2023 Challenge: Celestial Lore

[Margaret]

Here is the place to discuss retellings, traditional tales, or books inspired by the mythology, folklore, or fairy tales with the theme Celestial Lore!

[Andy]

My suggestion(s):
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Heart of the Sun Warrior - I might read this

Do you think The Girl Who Drank the Moon might fit? :)

[Katy]

Andy wrote: "My suggestion(s):
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Heart of the Sun Warrior - I might read this

Do you think The Girl Who Drank the Moon might fit? :)"

I've read all three and I think they all fit this category. And I enjoyed reading all of these books.

[Andy]

Katy wrote: "Andy wrote: "Do you think The Girl Who Drank the Moon might fit? :)"

I've read all three and I think they all fit this category. And I enjoyed reading all of these books."

Thank you! I wasn't sure about the last one!

[Asaria]

I'll cheat a bit here if I don't find anything particularly fitting and interesting. There is a Polish legend about Twardowski (Tvardovsky) who to avoid going to hell by chance get stuck on the Moon, after he unwillingly and unwittingly fullfilled his contract with devil 🙂

Edit: short article about him can be found here https://culture.pl/en/article/pan-twa...

[Cheryl]

Oh that Polish hero looks like an interesting character. And all the artwork shown in the article you linked is wonderful! Polish retirees could plan a quest to see as many of the portrayals as possible.... :)

[Asaria]

Cheryl wrote: "Oh that Polish hero looks like an interesting character. And all the artwork shown in the article you linked is wonderful! Polish retirees could plan a quest to see as many of the portrayals as pos..."

My personal fave retelling of Twardowski legend is this poem by Adam Mickiewicz:
https://allpoetry.com/Twardowski%27s-...

Devil was absolutely terrified of Twardowski's wife :)

A lot of fairy tale publications had glorious art, as everywhere, they just didn't cross the border :). For sentimental reasons, I love Jan Marcin Szancer's illustrations for example :)









I apologize to mods for spamming these pictures here.

[Cheryl]

Well I think the pictures are treasure; thank you.

[Margaret]

Asaria wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "Oh that Polish hero looks like an interesting character. And all the artwork shown in the article you linked is wonderful! Polish retirees could plan a quest to see as many of the po..."

I love the illustrations! And that poem was delightful.

[Rose]

Very interesting legend and great illustrations, thanks for sharing. Seems like it might hit both deals with the devil and celestial lore if I can find a longer version translated.

[Margaret]

Besides the ones Andy mentioned, I don't have a whole lot for this category, though I definitely feel like I'm missing some.

-Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse: Pre-Colombian era fantasy world, Indigenous mythology
-Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar: Contemporary YA fantasy, Hindu mythology
-The Book of Heaven by Patricia Storace: I'll be honest, I don't remember this book well.
-Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin: MG Chinese myth fantasy
-Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente: Sci-Fi, cerebral, movies in space

[Hannah]

I read Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies by Stacey Lee. This is a MG modern reimagining of the "Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" myth from Chinese mythology.

[Andy]

Hannah wrote: "I read Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies by Stacey Lee. This is a MG modern reimagining of the "Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" myth from Chinese mythology."

This looks interesting, Hannah!
I would love to find some more east asia mythology retellings, but I like those set in the original "ancient times"...

I also wanted to add that I ended up also counting The Starless Sea in this category, because of the "Moon in love" storyline! :)

[Margaret]

Andy wrote: "I also wanted to add that I ended up also counting The Starless Sea in this category, because of the "Moon in love" storyline! :)..."

How in the world did I forget that. :)

Hannah wrote: "I read Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies by Stacey Lee. This is a MG modern reimagining of the "Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" myth from Chinese mythology."

Oh that looks fun!