The Flame in the Maze picks up the thread of the tale begun in The Door in the Mountain. The Princess Ariadne is scheming to bring her hated half-brother Asterion to ultimate ruin; Asterion himself, part human, part bull, is grappling with madness and pain in the labyrinth that lies within a sacred mountain; Chara, his childhood friend, is trying desperately to find him. In a different prison, Icarus, the bird-boy who cannot fly, plans his escape with his father, Daedalus--and plots revenge upon the princess he once loved. All of their paths come together at last, drawn by fire, hatred, love and hope--and all of them are changed.