Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Mythic Dream

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2019

In this anthology, Parisien and Wolfe wanted writers to use and subvert the old tales and engage with the classic narratives "by recontextualizing them, giving them new perspectives, new worlds to inhabit”. The stories in The Mythic Dream achieve that goal in spectacular fashion. This is a vivid, evocative, often visceral, collection of fiction by authors who have unique, bold, and original takes on the source material, spanning the genres from horror to science fiction and fantasy.

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Merrlyn

Unexpected

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2019

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I had an idea of what myths I would find here but was unexpectedly suprised and delighted to find something even Better! It was being invited to a banquet and finding oneself at a slimmed down feast in which each different morsel gave an alternate euphoric experience. *sigh*

This is a book I'm going to reread in a couple of months, I bet I'm going to have alternate reponse to these myths then too. 🤗

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Stein

Myth Minus Magic = disappointment

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2019

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After reading that there was a retelling of the Diana and Actaeon myth in this collection, I bought the Kindle edition for a quick read. Titled 'Live Feed' by Alyssa Wong, the myth with magic and transformation becomes a modern and mundane story of revenge. Rather curiously, the myth is about the callousness and power of the goddess, where the story makes the 'goddess' a victim. Other than being about a man and a woman, there is little to connect the two. The story is well written, just nothing to do with the claimed concept.

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4.5 out 5 but rounded up

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2019

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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.

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E. Thiessen

Great collection of short stories with a mythical theme

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2019

4.5 stars, but I'm rounding up because I want others to read this and I really did love it.

When you have a short story collection like this, by so many different authors, it's kind of hard to give it an overall rating, especially if there were some stories you didn't like quite so much. But overall, this is a very strong collection of stories and I discovered some new authors along the way. The theme of this set is the retellings of myths from all cultures, and that, in itself, was quite interesting, since the most common myths studied in school are those of Greek/Roman mythology, with maybe some mention of Egyptian and Norse mythology. What I loved about this collection is that the authors were given the chance to explore retellings of different mythologies across cultures and civilizations in order to say something about the present and future. This was a mix of fantasy/mythology, and science fiction written by a nice cross section of current sci-fi/fantasy authors. While I loved some more than others, overall, I looked forward to reading each new story and discovering something new. I would probably recommend this for older teens and young adults, partly because there are some pretty graphic scenes of violence, sex, abuse, cannibalism, and language (though I'm not nearly as concerned about language as the other stuff). I would probably let my 15 year old read this if she were interested, with just a heads-up about some of the stuff she would find in it.

Here is a summary of my ratings:

Phantoms of the Midway (Hades and Persephone), Seanan McGuire, 4.5 stars
The Justified (Hathor and the Destruction of Mankind), Ann Leckie, 4 stars
Fisher-Bird (The Labors of Hercules), T. Kingfisher, 4.5 stars
A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy (Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden), Rebecca Roanhorse, 5 stars
Bridge of Crows (The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl), JY Yang, 4 stars
Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within (Inanna Takes Command of Heaven/Inanna & Enki), Arkady Martine, 2.5-3 stars
Wild to Covet (Thetis) , Sarah Gailey, 4.5 stars
Cuidado, Que Viene El Coco (El Coco), Carlos Hernandez, 5 stars
He Fell Howling (Lycaon), Stephen Graham Jones, 2.5 stars
Curses Like Words, Like Feathers, Like Stories (The Children of Lir), Kat Howard, 3 stars
Across the River (The Legend of Akdamot/The Legend of Rabbi Meir and the Sambatyon), Leah Cypess, 4-4.5 stars
Sisyphus in Elysium (Sisyphus), Jeffrey Ford, 3.5-4 stars
Kali_Na (Kali), Indrapramit Das, 4.5 stars
Live Stream (Artemis and Acteon), Alyssa Wong, 4.5 stars
Close Enough for Jazz (Idunn and her Golden Apples), John Chu, 4.5 stars
Buried Deep (Ariadne and the Minotaur), Naomi Novik, 3.5 stars
The Things Erik Eats Before He Eats Himself (Erysichthon), Carmen Maria Machado, 3 stars
Florilegia; Or, Some Lies about Flowers (Blodeuwedd), Amal El-Mohtar, 4 stars

Special thanks to #NetGalley, The Authors, and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Reviews & Robots

Storytelling at its Finest

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2019

The Mythic Dream fascinates with its unique collection of classical myth adaptations. The tome features a brilliant cast of science fiction and fantasy’s top authors, each with a unique writing style that resonates throughout the retellings. Many of these myths were new to me, adding an important learning moment about the stories that shaped so many world cultures. Overall, you’ll find expertly written stories, each with a unique twist on tales that enchant, horrify, and entertain.

NOTE: I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

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AnnieB

Great collection of myth based SF/fantasy

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2019

The Mythic Dream is a myth based anthology with 18 short fiction re-imaginings, edited by Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe. Released 3rd Sept. 201 by Simon & Schuster on their Saga imprint, it's available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

I've always had a particular fondness for collections/anthologies because short fiction is spare and technically challenging, so you get a better feel for an author's expertise with the form. Short fiction is less of a time commitment as well, so if one story is not working for you, there's another piece readily available in a few pages. Anthologies are also a rich source for finding new authors so you can search out their other works. Most of the authors included here were familiar, but there were a couple who were new (to me).

This is top shelf fiction and while some stories appealed to me more than others, there wasn't a single story in the lot which wasn't enjoyable and well crafted. The introduction (by the editors Parisien & Wolfe) was interesting and on point, and I really enjoyed the authors' notes after each story with insights and background for their writing process and inspirations.

Wonderful anthology, full of stories from 3-5 stars, weighted heavily toward the top end of the scale.

Four and a half stars. Good stuff. This would be a superlative choice for SF/fantasy readers, and great for gift giving. I can also imagine it being a good choice for a buddy or group read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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Wanderonwards

Anthology of 18 Classic Myth Retellings From Around the World

Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2019

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for sending me a free ARC copy of The Mythic Dream in exchange for an honest review.

The Mythic Dream is an anthology of 18 classic myth retellings by a mix of talented authors. Some authors I was previously familiar with & several are new favorites that I am looking forward to reading more of. This anthology covers an incredible variety of myths from cultures across the globe, with some of the retellings sticking close to their original narratives & others exploring how far they could go. I was surprised with how few myths I was familiar with, but reading this anthology showed me how much I’m missing & I’ve found a new section to add to my monthly TBR.

Overall, I give this anthology a 4 out of 5 stars, based on my average rating for each of the stories. Of the 18 stories, I rated 11 at least 4 stars or higher. My two favorites were “Fisher-bird” by T. Kingfisher and “Kali_Na” by Indrapramit Das.

Unfortunately, a couple of the stories were too graphic for my taste. In terms of trigger warnings, there’s not much that isn’t covered in these stories. Rape, drug use, cannibalism - each story tackles a different topic & this would be a good anthology for book discussion groups. Some stories dealing with tough topics needed more room, but I’m not sure what limitations the authors were given. However, I really enjoyed how each story was approached in a different style & each author’s creative twists on the original myths & the possibilities of our future.

Thank you again to NetGalley and Saga Press for the privilege of reviewing an ARC.

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A.M

Full of Gems

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2019

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.

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darcysmom

A well-curated, highly readable anthology

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2019

The Mythic Dream accomplished the near impossible for an anthology - every story was very good! I loved the wide variety of myths and incredibly diverse takes on those myths. I also loved the diversity of authors included in the anthology. While I truly enjoyed all of the stories, a few were favorites. I particularly liked "Phantoms of the Midway" by Seanan McGuire and "Curses Like Words, Like Feathers, Like Stories" by Kat Howard.
Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe have curated a truly outstanding anthology!
Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for the opportunity to read and review The Mythic Dream.

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