good books with Greek mythology?

Icyseanfitz

hi guys just wondering if ye have any suggestions on some good fantasy novels (preferably a series of books) that has greek mythology in them (gods etc.), ive read David Gemmells greek books and loved them, any suggestions would be great

ixoy

Although I find them a bit of a let-down, Dan Simmion's "Illium / Olympos" fits your list: Greek Gods, in the Battle of Troy. It's sci-fi but the science is fairly light and just used to roughly explain how they have such powers.

Icyseanfitz

i know there are those percy jackson books, but are they more for children?

mcgovern

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

i know there are those percy jackson books, but are they more for children?

Yep, my 12 year old sister read them. I quite liked Illium / Olympos though.
Never read it, but Poul Andersons A Dancer from Atlantis seems to be related to Anicent Greece?
A Time Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke and Stephen Baxter has some Ancient Greek stuff too, the series is not too bad.

AnCapaillMor

Gemmills troy trilogy, no real mystic stuff but if you're in ancient greece it's a great read.

ixoy

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Gemmills troy trilogy, no real mystic stuff but if you're in ancient greece it's a great read.

OP mentions them in his post

Ronanc1

You should check out Paul Kearneys The ten thousand its loosely based on a greek story about a greek army hired by a pretender to the persian throne, and kearneys reviews often describe his writing like Gemmells

AnCapaillMor

Ronanc1 wrote: »

You should check out Paul Kearneys The ten thousand its loosely based on a greek story about a greek army hired by a pretender to the persian throne, and kearneys reviews often describe his writing like Gemmells

Yeah great book actually.

By gemmil did you read the Pamenion Lion of Macedon books?

Icyseanfitz

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Yeah great book actually.

By gemmil did you read the Pamenion Lion of Macedon books?

yup and the troy series as well, ive read every book he ever wrote

1DNerdsUnite

Yay! I've been waiting for a question on this because, I myself, am a Mythology nerd. If you would like a "quick-read", so to speak, then I would recommend the "Percy Jackson Series". I read those in about a week or two. But that's just me. The "Heroes of Olympus" (Lost Hero, Son of Neptune, and the Mark of Athena) they include both Greek and Roman mythology, too. They also continue off from the Percy Jackson series, using some of the same characters, and some new. Those books took me about a week per book. The only thing I didn't like about the "Heroes of Olympus", is that it is in third person omniscient. Although, some people prefer that as to first person, but that's just me. The choice is completely up to you.

coffee_cake

I just read Hammer of Darkness by Modesitt, it's scifi rather than fantasy but references the greek gods. It's not bad.

Manach

Gene Wolfe - Solder of the Mist.
An excellent fantasy novel set in the time of the Persian Wars. Plot a mercanary soldier who forgets what happened each yesterday, yet can see the gods/fauns of Greece.
Non-fantasy, Tom Holt wrote some books (offhand The Walled Orchard ) around the same time period. It captures the madness and wonder of the first and last true democracy.

old gregg

I've just finished the 2nd part of the trilogy The Adventures of Odysseus by Glyn Iliffe and have to say that it's way up there among the best I've ever read within the genre. He has a background in classics and can put a great story together avoiding many of the clichés that make many attempts such as Gemmils' a bit cringe-worthy in places.

Raif Severance

Manach wrote: »

Gene Wolfe - Solder of the Mist.
An excellent fantasy novel set in the time of the Persian Wars. Plot a mercanary soldier who forgets what happened each yesterday, yet can see the gods/fauns of Greece.
Non-fantasy, Tom Holt wrote some books (offhand The Walled Orchard ) around the same time period. It captures the madness and wonder of the first and last true democracy.

I'll second Manach's awesome recommendation. Gene Wolfe's Soldier of the Mist Trilogy is actually based on a True Story!

During 1984, An Urn containing scrolls of Papyrus was found behind a collection of Roman Lyres in the basement of the British Museum. The Museum retained the Urn but disposed the Scrolls through Sotheby's.

The Scroll found it's way to a Collector in Detroit. The Collector had a notion that the Papyrus might contain something important, he had them X-rayed. He found out that there were Ancient Greek writings in there called Protokollon. Seeing this, he called for his friend Gene Wolfe who has a penchant for Dead Languages to translate it.

The Trilogy contains the translated account of an amnesiac man, who calls himself Latro.

Definitely one of the Best Fantasy books I've ever read. Gene Wolfe is a master. How he deftly weaves the Myths into the Mundane, while giving you a fantastic glimpse of life in Ancient Greece is nothing short of amazing.

This trilogy has actually more in common with Morgan Llywelyn's work like the Lion of Ireland and Fin Mac Cool. If you haven't read those, do check them out. Incidentally, since you are a fan of David Gemmell, his Rigante Novels are based on the plights of Scots and Irish. The first book in the series, Sword in the Storm, reads very much like the Lion of Ireland.

Another series that has Greek Myths in it are Fred Saberhagen's Book of Gods. It reads like Gemmell's Novels, so you would definitely feel at home with them.