These Fantasy Novels Breathe New Life Into Old Myths

New York Times

07-06-2025

To read a fantasy novel is to allow yourself to be taken somewhere new, where magic is real and the usual rules do not apply. But sometimes those strange worlds can also feel familiar — like a layer of fresh paint on a canvas you've seen before.
That's because the bedtime tales we pored over as kids, full of mythical monsters and gods, are a particularly potent source of inspiration for the fantasy novels we grew to adore as adults. And retellings are having their moment within the genre, with many authors drawing on mythology and folklore from across the world — India, Korea, Mexico, Poland — to tell enchanting new stories with ancient roots.
If you're itching for a fantasy novel swirling with mythology, one of these books might do the trick.
Beasts of Prey
The residents of the city of Lkossa know two things to be true: Magic is dead, and the jungle is watching. Once a glorious center of supernatural power, Lkossa is now a shattered place — terrorized by the Shetani, a deadly monster that hunts the city's people at night. When 16-year-old Koffi ignites an unexpected power within herself, she's forced to enter into an uneasy alliance with Ekon, an elite warrior desperate for redemption, and hunt down the Shetani.
The duo's quest takes them to the Greater Jungle, a treacherously magical place, where creatures from Pan-African folklore lie in wait. Eerie and creeping with a strong emotional heart, 'Beasts of Prey,' the first book in a trilogy, deftly explores the weight of generational trauma and the dangerous power of monstrous myths.
Read our review.
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