Fit for the gods : Greek mythology reimagined

Fit for the gods Greek mythology reimagined

Book - 2023

"Featuring stories by a bestselling, cross-genre assortment of some of the most exciting writers working today, an anthology of gender-bent, queered, race-bent, and inclusive retellings from the enchanting and eternally popular world of Greek myth. Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, and the other denizens of Mount Olympus feel almost as present and larger than life today as they did when they were worshipped as gods. Humanity has been telling and retelling stories about the characters from Greek and Roman myth for centuries--heck, the Romans liked the Hellenic originals so much, they remade them faster than Marvel remakes Spider-Man movies. And from Virgil's Aeneid to Xena: Warrior Princess to Percy Jackson to The Song of Achilles, ...the obsession has never waned. Yet Fit for the Gods shows how these stories still have a power of metamorphosis that would impress Ovid. Here you'll find Atalanta's wild hunt reimagined as a daring space battle; a sex-swapped take on Theseus and the Minotaur; a story that explores the character of Tiresias with a complex, fascinating, modern understanding of gender; a chilling feminist takedown of Apollo from Daphne's POV; and the entire Greek pantheon reimagined as dangerously clever, bored AIs. Brave, bold, and groundbreaking, the stories in Fit for the Gods will be like ambrosia for those craving fresh interpretations of their favorite myths, and give long-time fans a chance to finally see themselves in these beloved legends"--

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808.80382/Fit
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Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor New Shelf 808.80382/Fit (NEW SHELF) Due Jul 17, 2024
Subjects
2000-2099
Mythology, Greek > Fiction.
Gods > Fiction.
Short stories, American > 21st century.
FICTION / Anthologies (multiple authors)
Mythology, Greek
Short stories, American
short stories.
Fiction
Mythological fiction
Short stories
Mythological fiction.
Short stories.
Queer fiction.
Genres
short stories
Fiction
Mythological fiction
Short stories
Queer fiction
Published
New York : Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC 2023.
Language
English
Other Authors
Zoraida Córdova (author), Zeyn Joukhadar, Sarah Gailey, Juliana Spink Mills, Susan Purr, Suleikha Snyder, Mia P. Manansala, Valerie Valdes, Jude Reali, Marika Bailey, Alyssa Cole, Taylor Rae, Wen Wen Yang, Maya Deane
Edition
First edition
Item Description
"A Vintage Books original" -- title page verso.
Physical Description
xvi, 382 pages ; 21 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9780593469248
  • Introduction / (Jenn Northington & S. Zainab Williams)
  • The Gorgon confessionals / (Zoraida Córdova)
  • Dion and the Maenads / (S. Zainab Williams)
  • Tiresias / (Zeyn Joukhadar)
  • Wild to covet / (Sarah Gailey)
  • Pescada / (Juliana Spink Mills)
  • Pickles for Mrs. Pomme / (Susan Purr)
  • The ship of Thea / (Suleikha Snyder)
  • The Furies Detective Agency / (Mia P. Manansala)
  • Atalanta hunts the boar / (Valerie Valdes)
  • A heart inured to suffering / (Jude Reali)
  • Trembling Aspen; or, To shiver / (Marika Bailey)
  • Stasis (Bastion in the spring) / (Alyssa Cole)
  • The eagles at the edge of the world / (Taylor Rae)
  • The words from the mountain / (Wen Wen Yang)
  • No gods, no kings / (Maya Deane).
Review by Booklist Review

The editors credit Bulfinch and d'Aulaire with sparking their love of ancient myths, and in this collection they aim to give a more varied breadth of voices to the telling. The book opens with Zoraida Córdova's talk show style confessional, in which the characters of Greek (and Roman) mythology navigate the unfamiliar modern world, and closes with Maya Deane's story of an Amazon empire. Sarah Gailey's satisfyingly feral "Wild to Covet" focuses on Thetis more commonly known for being the mother of Achilles. Penelope appears not as a patient weaver, but as a potter. Hades and Persephone, their relationship reimagined as a modern romance, make multiple appearances, once, in a postapocalyptic wasteland where Hades is a mechanical guardian of what's left of Earth's living beings. The stories play with setting, gender, family relationships--all the dynamics one expects given the source material, if not necessarily in its accustomed forms. These tales all feel rooted in the present zeitgeist, and they provide entertainment and windows into how ancient myths can fit into modern narratives.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Regenerated gods and monsters share their secrets on a talk show. A Hades and Persephone romance plays out on an Earth ravaged by ecological devastation. Trans oracle Tiresias navigates a house party and the other guests' preoccupations with gender. These stories and more fill this anthology. Greek myth retellings are popular, and this time- and genre-spanning collection brings an antipatriarchal twist to the trend with stories from authors across genres, including Mia P. Manansala, Valerie Valdes, and Alyssa Cole. Many stories highlight women sidelined or left unknown or unheard in the original myths, such as Sarah Gailey's "Wild To Covet," granting Thetis agency around her prophesied son, or Marika Bailey's "Trembling Aspen; Or, To Shiver," Daphne's breathtaking manifesto after becoming a tree. Also among the many standouts in this collection are "The Eagles at the Edge of the World" by Taylor Rae (a take on Aeneas and Dido where two Kumeyaay women flee rising waters to rebuild their nation) and "A Heart Inured to Suffering" by Jude Reali, a spacefaring take on Odysseus. The retellings' variety ensures there's plenty to enjoy. VERDICT This collection should please Greek myth fans who want to approach familiar stories from a queer, feminist perspective. Recommended.--Erin Niederberger

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Greco-Roman epics live again in this intriguing anthology of retellings from diverse authors. In the introduction to their first anthology as an editing duo, Northington and Williams invoke childhoods spent with d'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, and that affection is clearly shared with the 15 writers who transform stories of the Greek and Roman pantheons across lines of race, gender, sexuality, and genre in this collection, with mixed but often captivating results. Many of the strongest entries take the biggest risks regarding style and setting and prioritize examination of a theme over strict adherence to every plot point in the source material. Sarah Gailey's "Wild To Covet," which has a kinship with the stranger interludes in the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? places Thetis' journey from wild girl to wife and mother of Achilles (here, "Esau") in American folklore. With admirably efficient storytelling and evocative prose, Gailey interrogates who and what is untameable. Who and what is capable of love is at the heart of another standout: Alyssa Cole's poignant and richly imagined SF Hades and Persephone reinvention, "Stasis (Bastion in the Spring)." In a nice editorial touch, both "Stasis" and the stunning story that follows it, Taylor Rae's "The Eagles at the Edge of the World," concern themselves with the aftermaths of climate apocalypses--in the latter, a girl who's one-quarter Kumeyaay is our Aeneas, attempting to find a new homeland with her mother in a flooded world. While not all the contributions are of the same caliber, the anthology ends in a blaze of glory thanks to Maya Deane's incandescent "No Gods, No Kings," which chronicles the Amazon queen Murina's contribution to the fall of the Titans. A collection of impressive breadth that will reward the mythically minded. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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