Mythic Fiction discussion

Welcome new members to Mythic Fiction : )

Please tell us a little about yourself and what your favorite books are.

I'm Laura, and I read The Lord of the Rings when I was eight. In 1964. I like books, bread and butter (crunchy and unsalted, respectively) and tea and trees and birds and cats and most people. Now I live in post-agricultural New Hampshire, where Spring is slow to come.

I have too many favorite books. Naomi Novik and Ben Aaronovitch.

Hi all. I'm Kernos aka Bill, from the Ozarks in the US. I have had a book category, historical-mythic fantasy in which I put books that are retellings of mythic or legendary characters of yore. Following are my favorite authors in this category:

Juliet Marillier
Stephen Grundy
David Gemmell
Jack Whyte
Jules Watson
Stephen Lawhead
Morgan Llywelyn
Mary Renault
Dan Simmons
Mary Stewart

How could I have forgotten Mary Renault? She had a lot to do with my being a Classics major (&, I am afraid, with my daughter having it even worse, she is a Classics grad student).

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned Evangeline Walton.

Stephen Grundy, Mary Renault and Morgan Llewelyn are favorites of mine. They've written all my favorite mythic fiction.

Gasp, I forgot Evangeline Walton. She is definitely on my list :blush:

I am delighted to discover people interested in Classical studies. I have tried to fill that gap in my education by reading, but it has been hit and miss. I had a lot of Latin in school, but wish I had taken Classical Greek.

Do you have recommendations for other historical fiction/fantasy writers for the Classical era?

HI!
My name is Mary, or on twitter XchylerConn (my pen name) I love ancient myths Greek Roman Egyption and Native american are my favorites. Sadly I havent read any book books on them. Some of my favorite authors are JK Rowling Elizabeth Isaacs and Poe... just to name a few. I have a blog dedicated to authors I host them and make posts Tweet FB reccomend and such. So if your book needs attention check out http://www.mysticthoughts-xc.blogspot... there is also a link on there for the FB. Well thats about it I think I hope I fit in somewhere amongst you guys!

Mary wrote: "HI!
My name is Mary, or on twitter XchylerConn (my pen name) I love ancient myths Greek Roman Egyption and Native american are my favorites. Sadly I havent read any book books on them. Some of my ..."

Hi Mary - your link doesn't work....

I fixed it :) sorry

My name is Marlene K. Slade. I am a GoodReads author. I love supernatural and dark fiction stories and many other genres. Good Reads is such a wonderful site to find many great reads. The Celestial Selenite Scry

Hello I'm new, my name is Jenn. I tend towards fantasy/magical realism, but LOVE it when myths are thrown in too. Let's see, a current book I LOVE is Garden Spells, some of my old favourites are: The Shining Falcon(which add myths and legends from Russia) and cannot forget the David Eddings

Hi, I just joined this group and figured I should probably introduce myself before I post a ton ;)

I'm Eden and my first UF/Mythic Fiction was released on Kindle and Smashwords last Sunday (3.13).
My publisher just emailed me this morning and said it should be available in print "sometime this week" ...

What's interesting is that I never realized I liked fantasy. I'm not sure how I even picked it up again as an adult, but I tended to avoid it, thinking I didn't like it.
But then I go through the books I loved as a kid (I started reading at 3, so I've read a lot!), and almost everything I *really* adored happened to be fantasy.
Now it's pretty much all I read, with a few exceptions.

My book is Mythic Fiction in that I'm obsessed with faeries -- have been forever -- and I did a ton of research when I started writing, and the Celtic mythology of faeries is what struck a chord with me, so I went gung ho with that and then based my characters and a world off of that, but in modern day and this world, therefore making if urban fantasy, as well :)

Hi, I'm Karen!

I like the colour blue, math, sports and reading of course.

My favourite books are probably the following:
The True Meaning of Smekday
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Graceling + Fire
The Dragon Princess
Cinderellis and the Glass Hill

and a whole lot more ;)

I really do like mythic fiction, especially anything about the greek gods, they're pretty awesome!

Hi, I'm Falon.

I have always loved reading myths. I had a book when I was little that had a lot of Greek, Egyptian, and Native American myths and so I knew all of the stories really well. (I was really surprised in high school when I realized that most people do not know who Perseus and Isis and Loki are.) I mostly read fantasy novels, but lately I haven't really had a lot of time for fun reading since I am an English major, so I have started reading the classic fairy tales since they are pretty short.

My favorite fairy tale retelling I have ever read is East by Edith Pattou. I can't remember if it was actually meant to be a retelling or not, but it is very similar to Beauty and the Beast. Otherwise, I really like Arthurian legends and pretty much anything that takes place in a medieval setting. :)

Hi, I'm new - name is Ann.
I'm a Classics nut, used to teach ancient Greek language at the University of New England, Australia. I'm a 3rd generation Classicist. My father was a bit eccentric, and taught me Latin before English. When I started school, this became a problem so I had to learn English. My books are mainly translations from Greek or Hittite, but I just now have my first novel out which is influenced by the Eleusinian Mysteries.
My favorite authors are Aristophanes, Euripides, Sophocles, Homer, Sappho, Herodotos, Theokritos and Virgil (Eclogues).
I live in Australia with horses and cats. (I've just realized that I sound quite mad.)

Hello I just joined, I am Deborah from Brisbane Australia.
I like myths of all countrys (Gilgamesh was a recent fave).
My parents gave me fairy tales from ALL cultures when I was growing up, so the Ramayana sat next to Japanese fairy tales, The Wind in the Willows and The Hobbit. I still have some of them.
I am very fond of retellings, Jungian interpretations of fairytales, and urban fantasy.

Greetings, Fellow Myth Lovers! I've been here for a few weeks but I want to say hello formally to everyone. My name is Victoria Grossack and my co author, Alice Underwood and I, write novels based on Greek mythology set in the Late Bronze Age - walking a fine line between the natural and the supernatural. In the meantime, people may be interested in a pertinent post at my goodreads blog:
Why Myth Matters.

Hi, I'm Clare! I have loved folklore, fairy tales, and mythology since I was little. I have amassed quite a collection of fairy-tale collections and retellings. In fourth grade, my class spent the first half of the year learning about Egyptian mythology. Then my teacher told us that nobody ever believed her when she said this, but that we were going to like the second half, Greek mythology, even more. We didn't believe her, but she was right!

My favorite authors include Holly Black, Marion Zimmer Bradley, JK Rowling, Mercedes Lackey, and Neil Gaiman.

Hello, everyone. I'm Candiss. I've been a mythology buff for over 30 years, and I love ancient and traditional literature (from just about any culture), as well as mythopoeic and metaphorical modern fiction. I am very excited to see that this group is seeing some energy. I've pondered joining several times, but it seemed to be sadly dormant. I think it has potential to be a great group!

Hi everyone, this is archie from the philippines. Ive always devoured books and stories since my mom read me greek mythology at a very young age. I used to just borrow books since I did not afford the high cost of novels in the phils but since last year I have started to build a small library of titles that I like, most of them fantasy and mystic fiction. I hope I can be welcome to this group and discover titles that I could save money for to add to my slowly growing collection.

Hello, my name is Nichelle. I've always loved science fiction/fantasy- my favorite since I was a kid! It's from my mother's influence. We always watched science fiction type movies and my mom is a fan of it in the books too. I LOVE mythic fiction though. From the story of King Arthur to fairies and other worlds. I've really only read recent creations in this genre though (not counting the ancient lit class I took in college). I am eager to find places to read more and learn more. I love the idea of an other world in this world. Nice to meet all of you!

A most comprehensive study of mythopoeia and the Inklings - a must for all fans of Tolkien and CS Lewis. This isn't your run of the mill biography trying to squeeze all their writings into a theological framework - this is a grander attempt to link them to older mythical systems and pantheons. The sections on the lesser known Inklings, Barfield and Williams, are just as good too.

This is an absolutely brilliant book, just out, that connects the ancient Sumerian myths (such as Gilgamesh) to the pre-columbian Jaguar religion in Bolivia. It is a compendium of mythos connections and an amazing journey.

Hi. I am a long time bookseller, book reviewer and more recently a blogger with 6 blogs. In my spare time I am working on two YA novels, keeping up with my husband and 9 furry children and trying not to let the hairballs take over my house. Not easy.

I read and reviewed Kris Waldherr's Persephone and the Pomegranate on my blog. What a lovely story. If you would like to stop over, I would love to meet you.

http://onthebroomstick.blogspot.com/

Best,

Dana

Daniel wrote: "

A most comprehensive study of mythopoeia and the Inklings - a must for all fans of Tolkien and CS Lewis. This isn't your run of the mill biog..."

Thanks for this, Daniel. After reading various reviews, I decided to get a copy.

As a general question, should mythopoeic fiction be included as Mythic Fiction? EG, LOTR or Star Wars, Mickey Mouse or Grimms...?

hi!!!!!my name is Tabitha im new to this hole being in a group thing, normally i just watch and read what going on but i think this group sound cool so im going to try posting more and hopefully it goes well! and if anyone wants 2 help me out that would be great thx

Hi, I'm Ana and I am also pretty new at the goodreads group thing. I grew up reading everything I could regarding mythology, from every region of the world. Currently, magic and the supernatural tends to take over my TBR pile but I am getting back into mythology as well.

One of my all time favorite books just happens to deal with mythology. It is Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat if they love mythology.

I hope to post more and be able to get involved. Thanks for letting me join!

hi im kyle im currently in high school i like to read alkinds of books like harry potter death reef and many more i love to read but im also and athlete too im into track and football:)

Hey y'all,

My name is Debye & I'm a librarian in Texas. I read voraciously, & find it hard to choose which genres are my favorite. I do adore mythic fiction -- Arthurian legend, Celtic myth & legend (not just Irish), the Fae, anything Mythopoeic and, last but not least, the works of Joseph Campbell to help explain it all. I definitely want to "follow [my] bliss". I look forward to discussions!!

Hi everyone,

I'm Johanna and I love to read....suddenly I feel like I'm joining a user's anonymous group :) In my case the addiction would have to be books.

I'm a reading omnivore but fantasy and myths have been my favorite ever since I read the Greek myths and the blue faere book in grade school. Look forward to posting here and tracking your recommendations!

Hello everyone!

I'm Katheryn and I love all kinds of mythological fiction, especially greek, celtic and norse. I also like fiction related to the Arthurian legend, the re-telling of old fairytales and folk legends. This group sounds like a perfect match and I'm looking forward to getting and giving new book suggestions.

Hi everyone!

I'm J. Leigh Bralick...I write fantasy and YA fantasy, but I've loved mythology for as long as I can recall, and always try to find a way to weave myth into my writing.

I'm technically a graduate student, too, but that's another matter. I enjoy fencing and reading, baking and costume design. And I'm always on the lookout for good mythic fiction, so I'm excited to be here!

Hi folks, glad to be here! I love Raymond E Feist, Lord of the Rings obviously and myths/legends of any kind, currently reading about Icelandic folklore. Great group, hope to learn about many more great books!

This might be the neatest niche group I've yet found in my exploration of Goodreads forums.

I'm John Wiswell and I've enjoyed myths, folklore and fairytales for my entire life. My parents introduced Jesus and Hercules at the same time, and I admit to being a little more interested in the one that punched people. As I grew up I became more fascinated with absurd and magical thinking, and especially how it can affect our approaches to more realistic and naturalistic fiction.

Many classic creatures show up in my current book project, though I promise not to bombard the group plugging it or rambling about progress. I'm simply so inclined to classic Fantasy that the mythic can't help popping in.

Hi all, I am a newbie to the good reads website, so this is one of my first groups! Obviously I love mythic fiction but I particularly love Celtic Mythology and Nordic Mythology. I am always looking for a good ol' myth based story, so I hope this is the place to start :)

I really like to listen to Joseph Campbell lectures, and have found mythic fiction feeds my desire to appreciate the collective unconscious we all share.
The Alchemist was pretty good.

Matt wrote: "I really like to listen to Joseph Campbell lectures, and have found mythic fiction feeds my desire to appreciate the collective unconscious we all share.
The Alchemist was pretty good."

Where does one fine the Campbell lectures, Matt?

They are available on cassette at my library. Or you can purchase them at ITunes.... Search Joseph Campbell. Well worth the expence.

Hello! My name is Sara, and I'm so happy that I found this group! I'm not sure that I can just pick a few favorite books. Some authors that I really enjoy are: Charles de Lint, Robin McKinley, Patricia McKillip, Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow's anthologies, Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, Neil Gaiman, John Connolly, Andrew Lang anthologies...I just really enjoy any reworking/retelling of folk tales/fairy tales.

Hi Sara,
I really like Gaiman too. I've got the graveyard book on my list for the summer. Have you read American Gods?
Recommendations?
Matt

Matt wrote: "Hi Sara,
I really like Gaiman too. I've got the graveyard book on my list for the summer. Have you read American Gods?
Recommendations?
Matt"

I have read American Gods, and I really really liked it. It was a fantastic study, I think, of the melting pot-like culture we have here in America, and how those traditional beliefs and cultures we bring with us are at war with the modern, technological culture. Anasi Boys by Neil Gaiman is a good follow-up since it shares the character of Anansi.

Hi
I am Kathy
I've been following this group for a few months and decided to stay.
My favorite books are fairytale retellings.

So many interesting people! I want to wish everyone a happy solstice.

Hi everyone!

My name is Nick, and I'm an aspiring writer and avid reader of mythic fiction. I'm from a Russian background, and I grew up with Russian fairy tales, Russian music, Russian everything. Instead of making me insulated, it's helped me appreciate myths from different countries. I love the Kalevala, I love Welsh mythology, English mythology. I've yet to get into Germanic folklore, but that's on the horizon. I like updated fairy tale retellings, but I do NOT like cynical, tongue-in-cheek treatments of folklore. Shrek bleh.

hi nick, need a review , giv me a hint, i'm a newbie reviewer, love narnia, the golden compass, lord of the rings
eragon
uf/ the dark day series

Hi! I am new to the group. I have always loved magical realism. Isabelle Allende has been one of my favourite authors since I read House of the Spirits in the 80s. However I only got into Fantasy fiction via of all things, the Twilight series about 2 years ago. I went on to discover many other contemporary fantasy novels. While I do enjoy a lot of Urban Fantasy, a lot of it feels like a guilty pleasure and is often too violent or trashy for my taste. I`ve realised what I love the best is what is referred to as Mythic Fiction. My absolute favourite is Charles De Lint. I am still going through withdrawals after finishing his Newford series! It is hard to find something in that style as good that combines myths of various culture (De Lint draws a lot of First Nation and Celtic mythology) and is set in the real world. Luckily, I found Terri Windlings Mythic Fiction recommendation list and like most of the books on it that I`ve tried this far.

Interesting mix of authors and tastes!

Am new to this group; familiar with Tolkien, the Edda, the Welsh tales, Irish myth and medieval texts (Dindshenchas, Lebor Gabala, etc), Beowulf (S. Heaney version).

Tend to look at myth for the bedrock, for what it might tell us about ancient culture and actual events. Am especially interested to see what ties in with archaeology.

Am less interested in modern fantasy as it seems to have a commercial aspect rather than answer fundamental questions, but that is another topic altogether!

Hi I'm sorta new to the group. I love historical fantasy and have read a lot in the Celtic/Irish Historical Fantasy genre (which I think is the subgenre I love the most). Juliet Marillier is my favorite author in the genre. My second favorite genre to read is dystopia. I have consistently read 50 books or more a year since 2007. I'm 30, a mom of two and an avid reader. I've also read other authors popular in this genre (De Lint, Llywellyn, Melissa Marr among others), but Marillier is just of a calibur of writing that is a bit more vivid for my particular imagination. Looking forward to being more active in this group, too.

Hi, I'm Catherine, and new to the group. I've been reading fantasy and all its associated subgroups since I was a teenager. I remember some of the first fantasy I read was Mary Stewart's Arthurian books that I found in my mom's collection. I was hooked and still am. I particularly like retellings or reinterpretations of fairy tales, such as those by Robin McKinley, but read a wide variety of genres. I'm always looking for new authors and books to try, and saw a number of those I enjoy listed while browsing through the forum, thought I'd join up and maybe interact with people with similar interests.

Cheers!

Hi all, I'm Shannon and new to the group. I'm a long time fantasy fan and enjoy many different types of fantasy including epic, urban, and paranormal. In terms of mythic fiction, I particularly like to read about anything to do with fairies.