Books: Pagan Fiction

[catja6]

Most folklore scholarship that deals with myth written in the last twenty years or so should suffice.  But Manganaro's book Myth, Rhetoric, and the Voice of Authority is the clearest explanation of the problem, and the one usually referred to in scholarly literature.

 
Also, Campbell has been discredited by pretty much everyone actually IN the fields of folklore, myth, and religious studies who aren't being funded by one of the Jungian societies, actually.  And even the Jungians don't have a whole lot of patience with Campbell, since Jung tended to be more rigorous by comparison.  

Campbell was ALWAYS a lot more popular outside of those fields than he ever was inside them -- literary scholars with no training in myth or cultural studies are pretty much the only people who actually cite Campbell's arguments as valid, ever.  And since lit scholars with zero awareness of cultural studies are getting thinner and thinner on the ground, this doesn't happen often.  The other people likely to cite Campbell are film scholars; because of Star Wars, a couple popular screenwriting manuals adopted the the "hero's journey" as a model, making the Campbellian monomyth a legit item of interest.

[cigfran]

Also, Campbell has been discredited by pretty much everyone actually IN the fields of folklore, myth, and religious studies who aren't being funded by one of the Jungian societies, actually.  And even the Jungians don't have a whole lot of patience with Campbell, since Jung tended to be more rigorous by comparison.  

 
This is what I meant by polemic. It doesn't really tell me anything, it just reiterates the position that "oh everyone knows that Campbell was totally wrong." Your first response was useful though, and I thank you. I'll be looking up the book. If you have any other references I'll gladly check them out.

[PlaceboArtist]

There was a thread for this on the old board, but I thought this board could use one too. So, what are some of your favourite reads that are written by Pagans, about Pagans, or have Pagan-y themes?

 
I like the Boudica series by Manda Scott. I can't vouch for how close to the real religion the books are, but they're a good set of books with Celtic Paganism, Roman Paganism (as well as Romans adopting other pantheons' deities) and a Mithraic Cult. And possibly more, as I'm only on the second book out of four.

And it's a children's series, I know; but the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver did a great deal for nudging me toward Paganly things. They're set in the Neolithic and the story is full of animism, magic and nature worship. Paver spent years researching the beliefs of several living communities as well as historical ones, so it's fairly accurate. I did at one point have a sharpie 'Clan tattoo' on my hand because of these books

[catja6]

This is what I meant by polemic. It doesn't really tell me anything, it just reiterates the position that "oh everyone knows that Campbell was totally wrong." Your first response was useful though, and I thank you. I'll be looking up the book. If you have any other references I'll gladly check them out.

Uh, no, that's not polemic.  That's a simple statement of fact, and provides necessary context. You asked "discredited by whom?" and the answer is "everyone in the damn field."  Campbell only ever gained real traction outside the academy among non-experts, because even those scholars who were hopped up on the idea of "this one theory that will explain EVERYTHING" found his work fuzzy-headed and reductive.  (See:  Alan Dundes, the only respected folklorist who ever got away with Freudian psychoanalysis, talking about Campbell, especially in "Folkloristics in the 21st Century.")

[cigfran]

(See:  Alan Dundes, the only respected folklorist who ever got away with Freudian psychoanalysis, talking about Campbell, especially in "Folkloristics in the 21st Century.")

Thanks again for the specific reference. I've found a transcript of this online and am reading it with interest.

[ccam]

There was a thread for this on the old board, but I thought this board could use one too. So, what are some of your favourite reads that are written by Pagans, about Pagans, or have Pagan-y themes?

Here's what's on my list:

The Black Jewels Trilogy (and spinoffs/supplements) by Anne Bishop
Chalion series by Lois McMaster Bujold
Kushiel's Legacy and the Naamah trilogy by Jacqueline Carey
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

That's just a small sampling of my favourites. I'm currently reading through the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, and it has a more "traditional" take on faeries (ie. definitely not cutesy cherubic beings of the Victorian variety).

 
I really love the Artemis Fowl series.  It is a young adult series but, like Harry Potter, has definitely evolved and matured as the series has gone on.  It is a fantasy series dealing with a teenager and his involvement with the fairy world.  I've been reading it since I was in elementary school and now, as a 23 year old, I still love it.

[Juniper]

There was a thread for this on the old board, but I thought this board could use one too. So, what are some of your favourite reads that are written by Pagans, about Pagans, or have Pagan-y themes?

 
An old thread I know, but I found it interesting.

Just wanted to add in 'Confessions of a Pagan Nun' by Kate Horsley. Not the most fast-paced novel, but an intriguing read nonetheless.

I've just finished a novel 'The Winter Witch' by Paula Brackston and I loved it. I've read very mixed reviews about her novel 'The Witches' Daughter' but I like her writing style so I'll give it a go...

[Juniper]

I've just finished a novel 'The Winter Witch' by Paula Brackston and I loved it. I've read very mixed reviews about her novel 'The Witches' Daughter' but I like her writing style so I'll give it a go...

Just finished 'The Witches' Daughter'. Meh...

[Aeronis]

There's the Juniper trilogy by Monica Furlong of which I am particularly fond, which is pretty pagan in nature.

 
I absolutely recommend this one.

[Thesis]

There was a thread for this on the old board, but I thought this board could use one too. So, what are some of your favourite reads that are written by Pagans, about Pagans, or have Pagan-y themes?

 
I kind of like fiction...

Demonata Series
by: Darren Shan
(the book that got me interested in magick)

Runemarks (norse mythology)

There's also a book which will come out in Feb.2014
The Gospel of Loki (supposedly hilarious)

[Lionrhod]

I've recommended this book elsewhere on the forum already (in the Rhiannon thread under Gods, Goddesses, & Mythology), but the Mabinogion Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton deserves all the promoting it can get. That is a truly amazing series.

 
Awesome series! Sadly my copies burned in a house fire and need to be replaced. That and several other books, including Juliet Marillier's awesome Sevenwaters series (Children of Llyr) are making me consider doing Arianrhod's story as a novel.

My own recently finished YA novel, Dark Moon Gates is about a witch who's trying to save her brother from sacrifice by the Dark Sidhe. If she doesn't manage to save him the Gates between Faery and the human realm will be closed forever and magick will be closed away from the human world.