Polynesian Island Myths

The World's Greatest Myths and Legends

by Jake Jackson (Editor)

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The Polynesian triangle covers Easter Island, Hawaii, New Zealand and the many isles in between. The legends of the region are based on the creation of land, fish, sea, valleys and the volcanic outcrops scattered across the long stretches of the Pacific.

The beautiful myths of the ancient Polynesians are brought together in this new from Hawaii the Rainbow Maiden of Manoa undulates through the valleys and rainbow mists; the creator Maui releases his fish hooks into the sea to raise the islands to the surface; and tales of Pele the Fire Goddess, who hurls fountains of molten rock into the air creating vast flows of lava. From the Maori of New Zealand come the strange fruit of darkness, the tales of Tiki and the Great Mother from whom the gods descend, then humankind. And from Polynesia, more legends of Maui creating the ancestors, and Hina the moon goddess. Such myth-making joy creates a rare unity in diversity as the ancient Polynesians strove to explain the beauty and darkness of their lush ocean worlds, now offered in this new selection of myths and legends.

FLAME TREE 451 : From myth to mystery, the supernatural to horror, 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

255 pages, Paperback

Published October 27, 2020

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

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first want to start off by saying, that this review is catagorically not of the Polynesian myths themselves- which I find to be some of the most compelling and fascinating of any mythology. Unfortunately this negative review is solely of this particular book. I had such high hopes going in, as these myths are particular favourites of mine, and do not get enough attention or recognition alongside more 'popular' mythologies. The fact this collection focused on more than just Hawaiian island mythos, was also a huge draw- as these again, are stories often under explored by western culture. The problem, however was that this book, does not tell the myths as stories. Instead it opts for telling them as dry and difficult to follow academic essays. This is not helped by the small writing and list like, matter of fact way in which these are spelled out. This reads more like a university textbook, than a collections of myths- which is just so unfortunate. I think unless you are studying these myths and their origins at a high level of academia- this book will probably go over your head a little. I honestly had a headache after just a few pages, which is such an unbelievable shame. I'd say if you are interested in these myths, but dont want to feel as though you are reading a very long Wikipedia entry, that you try and track down another collection. This took me a very long time finish for such a short book.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The presentation of these myths undercuts their story-structure. The majority of myths collected here feel less like stories than anthropological notes and summary. The Maui stories are a high-point, but too much work is required to enjoy the stories collected here. This is a shame given that Polynesian myths do not receive a comparable level of attention as Western and Eastern Asian cultures receive.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in this book are great, but the editing is not. It has a feeling of being quickly thrown together from other sources. There are repetitive sections and typos throughout. The subject matter is incredibly fascinating.

[Lefty · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is awful. It feels like it was written by early AI, honestly. It's close to being believable, but something is off about the text and it's hard to put a finger on what exactly the problem is, much like looking at an AI image... it's close but off.

[sanjana · Rating 2 out of 5]

it’s a shame because these are such interesting stories but they’re told in a way that is so incredibly boring and overwhelmingly pedantic