Making classic mythology palatable to the modern reader

[Bobby]

As a fan of fantasy literature, I always enjoy when someone incorporates the mythologies of the ancient world (Celtic, Greek, Norse, etc.). The Iron Druid series by Hearne, Kevin 2011 . Hammered, while extremely lightweight & flippant, almost to a fault, does throw in many references to Celtic & Norse mythology. Books too numerous to mention throw in Roman/Greek mythos references. Still, many of these are centered around other characters who just happen to meet the ancient gods/heroes, etc. without truly recounting the original tales.

Whenever I try to read the Norse eddas, Homer's Odyssey, Beowulf: A New Verse Translation, etc. I'll admit I can't make it through the stylized verse of the time.

While a few references to the mythology are great, I know I'm getting a very "Hollywood-ized" version of the original story in most books. I'd love to find an adaptation of the mythology itself that is reasonably true to the source, but still adapted to modern speech, story structure, and so on.

Maybe I'm asking for too much! :-) What books or series have you read that are easy to pick up but are heavily based upon/inspired by the classic tales of heroes and gods from Greek, Celtic, Roman, Norse and other mythologies?

[Charles]

I'm fine with Hollywood-ized versions of the stories because don't writers do that as well? Some books are strange offsprings from the parent while others perhaps a bit too faithful.

Some that I liked (which might have veered off from the source material): The Once and Future King by T.H. White and Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley for Arthurian myth.

Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey for Jewish/Christian/Islamic myth.

Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts for Roman myth.

Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord for Carribean folklore.

There's American Gods by Neil Gaiman for a bunch of myths...

[Stephan]

I'll second American Gods, as well as Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.

Favourites of mine would be Dan Simmon's Ilium and Olympos, which covers the trojan war with some awesome sci-fi twists.

[Ian]

You should absolutely read The Song of Achilles this is the best retelling of the Iliad I have ever read - awesome book

Also David Gemmell books are very good, he did the story of Alexander the great (Dark Prince) I think was the one as well as a trilogy on the Trojan war

[Kam]

I wish I could remember the artist of the specific illustrated version of the Odyssey I was given when I was nine; the art was gorgeous on that one, and the original story well adapted for easy comprehension without sacrificing content - when I compared it to the original version of the Odyssey years later, it held up very well, both in terms of storyline and even language. Perhaps I'll come back when I've got the book to-hand: it's currently out with my niece and nephew.

I'd also like to recommend Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was by Barry Hughart. It's a pretty interesting exploration of East Asian (not just specifically Chinese) mythology, while being quite funny and touching at the same time.

[Kate]

I second Ian's recommendation of The Song of Achilles. Beautiful book.

Canongate did a series of myth retellings which you can see here http://www.goodreads.com/series/59318...
I only read the first three books myself, but they were pretty interesting.

[Marina]

Your description is pretty close to a description of a good web serial I read, which I was actually going to blog about later this week.

Thalia's Musings (http://thaliasmusingsnovels.com/2011/...), narrated by the Greek Muse of comedy, deals with the drama going on amongst the Greek pantheon. It's told through a very modern lens.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I've read one volume of the Canongate series that Kate mentioned, and intend to read them all.

[Joseph]

There's also Rhinegold by Stephan Grundy, which is a retelling of the Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner. Or maybe it's a retelling of the story Wagner was using as a source. I haven't read it in a long while, but remember it being enjoyable but grim (no surprise given the subject matter).

[Bobby]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[[deleted user]]

Though it is YA, there is a lot of really good mythology in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and his follow-up to that in the Heroes of Olympus.

[Thaddeus]

Because of the Norse aspects, I really enjoyed Snow-walker by Catherine Fisher.

[Rick]

Aside from modern interpretations of the myths, the translation you read of the originals makes a huge difference. If you're reading s translation done in the 19th century, it was done for the style of English prevalent at that time. I'm partial to Richmond Lattimore's translations of the Greek myths. Yes, the language takes some getting used to but I think it's worth doing that. Remember, this is a very different, ancient culture. Immersing yourself in the language and the myths in something close to their original form is a cool experience.