Myths and Legends - Book Reviews

Myths and Legends is a new series of books from Osprey, publisher of military history books combining historical information with beautiful illustrations and images. The series will examine “the great stories that have echoed down through time and have helped to shape our cultures” (from the Osprey website).

Jason and the Argonauts

The voyage of Jason and the Argonauts and their hunt for the Golden Fleece is one of the most enduringly popular of all of the Ancient Greek heroic myths. Accepting the quest in order to regain his kingdom, Jason assembled a legendary crew including many of Greece's greatest heroes such as Hercules, Orpheus, Atalanta, Telamon, and the twins Castor and Pollux. With this band of heroes and demi-gods, Jason set sail in the Argo on a journey across the known world. During their quest, the Argonauts faced numerous challenges including the harpies, the clashing rocks, the Sirens, Talos the bronze man, the sleepless dragon that guarded the fleece, and of course the fickle will of the gods of Olympus.

Dr. Neil Smith retells this classic myth, examining its origins, its history, and its continued popularity. The text is supported by numerous illustrations both classical and modern, including numerous artwork plates especially commissioned for this work. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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First off, this is a beautiful book. Fantastic illustrations, a good use of images of ancient artefacts and statues, colourful and pleasing to flick through; this is the kind of book that you want to pick up the instant you see it.

Jason and the Argonauts tells the myth of the ancient Greek hero Jason and his voyage to claim the Golden Fleece. It begins early in the myth and tells each stage in detail, providing background facts and information. Despite studying Classics at university, I’m actually not that familiar with the Jason myth – it’s about the only one that I didn’t touch on – and there were a lot of new things to learn in this book. The story is told in an engaging style and it’s a very easy read. The illustrations also add a lot to the story, helping the reader to imagine various events. The book is obviously meant as an introduction to the myth, and it does this well.

I did enjoy reading about Jason’s journey, but I couldn’t help wishing there had been a little more extra information alongside it. I loved the little asides that talked about ancient Greek ships and weapons, or plotted a map of the Argo’s route, or that added background to various characters, and I would have really liked more of these. For instance, a diagram of a Greek ship might have complemented this particular myth very well. I would also have loved a little more information about Atalanta, the one woman hero on the voyage. She is briefly mentioned, and it’s obviously rare to find a female ancient Greek hero, so it might have been fun to find out how she came to join Jason’s quest.

This is a fun book, well put together and visually very appealing. I think anyone interested in mythology, or in learning about ancient Greek heroes would enjoy it, and could find a place for the collection on their shelves.

Dragonslayers

From legend and mythology to The Hobbit and A Game of Thrones, the dragon is a perennial favorite in the fantasy genre.

With its fiery breath, scaly armour, and baleful, malevolent stare, the dragon became the ultimate symbol of evil and corruption in European folklore and mythology. Often serving as a stand-in for Satan, or the power of evil gods, dragons spread death and hopelessness throughout the land. Only heroes of uncommon valour, courageousness, and purity could hope to battle these monsters and emerge victorious. Those that did became legends. They became dragonslayers. The list of dragonslayers is small, but it is filled with great and legendary names. Hercules, Beowulf, Cuchulain, Sigfried, Lancelot, and Saint George all battled to the death with dragons. Other heroes such as the Danish King Frotho, the French Saint Mercurialis, the Polish champion Krak, and the Russian warrior Dobrynya Nikitch might be less well known to western readers, but also fought and defeated dragons. This book will retell the greatest legends of this select group of warriors, while examining the myth of the dragonslayer in a historical, mythological, and even theological context. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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I enjoyed this book more than Jason and the Argonauts. It looks at the myths and legends of dragon-slayers throughout history, telling their stories and looking at various information surrounding each myth, such as historical records and recurring themes. I liked how the author didn’t limit himself to a rigid modern (and European) definition of what a dragon is, but looked at how ideas of dragons have changed through time and in different societies. This allowed him to include snake-monsters, sea-serpents, wurms and other nasties, and it was fascinating to see how dragons and dragon-slaying legends began and how they developed.

I really loved the amount of additional information that the author provided in this book. I found details about sources and historical records fascinating, and I enjoyed little asides about how the various legends had been used in film and literature, as well as potential real-world influences on the legends that involved real historical figures (crocodiles seem to have been a common culprit). There was so much in this book that I didn’t know (for example, spiked armour pops up a lot in the British dragon-slaying legends). I also didn’t expect there to be so many dragon-slayer stories that I’d never heard of before. The book was very well researched and a joy to read.

This was a really fun and informative book, with some wonderful illustrations and images that really brought the stories to life. Both these beautiful and interesting books represent a very strong start to the Myths and Legends series. I’ve already got my eye on the next titles!

Ante's Inferno - Book Review

Ante’s Inferno, by Griselda Heppel, tells the story of 12-year-old girls Ante and Florence, as they journey through the Underworld with a boy called Gil who died a hundred years earlier. Following a path that leads to the centre of Hell, they face strange dangers and mythical monsters, while at the same time learning more about each other. For Ante, worse than the dangers of the Underworld are the fears that Florence may actually be dead, and that she, Ante, may have killed her.

R.I.P. Ray Bradbury

Photo by Alan Light

Sad to hear that Ray Bradbury, one of science fiction and fantasy’s greats, author of Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The Martian Chronicles, among many others, died June 5th aged 91.

On the website io9, which broke the news earlier today, Bradbury’s grandson Danny Karapetian shared these words about his grandfather: "If I had to make any statement, it would be how much I love and miss him, and I look forward to hearing everyone's memories about him. He influenced so many artists, writers, teachers, scientists, and it's always really touching and comforting to hear their stories. Your stories. His legacy lives on in his monumental body of books, film, television and theater, but more importantly, in the minds and hearts of anyone who read him, because to read him was to know him. He was the biggest kid I know."

Ray Bradbury was one of those authors who clearly loved writing and books so deeply and so passionately that it came through in every sentence, drawing readers in and bringing out the same joy in them, for the future, for the imagination, for vivid new worlds and mythical tales, and for the wonderful power of stories. He will be remembered mainly for the books mentioned above, but for me, some of his short stories have had the deepest effect. In many, such as ‘R is for Rocket’ and ‘The Golden Apples of the Sun,’ Bradbury provides a magically optimistic, exciting vision of the future. Amongst today’s more jaded, dark and ‘gritty’ speculative fiction, it’s always nice to be able to read back over Bradbury’s stories and feel that childlike, hopeful wonder for the unknown again. This does not mean that Bradbury thought the future, or human nature, was all roses. There are stories that warn against the misuse of machines and weapons (for example, ‘The Murderer’ and ‘The Flying Machine’), or that comment on racism and prejudice (e.g. ‘The Big Black and White Game’). But there is a refreshing sense of hope and love for life that runs through most of his short stories. He seems to have always remained the boy from ‘The Sound of Summer Running,’ with his new tennis shoes and his awe of a beautiful future that is alive with possibility. It is well worth picking up a collection of Ray Bradbury’s shorts.

Many authors are deeply indebted to Bradbury and the influence he has had on their own work. On his blog, Neil Gaiman expresses the beauty of Bradbury’s fiction and the profound effect that it has had. Gaiman also writes that Bradbury “was kind, and gentle, and always filled with enthusiasm, and the landscape of the world we live in would have been diminished if we had not had him in our world. And I am so glad that I knew him.” Read his tribute here.

Bradbury liked to tell a story about meeting a carnival magician, Mr. Electrico, when he was a young boy. At the end of the show Electrico touched the boy with an electrified sword to make his hair stand up, and commanded him to “Live forever!” Bradbury said that he started writing every day since then, and never stopped. Bradbury’s stories are so loved and so popular that he does indeed seem to have fulfilled Electrico’s command – he will never be forgotten.

The official Ray Bradbury site.

 

2 Weeks of Movies - Thor

Thor - 6/10

(quite a lot of spoilers!)

Appropriately enough, considering all the Avengers buzz, my next film is Thor. My response and my husband’s were divided on this one. He really didn’t like it; I thought it was fairly enjoyable, though the way the plot unravelled was a little disappointing.

The standard thing to do with superheroes is to start off with their origin story. Makes sense, especially for those with a particularly good origin story, like Spiderman. Unfortunately, the origin story can sometimes turn out to be the most interesting thing about the superhero, so that future outings with him or her fall a bit flat. Like Ironman. Like, well, everyone except the X-Men, really. Some superheroes even have a whole TV series built around their origin (Superman – Smallville, though I’ve actually never watched it). So tackling the origin story of Thor seems like a good move, and in fact, his origin story does happen to be a very good one. However, what we actually got was a bit of a muddle. The first half of the film was Norsey goodness, in Asgard (which looked FANTASTIC by the way), fighting Frost Giants, being blustery and prideful and generally like a good Viking god. Which was apparently bad... BAD Thor for wanting war. The last thing the king of the Viking gods wants is war. What are you thinking Thor? But anyway, this bit of the film was really very good.

Then Thor got cast out to Earth, and it sort of went downhill a bit from there. Which is a shame because this has the potential to be a really compelling story. Thor, aware of who he is but unable to do anything about it, powerless as a normal human, has to somehow find a place for himself in the world. Good stuff. Didn’t quite translate. What we actually got was a little too much Natalie Portman, and Thor making amusing mistakes because of not knowing how to interact socially in our world. Then a pointless bit with the hammer that felt like it was just there to shoe-horn SHIELD in. A surprisingly emotional bit where Loki visits and Thor begs to come home almost saved it, but then it meandered into more pointlessness. Thor was basically without powers for about one day (which is all it took to fall in love with Natalie Portman, despite there not being much chemistry there), and then straight back to Asgard again for the final fight. Earth was essentially meaningless except as a minor plot point. Doesn’t this miss the point a bit? It didn’t really feel like a superhero film; it felt like a fantasy/sci-fi focused on Norse-gods-as-aliens. I think I would have liked it better if it had just embraced this completely.

Apart from the slightly wonky plotting of the second half, I did enjoy the film. I thought the acting was very good, especially Thor and Loki. Costumes, effects and sets were amazing, and I loved the visualisation of Asgard. This could all have been a bit Flash-Gordon cheesy, but it actually wasn’t. The directing was good, the music was good, everything worked except the plot and the pacing. It did suffer a little, however, from the often inevitable too-much-sympathy-for-the-villain syndrome that these kinds of films produce. I liked Loki better than Thor. Sorry. Couldn’t help rooting for him. I wonder if that will be a problem for me in Avengers? I’ll have to wait and see.

So, while I wouldn’t say this was a bad film, I also wouldn’t say it’s one of the best of the superhero bunch. It would really be worth watching for the Asgard scenes alone, but thankfully there are a lot of other things that pull it up too. I do feel that it was really only the plot and pacing that let it down, mainly because of the need to cover an origin story in a couple of hours, which was perhaps better suited to serialisation. Thor’s acceptance-redemption-recovery arc needed to be slower and more believable. The director also clearly struggled with the need to include SHIELD to set up Avengers. That part really just shouldn’t have been there. If a second Thor film does get made, I’ll be interested to see what it has to offer now that his origin has been established. With the right story, I have a feeling it could be amazing.

2 Weeks of Movies - Immortals: The Incredible Tale of Theseus' Ineptitude

Immortals - 4.5/10

(some spoilers!)

Almost as bad as Conan. The visuals and the fights saved it from that distinction. And the fact that it didn’t send me to sleep.

But the story was bad. Reeeeeally bad. Hyperion (not a Titan, despite having the same name as one of the main Titans in Greek mythology and this being a movie about Titans), is searching for the Shining Bow of Plot so that he can release the Titans. This is because he hates the gods for letting his family die. The usual, in other words. Where are all these ‘vendetta against the gods’ movies coming from? It was the same with Clash of the Titans. Apart from the fact that it’s getting old very quickly anyway, it is COMPLETELY out of place in a film about Greek myth. Go up against the gods? Get a lightning bolt in your face. It’s that simple.

There are so many real Greek myths where heroes fight monsters and each other, go on exciting quests, explore mazes and sail to strange islands, face witches and evil magic... why not do one of those stories? Of course, this all happens while the gods look on and treat them like playing pieces in an oversized game of chess. That’s what Greek gods are like. They’re bastards and they’re proud of it.

But apparently in modern films the Greek gods are kindly, righteous beings who have sworn not to interfere in the mortal world because... it would prevent humans from having free will. (sigh) I can’t think of any sentiment less likely to come out of a Greek god’s mouth. And it seems they will not even interfere when a mortal man actually has the Shining Bow of Plot that will release the Titans and risk destroying everything. So Theseus has to stop it.

Yes, Theseus. The guy who killed the minotaur. The Greek hero with arguably the most interesting and richest mythology, with many different stories attached to his name. Of course, the film does not follow any of these stories, choosing to make up its own nonsensical plot instead. To be honest, the whole film would have worked better if they’d pretended it was a fantasy instead of a retelling of Greek myth. Then they could set their own rules and I would have been happier to accept them. I don’t even care that much about accuracy in stories about the ancient world (heck, I’m a fan of Xena), as long as they keep the feel or the spirit of it. This was so far removed it seemed a bit pointless.

Henry Cavill plays Theseus – that’s the guy from the Tudors, or, as we named him when we first saw him in Tristan and Isolde: Pretty, Son of Rufus. He did the best he could with a bad script. By the end of the film it is clear that Theseus is about the worst hero ever to have graced a cinema screen. He actually managed to fail in every conceivable way. He was supposed to stop Hyperion from getting the Shining Bow of Plot at all costs. What he actually did was get beaten in a few fights, then find the bow and take it out of its very well hidden resting place, right into the jaws of Hyperion’s finder dog. He then failed to stop Hyperion using it, and didn’t even stick around to help the gods clean up the mess. He did manage to kill Hyperion in the end. When it was too late. When Hyperion actually wasn’t a threat in any way anymore. On top of this, he slept with a virgin oracle, causing her to lose her powers of prophecy and knocking her up in the process. In every way, the people in this film would have been better off without him. However, this did not stop the gods from accepting him into Mount Olympus at the end and making him a god. But then, the gods were pretty hopeless too, so perhaps ineptitude is what defines a deity in Immortals.

The story was dire, but the film had some saving graces. The visuals were good, reminiscent of 300, and the fight scenes were well thought out and executed. Parts of the film were enjoyable to watch, when I wasn’t banging my head against the wall at Theseus’ incompetence (Theseus and Peter Petrelli would make a terrifying team). The acting wasn’t bad, and I liked the visual representation of the gods (it was different, but it worked. Yes even the helmets). The bellowing bull method of execution was a nice nod to the history of Greek tyrants, if a bit misplaced in this story. Unfortunately, all the style in the world could not have saved this film. It wasn’t as awful as Conan, but that’s about all I can say for it. And, hey, at least it wasn’t ‘Monsters.’