The Mythic Dream, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe

[Anthology]

★★★☆☆

(Mythological SF/F) A reimagining of 18 mythic stories with new perspectives and different settings. (107,092 words; Time: 5h:56m)

"The Mythic Dream," edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe, published on September 17, 2019 by Saga Press.

Review: 2019.542 (A Word for Authors)

Myths from All Over

This anthology contains stories that retell stories from mythology. Half of them are from Greek mythology, and the rest are a mix of myths and folktales including Sumerian, Egyptian, Chinese, Hindu, Norse, Irish, Welsh, Jewish, and Native American.

Some of these retellings are set in the original times (e.g. ancient Greece) but many are set in our time and others are in the distant future. As a result, the stories are a mix of fantasy and science fiction. Given the nature of the original myths, they tend to be fairly dark, with several edging into horror.

Hit and Myth

The quality is par for the course or slightly above. For a work of this size, I’d normally recommend three stories (and I recommended four) and recommend against four or five stories (and I recommended against four).

Recommended

The better stories were generally the ones that did something creative with the source material rather than just retelling the story in a different setting.

Phantoms of the Midway, by Seanan McGuire, involves a teenage girl in a carnival with a very protective mom who never lets her leave the fairgrounds and tells the story of what happens when she sneaks off anyway.

The Justified, by Ann Leckie, takes us to a space colony ruled by an elite that get reborn when they die. But there's a threat to the order, so they recall a very powerful exile to take care of the problem.

In Across the River, by Leah Cypess, a Jewish young man in the days of pogroms finds a way to fight a sorcerer who intends to kill all the Jews in town. The youth can't resort to violence, but there's a very special river that only he can see.

Sisyphus in Elysium, by Jeffrey Ford, tells how once Sisyphus had been in the underworld for long enough, a thunderbolt destroyed his rock, leaving him to find something else to do with himself.

Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Dominik Parisien Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB
Navah Wolfe Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB

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