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General introductions
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Hi and welcome to this list of reimaginings and retellings of existing lore.
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More often than not of folklore, fairytales and myth, but with an assortment of
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other sources, textual and otherwise.
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The original intent was that this is a listing and infographics that has books that
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mostly live in my reading lists, or are something I am or have been generally curious
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about. It's still a bit of that, but after having come across other retellings and slowly
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adding other stuff that I personally wasn't as interested in to read, I thought it would
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be more interesting to have a semi-official "masterlist" (as to the best of my abilities)
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of retellings and reimaginings. I seriously doubt this will ever be the most official list
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ever, but I do want to make it as comprehensive as I possibly can to the extent of my
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limited time and resources.
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There is a range of retellings and reimaginings that aren't on this list, but I do try to
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add sources, both so that if there's any books that's not on this specific list, then
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you should hopefully be able to find a book that belongs to a story you know you
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really enjoy through the listed sources.
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I do try to find then add books from all kinds of places and based on stories from all
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sorts of sources. When I started reading retellings and reimaginings, there seemed
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to be a specific number of stories that kept being retold, while a whole world of
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exciting, disturbing, fascinating, and absolutely wonderful stories were being ignored.
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Probably (hopefully) not wilfully or mean spirited, but more so because that story or
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general lore speaks to them. But there's something missing when it's only those
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stories, sometimes specific versions, that get retold again and again.
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Sources and goodreads lists are in their own sheet (see bottom) in case you want
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to find other books not on this spreadsheet.
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If there are any elements that are empty (time period, supernatural elements, author
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comments, etc) then I'm either working on it or I don't know the full extent of what
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needs to be added, whether more research or simply a read-through is needed.
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Head's up:
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There might be trigger warnings in some of the books, and I'm definitely not the best
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source for this. I do try to expand this list as I go on different elements, but there's a
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lot of books, so care and ability of information added will vary. My personal focus is
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also mainly on whether a book is a retelling or not, and what story is the source, so
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there's bound to be significant holes in what I can and will focus on.
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When it comes to the books I add:
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I try to focus on books that are reinterpretations of specific stories or bodies of lore.
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Including books that include some generalized version of a supernatural creature, say
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fairies or dragons, without it being willfully and explicitly based on a specific version
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of said supernatural creature or element, will not be added. This goes also for magic
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systems, since then a good chunk of the fantasy genre might as well be on this list.
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Wicked Fox and The Dragon Pearl are two examples of books with supernatural
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creatures that got added, simply because the authors incorporated some of the lore
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around kumiho. There's also Odinsbarn (Odin's Child) as an example of fantasy that
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takes direct inspiration from a specific lore without it being a direct retelling of anything
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specific. This is solely to make things easier for what this list includes and any potential
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additions in the future.
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A personal note:
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For me personally, I want to make sure that I got a more diverse reading list, which
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involves diverse authors and characters. It's a bit of a slow process, especially as my
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top priority (as of 2021) is to add more books where indigenous stories and disabilities
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are involved in some capacity, simply because the amount of books I have (and am
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 aware of) that involve authors and characters that are indigenous or disabled is
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disturbingly small. Second is African & black athours, characters and stories. I do
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have a few more of these, but definitely am in need of more.
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Middle eastern and Asian authors and stories are third. Scifi and fantasy does
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pull some weight here, as I got some more asian stories both in and outside
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the retelling category / subgenre.
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On the complete bottom of the barrel of priorities and I wish it wasn't this easy, is
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European and Greco-Roman retellings. The only time I want anything European is
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when it isn't a retelling of one of the absurdly popular stories (think Cinderella, Beauty
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and the Beast, Red Riding Hood, The Little Memaid, The Twelve Dancing Princesses,
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Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel). I will add these retellings and reimaginings
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to my tbr, but I kind of wish authors would be a bit more creative in what kind of stories
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they use as inspiration. Even within Grimm's collection and norse folklore there's
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plenty to go from, so many great stories to use and have fun with.
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Greco-Roman retellings does vary more in what kind of stories are used (as far as I've
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understood it), which is refreshing, but it's still a pretty popular section of the retelling
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subgenre, so it's not the be all end all for me. Fun, but still.
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