To read a fantasy novel is to allow yourself to be taken somewhere new, where magic is real and the usual rules do not apply. But sometimes those strange worlds can also feel familiar — like a layer of fresh paint on a canvas you’ve seen before.
That’s because the bedtime tales we pored over as kids, full of mythical monsters and gods, are a particularly potent source of inspiration for the fantasy novels we grew to adore as adults. And retellings are having their moment within the genre, with many authors drawing on mythology and folklore from across the world — India, Korea, Mexico, Poland — to tell enchanting new stories with ancient roots.
If you’re itching for a fantasy novel swirling with mythology, one of these books might do the trick.
Beasts of Prey
by Ayana Gray
The residents of the city of Lkossa know two things to be true: Magic is dead, and the jungle is watching. Once a glorious center of supernatural power, Lkossa is now a shattered place — terrorized by the Shetani, a deadly monster that hunts the city’s people at night. When 16-year-old Koffi ignites an unexpected power within herself, she’s forced to enter into an uneasy alliance with Ekon, an elite warrior desperate for redemption, and hunt down the Shetani.
The duo’s quest takes them to the Greater Jungle, a treacherously magical place, where creatures from Pan-African folklore lie in wait. Eerie and creeping with a strong emotional heart, “Beasts of Prey,” the first book in a trilogy, deftly explores the weight of generational trauma and the dangerous power of monstrous myths.
Read our review.
Gods of Jade and Shadow
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
It’s 1927 in the Yucatán Peninsula and the Jazz Age is in full swing. Casiopea Tun dreams of adventure but, as a woman with no money, she knows the chances of her ever leaving her dreary town are slim, and she has resigned herself to a life of insignificance working in her cruel, wealthy grandfather’s house. But everything changes when Casiopea accidentally awakens Hun-Kamé, the Mayan death god: He’s got a plan to take back his stolen throne and Casiopea is coming along for the ride.
As they travel from El Paso to Baja California, Casiopea must contend with ghosts, demons and unfairly handsome yet stoic gods, all drawn from Mexican folklore. Moreno-Garcia spins a wonderfully sprawling tale that still manages to feel intimate and deeply personal, like a hushed story whispered after dark.
This is one of our favorite historical fantasy novels.
Never Whistle at Night
edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
This unsettling anthology of dark fiction tales from 26 Indigenous authors is perfectly calibrated nightmare fuel — chock-full of chilling yet compelling narratives of possession, displacement and violent assimilation. Each story in the collection wears its own uniquely disturbing skin, with many of them focused on the real horror of colonialism. But if you’re hungry for a tale rooted in Indigenous folklore, turn to “Kushtuka,” by Mathilda Zeller — which features a shape-shifting creature from Inuit mythology — or “Hunger,” by Phoenix Boudreau, about a wehtigo (a cannibalistic spirit that crosses many Native American traditions) on the prowl. And make sure to turn the lights on before you dig in.
Where the Dark Stands Still
by A.B. Poranek
Liska’s magic has plagued her all her life — a dirty secret she would do anything to shed. So when she enters the spirit-wood during a solstice, it’s with one goal: to find the mythical fern flower and use it to remove her powers forever. But Liska gets more than she bargained for when she meets the Leszy, the demon warden of the forest, who offers her an alluring deal: one year of servitude in exchange for the flower.
Swept away to the Leszy’s decaying home deep in the woods, Liska finds herself torn between long-buried secrets and an undeniable connection to her mysterious host. By turns frightening, cozy and darkly romantic, this gothic story superbly blends Polish folklore with a magical coming-of-age tale.
The Fox Wife
by Yangsze Choo
What if the wiliest and most mercurial of animals walked among us as humans? Choo sets out to answer this question in her slow-burning puzzle box of a novel set in 1908 in Manchuria, China, where Snow — an immortal, shape-shifting fox and grieving mother — is out for revenge. Close on her trail is Bao, an amateur detective who’s been hired to investigate the suspicious death of a young courtesan. Their mysteries are twined together like two tails — and cloaked in the mystique of the fox, a beloved figure in the folklore of Korea, Japan and China. Patient readers will be rewarded not only with a twisting thriller but also with a layered tale of family curses, buried love and canny creatures.
Read our review.
The Witch’s Heart
by Genevieve Gornichec
There’s nothing more tragic than the unchangeable wind of prophecy. Readers will be reminded of this truth in Gornichec’s scorching twist on Norse mythology. “The Witch’s Heart” follows Angrboda, an enchantress who has fled Asgard after being burned alive by Odin. Left without any memory, she seeks refuge in a remote forest, where she has the misfortune to come across Loki, the trickster god.
Loki is charming, capricious and utterly shameless. Loving him will spell Angrboda’s doom, but she does it anyway. The story unspools from there through three impossible children, a horrible prophecy and a mother’s fierce battle to change destiny. It’s an epic told quietly — blurry around the edges but with more than enough staying power to linger.
The City of Brass
by S.A Chakraborty
Nahri, a con woman living in 18th century Cairo, doesn’t believe in magic. Abandoned as a child, she has learned to rely on her street smarts to stay alive. But one day, during a swindle gone wrong, Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an ancient djinn straight from Islamic legends.
Forced to run for her life, Nahri flees with Dara to the city of Daevabad, where magic is inescapable and political tensions between djinn threaten to boil over. Chakraborty weaves a lushly intricate world and fills it with fascinating, morally gray characters. Readers will relish this immersive historical fantasy, the first book in a trilogy, and its sweeping adventure tale about duty, power and resistance.
Read our review.
Goddess of the River
by Vaishnavi Patel
In this stunning retelling of the Hindu epic “The Mahabharata,” the river goddess Ganga is forced to live life as a human; to regain her power, she must fulfill the conditions of a terrible curse. This sets in motion a catastrophic series of events, forcing Ganga to abandon her mortal son Prince Devavrata and spelling doom for an entire kingdom. Through Ganga’s eyes, Patel breathes new life into this ancient epic — intertwining a complex portrayal of motherhood and morality with the centuries-old story of a family at war.
The Wild Huntress
by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Branwen is a human with an uncanny gift: the ability to see and kill monsters. She hopes this rare power will serve her well as she enters the Wild Hunt, a vicious and bloody competition with a magical wish as the ultimate prize. But in order to have any shot at winning, Branwen has to put her trust in Pryderi, a prince raised by monsters, and Gwydion, a trickster with a knack for horticultural magic who knows more than he says. Their story, inspired by Welsh folklore, is thick with atmosphere, shifting alliances and slippery characters, and packs a surprisingly emotional punch.
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea
by Axie Oh
Every year, Mina’s homeland sends a beautiful girl into the ocean to serve as the Sea God’s new bride, hoping to appease the wrathful deity and end the floods ravaging their villages. Mina doesn’t plan to become this year’s sacrifice, but when her brother’s beloved is chosen as tribute, she finds herself jumping into the sea to save him from heartbreak.
Mina fully expects to meet a watery end, but instead she finds herself in the Spirit Realm, where she discovers that the Sea God has been trapped in an enchanted sleep. Severed from her own fate by a trio of mysterious figures, who also steal her voice, Mina teams up with an enigmatic young man named Shin to wake the Sea God, end the suffering of her people and save herself. This adaptation of a Korean folk tale, “The Tale of Shim Cheong,” is a sweetly dreamy story about forgiveness, hope and claiming your own destiny.
Read our review.
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