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katiegrrrl's review against another edition
5.0
I love short story collections and this one was great. Twists on classic myths from all over the world.
tigerlilly22's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 out 5 but rounded up
I liked or loved just about every story in this collection. I have some more new books to read from the authors too so hey, win-win.
I liked or loved just about every story in this collection. I have some more new books to read from the authors too so hey, win-win.
hywar's review against another edition
4.0
A collection of fantastic myth retellings, ranging in setting from ancient, present, and future, and with a highlighting focus on LGBT+ inclusion. Normally in an anthology like this, you'll find a range of weak to strong stories, but in this particular book, I couldn't peg any of them as being particularly weak. The stories are all short enough where you can read them in one sitting, partaking in a new myth whether you are drinking your early morning coffee or prepping to go to bed, though you may not want to stop at one!
The highlights for me were definitely:
1. Phantoms of the Midway written by Seanan McGuire, which is a retelling of Hades and Persephone, in this case, set on a traveling carnival fairground.
2. A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy written by Rebecca Roanhorse, which is the story of Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden creatively set in a futuristic society where you can inject the memories of the dead into your veins and relive their existence. This one was so amazing I couldn't put it down, and desperately wanted a short film adaptation of it! It would be incredible.
3. Wild To Covet written by Sarah Gaily, which is the story of Thetis, the mother of Achilles.
4. Florilegia; Or, Some Lies About Flowers written by Amal El-Mohtar, which is the story of Blodeuwedd, the wife made of flowers for Lleu Llaw Gyffes.
Many of the stories have a similar theme in seeking to tell the tales of what have often been minor characters in myths, offering interesting and compelling perspectives.
The highlights for me were definitely:
1. Phantoms of the Midway written by Seanan McGuire, which is a retelling of Hades and Persephone, in this case, set on a traveling carnival fairground.
2. A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy written by Rebecca Roanhorse, which is the story of Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden creatively set in a futuristic society where you can inject the memories of the dead into your veins and relive their existence. This one was so amazing I couldn't put it down, and desperately wanted a short film adaptation of it! It would be incredible.
3. Wild To Covet written by Sarah Gaily, which is the story of Thetis, the mother of Achilles.
4. Florilegia; Or, Some Lies About Flowers written by Amal El-Mohtar, which is the story of Blodeuwedd, the wife made of flowers for Lleu Llaw Gyffes.
Many of the stories have a similar theme in seeking to tell the tales of what have often been minor characters in myths, offering interesting and compelling perspectives.
dude_watchin_with_the_brontes's review against another edition
5.0
I'm giving this a 5 star review, even though I don't love every single story, because enough of the stories are good enough to earn that review.
I think they made the mistake of putting one of the weakest stories first - maybe because the author is a Big Name. I'm glad I skipped to the next story and kept reading, because the very next story was amazing!
My personal reviews for the different stories:
1 • Phantoms of the Midway • Seanan McGuire • McGuire starts patting herself on the back for the protagonist finding the scarred girl beautiful, even though other people would find her ugly, and then continues to fetishize the scars. I'm glad I skipped the rest of this to read the rest of the stories.
2 • The Justified • Ann Leckie • One of my favorites! Ancient Egyptian myth set in the future. Queerness is normalized. I like the way she plays with how immortals/deities are not really like us.
3 • Fisher-Bird • T. Kingfisher • This one was so much fun! Once you figure out what the myth is, it's even more fun.
4 • A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy • Rebecca Roanhorse • Modern-day (well, near-future) setting, with human characters. It was an interesting story in its own right, and Roanhorse leads us to the original Tewa legend it was based on (Deer Hunter and the White Corn Maiden).
5 • Bridge of Crows • JY Yang • Beautiful and dream-like.
6 • Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within • Arkady Martine • It is absolutely not anyone's fault but my own that I am listening to an audiobook, and that I work at an elementary school, but hearing about someone's genitals right off the bat, after the other stories have ranged from G to PG13, as I'm pulling out of the elementary school parking lot... it was a lot. After getting a suitable distance from the school, I listened a while longer, realized it was probably going to be mostly about sex, and I skipped it. You might like it, it's just not for me.
7 • Wild to Covet • Sarah Gailey • I liked this one, and I liked all the Hades and Persephone references even though it wasn't the myth this story was based on.
8 • ¡Cuidado! ¡Que viene El Coco! • Carlos Hernandez • Devastating, yet also full of hope. I loved it so much. I cried. I will probably be reading this again. Absolutely my favorite story in this collection, hands down.
9 • He Fell Howling • Stephen Graham Jones • I like this one a lot!
10 • Curses Like Words, Like Feathers, Like Stories • Kat Howard • I was a little confused by the POV at first, but I ended up liking it a lot.
11 • Across the River • Leah Cypess • If it weren't for ¡Cuidado! ¡Que viene El Coco! this would be my favorite story. I don't hear a lot of Jewish mythology. I read it a second time, in text-form, and sent it to my sister.
12 • Sisyphus in Elysium • Jeffrey Ford • I liked it! Not the best story, but it was not bad!
13 • Kali_Na • Indrapramit Das • So good! One of my favorites!
14 • Alyssa Wong • It was especially interesting hearing this directly after Kali_Na. Very good companion piece. So damned satisfying to read.
15 • Close Enough for Jazz • John Chu • Also very satisfying. These three in a row were a good match.
16 • Buried Deep • Naomi Novik • I liked it, but I think it would be better to read it as text, because I found it very difficult to follow.
17 • The Things Eric Eats Before He Eats Himself • Carmen Maria Machado • Of course it is amazing. An interesting mix of whimsical and horror.
18 • Florilegia; or, Some Lies About Flowers • Amal El-Mohtar • Beautiful. She mentions that she's written a number of stories based around this myth, and now I want to read all of them.
I think they made the mistake of putting one of the weakest stories first - maybe because the author is a Big Name. I'm glad I skipped to the next story and kept reading, because the very next story was amazing!
My personal reviews for the different stories:
1 • Phantoms of the Midway • Seanan McGuire • McGuire starts patting herself on the back for the protagonist finding the scarred girl beautiful, even though other people would find her ugly, and then continues to fetishize the scars. I'm glad I skipped the rest of this to read the rest of the stories.
2 • The Justified • Ann Leckie • One of my favorites! Ancient Egyptian myth set in the future. Queerness is normalized. I like the way she plays with how immortals/deities are not really like us.
3 • Fisher-Bird • T. Kingfisher • This one was so much fun! Once you figure out what the myth is, it's even more fun.
4 • A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy • Rebecca Roanhorse • Modern-day (well, near-future) setting, with human characters. It was an interesting story in its own right, and Roanhorse leads us to the original Tewa legend it was based on (Deer Hunter and the White Corn Maiden).
5 • Bridge of Crows • JY Yang • Beautiful and dream-like.
6 • Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within • Arkady Martine • It is absolutely not anyone's fault but my own that I am listening to an audiobook, and that I work at an elementary school, but hearing about someone's genitals right off the bat, after the other stories have ranged from G to PG13, as I'm pulling out of the elementary school parking lot... it was a lot. After getting a suitable distance from the school, I listened a while longer, realized it was probably going to be mostly about sex, and I skipped it. You might like it, it's just not for me.
7 • Wild to Covet • Sarah Gailey • I liked this one, and I liked all the Hades and Persephone references even though it wasn't the myth this story was based on.
8 • ¡Cuidado! ¡Que viene El Coco! • Carlos Hernandez • Devastating, yet also full of hope. I loved it so much. I cried. I will probably be reading this again. Absolutely my favorite story in this collection, hands down.
9 • He Fell Howling • Stephen Graham Jones • I like this one a lot!
10 • Curses Like Words, Like Feathers, Like Stories • Kat Howard • I was a little confused by the POV at first, but I ended up liking it a lot.
11 • Across the River • Leah Cypess • If it weren't for ¡Cuidado! ¡Que viene El Coco! this would be my favorite story. I don't hear a lot of Jewish mythology. I read it a second time, in text-form, and sent it to my sister.
12 • Sisyphus in Elysium • Jeffrey Ford • I liked it! Not the best story, but it was not bad!
13 • Kali_Na • Indrapramit Das • So good! One of my favorites!
14 • Alyssa Wong • It was especially interesting hearing this directly after Kali_Na. Very good companion piece. So damned satisfying to read.
15 • Close Enough for Jazz • John Chu • Also very satisfying. These three in a row were a good match.
16 • Buried Deep • Naomi Novik • I liked it, but I think it would be better to read it as text, because I found it very difficult to follow.
17 • The Things Eric Eats Before He Eats Himself • Carmen Maria Machado • Of course it is amazing. An interesting mix of whimsical and horror.
18 • Florilegia; or, Some Lies About Flowers • Amal El-Mohtar • Beautiful. She mentions that she's written a number of stories based around this myth, and now I want to read all of them.
blathering's review against another edition
5.0
Love the variety of myths covered from so many different cultures
tellingetienne's review against another edition
4.0
The Mythic Dream is an excellent collection of short stories by a wide range of authors. Each story re imagines some kind of myth, it leans heavily on Greek Mythology, but there are wonderful offerings from Hindu, Native American, Sumerian, and more. As always, with a collection of such diverse voices, there were a few stories that didn't click with me, but more than not I found fascinating. This is worth picking up even if you're interested in one or two of the authors because it's full of absolute gems. There is also a sizable amount of queer content, which delighted me!
asunnybooknook's review against another edition
4.0
3.5! Love a myth retelling, some of these were really great and evocative and wonderful and some of these were MEHHHHH. I like the one about the streamer girl, I liked the one I liked Carmen Maria Machado’s I liked the one set in India
aiight's review against another edition
4.0
It is rare that I enjoy the majority of short stories in a collection, but this was great. There is breadth from high fantasy to sci-fi and from retelling to re-imagining to subversion. Many of the stories have a surprising depth of emotion to them as well. A few of my favorites include A Brief Lesson In Native American Astronomy, Labbatu Takes Command Of The Flagship Heaven Dwells Within (which I would love to see worked up into a novel), and the touching and mystical Buried Deep. I also appreciated the authors' blurbs after their stories, explaining how they decided on which myth to retell. A great collection, all in all.
caitcoy's review against another edition
4.0
The Mythic Dream is an anthology centered around myths and in particular, reimagining those myths. The list of authors that wrote for this anthology was filled to the brim with authors I have previously loved or who are already sitting on my TBR. And while I've read and enjoyed other anthologies, this is one of the best I've read in terms of the number of stories that I really enjoyed.
Some of my favorites were:
Fisher-Bird by T. Kingfisher
The Justified by Ann Leckie
Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within by Arkady Martine
He Fell Howling by Stephen Graham Jones
Curses Like Words, Like Feathers, Like Stories by Kat Howard
Across the River by Leah Cypress
Buried Deep by Naomi Novik
The Things Eric Eats Before He Eats Himself by Carmen Maria Machado
Florilegia; Or, Some Lies About Flowers by Amal El-Mohtar
If you enjoy myths and retellings, I'd definitely recommend this anthology!
Some of my favorites were:
Fisher-Bird by T. Kingfisher
The Justified by Ann Leckie
Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within by Arkady Martine
He Fell Howling by Stephen Graham Jones
Curses Like Words, Like Feathers, Like Stories by Kat Howard
Across the River by Leah Cypress
Buried Deep by Naomi Novik
The Things Eric Eats Before He Eats Himself by Carmen Maria Machado
Florilegia; Or, Some Lies About Flowers by Amal El-Mohtar
If you enjoy myths and retellings, I'd definitely recommend this anthology!
leannj's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Overall Average Rating: 3.99/5 stars
Individual Ratings:
Phantoms of the Midway by Seanan McGuire: 3/5 stars
The Justified by Ann Leckie: 3/5 stars
Fisher-Bird by T. Kingfisher: 4/5 stars
A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy by Rebecca Roanhorse: 3.5/5 stars
Bridge of Cows by JY Yang: 4.5/5 stars
Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within by Arkady Martine: 4/5 stars
Wild to Covet by Sarah Gailey: 5/5 stars
Individual Ratings:
Phantoms of the Midway by Seanan McGuire: 3/5 stars
The Justified by Ann Leckie: 3/5 stars
Fisher-Bird by T. Kingfisher: 4/5 stars
A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy by Rebecca Roanhorse: 3.5/5 stars
Bridge of Cows by JY Yang: 4.5/5 stars
Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within by Arkady Martine: 4/5 stars
Wild to Covet by Sarah Gailey: 5/5 stars
¡Cuidado! ¡Que Viene El Coco! by Carlos Hernandez: 5/5 stars
He Fell Howling by Stephen Graham Jones: 4/5 stars
Curses Like Words, Like Feathers, Like Stories by Kat Howard: 4/5 stars
Across the River by Leah Cypress: 4.5/stars
Sisyphus in Elysium by Jeffrey Ford: 4.25/5 stars
Kali_Na by Indrapramit Das: 4/5 stars
Live Stream by Alyssa Wong: 3.5/5 stars
Close Enough for Jazz by John Chu: 3/5 stars
Buried Deep by Naomi Novik: 4.5/5 stars
The Things Eric Eats Before He Eats Himself by Carmen Maria Machado: 3/5 stars
Florilegia; or, Some Lies About Flowers by Amal El-Mohtar: 5/5 stars
He Fell Howling by Stephen Graham Jones: 4/5 stars
Curses Like Words, Like Feathers, Like Stories by Kat Howard: 4/5 stars
Across the River by Leah Cypress: 4.5/stars
Sisyphus in Elysium by Jeffrey Ford: 4.25/5 stars
Kali_Na by Indrapramit Das: 4/5 stars
Live Stream by Alyssa Wong: 3.5/5 stars
Close Enough for Jazz by John Chu: 3/5 stars
Buried Deep by Naomi Novik: 4.5/5 stars
The Things Eric Eats Before He Eats Himself by Carmen Maria Machado: 3/5 stars
Florilegia; or, Some Lies About Flowers by Amal El-Mohtar: 5/5 stars