First time novelist Sarah Cate Anstey recently released her debut novel “Dion: His Life and Mine” in the Amazon Kindle marketplace. The cunning UK native retells the ancient story of Ariadne and Dionysus, adding a unique and modern twist.

The story is told from the point of view of Ariadne, poised to tell the truth about her life with the infamous Dion, as well as her encounters with other famous players in Greek mythology. Anstey cleverly converts the wine god into a rock star and the horrors of mythology into lies from a greedy press.

The story is told in such a way that it feels out of time: somehow meshing elements of the ancient world with those of the modern one.

Anstey innovatively adds another dimension to the world she’s created by incorporating hyperlinks to press cuttings written specifically for her world. Anyone using an internet enabled device can follow the included links to read more about the characters, allowing the reader to fall deeper into the story.

While a base knowledge of Greek mythology is not necessary to understand the story, it certainly adds in its enjoyment, particularly when seeing how Anstey converted the ancient myths into a more modern and realistic story.

The novel starts out strong, truly investing the reader in the life of Ariadne as she makes her way from her childhood home of Crete to the world beyond the island. Each event that unfolds before her draws the reader in emotionally, stirring up feelings of empathy for her and those she is closest to.

Like most novels, the story has its ups and downs, drawing more interest at times and losing it at others. Ultimately, however, Anstey successfully stitches together several myths into one fluid story, and does a wonderful job explaining them in a modern context.

There is only one major pitfall of this book: the sudden and unsatisfying ending. It almost felt as though Anstey simply stopped writing. At the close of the story, there were still unresolved issues, leaving the reader feeling as though they did not get the complete story.

The real genius in this novel, however, is the online world created to go along with it. The details put into the press cuttings, available at www.mynovelideas.co.uk, really helped to shape the world Anstey created in “Dion.” The novel is worth reading to see how this original idea is integrated into the story, if for no other reason.

All in all, “Dion: His Life and Mine” is good for anyone interested in something different. The feeling of being somewhere between the mythical and the modern realm created by Anstey allows the reader to escape into a different world, and the myths represented here are not ones usually focused on in literature. It’s a great choice to break away from the hectic real world for an hour or two.

“Dion: His Life and Mine” is available in the Amazon Kindle store today.