Can't get enough of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey? Here are 7 books you should read

Can't get enough of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey? Here are 7 books you should read Dive into WWII-era Greece, witchy tales and witty audio fables. Unless you have been hiding under a rock (or inside a Trojan horse) for the last few months, you’ll have anticipated, discussed and devoured the blockbuster of the year. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has enjoyed all the discourse and stellar reviews a film buff could want. But as with all good movies, it raises a problem. Like the call of a siren, it leaves you wanting more. Luckily, there’s no end of fab fables that will leave your odyssey lasting a while longer, whatever your tastes. IF YOU LIKE THE DRAMA OF THE GREEK GODS... Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry Ancient Greek divinities are all-powerful, but all-too-human in their foibles. The Olympian family tree is rife with jealousy, backstabbing and meddling in mortal affairs. It’s like a soap opera with added lightning bolts, and Fry milks the larger-than-life dramas of the heavens and underworld with gusto. Understanding these characters will give you a crash course in the myths that still surround us today. Pro tip: get the audiobook version, which brings the gods to life in Fry’s plummy tones. It’s 15 hours long, but the hours will fly by. After which there are three more books in Fry’s charm-filled ancient Greek series – including an Odyssey retelling. IF YOU LIKE SOULFUL WITCHES... Circe by Madeline Miller What’s the backstory of the nymph who ensnares Odysseus and transforms his men into squealing pigs? Miller brings us into her world, from her painful upbringing as an unloved child of a Titan, to an exiled witch living on a remote island. In this tale we see Odysseus through Circe’s wise eyes, which notice the pain and contradictions of Homer’s war-traumatised hero. Filled with sublime, poetic description, you’ll be hooked by Circe’s first lines, each of which sound like an incantation: "When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist. They called me nymph, assuming I would be like my mother and aunts and thousand cousins. Least of the lesser goddesses, our powers were so modest they could scarcely ensure our eternities.” Spellbinding stuff. IF YOU LIKE WEIRD, COLOURFUL JOURNEYS... ODY-C by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward If the scale of the original Odyssey wasn't enough, try a genre-morphing graphic novel adaptation where Zeus and Odysseus (among others) are both women, with the latter desperate to head home to her partner Penelope, themself a Sebex or third gender – an ingenious play on the ‘I am no-man' scene in Homer’s Odyssey. True to the blurb, this is a "trippy, gender-flipped version of Homer’s Odyssey hurtling through space on psychedelic, science fiction wings”. All explored in galactic scale and the brightest of colour palettes. That should tide over anyone already impatient for Dune: Part Three’s December release date. IF YOU'RE A NERD FOR GREEK CULTURE... The Secret History by Donna Tartt Tartt’s story of a group of students whose love of ancient Greek culture and myth slowly turns murderous is a hallmark of the ‘dark academia’ genre. More importantly, it’s an unputdownable tale of obsession, university group dynamics and the ‘ritual of Bacchus’ (AKA crazy partying) gone wrong. As one character seductively asks: "What could be more terrifying and beautiful, to souls like the Greeks or our own, than to lose control completely?” No wonder this modern classic featured on Time magazine’s "100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time” list. IF YOU LIKE REAL-LIFE BATTLES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN... Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougall In this high-octane exploration of WWII’s Greek theatre of war, journalist McDougall connects the qualities of ancient heroes like Odysseus and Heracles to Cretan resistance fighters and British operatives who fought the invading Nazis. The modern warriors prowled the coastal hills, struck terror into the Germans, and even kidnapped a Wehrmacht general. They did so not through supernatural strength, but by adopting ancient traditions of functional strength, Odysseus-like cunning, and local superfoods that have been powering real-life Greek heroes for millennia. This is warfare in the Mediterranean with real stakes, and it played a significant role in the Allied campaign there. IF YOU WANT THE SOURCE MATERIAL MADE FRESH... The Odyssey by Homer (Translated by Emily Wilson) There are more than 60 complete English translations of Homer’s epic poem and Christopher Nolan's adaptation is widely reported to draw on Emily Wilson's acclaimed translation. Wilson modernised both the language and the lens of this tale, revealing the complex ways that gender and status drive the plot. Her approach has been rightly praised for its accessible vividness; the ancient cast of characters truly leap off the page. IF YOU WANT TO DIP INTO THE "PREQUEL"... The Five-Minute Iliad And Other Instant Classics by Greg Nagan Tuckered out after Nolan’s 172-minute marathon? Grab this jocular primer. Nagan hilariously condenses the pre-Odyssey sacking of Troy, before moving swiftly on to lampoon other touchstones of Western literature.