From Sumeria, to Greece, to India, to the depths of the dark ages we explore the stories that have inspired everything that came later with a professor of mythology and medieval literature. This particular professor also happens to be Cody's mom, so this is also a great episode to explore Cody's psyche, for those brave enough to explore a dark and twisted place.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

If you want to do some reading, here are our suggestions on the best translations of these myths (and even a couple great graphic novels):

• Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. Andrew George, Penguin Classics
• The Odyssey, trans. Robert Fagles
• The Odyssey, Gareth Hinds graphic novel
• The Iliad, Penguin Classics
• The Aeneid, trans. Robert Fagles Penguin Classics
• Age of Bronze Series, Eric Shanower (series of graphic novels on Trojan War)
• Hercules, Fred Van Lente
• Monkey, trans. Arthur Waley
• Beowulf, trans. Seamus Heaney
• The Popul Vuh, trans. Michael Bazzett, Milkweed Editions
• The Nibelungenlied, trans. AT Hatto, Penguin
• Chretien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances, trans. William W. Kibler, Penguin
• Le Morte D’Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory, Penguin Classics
• Tales from the Thousand and One Nights, trans. N.J. Dawood, Penguin Classics
• Sindbad and Other Stories from Arabian Nights, trans Husain Haddowy
• Sinbad the Sailor, Penguin Classics
• The Ramayana, Abridged and Translated by Arshia Sattar, Penguin Classics OR any children’s/YA book to get started. There are hundreds

If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for all the books we talked about:

• 0:00 - Intro
• 1:45 - The Epic of Gilgamesh
• 6:35 - The Odyssey
• 10:12 - The Iliad
• 12:09 - The Aeneid
• 14:12 - Hercules
• 15:53 - Monkey (Excerpts from Journey to the West)
• 21:00 - Beowulf
• 25:25 - The Popul Vuh
• 28:23 - The Nibelungenlied
• 33:21 - King Arthur Myths (Malory, De Troyes)
• 36:56 - Tales From the Thousand and One Nights
• 41:40 - Sinbad the Sailor
• 45:10 - The Ramayana
• 49:55 - Our Top 3 favorite myths

Whether you like ripping page turners, incredible characters, books that make you laugh out loud, exploring unforgettable new worlds, or literary books that will make you see the world in a new way, there's a great intro to scifi out there for everyone!

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord to tell us about your favorite time travel books
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for all the books we talked about:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:38 Incredible Characters - Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
• 3:07 A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
• 4:04 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
• 4:52 Unforgettable Worlds - The Expanse by James S.A. Corey
• 6:58 Hyperion by Dan Simmons
• 8:24 House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
• 9:20 Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• 10:56 The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
• 12:22 Funny SF - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• 13:36 Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
• 14:50 Old Man's War by John Scalzi
• 16:01 Page turners - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• 17:43 Dark Matter or Recursion by Blake Crouch
• 18:52 All Systems Red by Martha Wells
• 20:01 Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
• 21:35 Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• 22:34 Literary SciFi - The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
• 24:55 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• 26:26 The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• 27:49 Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• 28:40 Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

With six interconnected stories (in a narrative style that broke all kinds of new ground), it's hard not to find at least a few characters you love. And even for those you don't personally love, the voices are unforgettable - it's wild that all these characters with such distinct personalities were created by a single person.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion.

Similar books we recommend:

• Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

This episode is sponsored by #1.1 by Allen Dean Maiora

If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for the episode:

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:10 Book setup
• 2:17 Our review 4.5/5
• 3:56 The unique structure
• 7:08 The incredible voices
• 10:44 Power and subjugation
• 12:58 Our favorites of the stories
• 23:17 Sponsor - #1.1 by Allen Dean Maiora
• 23:40 Similar books we recommend
• 26:06 Spoilers section - book summary
• 34:18 Spoilers section - discussion