Greek gods overdone?

mrockwell · Sep 28, 2008

Just reading through some of the older threads, and I came across the one on the July YA-centric issue of Locus:

dawinsor said:
The July issue of Locus (magazine about SFF publishing) focuses on YA, so if you're writing that, you might want to pick it up. There are a number of interesting pieces in it, but I particularly liked Sharyn November's. She's an editor at Viking Children's Books and Editorial Director for their Firebrand line. She made several good points about what constitutes YA (different age groupings, for instance) and what the trends are. Then near the end of her column, she talked about what's missing and what's overdone. Missing is YA SF that's not dystopia or steampunk; non-white, non-Western voices; female protagonists. Overdone, according to an informal poll she took among booksellers and librarians: faeries, werewolves and other shapeshifters, vampires, dragons, the Greek gods, trilogies, pirates, zombies, teen superheros, teenaged Evil Genius, boarding school, mean girls, underground cities, the Victorians, the Male Chosen One, and retold Fairy tales.

I'm curious about YA fantasy involving Greek gods being overdone (mainly because my own WIP involves an alternate world ancient Greece). Aside from the Percy Jackson books (which I sort of thought were more MG), what other Greek mythology-based YA fantasies are out there? Does anyone know?

Again, TIA!

-- Marcy

bethany · Sep 29, 2008

The Lightning Thief series is really popular.

Tera Lynn Childs' Oh My Gods series just sold movie rights and some other major stuff.

mrockwell · Sep 29, 2008

bethany said:
The Lightning Thief series is really popular.

Yeah, those are the ones featuring Percy Jackson.

bethany said:
Tera Lynn Childs' Oh My Gods series just sold movie rights and some other major stuff.

I found that one last night after a bit of googling.

All of the examples I've found seem to deal with the Greek gods being active in our time, or else with characters ("real" or fictional) that inhabited the ancient Greece we know from history. Mine doesn't do either, so I think I'm okay. The trick is to pitch it so the differences are readily apparent, I guess.

BTW, Bethany, the premise of Handcuffs sounds really intriguing. I'll definitely be picking it up!

-- Marcy

Fillanzea · Sep 29, 2008

What about Carolyn Hennesy's Pandora books? (Pandora Gets Jealous, upcoming Pandora Gets Vain). The premise is very cute, excellent cover design too - haven't read it myself yet, though.

Esther Friesner's Helen books (Nobody's Prize, Nobody's Princess) don't really count, I suppose, as they're a decidedly DEmythologized version of the story.

mrockwell · Sep 29, 2008

I hadn't heard of the Pandora books -- thanks for the info! I'll go tcheck those out.

-- Marcy

bethany · Sep 29, 2008

mrockwell said:
Yeah, those are the ones featuring Percy Jackson.

I found that one last night after a bit of googling.

All of the examples I've found seem to deal with the Greek gods being active in our time, or else with characters ("real" or fictional) that inhabited the ancient Greece we know from history. Mine doesn't do either, so I think I'm okay. The trick is to pitch it so the differences are readily apparent, I guess.

BTW, Bethany, the premise of Handcuffs sounds really intriguing. I'll definitely be picking it up!

-- Marcy

Marcy, thanks!

I think it's wise to do preliminary research to what's out there, but also to believe in your own premise and at the end of the day--if you love it--go with it!

Ray Veen · Sep 30, 2008

I don't think you can let yourself worry about what else is out there. As we all know, it's impossible to come up with a totally new idea, we can only combine old ideas in fresh ways. If that's what you're doing, Mrockwell, put on a nice thick pair of blinders and go for it.

Personally, I've just had the most wonderful idea about a school for wizards. What do you think?

Greek gods overdone?

mrockwell

Just another genre hack

bethany

:)

mrockwell

Just another genre hack

Fillanzea

mrockwell

Just another genre hack

bethany

:)

Ray Veen

MECHANIZED