skybridge

sethdmichaels.bsky.social · @sethdmichaels.bsky.social@bridge.neodb.net

Rated Circe 10/10

Wow, what a knockout. A brilliant, engaging and beautifully-written riff on classic stories of Greek mythology, as narrated by the immortal witch Circe, one of the key figures in the Odyssey. Like [a:Emily Wilson|478455|Emily Wilson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1523444389p2/478455.jpg]'s Odyssey, this book looks at the sex, violence, and social norms of these stories from a new perspective, surfacing all kinds of emotional and sociological insight from within the tropes. Particularly good in this book is the sense of the world of the Greek gods and heroes as both epic in scale and like a small town, ruled by grievance, whim, and pettiness - and the way that mortals given access to godlike powers almost instantly abuse it. There are so many great questions raised about the stories we tell and what we value and choose to emphasize and how the norms of power shape our stories and vice versa. I could go on and on about this book. Highly highly recommended.

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Published 2026-08-18 14:47 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere