I am super excited to share with you 10 up-and-coming and coming releases this year for the Greek mythology genre! I am a HUGE mythology nerd, even to the degree of doing a 6 year Classical Studies degree and get stupid giddy when I know new books are coming out, so if you like mythology like me, and want to take the time to listen to my ramblings then keep your eyes peeled as I plan to write many more blogs on this topic this year.
Oh, and this is the page to save to remember this years biggest reads 😉
I absolutely love these stories, I have a large collection so far and I am currently wondering where these new books will go... nhelves are are a definite must!
Anyway take a look below at all of these exciting new 2023 releases. I will begin with the earliest release dates of which some mbe ay already available to purchase.
All order/preorder links are included.
1. The Heriones by Laura Shepperson
Release date: 9th February
In Athens, crowds flock to witness the most shocking trial of the ancient world. The royal family is mired in scandalthe . Phaedra, young bride of King Theseus, has accused her stepson, Hippolytus of rape.
He's a prince, a talented horseman, a promising noble with his whole life ahead of him. She's a young and neglected wife, the youngest in a long line of Cretan women with less than savoury reputations.
The men of Athens must determine the truth. Who is guilty, and who is innocent?
But the the women know truth is a slippery thing. After all, this is the age of heroes and the age of monsters. There are two sides to every story, and theirs has gone unheard.
Until now.
Structured like a Greek tragedy with three acts and a chorus and told from the perspective of Phaedra who accuses her stepson of rape and having to rely on the men of Athens to decide if she is telling the truth or not, this is a powerful feminist retelling that has rave reviews.
2. The Shadow of Perseus by Claire Heywood
Release date: 21st February
History remembers him as a hero. But the women who knew him best remember a different man.
Told through the story of the three women who knew him best - his mother Danae, his wife Andromeda, and his victim, Medusa, this is the myth of Perseus.
A compelling athought-provokingt provoking storymust-havea must have on any myth nerds shelves!
3. Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
Release date: March 2nd
As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best . . .
This is thmythology mythologys greatest heroine, a thrilling tale of power and prophecies, and the fierce Queen who fought back at those who wronged her.
Mother. Monarch. Murderer. Magnificent.
You are bor to a king, but marry a tyrant. You stand helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore and comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own.
You play the part, fooling enemies who deny you justice. Slowly, you plot.
You are Clytemnestra.
But when the husband who owns you returns in triumph, what then?
Acceptance or vengeance - infamy follows both. So you bide your tie and wait, until you might force the gods' hands and take revenge. Until you rise. For you understood something that the others don't. If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for ersonally, I am supaboutexcited for this one!
4. Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
Release date: 13th April
This is the third mythology book by this Iuthor and i can personally recommend both to be read (see blog for reviews - Ariadne and Elektra -)
This one is again told from the female narrative of the heroic story of the only female argonaut.
I cannot wait toJennifers'o Jennifers next retelling.
When a daughter is born to the King of Arcadia, she brings only disappointment.
Left exposed on a mountainside, the defenceless infant Atalanta is left to the mercy of a passing mother bear and raised alongside the cubs under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis.
Swearing that she will prove her worth alongside the famed heroes of Greece, Atalanta leaves her forest to join Jason's band of Argonauts.
But can she carut her own place in the legends in a world made for men?
5. No Season But The Summer by Matilda Leyser
Release date: April 13th
I am super excited to read it'ss book, its up next on. my list of books to read. not only is the cover beautiful, but it promises to leave us with questions. What happens when the old storieit'sail us? its full of lpossibilitypossaimpossibilitypossability and most importalistening listeniong to the earth around us!
Spring and summer are my mothand er’s time, autumn and winter are my husband’s. What is left for me?
Persephone spends six months of the year under the ground with her husband, king of the dead, and six months on earth with her mother, goddess of the harvest. It has been this way for nine thosand years, since the deal was struck.
But when she resurfaces this spring, something is different. Rains lash the land, crops grow out of season or npeople are tryingople trying to build a road through the woods, and her mother does not seem able to stop them. The natural world is changing rapidly and even the gods have lost control.
While Demeter tries to regain her powers and fend off her daughter’s husband, who wants to drag his queen back underground for good, Persephone finally gets a taste of freedom, joining a group of protestors. Used to blinking up at the world from below, as she looks down on the earth for the very first time from the treetops with activist Snow, Persephone realises that there are choices she can make for herself.
But what will these choices mean for her mother, her hud, and for the new shoots of life inside her?
6. Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara
Release Date: 25th May
Ok, now this is one of my most highly anticipated books of 2023! boasting to be
a stunning, exciting and hotly-anticipated feminist retelling of one of the greatest love stories in Greek mythology, and again, look at that cover!!
The greatest love story ever told...
Born into an era of heroes, a prophecy claims that Psyche - Princess of Mycenae - will defeat a monster feared even by the gods themselves. Rebelling against society's traditions, she spends her youth mastering blade and bow, preparing to fulfil her destiny.
But she is soon caught up in powers beyond her control, when the jealous Aphrodite sends the God of Desire, Eros, to delivlove curse love-curse. The last thing Eros wants is to become involved in the chaos of the mortal world, but when he is pricked by the very arrow intended for Psyche, he is doomed to love a woman who will be torn from him the moment their eyes meet.
Thrown together by fate, headstrong Psyche and world-weary Eros will face challenges greater than they could have ever imagined. And as the Trojan War begins and the whole of the heavens try to keep them apart, will they find their way back to each other... before it's too late?
The buzz for this book is huge! my preorders are already in ;)
7. Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald
Release date: 20th July
This next one is set to be a fierce and enormously fun Persephone and Hades fantasy retelling from a growing TikTok sensation. definitely definately seems to be a favourite this year.
To hell with love, this goddess has other plans...
Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying.
The real story is much more interesting.
Persephone wasn't taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.
Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld's annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. A plan that will shake Mount Olympus to its very core.
But consequences can be deadly, especially when you're already in hell . . .
8. Horses Of Fire: A Novel of Troy
Release date: 21st July
I love a Troy retelling and this one sounds brilliant.
I know the stories they will tell. I've heard the echoes of their songs--songs that will outlive us all. But this song is not theirs. It is mine.
Behind the timeless tale you know is the captivating story you never heard: a sweeping epic in which Troy's strong, yet misunderstood centretake center stage in the most famous war in history.
Andromache is cast as the doting wife of Prince Hector, yet her Amazon warrior name means "battler of men." The only one with the cunning to outwit the invading Greeks, she must gather a band of outcasts and become the military commander she was born to be before the life she and Hector have built is reduced to ashes.
Rhea is a war refugee and a horse whisperer who finally earns a place and sense of belonging in Hector's stables. To save her new home, she must become an unlikely spy and face down a forbidden love that will test all her loyalties.
Helen is blamed by all for starting the Trojan War, but no one knows her real story. To escape her tormentor and foil a plot to undermine Hector, Helen must risk everything by revealing her true face to the one who despises her most.
9. House Of Odysseus by Claire North
Release date: 24th August
Texciting esxcitinhg second novel in the Songs of Penelope trilogy, the first being Ithaca.
This series follows a world in which women, abandoned by men, must wdestiniesown destiny.
10. Herc by Phoenicia Rogerson
Release date: 31st August
Last up on our list for 2023 (so far) is Herc, a fantastic enthralling queer feminist retelling of Greece's greatest hero, Hercules.
I can not wait to read this tale, it is set to be a great and new retelling.
This should be the story of Hercules: his twelve labours, his endless adventures…everyone’s favourite hero, right?
Well, it’s not.
This is the story of everyone else:
Alcmene: Herc’s mother (She has knives everywhere)
Hylas: Herc’s first friend (They were more than friends)
Megara: Herc’s wife (She’ll tell you about their marriage)
Eurystheus: Oversaw Herc’s labours (He never asked for the job)
His friends, his enemies, his wives, his children, his lovers, his rivals, his gods, his victims.
It’s time to hear their stories.
Well, thats it for now.
As you can see this is going to be a great year for the greek mythology retelling genre.
I will be getting them all so watch this space for reviews.
Let me know in the comments which ones take.your fancy?
I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on this review, if you have read this book why not drop me a line telling me your thoughts?
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