Must-Read Mythology Retellings

In this truly imaginative mythical tale, four mortals are guided by the goddess Aphrodite throughout World War I and World War II. With haunting and engrossing prose we see how each mortal’s story intertwines and connects, and reveals that, though War is a formidable force, it’s no match for the transcendent power of Love.

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant robots that battle aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain. When Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it is to assassinate the male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. She gets her vengeance by killing him through the psychic link between pilots and is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead…

This retelling of Sophocles’ Antigone follows the suspenseful and heartbreaking story of an immigrant family driven to pit love against loyalty, with devastating consequences. Two families’ fates are inextricably, devastatingly entwined in this searing novel that asks: What sacrifices will we make in the name of love?

For millennia, men have told the legend of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships—but now it’s time to hear her side of the story. Daughters of Sparta is a vivid and illuminating reimagining of the Siege of Troy, a tale of secrets, love, and tragedy from the perspectives of two women whose voices have been ignored for far too long, the infamous Helen and her sister Klytemnestra.

Ayana Gray shares a new kind of villain origin story, reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine. Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart’s deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.

A mythic love story set in Trinidad, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo’s radiant debut is a masterwork of lush imagination and exuberant storytelling — a spellbinding and hopeful novel about inheritance, loss, and love’s seismic power to heal.

Angrboda’s story begins where most witches’ tales end: with a burning. As punishment from the god Odin, the burning leaves Angrboda powerless, with no choice but to flee to the remote forest. Here she is found by the notorious trickster Loki, and the two fall in love and produce three children, each with their own secret destiny. But as Angrboda’s powers slowly begin to come back, she learns that her family is in danger and she will need to choose to accept their fate, or rise up to remake their future.

From the author of Mexican Gothic comes a one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore. The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey from the jungles of Yucatan to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.

In this powerful adventure, Simi serves the gods as a Mami Wata—a mermaid tasked with collecting the souls of those who die at sea. But when a living boy is thrown overboard, she goes against the gods and saves the boy’s life. But terrible things await those who dare defy the gods…

On the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter is a powerful force that claims unwary souls. Those that live in this land, including young Vasya and her family, must honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil. But when Vasya’s devout stepmother forbids the family from honoring the spirits, misfortune begins to take over the village. Intent on saving her family and village, Vasya will call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed to save everything she loves.

Elaine, the Lady of Shalott, is cursed with visions of the future. She sees the prophesies surrounding her friends—Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and Morgana—with most scenarios ending in tragedy. As fate closes in, Elaine must decide how far she will go to change destiny—and what she is willing to sacrifice along the way.

Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary life. But then the nightmares began. Dreams of intense brutality and blood haunt Yeong-hye, so she takes the drastic measure to give up eating meat entirely. It seems like such a small thing, but this choice interrupts her marriage and sets in motion an increasingly grotesque chain of events as those around her try to reassert their control. The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.

In this beautifully illustrated volume, the host of the hit podcast Lore serves as a guide on a fascinating journey through the history of the monsters that are part of our collective psyche, exploring not only the legends but what they tell us about ourselves. Because sometimes, the truth is even scarier than the lore.

In this sly and dazzling contemporary fantasy, the most notorious nine-tailed fox in Korea pairs up with a trickster god–turned–detective to track down a wrathful demon … before it can destroy the mortal world.

After being raised in the mortal realm, Persephone, the young goddess of spring has just arrived in Olympus, the glamorous world of the gods. When she goes to a party Persephone meets Hades and her whole world is turned upside down. Her infatuation with the charming ruler of the underworld will cause quite a stir in Olympus, and Persephone will need to navigate her place among the gods. Told as a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel, Lore Olympus is Greek mythology for the modern age.

The ingenious storyteller Edward Carey returns to reimagining a time-honored fable: the story of an impatient father, a rebellious son, and a watery path to forgiveness for the young man known as Pinocchio. With all the charm, atmosphere, and emotional depth for which Carey is known — and featuring his trademark fantastical illustrations — The Swallowed Man is a parable of parenthood, loss, and letting go.

Each story in this remarkable anthology completely reimagines every aspect of the vast lore surrounding King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. These stories will take readers across the world and through time with stories set in Gilded Age Chicago, Uganda, ‘80s New York, Singapore, and more and include gender-bent, race-bent, LGBTQIA+ inclusive retellings. Get ready to see the legend in a brand new light.

In Homer’s Iliad the Trojan queen and captive of Achilles, Briseis, is given few words and has largely been erased from history. But in this powerful retelling, Briseis is finally able to tell her side of the story. From forging powerful connections with the other female prisoners, to pulling the strings between two of Greece’s most powerful warriors, The Silence of the Girls gives new life to this extraordinary story.

Set in 19th-century Sri Lanka and inspired by local folklore, Island Witch follows the daughter of a traditional demon-priest — relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself — who tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal village.

Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. In order to exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls, young Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn, but with a catch…she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

T. H. White’s masterful retelling of the saga of King Arthur is a fantasy classic as legendary as Excalibur and Camelot, and a poignant story of adventure, romance, and magic that has enchanted readers for generations.