10. The Good Guy by Dean Koontz

9. Old Flames by Jack Ketchum

8. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

7. Hollywood Crows by Joseph Wambough

6. Heartsick/Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

5. Nixonland by Rick Pearlstein

4. The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

3. When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

2. The Garden of the Last Days by Andre Dubus III

1. In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddard

A Case of Need

I just learned of Michael Crichton’s passing yesterday and am sad to see such a great writer gone.  Crichton wrote the first science fiction I read that wasn’t part of Star Wars or Star Trek.  The first book of his I read, and still my favorite, is A Case of Need. A medical mystery that deals with the topic of abortion.  This was the first real exposure I had to abortion and really shapped my views on the issue.  (Note: the pages in our high school Health text books covering aborotion were glued together and the topic was not covered with any depth; though we were shown a demonstration of how to properly put on condoms.)  The topic was so contrivercial when it was released in 1968 that Michael Crichton used the pen name Jeffery Hudson.  In 1969 it won the Edgar Award.  If you have only seen the movies of Jurassic Park and The Lost World I strongly encourage you to pick up the books. They are real page turners and light years better than either movie.  Rest in Peace Michael Crichton, you will be missed.

This text does an excellent job of comparing and contrasting similar myths of different cultures. This can make the book at bit confusing and repetitive as Greek myths will be discussed in the Egyptian section and then may be repeated again in the Greek section. For example, stories about flooding are pervasive across many ancient civilizations and by comparing them we can get a sense all of these myths may be derived from one historic event.

Many of the myths and historic events are also related to their pop culture representations such as the movies Troy, The Ten Commandments, and Poltergeist. If you are frequent reader or viewer of Fantasy and Science Fiction you will discover the myths that influenced and inspired many of your favorite stories.

Some of the reviews I read before purchasing this book did have some notes about small errors in specific myths. I’m not a scholar in this area, so I don’t know if they are right or wrong, but really I don’t think anyone can be 100 percent correct when it comes to mythology.

I think anyone interested in writing Fantasy and Science Fiction should check this book out because it will not only give you lots of ideas for story themes but will also help you with world building.

On a personal note, I purchased the audio version of this book because I have a hard time pronouncing unfamiliar words. Hearing the unfamiliar names and places really helped me appreciate and enjoy the myths. I really wish I had heard this before reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.