Warning. These notes contain major spoilers relating to the contents of each tale. Please read the relevant story first.
The Chronos Chronicles are my alternative to Fifth Season HTLJ.
That wasn’t what they were going to be. In fact, originally I only intended to write one story - the first one, Hero’s Price - the idea for which came to me whilst watching fourth season Hercules and complaining that they weren’t really doing a lot with the rest of the Olympian gods.
So I came up with a plot that involved Artemis taking a holiday - and chasing down our favorite golden hunter for a little fun.
Then the very next week, I watched Porcules - and lo and behold, Hermes turned up, asking our heroes to recover the bow of Artemeis. Spooky, I thought. Especially when Iolaus ended up using the bow to hold Ares at bay.
I’d started on the story by then and had rounded off the plot with the Goddess revealing herself and claiming the aptly named Hero as one of her own. And I had a problem. Well, two problems actually. The first was the idea of the Chronos staff and its myriad peices - no way was Ares going to stop collecting the bits just because Herc had prevented him from getting two itty bitty peices. So there would be other cystals out there and all sorts of stories that would spring from that. And secondly, there was the whole idea of the Hounds of Artemis and what that was going to mean to a certain mortal Hunter who’d never asked for the honour but had certainly earned it ...
Sigh.
One long plot line followed.
It made sense to set the first story just after the end of 4th Season (although I had to quickly adjust some of the plot to Night of Ghosts and Shadows after we learned that Hera had taken that long dive down ...) For one thing, that was where I started, and - for another - I had no idea what the 5th Season was going to be like. Boy, am I glad of that.
Still, there do seem to be parallels. The Chronicles timeline will take our Heroes to places far from Greece - like Hyperboria and, later, mythical Babylon. The gods will interfere in events, and Iolaus has some tough times to face. So does Hercules. But, contrary to what I’m seeing of the real 5th season, I shall try and remain close to the spirit of the original mythology and the true power of the ancient gods - something for which I have a great deal of respect.
And Iolaus will remain an integral and important part of my story line - he’s been marked by the gods and by the gods he’s heading for his rightful place for the rest of eternity. As the Hound that runs at Hercules’ heels. It’s just going to take him a little while to realise it ...
Like the rest of his natural life.
With the odd detour to the Babylonian underworld and a trip to Tarterus he takes because he has too - via a magical arrow and the fact that suicides have an automatic ticket across the Styx whether Charon is on strike or not. (And no, I’m not saying how he gets out of that one - not until I’ve written the story anyway ...)
The Chronicles begin just after Hercules has decided to remain, only half a god and all hero, in the mortal realm. They will be written as if they were a season (or maybe two, it depends), including at least one crossover with Xena: Warrior Princess. (That’s episode four - and it begins a longer arc that will take our heroes on a quest that will test both them and their friendship before it’s over ...)
The rest of the Hercules family - like Salmoneus, Autolycus, Jason, and Iphicles will make appropriate guest appearences. The gods will appear as they please - Ares in pursuit of (and sometime using) those precious crystals. Artemis being - well, Artemis. Aphrodite playing her usual games. Hermes, Apollo, Zeus and Posiden adding presence as necessary.
The Muses will undoubtedly turn up somewhere along the way, and we will meet the rest of the Hounds of Artemis. The wildest, reckless, craziest bunch of demi-gods you’re ever likely to meet. A Greek variant on the Wild Hunt, each with their own myth and motivation yet fiercely loyal to the Huntress and her causes.
I hope that I can do justice to them all.
And I hope that you enjoy what I’ve done.
Please come back to these pages as the stories progress - I hope to add appropriate commentaries for each episode, explaining some of the source of my ideas and the approach I’ve taken. Comments, questions and constructive criticism will be welcomed.
Pythia.
April 1999.
