Indian Myths

The World's Greatest Myths and Legends

by Jake Jackson (Editor)

India, one of the great, ancient civilizations spawned a fascinating canon of myths and legends. With multiple gods, and a riot of colour and character this fantastic new book, Indian Myths, explores the themes and landscapes that created the tales, and reveals the boundless energy that has brought us the Ramayana,The Mahabharata, and retells the stories of Krishna, Buddha and Shiva, and some of the many different versions of creation.

FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Religion, Folklore, Collections, Classics

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 8, 2018

About the author

SF and dark fantasy author but also a writer/creator of practical music books - Beginner's Guide to Reading Music, Guitar Chords, Piano Chords, Songwriter’s Rhyming Dictionary and How to Play Guitar. Other publications include Advanced Guitar Chords, Advanced Piano Chords, Chords for Kids, How to Play the Electric Guitar, Piano & Keyboard Chords, Scales and Modes and Play Flamenco. Also editor of Mythology books 

Released EP Jakesongs on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, LastFM, etc and on CDBaby. Lifelong passion for fantastic worlds of any kind, from movies to fiction, art to music, posters, album and paperback book covers.

Jake Jackson is the artist name for Nick Wells, Publisher of Flame Tree Press / Flame Tree Publishing.

Reviews

[S. Nash · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have read more passages of this book before buying it. Yes, the Mahabharata is a glorious tale, but it seemed to me that other versions I've read were much longer. Needed some editing for sure. This book feels like the Reader's Digest of Indian Mythology. Disappointing.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good but a sudden rise in typos in the second half

[Ximena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gusta leer las leyendas y mitos de diferentes regiones del mundo, porque es una forma de aprender sobre su cultura y cosmovisión. Este es el tercer libro que leo de esta serie sobre mitos alrededor del mundo, y aunque fue interesante también fue díficil leerlo en algunas ocasiones; tuve que detenerme a buscar algunas cosas en Internet, para un libro que maneja muchas palabras de hindú y su cultura, hubiera preferido un glosario. Disfruté la lectura de la épica del Ramayana y Mahabharata. A través de ellos pude darme cuenta de la influencia de la religión en la cultura hindú, viendo incluso como los propios héroes se retiraban a rezar y vivir en austeridad para cumplir con su deber.

[Ben Hecking · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a brief introduction to some of the famous works of ancient Indian literature, myths and legends for an upcoming project and this provided me with that and with enough fire in the belly to go and seek out fuller, more academic and complete translations of the work but I found this to be a decent enough primer.

[Mikayla Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5
The book was educational and intriguing, but I felt it focused too much on the 12 brothers/Gods rather than general Indian mythology and tales. - Part of the Flame Tree Mythology and Tales Collector's Edition.

[Conrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The easiest of this series to read so far. I believe it's because over half of the book is one continuous story of the saga of the Mahabharata. I also enjoyed the section of stories with advice at the ends.

[Hillery Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful work of art!

[Andrew Holloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the part about the Mahabharata. Some of the relationships between men and women seem problematic today. Maybe it's a cultural thing or maybe it's because these texts are so old.

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is the reason I wish Goodreads had half stars. This is my favorite book in the Myths & Legends series so far. It was certainly the most engaging. I liked the last couple of sections where the last line included the moral or idea the myth was trying to teach. While mythology is usually left up to interpretation, when dealing with an unfamiliar culture, it is helpful to know what the writer wants you to take away from the story.

Much like the Egyptian Myths books in this series, the stories were superficial and very disjointed. The authors seemed to struggle bringing the stories to life. Here, depth and context were sacrificed for a higher quantity of oversimplified myths. Anyone familiar with the source material is bound to find this book frustrating, and newcomers won’t fully grasp any of the intricate layers.

Again, I wish there were captions under the illustrations. Indian mythology has fascinating and beautiful representations of their gods, but the lack of captions made it difficult to appreciate them. There was also a large rise in typos in the second half of the book, which detracted from an already slow reading experience.

[2.5 stars, hardcopy read]
[#12 of 2024 New Reads]

[Melinoë · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting introduction to Indian myths.