Like many people, after watching Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, I found my interest and love for Greek Mythology reignited this summer. This led me, earlier this month, to read Natalie Haynes‘s Divine Might and Pandora’s Jar — two superb, engaging books about Greek Mythology. After finishing them, and buying a few of her novels, I started to look about for any other books the author might be working on. That’s what led me to find Irresistible Monsters, another book about mythology; this time, Haynes takes a look at the “creatures in Greek Mythology”. Here’s the synopsis:
From snaky Echidna – mother of monsters – to the fearsome Minotaur, the strange and terrible creatures of Greek myths have been grabbing our attention for thousands of years. In Irresistible Monsters, bestselling author, broadcaster and passionate classicist Natalie Haynes turns her inimitable gaze on the inhuman, and reveals that even the things we thought we knew aren’t necessarily so: a Cyclops doesn’t always have one eye, and Cerberus doesn’t start out with three heads.
Along the way, she examines how we think about monsters: what makes a monster, and why do we need them? Do they subvert the world as we know it, or subtly reinforce our expectations? Is a monster human or animal, mortal or divine? And how do you defeat a multi-headed snake when it has a giant crab as its henchman?
This is now one of my most-anticipated books of early 2027. Really looking forward to reading it.
Irresistible Monsters is due to be published in the UK by Picador, on March 4th, 2027. At the time of writing, I couldn’t find a North American publisher — Haynes’s aforementioned Divine Might and Pandora’s Jar (and novels) are published in North America by Harper Perennial, so maybe they will pick this one up as well.
I stumbled across this in an Edelweiss catalogue, and my interested was immediately grabbed: first by the cover, then realizing it was by Claire North, and then the synopsis. It’s another novel in the growing body of mythological figure retellings (a sub-genre that has become especially popular in the last year or two). North’s novels are fantastic: always different, packed with intriguing and interesting ideas and twists, and often surprising. Due to be published in September, here’s the synopsis for Ithaca:
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Suyi Davies Okungbowa?
Mythology was a big part of my childhood: Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse… I loved it all. I remember we had a particular hardcover book of mythology, heavily illustrated that covered the first three. I read that book over and over again, poring over the details and adventures of the heroes, villains and gods. I loved it, and is most likely the root of my interest in fantasy fiction. (I cannot for the life of me remember what the book was called, though, nor who published it. I’ve been trying to remember for years, but the details escape me completely.)*
In May 2018, 
An entertaining tale of gods behaving badly
Is someone killing the gods in New York…?
Smaug. It must’ve started with Smaug. Smaug the Magnificent. As a boy of 8, I think that’s the first time I heard a dragon talk. A Conversation with Smaug by J.R.R. Tolkien is still one of my favourite illustrations. ‘Well, thief! I smell you and I feel your air’, isn’t that how it went? And that was also, I think, the first time that the 8-year-old me heard about a dragon being able to talk. Smaug was red, of course. To this day, it’s my favourite colour.
Welcome back to CR! Let’s start with an introduction, for new readers: Who is James Lovegrove?
Civilian Reader 