Some stories are so good that they cycle back into the culture over and over, in different eras and guises. These can be folktales and legends from the distant past, or more recent stories in the literary canon that are so well-known, they qualify as modern myths. We often refer to the books that pick up and rework these stories as retellings, and there are a million variations on the theme.
 
We’ve gathered here a compilation of recent and upcoming retellings that have a connection to the adventurous literary tradition known as speculative fiction—science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other related genres. Sometimes the source story itself is speculative in spirit, as with The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s riff on the classic H.G. Wells tale. Sometimes the new book adds a spec fic twist to classic literature, as with The Chosen and the Beautiful, Nghi Vo’s fantasy remix of The Great Gatsby.
 
Several of the selections below veer into historical fiction or horror, and some defy categorization altogether, which is always fun. The recent titles here were published in or after 2017, and the upcoming books are slated to drop in 2023. Among the incoming titles, you’ll find some intriguing options: Medea retold in 18th-century Calcutta. A queer sci-fi Hamlet. Pinocchio as an android. These SFF authors—whatever will they come up with next?!
 
Scroll over the book cover images for more details, and add any interesting variations to your Want to Read shelf.

 

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