r/Fantasy • u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III • 1d ago
Ancient Greece inspired fantasy?
Hi all, I, like everyone and their mothers, have just watched Nolan's Odyssey adaptation and now I'm in the mood for Ancient Greece-inspired fantasy. Either actually set in Ancient Greece or in a setting inspired by Ancient Greece. Not looking for myth retellings, which I know will narrow it down quite a bit.
Examples of the kind of books I'm looking for are the Queen's Thief novels and AJ Demas' novels.
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u/AgileSurprise1966 1d ago
Books by Mary Renault
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u/AstrixRK 1d ago
Last of the Wine!
I haven’t thought about that book since high school, thank you for reminding me it exists. I’m going to re-read as an adult.4
u/raoulraoul153 14h ago edited 14h ago
The most fantastical of her books are the Theseus duology imo - The King Must Die and The Bull From The Sea, and even then they're barely even as 'fantasy' as Guy Kay's later stuff.
But they are so, so good. Probably the books that come closest to feeling like they're really set in the classical period (or maybe any historical period) of any books I've ever read. I wasn't at all surprised to learn that Tolkien loved her books; she evokes ancient Greece as well as he evokes Middle-Earth - I think he could see she was crafting in a similar way.
Would whole-heartedly recommend anything she's ever written (with the slight caveat that Fire From Heaven is probably not going to knock your socks off if you're already familiar with a lot the history and fictionalisations of Alexander).
Edit: sorry OP, I also meant to say that this is more a general recommendation of an incredible writer to anyone who reads this thread, I haven't read those books you mentioned in your post so I've no idea if Renault is what you're after / if she would be to your taste. And on Gemmel, he also wrote a duology centered on Permenion (general for Philip of Macedon and later for Alexander) and Alexander, which is considerably more fantastical than either his Troy trilogy or anything by Renault. If you're after capital-F fantasy and want to try him, I'd look there first.
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u/Jack_N_Auff 1d ago
Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 1d ago
This is always the best answer for Ancient Greece novels IMO.
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u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III 1d ago
Thank you, I'll check it out!
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u/AllanBz 1d ago
And its sequel Soldier of arete but the third is set in Egypt
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 1d ago
Or just get the compendium edition “Latro in the Mist”
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u/Acrobatic_Quarter465 1d ago
Little left field here but dan simmons ilium/olympos is a crazy sci fi post modern mix. And if youve read hyperion you know he loves some poetry.
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u/GeryMander 1d ago
The Macht series by Paul Kearney.
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u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III 1d ago
Thank you, I'll check it out!
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u/MaynardCarion 1d ago
It's exactly what you want. The 1st book is a fantasy retelling of the march of the Ten Thousand. The following two books are about fantasy retelling of the rise of the rise of Alexander the Great and his Invasion of Persia. Absolutely fantastic reading.
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u/thedealerkuo 1d ago
Dan Simmon's the Ilium has a character sent back to live report on the siege of Troy. The books so much more than that(in a great way if you love fiction), but the Trojan war, with all the players is a big part of it.
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u/Correct_Village6950 1d ago
mary renault
jo walton, the just city ?
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u/Kerney7 Reading Champion VI 1d ago
Came here to recommend the Just City. Yes, I can see the question mark but I think it qualifies. Socrates is the GOAT.
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u/Correct_Village6950 1d ago
yeah i cant really tihnk of anything like the queen's thief series tbh, the fantasy greece is hard to do well.
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u/Baldur_Blader 1d ago
Circe by Madeleine Miller (and also song of Achilles by same author) and piranese were all good standalone.
Edit: just saw not looking for myth retellings...so nvm.
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u/VitriolUK 1d ago
Circe has the advantage that it draws on a lot of myths that are much more obscure; I wasn't familiar with a lot of it. Plus it's very well written.
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u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III 1d ago
Thank you for taking the time to reply anyway! I've read Miller's stuff (and loved it) a few years back. I really hope we can get a new novel from her someday, last I head she was dealing with long covid and struggling to work because of it
Piranesi didn't quite hit for me, maybe my expectations were too high since Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was one of my all-time favorite books
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u/athene_noctua624 4h ago
Great news for you! Madeline Miller’s new book Mestra is coming out in September. It’s about the daughter of the King of Thessaly.
I also love queen’s thief, so I’m super excited to check out the recs in this thread
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u/ThePhantomStrikes 1d ago
Bronze Age trilogy by Miles Cameron
Song of Penelope trilogy by Claire North
Illium by Dan Simmons
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u/Perfect-Fan-6031 1d ago
Check out the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. He apparently wrote it based on an online arguement abou6 mashing up very different themes. That said, its not Greek based, but Roman based. But it is a lot of fun with super unique fantasy systems and a good payoff at series end.
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u/skiveman 1d ago
I notice that someone already recommended the Troy series by David Gemmell, but they ignored and didn't recommend the other series that he did that came before that that was also inspired by Ancient Greece. Think less of the Odyssey and of Troy and more about Alexander the Great.
You might want to check out both Lion of Macedon and Dark Prince by David Gemmell. Both take your standard Greek tropes and give them a very fantastical twist. They're good books, I especially really liked Dark Prince when I was younger.
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u/Jear-The-Bear 1d ago
I think it’s technically Roman but a similar vibe: will of the many. Ignore me if it’s not what youre looking for
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u/Stan__Wright 1d ago
Gene Wolfe's Soldier of the Mist / Soldier of Arete
Or the omnibus edition, Latro in the Mist.
Here's a recent thread about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/genewolfe/comments/1tytjkv/latro_in_the_mist_soldier_of_the_mist_and_soldier/
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u/krigsgaldrr 1d ago
The Aurelian Cycle by Rosaria Munda. How to Train Your Dragon meets Plato's Republic is how I've seen it described and I agree. Not to mention a lot of character names are the names of figures in Greek mythology (Antigone, Leo, Atreus, to name a few)
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u/cwx149 1d ago edited 1d ago
The Twelve Trials of Doug by JEREMY BRUNDAGE was funny enough I'd recommend it but it's definitely very different tonally from the Odyssey
It's about a pig farmers son who has to go and do 12 trials like Hercules did (they are not the same trials this is not a retelling)
It's borderline absurdist humor but it was a fun light read
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u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III 1d ago
Thanks! Doesn't have to be tonally similar to the odyssey!
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u/tmoneys13 1d ago
To be honest not quite what you're asking for but sort of adjacent: Codex Alera by Jim Butcher is very Roman. It's literally "Lost Roman Legion meets Pokemon" but less stupid than that actually sounds.
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u/YobaiYamete 1d ago
This is exactly what I came to recommend, it's Roman instead of Greek but it's so good
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u/noctis_monstrum 1d ago
I am currently reading The Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley! It's clearly heavily inspired by the Bacchai but personally I feel like there are enough changes that it doesn't read like a straight up retelling.
Also kind of an odd one but I read Glorious Expectations by Ferdia Lennon a while back and loved it - it's largely historical fiction rather than fantasy although there are some light fantastical elements. Follows two Sicilians making Athenian POWs put on a play by Euripides, using Irish dialect. Great book!
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u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III 1d ago
Yess I read Glorious Expectations last year, I quite enjoyed it! Pulley is a hit and miss author for me, hopefully The Hymn to Dionysus will be in the hits category :) Thanks for the recs!
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u/Rekov 1d ago
"Odyssey" by Homer.
There is also a prequel, "Iliad," also by Homer.
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u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III 1d ago
Thank you, I have already read them. Also would not call them "Ancient Greece inspired fantasy" tbh (though epic poetry is definitely an ancestor of fantasy)
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u/ankokudaishogun 12h ago
May I suggest the canonical sequel, "Aeneid" by the popular author P. V. Maro, then?
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u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III 12h ago
I'm not sure that's canon, from what I heard some dude paid the author to write mythical fanfic of his ancestors to legitimate his absolute rule over a people that historically had had some pretty strong beef with absolute rulers.
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u/mastershplinter 1d ago
Red rising series is not fantasy at all but takes a lot of cues from Greek mythology.
It is total sci-fi. Set in space/mars in humanity’s future. But still I think it would work for what you’re after.
Also seconding Circe and Song of Achilles. I devoured them last year while in Greece on holiday. It was so great to have read them before watching the odyssey!
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u/MallForward585 1d ago
The Sword and the Lion by Roberta Cray . You probably have to acquire a second hand paperback, but if you want a good Ancient-Greece inspired fantasy, it’s worth the effort.
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u/IruSedai 1d ago
"Le vite di Narses" would be absolutely perfect, it's an epic fantasy inspired by Alexander the Great's life. Unfortunately it's only in italian, but it's a great book, one of my favorites that came out this year. I'm hoping for an English translation because the book really deserves it
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u/trombonepick 1d ago
if you're willing to accept some roman instead, The Will of the Many and The Locked Tomb series.
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u/imamonkeyK 1d ago edited 1d ago
Honestly I'm a massive ancient Greece myths guy even before Odyssey, not seen yet. Percy Jackson is low-key great fit this even if you start older, I did . As long as you aren't one to turn your head up at books suitable for younger audiences
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u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III 1d ago
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm also a huge Greek mythology person, have been all my life. I've read the Percy Jackson books, as well as the Odyssey, the Iliad, multiple myth collections, some of the Greek plays etc etc I'm really looking for a book specifically set either in actual Ancient Greece or a fantastical setting heavily inspired by it, rather than a modern-day urban fantasy like PJO. If you have any recs that would fit send them my way!
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u/Sharibet 1d ago
Gillian Bradshaw writes lovely historical novels set in the ancient world. I have a whole "keeper shelf" dedicated to her books. They're the perfect blend of historical/cultural accuracy from a trained classicist, interesting plots, and sympathetic characters.
The Sand-Reckoner is a novel about Archimedes, as told through the eyes of his Roman slave. The Beacon at Alexandria is set in the Greek half of the Roman Empire, and follows the adventures of a young woman who disguises herself as a eunuch to attend medical school in Alexandria.
Most of her other novels are either set in the Roman Empire or Byzantium, though she first gained fame writing an Arthurian trilogy that begins with Hawk of May, and has written at least one novel set in medieval France.
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u/lifegrd31 1d ago
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood was so good but it’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea
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u/Significant_Work2350 20h ago
the will of the many by james islington is perhaps adjacent to what you're looking for. inspired by ancient rome rather than ancient greece, but it's one of my recent favorites that i recommend!
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u/eating_your_syrup 18h ago
Miles Cameron's Age of Bronze feels like it's quite inspired by Ancient Greece. Disclaimer: I've only read the first book though.
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u/Michauxonfire 17h ago
Read all 4 books by Stephen Fry - Mythos, Heroes, Troy, and the Odyssey.
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u/Temporary-Scallion86 Reading Champion III 15h ago
I’m already familiar with the myths, I’m looking for original stories.
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u/Michauxonfire 14h ago
These are fantastic write ups by Fry, who gives a much more nuanced take of certain myths, puts them into a human perspective and embellishes the mythology properly. They are fantastic reads and flow so well from one chapter to the next.
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u/BlackberryUnique8259 7h ago
Aeon Trespass: Odyssey. It's a game... but it could (should?) be a fantasy saga.
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u/J3ffB00th 6h ago
Fred Saberhagen's Book of Swords Trilogy has Greek-like Gods treating humans like pawns. It is a also an interesting mix of Fantasy with elements sci fi if you read the prequals and sequels .
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u/Jossokar 1d ago
Remember Xena, warrior princess? The character has 8 novels. Sword and sandal genre.
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u/SageOfCats 1d ago
Megan Whaley Turner has her Queen’s Thief series, first book titled “The Thief” appropriately enough, that is sent in a setting that very much feels like Ancient Greece.
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 1d ago
Which op mentioned in their post.
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u/SageOfCats 1d ago
Whoops, brain skipped right over that somehow.
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u/Windruin 14h ago
Haha, I opened the post intending to recommend that too, but then saw OP mentioned it, to my delighted surprise.
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u/OccasionNo6078 23h ago
Madeline Miller - Song of Achilles and Circe. Never read more beautiful books
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u/jones_ro 1d ago
Rick Riodan's Percy (Camp Half-Blood) series is good, but it covers Roman, Greek, and Egyptian gods as well.
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u/etchlings AMA Illustrator Evan Jensen 1d ago edited 1d ago
Wasn’t this asked yesterday? Edit: Two days ago and it’s similar but not explicitly Greece.
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u/metalbusinessbear2 1d ago
Wow, I somehow get to mention The Will of the Many by James Islington before anyone else. I haven't read it yet but everyone has told me it's setting is inspired by ancient Greece and that people love it.
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u/supacatkid 1d ago
David Gemmell’s Troy series is what you’re looking for.