Medea (Or, Goals Part One: Retellings)

Happy New Year! It’s that day where people list off resolutions or goals, and while I’m not a huge believer in the first, I do believe strongly in the second, and since I’ve thought of a few goals (specifically for writing), I thought I’d break them up into posts while also pointing at some awesome things I’ve read.

And I’ll start with the awesome.

Medea: Priestess, Princess, Witch

This is not the story of the woman you think you know. You know only the tales of men through the ages. No, this is the story of a dangerous woman fighting for her freedom in a world dominated by cruel gods and ego driven men…

In the house of King Aeetes on the shores of the Black Sea, Medea plays with gods in the forest as visions of a dark future haunt her. Descendant of Helios and daughter of sea nymph Idyia, Medea holds the kind of power meant for the heroes of the epics, the heroes who have yet to arrive in the world. But as a woman, her place is decided by the men around her. Until Jason and his Argonauts arrive, bringing with them the winds of change and the goddess’s voice ringing out of Medea’s lips.

Sacrifices. Politics wrapped in layers of deceit, blood, and ego. Gods with their own agendas not meant for mortal flesh. Magic. Monsters. Love. Who will Medea become in her desperate search for freedom?

Medea: Priestess, Princess, Witch by JJ Taylor

I love a retelling. This is likely known to anyone who’s been around here for even a year, given I do a yearly retelling of a holiday story, but when skillful authors take a character and run in a new direction, I am generally already on board. When said character is one such as Medea—who, let’s be honest, gets basically defined entirely by her relationship to men in the Greek myths because, well, of course, right?—I’m not just on board, I’m intrigued and ready to retroactively apply the new story into my own head canon whenever I think of the myths going forward.

And that’s what happened here.

Taylor does something brilliant with Medea that I never recall feeling about the character in any of those myths I studied mumble-mumble years ago in university: she gives her agency and choice in a way that remains true to the setting (the Gods of the time are awful, whimsical beings after all) and her realities as a flawed being. Medea does not make great choices, but she does make human choices, and you feel for her even as Taylor beautifully weaves her story in around the myth—and beyond—where a woman with so much power seems denied what you come to realize she truly wants: freedom.

The settling leaps off the page, the characters are just familiar enough that it feels like you’re glimpsing inside what could have been—sort of a “there’s the story you’ve been told, but now here’s what really happened”—and the seeming effortlessness of it speaks to Taylor’s skill. Pulling that feel off is freaking difficult, and it’s done damned well here.

Anyway. If you’ve got any love at all for Greek Myth, or even a curiosity about what or who Medea might have been had someone other than those focused on Jason or the other men of Greek heroics told her tale, please don’t hesitate. Nab yourself a copy. It’s out next month from Butterworth Books.

Speaking of Retellings…

So, as I mentioned, I’ve got myself four goals this year for writing. One of them is to collect all those queer holiday retellings I’ve been doing for the last almost decade into a collection and release it out into the world for the next holiday season. As it stands, there’s something close to fifty-five thousand words as is, so I’m going to add a few more stories to the mix, and then I can pester the brilliant Inkspiral Design for a cover—and dare I consider interior art?—and then whatever money it makes, I’ll fire at a queer charity.

So. That’s been said out loud, it’s a thing that’s going to happen, and for all those who’ve asked me if I’d ever consider a print release of “Dolph” or “Frost” or any of the other stories, this year I can say “Yes!” And don’t worry, I’m definitely hiring an editor. Those stories were all written pretty much as-is, given their freebie nature. The Christmas Baubles will be polished before they’re hung out on a tree.

How about you? Do you love retellings? Got a favourite you’d love to tell me about? Please do! And do you make resolutions or set goals at this time of year?