Love, unconquerable in battle,
Even immortals can’t escape you,
And mortals, in their one day’s dusk,
Tremble before your glory.

Sophocles’ Antigone

English is notoriously poor in words of affection, including nuances of “love”.  When used without qualifiers, the term exclusively signifies romantic/sexual emotions.  But love (and, for that matter, hate) among blood kin can be just as transforming — and not just the most commonly covered one between parents and children.  The bond between siblings is one of the most undersung in contemporary speculative fiction or most often annoyingly depicted as snarky bickering.

Sophocles knew of this love, one of the many he portrayed in his layered Antigone.  So did the Anon who wrote the most famous Balkan folk ballad, “The Dead Brother’s Song”, and the troubadours of the Akritiká lais.

And so does A.M. Tuomala. In her luminous, mythic Erekos, she limns the literally earthshaking love between sisters; and her magnificent, sweeping Drakon weaves the threads that join the heartstrings of three very different siblings.

To celebrate less-sung love, for the next three weeks you can read Erekos for the price of an Amazon review at https://storycartel.com/books/erekos