English Mythology

Lythlet and her only friend Desil are shackled to a life of debt and poverty that she fears they will never escape. Desperate for money, they sign up as conquessors: arena combatants who fight sun-cursed beasts in the seedy underworld of the city. Match-master Dothilos is initially enamored of Desil’s brawling reputation, but after seeing Lythlet lead the pair to triumph with her quick cunning, he takes her under his wing, scorning Desil. Ambition takes root in Lythlet’s heart as a life of fame and wealth unfolds in her imagination.

Abyssal Archive features the most comprehensive fan analysis of the Dark Souls mythos ever undertaken. We set out to pay tribute to Miyazaki's legendary game by crafting something that embodies the same care and attention to detail that makes Dark Souls itself such a peerless work of art.

The name's Kore, daughter of Demeter, crown goddess of spring, but you can call me Kory. Along with my invitation to attend the elite Olympus Academy where all the top deities send their brats for training, comes the news that I'm betrothed to Hades, tall, dark, and brooding god of the underworld. I'd much rather be Queen Bee of my girl gang back home, slinging panaceas to spoiled rich Olympians, but I have three years to enjoy my life before I'm ruling the denizens of hell at Hades' side and I refuse to waste it making him look good. Turns out, my betrothed has a gang of his own.

After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. But the ritual was more powerful than they could’ve imagined, reigniting the powers of not only the maji, but of nobles with magic ancestry, too. Now, Zélie struggles to unite the maji in an Orïsha where the enemy is just as powerful as they are. But when the monarchy and military unite to keep control of Orïsha, Zélie must fight to secure Amari's right to the throne and protect the new maji from the monarchy's wrath.

Full of tragic heroes, intoxicating love stories, and the unstoppable force of fate, there is no conflict more iconic than the Trojan War. Troy is the story of the epic battle retold by Fry with drama, humor, and vivid emotion. Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, Helen, their lovers, and their mortal enemies all burn bright in Fry's compelling prose. This volume invites you to explore a captivating world with a brilliant storyteller as your guide.

No electricity, no family, no connection to the outside world. For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter, Finch, have lived in isolation in a remote cabin in the northern Appalachian woods. And that's exactly the way Cooper wants it, because he's got a lot to hide. Finch has been raised on the books filling the cabin’s shelves and the beautiful but brutal code of life in the wilderness. But she’s starting to push back against the sheltered life Cooper has created for her - and he’s still haunted by the painful truth of what it took to get them there.

Under the order of King Pelias, Jason embarks on a perilous journey to steal the Golden Fleece from the Land of Colchis. Far from heroic, Jason is the typical everyman. Often compared with Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Jason and the Argonauts is the only surviving poem from the Hellenistic period and was hugely influential on later literature, especially the Roman poetry of Virgil and Ovid.

Two stories from Vedic literature. The first is Nala and Damayanti, a magical love story set in Ancient India, taken from the Mahabharata. It was told by a sage to King Yudhisthira to assuage his sorrow when he was first exiled into the forest. The king had asked, “Who has suffered more than I?”, and the sage said, “Listen to the tale of Nala and Damayanti.” The second story is about King Rukmangada, a great monarch whose adherence to virtue was tested severely by the gods, who gave him the choice of either killing his son or abandoning truth. By his adherence to the sacred Ekadashi...

As a half-goddess possessing magic, Yaga is used to living on her own, her prior entanglements with mortals having led to heartbreak. She mostly keeps to her hut in the woods, where those in need of healing seek her out, even as they spread rumors about her supposed cruelty and wicked spells. But when her old friend Anastasia—now the wife of the Tsar, and suffering from a mysterious illness—arrives in her forest desperate for her protection, Yaga realizes the fate of all of Russia is tied to Anastasia’s. Yaga must step out of the shadows to protect the land she loves.

From early childhood, we learn about the world and its possibilities through myths and fairy tales. The heroines, though, tend to be young princesses or fair maidens, and the evildoers older women: wicked witches or unforgiving matriarchs. Yet a wealth of lesser-known European stories feature mature wise women with personality and power. Compiling many years of research, Sharon Blackie has reclaimed these tales, presenting them in evocative prose that will resonate with women of all ages.

Maat is an ancient Egyptian goddess who represents truth, justice, and balance. She is often associated with the concept of Maat, which is the principle of truth, order, justice, and balance in the Universe. Followers of Maat believe that it is our responsibility to uphold these principles in our own lives and in the world around us.

Since its release in 1949, The Hero with a Thousand Faces has influenced millions of readers by combining the insights of modern psychology with Joseph Campbell's revolutionary understanding of comparative mythology. In this book, Campbell outlines the Hero's Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world's mythic traditions. He also explores the Cosmogonic Cycle, the mythic pattern of world creation and destruction.

Eclipses have stunned, frightened, emboldened, and mesmerized people for thousands of years. They were recorded on ancient turtle shells discovered in the Wastes of Yin in China, on clay tablets from Mesopotamia and on the Mayan "Dresden Codex". They are mentioned in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and at least eight times in the Bible. Columbus used them to trick people, while Renaissance painter Taddeo Gaddi was blinded by one. Sorcery was banished within the Catholic Church after astrologers used an eclipse to predict a pope's death.

The downside to faking your own death is that people tend to get upset when they find out they’ve been had. In Atticus O’Sullivan’s case, they’re upset enough to come after him to make sure he dies for real this time. Yet he can’t remain in hiding anymore: He has to bind his apprentice, Granuaile, to the earth so that she can become the first new Druid in centuries.

Remember that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers the rest of their lives - but not everyone regularly sees themselves on the pages of a book. In this timely anthology, Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black women writers to shine a light on how important it is that we all - regardless of gender, race, religion, or ability - have the opportunity to find ourselves in literature.

Relics of a mysterious god, the Spice Gates connect the eight far-flung kingdoms, each separated by a distinct spice and only accessible by those born with a special mark. This is not a caste of distinction, though, but one of subjugation: Spice Carriers suffer the lashes of their masters, the weight of the spices they bear on their backs, and the jolting pain of the Gates themselves.

The ancient Greeks believed there were a great number of gods and goddesses. These gods had control over many different aspects of life on earth. In many ways they were very human. They could be kind or mean, angry or pleasant, cruel or loving. They fell in love with each other, argued with each other and even stole from each other.

The Fourth Gate of the Underworld is a landscape of ice and death. The first three gates were no walk in the park, but when I arrive at Gate Four, I face all new horrors. Led by the infamous Fallen God, Chaena, Gate Four is a land of neverending winter, of ice and snow amid a blizzard that could put Minnesota weather to shame. As if the weather wasn’t bad enough, this level of the Underworld is also guarded by ice fae, whose touch is lethal and who seem like they really want to touch me. At least I have the hunky Adonis by my side—a man who has become my friend, my protector, and my ...

In the beginning, men believed in their god. That was their first mistake... Vasruda, God of Light, watched over the infant fifth race. Within Vasruhal, the City of Flame, the race of men grew from just a small handful to millions. But a goddess beyond the realm named Mortua saw an opportunity to curse that which was pure. Now, with cataclysm spreading across the lands, a newly christened Holy Templar, and Anointed One named Habrin, prepares to defend their capital city, their people, and the seat of their One God. His Vahami, his 'holy journey', ended with chaos. He prepares for what ...

When Zélie seized the royal palace that fateful night, she thought her battles had come to an end. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Zélie never expected to find herself locked in a cage and trapped on a foreign ship. Now warriors with iron skulls traffic her and her people across the seas, far from their homeland. Then everything changes when Zélie meets King Baldyr, her true captor, the ruler of the Skulls, and the man who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her.