I’m back with another book of myth and legends! I actually have one more book coming via Kickstarter soon-ish, but I needed to feed my need for old tales and this has been on my Overdrive TBR list for quite some time.

Tales of Britain is a collection of 77 tales from Britain, Scotland, and Wales – so more accurately these are tales of the United Kingdom. Some tales, like Jack and the Beanstalk and the Three Little Pigs are familiar, some – like The Three Bears – are familiar tales with a twist, but many tales were new to me. All tales are told in the voice of Brother Bernard, who’s supposed to be a monk who collected the tales. But since this is a modern character, the tales are told in a very modern way.

What I liked about this collection is that there were so many new tales. Some of the tales I enjoyed were Balud and the Pigs (the origin of Bath!), The Apple Tree Man, the Brownie of Bodesbeck, and the Loch Ness Monster (not so much about the origin of the monster but a tale involving Nessie).

I also really liked the fact that the book links the tales back to specific places in the United Kingdom. There’s also a directory of places at the end, so if you’re visiting part of the UK and want to check if there’s a related myth (there probably is), you’ll be able to do so easily.

That said, I wasn’t too fond of the style of the tales. Like I mentioned before, Brother Bernard’s voice is very modern. Personally, it wasn’t for me but people who appreciate a personal spin on the tale will appreciate it. I think this would work well as a podcast but I was expecting something a bit more traditional.

All the stories are pretty short which is probably why there are so many tales. But, that also means that some stories, like The Canterbury Tales, Macbeth, and King Leir, are heavily abridged. It’s a bit of a pity, and it made me wonder what details were left out of the other stories.

Overall, I appreciated the fact that Tales of Britain contained many myths and legends that I hadn’t heard of before. I just wish I liked the style of storytelling a lot better.

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