Reading recommendations - retellings?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Zelenka

Going home!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
2,921
Reaction score
488
Age
46
Location
Prague now, Glasgow in November
We have a thread on rewriting fairytales, but can anyone recommend any books that are retellings of myths (Greek, Roman, Norse, what have you)? Or better still, books where the myth is written as a fantasy story, if you see what I mean?
 

ProtoMatic

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Messages
165
Reaction score
22
Location
Oslo, Norway
We have a thread on rewriting fairytales, but can anyone recommend any books that are retellings of myths (Greek, Roman, Norse, what have you)? Or better still, books where the myth is written as a fantasy story, if you see what I mean?

Neil Gaiman's American Gods.
Pretty much all Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.
American McGee's Alice in Wonderland (this is a PC game, but still a cool reimagining of an old classic)
 

Zelenka

Going home!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
2,921
Reaction score
488
Age
46
Location
Prague now, Glasgow in November
Maybe this isn't quite what you're talking about, but there's the Niven/Pournelle Inferno:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(novel)

That's kind of the thing I was looking for, yes.

One thing I'm specifically interested in would be books where the myth is the story, as in say for instance I rewrote some of the Norse sagas set in a kind of fantasy-world Valhalla / Asgard where Odinn et al are the characters, and its written with dialogue etc like a normal high fantasy. That sort of thing. Where the gods themselves are the focus, not their interaction with humanity, as in things like 'American Gods'.
 

Esopha

bam pow zap.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 31, 2007
Messages
12,665
Reaction score
2,629
Location
Magic America
East by Edith Pattou is a good retelling, although its source is obscure. I enjoyed it a lot.
 

LisaHy

It's probably a tumour
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
198
Reaction score
41
Location
Gold Coast, Aus
They're hard to get now and about Celtic myths, but Kenneth C Flint's "Sidhe" books are good. They retell the stories of Lugh Lamfada, Cuculain and Finn McCumhal.

Cheers, Lisa.
 

AnnieColleen

Invisible Writer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
4,575
Reaction score
2,047
Location
Texas
This is probably unhelpful, but CS Lewis' Till We Have Faces is the Psyche myth.
 

Smiling Ted

Ah-HA!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
2,462
Reaction score
420
Location
The Great Wide Open
Some of Roger Zelazny's best-

We have a thread on rewriting fairytales, but can anyone recommend any books that are retellings of myths (Greek, Roman, Norse, what have you)? Or better still, books where the myth is written as a fantasy story, if you see what I mean?

Lord of Light - a retelling of Hindu/Buddhist myth
Creatures of Light and Darkness - Egyptian


And a book I've always thought of as a sort of Zelazny pastiche-
To Reign in Heaven by Steven Brust...Christian myth.
 

Zelenka

Going home!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
2,921
Reaction score
488
Age
46
Location
Prague now, Glasgow in November
Lord of Light - a retelling of Hindu/Buddhist myth
Creatures of Light and Darkness - Egyptian


And a book I've always thought of as a sort of Zelazny pastiche-
To Reign in Heaven by Steven Brust...Christian myth.

That's annoying - the Egyptian one would be ideal reading for what I'm doing, so that's the one Amazon has listed as out of print! :rolleyes:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far. I'm going to try and get hold of a few of these to read over the Holidays.
 

JBI

Banned
Joined
Oct 8, 2006
Messages
606
Reaction score
63
Location
Toronto Ontario
Short stories by Angela Carter. This of course is not your typical retelling since they are somewhat more "mature" (sexually and content wise) than any fairytales I have yet encountered. I warn you though, she mixes feminism with these things and has some shocking point of views that can scare the crap out of you. I would start with The Bloody Chamber. That's probably her best and best known collection.
 

Melisande

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Apr 19, 2006
Messages
1,027
Reaction score
311
Location
Finally in Paradise
The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It's the retelling of the fall of Troy, told through the eyes of Kassandra.
 

Shweta

gone
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 21, 2006
Messages
6,509
Reaction score
2,730
Location
Away
Short stories by Angela Carter. This of course is not your typical retelling since they are somewhat more "mature" (sexually and content wise) than any fairytales I have yet encountered.

Sounds like the original fairy tales to me :)
I've heard very good things about Carter. Should look her up. Thanks for the reminder!

...Probably not what you're looking for, Jess, but Diana Wynne Jones' Eight Days of Luke is pretty fun.

I've read a number of short story myth retellings, in the Firebird anthologies and the Green Man/Faery Reel/Coyote Road -- are those any use?

Then there's John Gardner's Grendel...
 

JerseyGirl1962

I heart Malamutes! :-)
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Messages
861
Reaction score
119
Location
Waaay West of NYC
We have a thread on rewriting fairytales, but can anyone recommend any books that are retellings of myths (Greek, Roman, Norse, what have you)? Or better still, books where the myth is written as a fantasy story, if you see what I mean?

I love that kind of stuff myself. :)

One of the books that I have is The Norse Myths, by Kevin Crossley-Holland. Excellent book, although I remember the print date as being 1980, so you'd have to find it used somewhere.

ETA: This looks like it's an update of the earlier book, and it looks like it's in stock.

I have another one that has retold myths from around the world, but I can't remember the name of it offhand. Another excellent book. If I remember when I get home, I'll check and see what the particulars are.

Yet another ETA: The name of the 2nd book is Favorite Folktales From Around the World, and it was edited by Jane Yolen. Excellent book; some of the tales are quite short.

~Nancy
 
Last edited:

Doodlebug

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 23, 2007
Messages
479
Reaction score
82
Location
Central Generica
Website
www.mscottfiction.com
Surprised no one has mentioned this yet!

Gregory Mcguire - Wicked (The Wizard of Oz)
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (Cinderella)
Mirror, Mirror (Snow White)
Lost (A Christmas Carol -sort of anyway)

He is a fantastic author! :D
 

chroniclemaster1

Seeking Undercover Angel
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
680
Reaction score
160
Location
San Diego, CA
Website
www.earthchronicle.com
I guess it depends what you mean. I'm hearing a lot of "collections" of mythology, either translated or abbreviated. There's also a lot of "retellings" which play fast and loose with the original text to tell the story creatively ;) and in a more artistic way for the author's own reasons. I'm probably more useful on the former front, I was an English major specializing in Medieval and mythological literature.

If you're interested in the Norse, the two classic works are by Snorri Sturlusson, an Icelandic chieftain/poet at a time when Iceland was one of the last outposts of Nordic "conservative culture". He could see that life and those stories slipping away and started to write them down. The Prose Edda, his his collection of the Norse mythology, and Heimskringla is his collection of the "histories"/legends of the Norwegian kings. There are also copies of the Elder Edda that you can pick up which are Norse mythological tales. There are also numerous Sagas; they aren't mythological but ~1/2 legendary dealing with the Nordic/Icelandic heros and read very similar to Beowulf (whether that turns you on or off). I can recommend several specifically if you're interested.

If you're interested in English tales, try the Mabinogeon which is some of the earliest tales from the British Isles. The Tain is the Celtic epic poem, Britain's closest equivalent to the Iliad and the Odyssey (also fabulous in their own right).

In Latin, Virgil's Aeneid, is the classic epic, but Ovid's Metamorphoses is probably the best original collection of mythology.
 

Zelenka

Going home!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 1, 2007
Messages
2,921
Reaction score
488
Age
46
Location
Prague now, Glasgow in November
I guess it depends what you mean. I'm hearing a lot of "collections" of mythology, either translated or abbreviated. There's also a lot of "retellings" which play fast and loose with the original text to tell the story creatively ;) and in a more artistic way for the author's own reasons. I'm probably more useful on the former front, I was an English major specializing in Medieval and mythological literature.

If you're interested in the Norse, the two classic works are by Snorri Sturlusson, an Icelandic chieftain/poet at a time when Iceland was one of the last outposts of Nordic "conservative culture". He could see that life and those stories slipping away and started to write them down. The Prose Edda, his his collection of the Norse mythology, and Heimskringla is his collection of the "histories"/legends of the Norwegian kings. There are also copies of the Elder Edda that you can pick up which are Norse mythological tales. There are also numerous Sagas; they aren't mythological but ~1/2 legendary dealing with the Nordic/Icelandic heros and read very similar to Beowulf (whether that turns you on or off). I can recommend several specifically if you're interested.

If you're interested in English tales, try the Mabinogeon which is some of the earliest tales from the British Isles. The Tain is the Celtic epic poem, Britain's closest equivalent to the Iliad and the Odyssey (also fabulous in their own right).

In Latin, Virgil's Aeneid, is the classic epic, but Ovid's Metamorphoses is probably the best original collection of mythology.

My question was more about the latter. I have the original versions myself, but what I was looking for were fictional versions of those stories, where a modern author has told them not as epic myths but as a normal story. I have a short story project and fancied doing some reading, as well as seeing who else was writing similar things.

Your post is excellent though for those who haven't read widely already, I would think :D Thank you for going to so much trouble.

Also thanks everyone who's posted. I am now £50 poorer thanks to Borders and I come home and have more books to add to the list! Fabulous. I hope my family think to give me book tokens this Christmas.
 

Shweta

gone
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 21, 2006
Messages
6,509
Reaction score
2,730
Location
Away
Arguably Lloyd Alexander's Prydain books are retellings. Of a (fast and loose) sort.
 

chroniclemaster1

Seeking Undercover Angel
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
680
Reaction score
160
Location
San Diego, CA
Website
www.earthchronicle.com
Ulysses by Joyce is definitely a different vision of a myth, though maybe not quite what you're looking for. Dante's Divine Comedy qualifies as well, though at 800 years old I'm betting most people think of it as Christian mythology in its own right.
 

clintl

Represent.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
7,611
Reaction score
603
Location
Davis, CA
If you can find a collection or anthology that includes it, Howard Waldrop's novella "A Dozen Tough Jobs" (a retelling of the Twelve Labors of Hercules) would be worth looking for.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.