IF YOU LIKE SOULFUL WITCHES…
Circe by Madeline Miller
What’s the backstory of the nymph who ensnares Odysseus and transforms his males into squealing pigs? Miller brings us into her world, from her painful upbringing as an unloved little one of a Titan, to an exiled witch dwelling on a distant island. On this story we see Odysseus via Circe’s sensible eyes, which discover the ache and contradictions of Homer’s war-traumatised hero.
Stuffed with chic, poetic description, you’ll be hooked by Circe’s first traces, every of which sound like an incantation: “After I was born, the title for what I used to be didn’t exist. They referred to as me nymph, assuming I might be like my mom and aunts and thousand cousins. Least of the lesser goddesses, our powers had been so modest they may scarcely guarantee our eternities.” Spellbinding stuff.
IF YOU LIKE WEIRD, COLOURFUL JOURNEYS…
ODY-C by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward
If the size of the unique Odyssey wasn’t sufficient, attempt a genre-morphing graphic novel adaptation the place Zeus and Odysseus (amongst others) are each ladies, with the latter determined to go residence to her companion Penelope, themself a Sebex or third gender – an ingenious play on the ‘I’m no-man’ scene in Homer’s Odyssey.
True to the blurb, this can be a “trippy, gender-flipped model of Homer’s Odyssey hurtling via house on psychedelic, science fiction wings”. All explored in galactic scale and the brightest of color palettes. That ought to tide over anybody already impatient for Dune: Half Three’s December launch date.
IF YOU’RE A NERD FOR GREEK CULTURE…
The Secret Historical past by Donna Tartt
Tartt’s story of a bunch of scholars whose love of historic Greek tradition and fantasy slowly turns murderous is a trademark of the ‘darkish academia’ style. Extra importantly, it’s an unputdownable story of obsession, college group dynamics and the ‘ritual of Bacchus’ (AKA loopy partying) gone incorrect.
As one character seductively asks: “What could possibly be extra terrifying and exquisite, to souls just like the Greeks or our personal, than to lose management utterly?” No surprise this contemporary traditional featured on Time journal’s “100 Finest Thriller and Thriller Books of All Time” checklist.
