Monday, April 15, 2013

Mythical Monday (7)


It seems there are many books based on or influenced by Myths and Mythological Beings.

There are so many different Mythology and Mythological Beings recorded. Some are very popular and well known, others not so much. There are many similar beings, yet different depending on the culture it’s based in.  The definition of Myth covers about anything in the Urban Fantasy/Fantasy realm to me.

I’ve invited authors to share briefly the Mythological being or Myth that influenced their character(s) or story, or what their character(s) are based on influencing their books.  Hosting here, one author and being or myth per week.


This week we have:
Urban Fantasy author Kelly Meding
Talking of Titans.



"Of Heroes and Titans"


When Melissa first asked me to participate in Mythical Mondays, we both thought that my Dreg City booksTEMPEST (MetaWars 3) releasing next week, I thought it would be a fun challenge to look at this meme through the lens of the MetaWars world.  At first glance, there aren't a lot of mythical influences in this world of distrusted superheroes.  No vampire legends or Norse thunder gods to be found. The vast majority of my influences for MetaWars comes from comic books and their various film/television adaptations.  The books are about superheroes, after all.
would be a perfect fit. But with

Until I looked at the roots of my own fascination with superheroes, which goes back to the Wolfman/Perez run on "The New Teen Titans" in the early eighties. It was a team book, like Justice League or X-Men, with a group of characters working together toward a common goal.  But this series was unique in that it was about eighteen year-old former sidekicks trying to make it without their mentors.  The stories were action-packed, sometimes dark, often funny, and I got very attached to some of those characters.  And in many of those characters, you could see glimpses of mythical archetypes: Aphrodite, Hermes, Athena, and others.  Wonder Girl's backstory was rewritten multiple times, but it always circled back to Greek mythology.

It didn't hurt, too, that the Teen Titans once battled the actual, mythical Titans.  That was pretty epic.

The Greek Titans were the descendants of Gaia and Uranus (Earth and Sky).  They were the first pantheon of powerful beings, immortals with incredible strength and supernatural abilities.  The Titans were eventually overthrown after a ten year war in Thessaly, and imprisoned by Zeus and the other Olympians.

For centuries, long before Superman and Wolverine, man had superheroes in the forms of mythical gods.  Whether you look at the Greek/Roman pantheons, Norse myths, or Japanese myths, you'll find powerful beings whose battles against themselves and against mankind have spawned hundreds of stories and legends.  These "superheroes" threw lightning bolts, raced the wind, moved the oceans, and held the fate of thousands in their powerful hands—not unlike modern day superheroes.

In the MetaWars world, constant warring between heroes and villains devastated the country and its economy, leaving many cities in ruins.  It's up to a new generation of superheroes to win back the public trust and support that their predecessors destroyed.  So while I can't pinpoint one specific myth or being that directly influenced the MetaWars, the indirect influence is definitely present.


You can find Kelly:

Twitter:  @KellyMeding





The First two books in MetaWars:


16 comments:

  1. That is quite interesting. I have to agree that Gods are present, even subtly, in many stories, especially those about superheros. I really like her take on the superhero theme.

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    1. Ashley, I really enjoyed this post by Kelly as well. Really got me thinking about heros and Titans. :D Thank you for stopping!

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  2. Oh nice post! I have the first book and I still need to get into it!

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    1. Thank you Melliane. I have the first two books as well. :) I so need to get to them as I've loved Kelly's Dreg City series too. :) Thank you for stopping.

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  3. Sounds cool, I always did like Gods

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  4. Oh interesting. I usually gravitate toward these kinds of mythos. I enjoy the titan tales!

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    1. Melissa (B&T) Me too. lol. And it sounds so good with the Titans. :D THank you!

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  5. You know I never really thought about it before, but ancient heroes like Jason, Hercules etc really were the first superheroes! Some random genetic reason gave them an edge over the rest of us and they tried their best to use their powers for good. Great insight! :-)

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    1. Mel, Kelly really did a great job of getting us to think on the first superheros. :D Thank you for stopping! :D

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  6. I liked the X-men but the cartoons, and the movies. If there are comic books, (I'm sure there are) I never read them. So this books focuses on sidekicks? That's an interesting way to look at it, they usually don't get the same attention. I like that, sounds like a unique story.

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    1. Rivie Bleu, yep, there are comic books of the X-men. I think, if I remember from my brother, I think that's where the cartoons and movies came from. :) Wild right!

      And I love that people do take a look at heroes from the sidekicks. Sounds like a cool idea. :) Thank you for stopping.

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  7. The only mythological series I've read is Jennifer Estep's Mythos Academy. I was skeptical at first since I'm not really into that type of book. Turns out I really liked it so I would be willing to try more. I'm still not into fairies but I would try a book about Titans.

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    1. Amanda, glad to hear you enjoyed Mythos Academy. There is a lot of myth twisted into UF And Fantasy reads. I'm sure you've read more that were twisted for the use of the author, and didn't know it. :)

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