Marla’s Reviews > The Mythic Dream > Status Update

'Across the River' by Leah Cypess (4 stars) - a story that uses the Jewish tale of the Sambatyon river in an attempt to gain magic to defeat a sorcerer killing Jews across Europe

'Sisyphus in Elysium' by Jeffrey Ford (3 stars) - What did Sisyphus think of while he pushed the boulder up the hill? It felt a little too disconnected for me but still good.

'Curses Like Words, Like Featheres, Like Stories' by Kat Howard (3 Stars) - A retelling of the Children of Lir with the discussion about how the baptism at the end felt tacked on by someone else. The writing was very lyrical and poetic, which suited the story perfectly.

'He Fell Howling' by Stephen Graham Jones (dnf) - I skipped this one after Lycaon started talking about being a wolf and being the King of Wolves so he could have sex with whatever wolf/dog he wanted, and then eating his pups.... And there were still sooo many pages left? Nah, pass. No thank you.

'¡Cuidado! ¡Que Viene El Coco!' by Carlos Hernandez (3.5 Stars) - A story including the myth of El Coco (which again, I've never heard of before!) and stealing children's heads and replacing them with coconuts. I couldn't tell where each part of this story was going but it was interesting and I sped through it.

"Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship HEaven Dwells Within" by Arkady Martine (4 Stars) - Okay, I'm ready to read more Arkady Martine!

"Bridge of Crows" by JY Yang (5 Stars) - I loved the floral storytelling language and the nested stories within the story. A retelling of "The Cowherd and the Weaver-Girl" but put it in space!

"A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy" by Rebecca Roanhorse (4 stars) - I wasn't familiar with the original story of 'Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden' but I read it after finishing Roanhorse's story and the adaptation was fantastic.

'Fisher-Bird' by T. Kingfisher (4.5 Stars) - a retelling of 'the Labours of Hercules' but from a bird's perspective. Pretty fun!

'The Justified' by Ann Leckie (3 stars) - a reimagination of Egyptian mythology of Sekhmet's massacre, but make it futuristic. I like Leckie's writing but the storytelling fell a bit flat for me.

"Phantoms of the Midway" by Seanan McGuire (5 Stars) - I love the writing, Seanan knows how to punch a solid story out in a short amount of words. Based on Hades and Persephone.