The Witch and the Tsar has all the makings of a novel that I would like: historical fiction, magical realism, an interesting back story featuring a mythology I am not familiar with, and a strong female protagonist; however, I just was not that into it. I did not think about not finishing The Witch and the Tsar, but I was not excited to get back to reading it every night before bedtime.
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Gods of Jade and Shadow is Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s second novel following her debut novel, Signal to Noise, and itself followed by Mexican Gothic, Velvet was the Night and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. I find that I prefer Moreno-Garcia’s earlier works more than her more recent novels, because I enjoyed Gods of Jade and Shadow, a fairy tale based on Mayan folklore, as much as I enjoyed Signal to Noise.
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Stone Blind is the newest novel by Natalie Haynes. I have previously reviewed her books A Thousand Ships and Pandora’s Jar on this blog, so if you have been following along, then you know that Haynes uses her extensive knowledge of Greek mythology to retell the stories of Greek mythological women through a feminist lens, picking apart the misogynist views passed through time by the white men who originally told their stories. Stone Blind is an interesting read infused with Haynes engaging humour, but it did not inspire any strong feelings in me, I guess because it does not tell me something I have not already learned through Haynes other books and through other feminist retellings of Greek mythology.
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You may have noticed that I have read quite a few books based on Greek and Roman mythology. The Witch’s Heart is based on a mythology that I am not as familiar with: Norse mythology ie. Odin, Thor, and Loki. But this is not a Disney/Marvel watering down of Norse mythology where the gods are more likeable and played to comic effect. Like the Greek and Roman gods, the Norse gods were actually dicks. The Witch’s Heart is about a woman who has been relegated to a footnote in Norse mythology (as women typically are), a witch called Angrboda who was also a wife of Loki. Gornichec gives Angrboda her own story, and it is a good, interesting story, but I am not blown away by it as other readers seem to be.
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If you have been following my blog this whole time, then you have probably noticed by now that I have a predilection for Greek mythology. Daughters of Sparta is about two sisters, Klytemnestra and her younger, more infamous sister, Helen. Helen is “the face that launched a thousand ships” and caused the Trojan War. Daughters of Sparta is presented as historical fiction, though; the Greek gods do not appear as characters in the novel. The gods are prayed to, and sacrifices are made to them, but they are otherwise useless and do not influence the outcome of the story. I read Daughters of Sparta because I was interested in reading about Klytemnestra and Helen from their own perspective, but I found this novel to be somewhat lacking.
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Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes is not what I thought it would be. I must have been so excited about a new Natalie Haynes book that I did not comprehend the synopsis before I bought it. I thought it would be a collection of short stories she wrote about the women featured in Greek myths. Instead, it is an examination of Greek myths where Haynes uses her extensive knowledge of Greek mythology to trace how white men changed the origin stories of Greek mythological women to suit their own ideas of women. But even though it turned out to be a completely different book from what I thought I would be reading, Pandora’s Jar is an interesting book. If you have any interest at all in Greek mythology, I think you will find this book interesting as well.
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The God of Lost Words is the third and final book of the Hell’s Library trilogy. If you have not read The Library of the Unwritten (book one) and The Archive of the Forgotten (book two) yet and plan on reading them, then do not read any further as this review will contain some spoilers for the first two books.
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Lately, I seem to be reading a lot of novels by women that are a revival of Greek mythology, novels based on classical Greek literature written mainly by men. There is Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles (the first review I published on my blog) and Circe, and now A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. I really enjoyed reading A Thousand Ships. It’s a feminist retelling of the Trojan war which focuses on the women who are usually side-lined in epic tales about the male heroes of Greek and Troy, and it’s purpose is to show that women can be heroes too even if they don’t fight in wars (with the exception of the Amazons).
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The Golem and the Jinni is a long read, but worth every moment I spent on it. I really enjoyed this novel! I was first interested in reading this novel when it was published in 2013, but unfortunately never got around to it at the time. Silly me! I could have had this novel in my life for so many years! If you enjoy historical fiction and are interested in supernatural creatures from other cultures, then I highly recommend you read this novel.
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I first became aware of The Song of Achilles when I read Miller’s other book Circe (published after The Song of Achilles. I also highly recommend you read it), then I started to notice it pop up on lists of must-read books. If you have any interest in Greek mythology or tragic love stories, I highly recommend this book. I only know the bare bones about Greek mythology myself; before reading this novel, my knowledge of Achilles was limited to him being a great hero with a weak heel. The Song of Achilles tells the story of Achilles through the perspective of Achilles’ great love, Patroclus. Miller based her novel on Homer’s the Iliad, where Achilles is a strong fighter and difficult to kill (but doesn’t have a vulnerable heel) but she diverges from the Illiad by writing the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus as a romantic one.
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