Greek underworld his duty was to bring these souls to the underworld and no one would persuade him to do otherwise. Cerberus (Kerberos), or the "Hell-Hound", is Hades' massive multi-headed (usually three-headed) dog with some descriptions stating that it also has a snake-headed tail and snake heads on its back and as its mane. Born from Echidna and Typhon, Cerberus guards the gate that serves as the entrance of the underworld. Cerberus' duty is to prevent dead people from leaving the underworld. Heracles once borrowed Cerberus as the final part of the Labours of Heracles. Orpheus once soothed it to sleep with
In the Courts of the Crimson Kings will proceed to the next stage. Though both are unsure what this means, but they soon discover that three interplanetary "Gates" have opened up on Earth, Venus and Mars, each leading to another world. The book ends with Teyud and Jeremy visiting "Vow'da" (Moon-World) the new world on the other side of the Martian gate. "Publishers Weekly" called it "charming", and praised Stirling for "successfully creat[ing] a truly alien environment", but criticized his "inclusion of pirates with eye patches, heavily armored guards riding 'fat-tired, self-propelled unicycles' and other moments of near-parody." "Kirkus Reviews" lauded Stirling's "magnificently wacky Martian biological machines"