Title: Pretty Dark Sacrifice (Pretty Dark Nothing #2)
Publication date: July 28, 2015
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Heather L. Reid
It’s been five weeks, two days, and eight hours since the demons forced Quinn to throw herself into the raging river, since Aaron sacrificed himself to save her, since his body disappeared without a trace.
Everyone wants Quinn to move on, but she can’t, not after a spirit appears to her at Aaron's memorial, convincing her he’s still alive.
When a mysterious box materializes on the very spot Aaron disappeared, Quinn finds she’s at the center of an ancient prophesy of betrayal, revenge, and sacrifice that takes her to the depths of the underworld to face Lilith—Adam’s first wife.
If Quinn can stop Lilith from unleashing the demon horde Eve, trapped inside the box during the Battle of Eden millennia ago, she will save the human realm and free Aaron from an eternity in torment.
All it will cost is her blood.
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What type of research did you do into the lore/mythology of Lilith? Is there any truth in the book or is it all fictional?
Pretty Dark Sacrifice: Research and the Twisting of Myths
The myth of Lilith is an ancient one. Though most familiarly associated with Jewish folklore, she is said to have been inspired by stories from Mesopotamian, Sumerian, Babylonian, and Greek cultures, to name but a few. Though each story differs in her origin and purpose, they all agree that she is a dark figure. Google ‘The Myth of Lilith’ and you’ll find articles on everything from Lilith in art to accounts of her as a night demon, a succubus, a screech owl, and even some lore about vampires. For Pretty Dark Sacrifice, I wanted to focus on the Lilith of Jewish folklore. According to Jewish folklore, Lilith was Adam’s first wife. The two of them did not see eye to eye. Lilith did not want to be subservient to Adam and rebelled against him and against god. As punishment, she was banished from Eden and became the queen of the underworld and the mother of demons who sought revenge on the offspring of Adam and Eve.
For Pretty Dark Sacrifice, I’ve taken threads of Lilith’s myth, along with pieces of the biblical creation story, and added a dash of Greek mythology in the form of Pandora’s box, and twisted them together to create something new. My version is pure fiction, of course. In Pretty Dark Sacrifice, you’ll find that my version of Lilith is queen of the underworld and the mother of all demons. As in Jewish folklore, she was Adam’s first wife but that’s where things start to differ. Lilith loved Eden, but didn’t love being Adam’s wife. Unhappy, she begs The Light to be released from her vow. The Light agrees, but her release comes with a price, to be banished from Eden forever. In anger, she tricks Adam’s new wife, Eve, into taking the fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve cuts the ‘apple’ in half and gives a piece to Adam and takes a piece for herself. When Adam’s lips touch the fruit, smoke starts to appear. He drops the half of the apple as demons escape from within the poised fruit. As more and more demons appear, the destruction of Eden begins. Eve, seeing what happened when Adam dropped his half of the fruit, clasps her half in her fist, grabs a nearby wooden box, and places the fruit inside trying to contain the other half of Lilith’s demon horde. Full of regret, Eve’s tears fall upon the box locking the demons inside. Without her full horde, Lilith’s army is pushed back by an army on angelic warriors, but Eden is destroyed and Adam and Eve are now tainted. Unable to stay in the garden any longer, for their essences now resonate at a different frequency, they are tainted by the fruit and banished into a new realm. Because they’ve tasted darkness, the veil between the underworld and their new Earth, will be thin. You’ll have to read the Pretty Dark Sacrifice to see how all of this relates to Quinn, Aaron, and the future of the human realm. All I can say is that you’re in for a dark and wild ride.
ABOUT HEATHER L. REID:
Heather L. Reid is both American and British and has called six different cities in three different countries, home. Her strong sense of wanderlust and craving for a new adventure mean you might find her wandering the moors of her beloved Scotland, exploring haunted castles, or hiking through a magical forest in search of fairies and sprites. When she’s not venturing into the unknown in her real life, she loves getting lost in the worlds of video games or curling up by the fire with good story. For now, this native Texan is back in the Lone Star State, settling down with her Scottish husband and writing new tales of fantasy and horror.
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I'm currently reading this book right and loving it!
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