Here are 100 books that Mythologies fans have personally recommended if you like
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I was lucky enough not only to get published in my thirties, I also got a film deal for those first two books. I was flown to Hollywood and it was all very grand. However, what they did to my stories in translating them into film scripts horrified me. And ruined them. And the films never got made. I started to look deeper into what ‘experts’ did, and it was awful. I became obsessed with how stories work, developed my own ‘knowledge gap’ theory, proved it through my Ph.D. research, and became a story consultant in the industry. Story theory has completely taken over my life and I love it!
This was the first story theory book I read and it was hugely influential on me, because it is probably the definitive work in terms of a formulaic, structural approach to story.
This book gave me a depth of knowledge of the traditional approach to story theory, but also a clear understanding of how people in the film industry are going about their work today. It is all wrong, in my opinion, but it is also the truth of what is going on.
It is wrong because a story does not begin with structure. A story begins in the mind, and a structure arrives later once the story is present. This book set me on my journey to find an alternative to structure.
Structure is Character. Characters are what they do. Story events impact the characters and the characters impact events. Actions and reactions create revelation and insight, opening the door to a meaningful emotional experience for the audience. Story is what elevates a film, a novel, a play, or teleplay, transforming a good work into a great one. Movie-making in particular is a collaborative endeavour - requiring great skill and talent by the entire cast, crew and creative team - but the screenwriter is the only original artist on a film. Everyone else - the actors, directors, cameramen, production designers, editors, special…
I was lucky enough not only to get published in my thirties, I also got a film deal for those first two books. I was flown to Hollywood and it was all very grand. However, what they did to my stories in translating them into film scripts horrified me. And ruined them. And the films never got made. I started to look deeper into what ‘experts’ did, and it was awful. I became obsessed with how stories work, developed my own ‘knowledge gap’ theory, proved it through my Ph.D. research, and became a story consultant in the industry. Story theory has completely taken over my life and I love it!
This book is different. After a slew of books all pedaling the same material based on the dreaded Hollywood formula, it was really good to find something that bucked the trend.
Truby focuses on morality in stories. He maintains that every story is actually a moral argument, and gives his practical steps for harnessing that morality and using it to create a strong story.
I feel there is a lot to be said for this. The only real flaw is that there are actually twelve sensible bases for a story and although the moral argument is undeniably one of those that generates a strong story, it is important for writers to understand all of them.
"If you're ready to graduate from the boy-meets-girl league of screenwriting, meet John Truby . . . [his lessons inspire] epiphanies that make you see the contours of your psyche as sharply as your script." ―LA Weekly
John Truby is one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants in the film industry, and his students have gone on to pen some of Hollywood's most successful films, including Sleepless in Seattle, Scream, and Shrek. The Anatomy of Story is his long-awaited first book, and it shares all his secrets for writing a compelling script. Based on the lessons in his…
I was lucky enough not only to get published in my thirties, I also got a film deal for those first two books. I was flown to Hollywood and it was all very grand. However, what they did to my stories in translating them into film scripts horrified me. And ruined them. And the films never got made. I started to look deeper into what ‘experts’ did, and it was awful. I became obsessed with how stories work, developed my own ‘knowledge gap’ theory, proved it through my Ph.D. research, and became a story consultant in the industry. Story theory has completely taken over my life and I love it!
As a story consultant myself, it was incredible to have a man from 2,300 years ago talk to me about story theory! And more than that… everything he says is spot on.
The real meaning of much of what Aristotle said has been debated for millennia. However, when I used his principles as story dynamics in real stories, they became very clear to me; so, in my own work, I have distilled Aristotle’s principles into a modern three-part interpretation, and I give examples of them working in classical and popular modern stories.
Aristotle’s principles are not only applicable today, but they are still better than almost any other new thinking of the last 100 years. Aristotle is amazing. I love him!
One of the most powerful, perceptive and influential works of criticism in Western literary history
In his near-contemporary account of classical Greek tragedy, Aristotle examines the dramatic elements of plot, character, language and spectacle that combine to produce pity and fear in the audience, and asks why we derive pleasure from this apparently painful process. Taking examples from the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, the Poetics introduced into literary criticism such central concepts as mimesis ('imitation'), hamartia ('error') and katharsis ('purification'). Aristotle explains how the most effective tragedies rely on complication and resolution, recognition and reversals. The Poetics has…
I was lucky enough not only to get published in my thirties, I also got a film deal for those first two books. I was flown to Hollywood and it was all very grand. However, what they did to my stories in translating them into film scripts horrified me. And ruined them. And the films never got made. I started to look deeper into what ‘experts’ did, and it was awful. I became obsessed with how stories work, developed my own ‘knowledge gap’ theory, proved it through my Ph.D. research, and became a story consultant in the industry. Story theory has completely taken over my life and I love it!
Bordwell is an academic who is encyclopedic on Hollywood.
He has written several definitive works on Hollywood and despite their depth and learnedness, they are very readable and enjoyable to absorb. So when he turned his attention to ‘classical’ Hollywood story telling, I knew it would be a good one, and I was not disappointed.
Most story theorists have an approach that they are arguing for. Bordwell is analysing from a pure perspective, without ‘skin in the game’, so the result is balanced, critical, and highly enlightening for the aspiring writer.
Hollywood moviemaking is one of the constants of American life, but how much has it changed since the glory days of the big studios? David Bordwell argues that the principles of visual storytelling created in the studio era are alive and well, even in today's bloated blockbusters. American filmmakers have created a durable tradition - one that we should not be ashamed to call artistic, and one that survives in both mainstream entertainment and niche-marketed indie cinema. Bordwell traces the continuity of this tradition in a wide array of films made since 1960, from romantic comedies like "Jerry Maguire" and…
I’ve been fascinated by spy stories since childhood, never sure which character is a friend or foe within the stories. As I grew older, I became interested in fictional mysteries, including those with settings in the Medieval era, turn-of-the-century England, and World War II. Unsure of who to trust is a theme through my Detective Henry Ike Pierce series, of which I'm working on the third book now. False hearts abound in my stories, and Detective Pierce must sort through a seemingly flexible definition of trust, including uncertainty of his closest colleagues’ loyalty. If you're a fan of seeking the truth, I hope these books are as enjoyable to you as they were to me.
Detective Tom Shawn interrupts a young woman’s suicide attempt. She professes to know a man that predicts the future, including her father's death. The clairvoyant man predicts his own death, but Detective Shawn suspects foul play.
I enjoyed this story. I could not figure out until the end whether most of the events were within the woman’s runaway imagination, a series of happenstances, or whether the clairvoyant man was the killer. The author slowly peels back a few layers as the story progresses, but there always seems to be more, leading to a surprise ending.
NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES is Woolrich's longest and most ambitious novel. The noir classic follows Detective Tom Shawn on his nightly walk along the river which is interrupted when he follows a trial of money on the ground leading to a woman attempting suicide. After saving her life, he is drawn into her story. She tells him of a clairvoyant man that has recently predicted many strange and extreme events with stunning accuracy, and has now ensured the death of her father, with whom she is incredibly close. The man predicts that he will die in the coming days…
As a practicing Catholic, I believe in the supernatural and thus, other worlds. In the Nicene Creed, there is a line: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth of all things visible and invisible.” I find inspiration in both fictional fantasy as well as nonfiction stories of people encountering the impossible and discovering their personal stories or talent. As I grew up and learned about the lives of the saints I found myself engrossed in these real people who experienced miracles. It was this conviction of my own faith that inspired me to write a more secular, Catholic-inspired Young Adult series: St. Blair: Children of Night.
I found Tyler Henry’s story helpful as it relates to the presence of those who have passed on. As an 8-year-old, I saw my cousin Ben in my thoughts. He was standing by a lake. A moment later my mother received a call that he had drowned. Tyler Henry had a near-death experience at 10 and later received a message from his dead grandmother. That was the beginning of his journey. He considered becoming a hospice nurse but accepted that his gifts might be better utilized to bring closure to those who have lost a loved one. His messages are not faith-based but come from a knowing that feels divinely guided.
From Tyler Henry, clairvoyant and star of E!’s hit reality series Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, comes Between Two Worlds, a captivating memoir about his journey as a medium thus far.
“Dying doesn’t mean having to say goodbye.”
Tyler Henry discovered his gift for communicating with the departed when he was just ten years old. After experiencing a sudden, accurate premonition of his grandmother’s death—what Tyler would later describe as his first experience of “knowingness”—life would never be the same. Now in his twenties, Tyler is a renowned, practicing medium, star of the smash hit E! reality show, Hollywood Medium…
I’m the author of two YA fantasy novels – We Are Blood and Thunder and We Are Bound by Stars. They’re set in a fantasy world, Valorian, governed by a (literally) colorful magic system and a pantheon of gods, and are all about power, fate, and discovering your true self. Both novels are dual narrative and feature a host of female main characters, who I think are complex, flawed, and relatable. As a child, I was obsessed with Lord of the Rings but always wondered why all the real heroes were men, which inspired me to write these books – partly, too, because of the wonderful female-led fantasies which have come out in the interim.
Samantha Shannon’s world-building in this series is second to none. We find ourselves in a future alternate version of the world, where the government monitors the population for those people with extraordinary powers: clairvoyants. Paige, our main character, is one of these – and a bit of an antihero to boot (my favourite kind of hero!). You will love and be frustrated by her – and root for the simmering romance plot.
The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.
It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford - a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious…
I’m a clairaudient medium and I’ve been a professional tarot card reader for 23 years. Delving into past lives is not only something I’m fascinated with but something I do for my spiritual business, as well. The most important part for my clients is not only knowing about their past lives but understanding how the struggles and lessons learned in those lives are applicable to their present life on this planet. History repeats itself is not just a cliche; I’ve always known how important it is to process and release these karmic teachings.
This book was central to the healing which prepared me for my own motherhood journey. Spirit Babies is so profound because it explores an often overlooked topic—the preconception relationship between parents and their unborn children.
Reading it, I feel a deep connection with the souls of my potential children, even before their physical existence. Makichen's insights and techniques offered a profound sense of comfort, which guided me in establishing a spiritual bond with my future child. It alleviated any fears or doubts I may have had, replacing them with a sense of trust and harmony in the journey of parenthood.
It affirms the sacred nature of the parent-child bond, instilling hope, and inviting a deeper understanding of each soul's journey.
Am I Meant to Become a Parent? Why Can’t I Conceive? What Is My Unborn Child Trying to Tell Me?
In this reassuring, supportive, and accessible book, leading clairvoyant and medium Walter Makichen offers guidance to prospective parents eager to create a warm, nurturing environment for their soon-to-be-conceived-or-born children. Applying the wisdom and insights he has gained through twenty years of communicating with these spirit babies, Makichen helps you resolve issues about starting a family…actively participate in the psychic process of creating a child…and move past your worries and fears about becoming parents. From the seven essential chakras that link…
I’ve been lucky enough to have a happy childhood and enjoy a fulfilling life. Nevertheless, I’ve always been drawn to the darkness… the macabre, the sinister, and the bizarre. My selection of books has, in one way or another, helped to shape me as a writer. I’m constantly fascinated by the process of creating truly disturbed, twisted, or hideous characters. I enjoy the process of working out what makes them tick; shedding my own moral compass and experiencing the world through their eyes… wherever that ends up taking me.
James Herbert is another of my favourite authors who we lost far too soon. He was, primarily, a horror writer and this is his masterful take on the serial killer genre. He creates a deeply flawed main character – a clairvoyant who is afraid of his own abilities. But he can no longer ignore his gift/curse when he starts glimpsing horrific acts through the eyes of a monster that are seemingly triggered by a full moon. I read this when I was far too young (I nicked it from my Dad’s bookshelf), and the memory of its twists and turns chill me to this day.
He had fled from the terrors of his past, finding refuge in the quietness of the island. And for a time he lived in peace. Until the 'sightings' began, visions of horror seeping into his mind like poisonous tendrils, violent acts that were hideously macabre, the thoughts becoming intense.
He witnessed the grotesque acts of another thing, a thing that glorified in murder and mutilation, a monster that soon became aware of the observer within its own mind. And relished contact. A creature that would eventually come to the island to seek him out....
When I was a girl, my grandmother called me an ‘old soul’ and said she thought my fascination with the 19th century meant that I’d lived then in another life. Ever since, this notion that a person might have lived before has always fascinated me! I gravitate to books that bring the past and present together in all sorts of ways–through memory, ghosts, time travel…and reincarnation. Now my own books of suspense for kids and teens deal with many of those same themes. I always write books I would want to read myself!
This is another tale that starts with a
fortune-teller—but this time it’s teenage Jo who gets her future told. The clairvoyant tells her that there is only
one true love for her—but the last time Jo saw him was in a past life! Now she needs to find him in this life. Jo doesn’t believe a word of this, but events
start to unsettle her. Could
reincarnation possibly be true? But
what if she can’t recognize her soul-mate when she finds him again in this
life? I love the suspense elements in
this book as well as the romance.
Unlucky in love Jo is dragged along to see a clairvoyant by her two coupled-up best friends, and is told that there's only one boy for her. The trouble is, the last time she saw him was in a past life, when she worked as a governess to his younger brother. The clairvoyant tells her that as she is back in this life, so is he, and she must find him if she is ever to know true happiness and love.
Jo doesn't believe a word of it - but then a series of events begin to change her mind.…
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