Classics Retold: Egyptian Mythology Intro Post

ClassicsRetold

Welcome to the CLASSICS RETOLD project! All-in-all, there are five different blogs co-hosting this event which focuses on reading a specific classic along with various retellings/spin-offs. We would love if you would join in for Classics Retold and there’s still plenty of time to sign up! Here are all of the categories and there are still tons of open spots:

If you’re interested in signing up to read a classic and its retellings (and we really hope you’re interested!!!), check out the original into & sign up post HERE. Easy as that! 🙂

I am hosting the MYTHOLOGY section of Classics Retold and for my chosen myth, I’m going with Egyptian Mythology. I’ve always been interested in the ancient Egyptian mythology, probably because it’s so different from the more common Greek/Roman myths and something about Egypt just fascinates me. Also, (don’t judge) for some reason, I always need to watch The Mummy when it’s on TV. The mythology and practices are just SO. COOL. I simply had to pick Egyptian Mythology for this project!

So here are the books I’m going to read for Classics Retold. I may not get to all of them but I definitely want to read a fair few, and since the posts don’t go live until September, I should have PLENTY of time to read a bunch.

Firstly, I want to read THE CHAOS OF STARS by Kiersten White. In my searches I found that a lot of the books about Egyptian mythology really toy with the line between mythology and historical fiction, which is actually pretty neat how interwoven those two are. The only problem I have with that is that many of these books aren’t so much based in mythology as the historical aspects. For example, there are actually quite a few books about Cleopatra or Nefertiti, but they’re more historical fiction than mythology. The Chaos of Stars seems extremely myth-based, though, and I’m excited to read it! Technically it doesn’t come out until September 10th, but I am extremely fortunate to have a copy via Edelweiss!

The next book I want to read is THE RED PYRAMID which is the first book in The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. I actually don’t read much of any middle grade books at all, but I couldn’t pass this one up! It sounds like there’s so much Egyptian mythology in this series that I will be perfectly comfortable in a younger age range (I hope). I haven’t read Riordan’s Percy Jackson series either so I’m not quite sure how the books read, but I’ve heard the audio is pretty good so, I’d like to pick up the audiobook for this one!

Next I’m attempting yet another middle grade book, THEODOSIA AND THE SERPENTS OF CHAOS (why is chaos intertwined with Egyptian mythology so much?) by R.L. LaFevers. I came across this one in my search for Egyptian mythology-based books and was surprised to see that Robin (or R.L.) LaFevers had a middle grade series that just fit perfectly! Before I met her in April, I actually had no idea she wrote middle grade (which is actually her primary writing focus) because I only knew her for Grave Mercy/Dark Triumph. I’m not much of a middle grade person, BUT I trust that I’ll still enjoy her writing in a different age range. I know she does a LOT of research for her books so I’m extremely interested to see all the research that went into all of the history and mythology in this book.

Next I’m trying two books that may be a little more historical fiction than mythology, but still have both aspects present in the books: SPHINX’S PRINCESS by Esther Friesner and LILY OF THE NILE by Stephanie Dray. These books are back in the YA age-range which I love so much and based on the stories of Nefertiti and Cleopatra/Celopatra’s daughter, respectively. I’m super interested to check out these retellings and see how the historical fiction plays out! I really hope there’s a good amount of mythology in the books as well! I love the mash-up between historical fiction and mythology, especially since the mythology really was like a religion. I’m hoping it’ll play a prominent part in these two books!

 

If I have time, I’d like to get to any number of these books below — Some are more historically based, some with less ties to Egyptian mythology, some are adult versus my preferred age range of young adult, so they’re kind of my “back up” books. I should have time to read more than the ones I’ve listed above so hopefully I can get to a bunch of these as well for a nice variety!

        

MOVIES & TV SHOWS

     

Of course I’ll have to re-watch The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. They’re the classic go-to Egyptian mythology/history-based movies that I somehow find myself watching every time they’re on TV (and The Mummy is ALWAYS on TV). I’m only watching the first two though because they kept making movies after that and let’s face it…. They weren’t great.

STARGATE (1994: Kurt Russell, James, Spader): Whaaaat? I knew the title of this movie, but let’s face it — released in 1994, it would have been way over my head for my age at the time (I was seven). Honestly, this is the summary on IMDb: “A small group of US troups and an Egyptologist use an ancient device found in 1920s Egypt to transport themselves to a distant planet. There they discover .. err, well any more plot would be considered a spoiler. Written by Rob Hartill” Sooooo. Sounds pretty secretive, which is EXACTLY what I want! I have no idea how good the movie actually IS (it’s rated 6.9/10 stars on IMDb) and I actually know very little (read: zero) of what it’s about. I’m actually pretty excited to watch this movie knowing it’s kind of futuristic, kind of mythology-based. Here’s hoping it’ll be interesting and no too hokey!

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981: Harrison Ford AND THAT IS ALL YOU NEED): It’s Raiders, guys. Of COURSE I’m going to watch it. I actually didn’t even think about it until I was doing my search and stumbled upon it as included in a list of movies that have Egyptian mythology as part of their main plot. They’re in Egypt, we’ve got the headpiece to the staff of Ra… TOTALLY USING IT. Granted, I usually think of the quest for the ark as more of the primary plot of the movie, but there’s enough of Egypt & Egyptian mythology in there that I’m totally counting it. If you weren’t convinced, this image alone is enough for me.

I know there are a ton of other movies out there and lots of old classics, but to be honest… the classics don’t quite do it for me. I’ve never been a fan of those really old ones (like, pre-1950) and I just feel like I won’t be as interested. The books are really my primary focus for this project anyway, so I don’t feel too bad skipping them! I know what I like and what I don’t need to spend extra time on!

So that’s it for my CLASSICS RETOLD plans! I’m really excited to dive into all this Egyptian mythology and I cannot wait to see what everyone else has planned!

REMEMBER! If you want to sign up, you still can!! Sign-ups are open until May 25th and we would love to have you join! Please head on over to the intro post and pick a myth that fits you! Not interested in mythology? There are TONS of other classics/genres/eras hosted by my wonderful co-hosts that you can sign up for as well!

Looking forward to September!!

Hi, I'm Brittany!
Hi, I'm Brittany!

I'm an avid reader, candle-maker, and audiobook lover! Here you'll find book reviews, fun blog posts, and my other loves of photography & craft beer!

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7 thoughts on “Classics Retold: Egyptian Mythology Intro Post

    1. Brittany Post author

      Thanks, Molly!! I’m hoping the MG ones go well. I really haven’t read much MG at all, but especially with the tie-in of Egyptian mythology, I’m hoping they’ll be enjoyable! 🙂

      Reply
  1. Cait

    I can’t wait until September for all of your posts! I’m a huge Egyptian mythology person–and I thought about signing up for this one, but I caved for children’s classics 🙂
    II highly recommend the Theodosia series! I reallyenjoy LaFevers writing style, but i found I liked her MG more. For a MG read, these are pretty steep with history and mythology, and just fabulous all-around great books. They get super exciting with each new addition. I hope you enjoy them! (Ps… the Kane Chronicles are great too!)

    Reply
  2. Alexa Y.

    Great minds think alike – I was initially going to do Egyptian mythology for Classics Retold, until I decided to go with Romeo & Juliet instead. But I do have a soft spot for mythology! I can definitely recommend The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan – they’re just awesome. It’s very inventive, very fun and I liked it a LOT.

    Reply
  3. Candice

    Sounds like a great bunch of books!!! I really hope you enjoy all of these!

    Also… Stargate? HELLA cool movie. Seriously, it’s kind of awesome. I was in 6th grade when it came out and my social studies teacher was OBSESSED with it! We were studying Egyptian history at the time, so it was kind of perfect for her. It’s a little bit out there, but does have a cool basis for the mythology in it!

    Good luck with this! Can’t wait for September to see everyone’s posts!

    Reply
  4. Krystal M.

    First off, SOOOO JEALOUS that you have a copy of Chaos of Stars. Seriously.

    Second, I feel the same way about The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. LOVE them both but hate the sequels. (Absolutely adore the flashbacks in #2 with Anaksunamun & Nefertiri.)

    Thirdly, I grew up watching Star Gate, and while it does focus on Egyptian myths, it more scifi. (The Gods are actually portrayed as aliens.) Not sure if that’s the outlook you want, but its still a great movie to watch. Even has a tv series based off it with multiple spin offs.

    Eager to ser how you feel about all these materials!

    Reply

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