Read Lovely Books
When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission
This post is not an exhaustive bestiary, as that would take ages
Rather, this is a list of 20 mythological creatures that excited my own imagination on mythologies, and whose
I also chose to include a list of creatures and entities you might not normally pick
It is my goal to introduce creatures and books that you can discover and share with newfound
” Its second definition also states “lacking factual basis or historical validity
Going off of the above definition, I want to include mythological creatures that have a basis or
For example, dragons, sirens, and dryads have a basis in English and Greek mythology
Where the line is drawn, and how stark that line, is absolutely debatable, and I encourage readers
I am including books across genres, from fantasy romance to literary, in hopes that you’ll each
Additionally, for some of my favorite titles, I’ve includes descriptions and passages in quotations from the
Sign up for our Book Deals newsletter and get up to 80% off books you actually want to
No, I am not going to list Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings because those
It follows Captain Will Laurence, whose life as a sea captain is shattered when he bonds with
This is a magnificent alternate history of the Napoleonic Wars
As I said, there are more creatures than dragons that rule the skies
This series was also made into a comic on Webtoon and has a season of episodes
It contains many dragons, but my favorite is the character Tané’s Lacustrine dragon named Nayimathun
In the Ginura, dragons are revered as gods, and to be a dragon rider is the highest
“Those eyes were blazing rings of fire, and that mouthful of teeth invited no argument
When Women Were Dragons takes place in the 1950s (which we seem to be returning to), where
I shall be but a shadow streaking across the sky — fleeting, speeding, and utterly gone
Dragons play a big role in the entire Earthsea series, but Tehanu is one of Le Guin’
I felt the scene where the dragon Kalessin brings Ged back to Tenar was especially powerful
It twitched its long body with a clink and clash of iron scales, then abruptly opened its
It was a nice reprieve from the intensity of the other character arcs, shedding light on a
One of the best parts of Tower of Dawn are the ruks, giant eagle-like, gold-feathered birds that
The rukhin are the arial calvary for the khagans, the rulers of the southern continent
If you’ve hit your quota for dragon books, definitely take a dive into this one
Forests are an important environment to many mythological creatures
And there’s something about a dense wood, thick with foliage, mysterious and alive, that is wonderful
In some cases, the wood/forest is a character in itself, and I’ll include an example
It follows Tobias, bound to the forest of Greenhollow, and Henry Silver, the young and handsome new
She’s a curious, thorny, yet loyal dryad and I would read tomes of her making her
“He saw the shadows settle over the floor as Bramble took up guard all around the place,
This is such a beautiful, atmospheric book, and each scene describing the werewolves hunting, being in the
This book is about stories as much as it is about werewolves
And there are some books where the forest itself becomes a character, as it does in Whitten’
It follows Red, the second-born princess in a land where the second-born must be sacrificed to the
Red feels power within herself, a connection to the Wood, as thick as soil and greenery in
If you like enjoy this book, the sequel, For the Throne, has even more monsters and myth-making
The beginning introduces two brothers, one of whom is the faun Chapman:
Let’s bring some gritty, horror to the table! Stephen Graham Jones is the king of horror
It follows a boy who lives with his aunt and uncle as they navigate a world in
This section includes creatures from environments other than the forest, such as deserts, plains, or even urban
However, the fae cannot be ignored and neither can Ng’s portrayal of Arcadia, the land of
Catherine Helstone goes to Arcadia to seek out her missing brother, who went to the lands in
What Catherine finds is the gothic manor of Gethsemane and thoughts she’d been trying to bury
“The stranger withe goldfish-tail hair plucked a shining grape from the ivy
I could see now the scars down her arm and across her shoulder
Fantasy romance is a treasure trove for finding mythological creatures
Romance authors know when best to use creatures for their conflict, plot, and romance, and Curse of
In the latest standalone addition to the series, the main characters Jocasta and Flynn meet the Minotaur
If you’re interested in delving into an epic fantasy series with brutality and grit that, I
Moon Witch, Spider King is the second book in the trilogy, and follows Sogolon, who is the
Sogolon is a mythical figure that transcends what we’ve seen on this list
Who you thought the character was in book one will be turned on its head
Marlon James’s trilogy has been called the “African Game of Thrones” for good reason
The Golem and the Jinni is a wondrous novel of history fiction, fantasy, and folk mythology
It’s about Chava, a golem made from clay by a man who practices dangerous Kabbalistic magic
Together they have to navigate who and what they are in 1899 New York
What is a mythological list of creatures without including centaurs? Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series is
This is the series we need to introduce to children about identity, acceptance, and finding where we
In this 6th addition to the portal fantasy series, Regan finds herself in a complicated friend situation,
Here, there are centaurs, creatures that gallop across everlasting green fields
Mermaids are a popular given, so I’ve chosen a few examples that highlight some lesser known,
Arden writes absolutely decadent and powerful prose, and this book is full of mythological creatures from Russian
The novel centers on Vasya, the daughter of a widowed leader of a Russian village settled deep
Vasya and the rusalka befriend one another, there is a respect between them, despite the rusalka’s
Many mythological and fairy tale creatures make an appearance in her books
The story follows Miren O’Malley as she searches for a place called Blackwater, a place her
Miren meets a kelpie along her journey, frees him from a curse, and he is in her
“At last it’s done, and the kelpie stamps his hooves, pulls away sharply and begins to
So many mythologies are known for the gods and creatures that inhabit the worlds beyond our own
Here are a few creatures that are not bound by the elements like the many listed above
A Master of Djinn has an assortment of mythological creatures, and the Djinn are central
Ahmad’s physical appearance becomes more crocodilian every time Agent Fatma runs into him in the story
If she marries, she’ll be “collared,” her magic locked away
Summoning Nadi is similar to summoning many other demons and spirits in mythology, and often follows the
“‘Nadi, spirit of chance,’ she murmured, the taste of strawberry on her lips