t think I’ll ever write a story in which queer characters don’t exist.”

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