Top Tens – Fantasy & SF: Top 10 SF Books (Special Mention: Cult & Pulp) (1) Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

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Cover of the 1993 print edition published by Palgrave Macmillan with the SFE logo in the circle – the edition I own (and yes – I own an elusive print edition)

 

 

(1) ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION (1979 – PRESENT)

“That you could be reading it right now goes without saying, since in some alternate universe you surely are”.

Quite simply, my favorite reference work for the genre of science fiction in different media – books, comics, film & television, and so on (art and illustration, magazines, even music). The first print edition was edited by Peter Nicholls and John Clute in 1979 – with entries not only for works and creators, but also the greater (and lesser) themes and terminology of science fiction. Even better, it was published online in 2011 and is regularly updated since then (winning a Hugo Award in 2012), with editors expanded to include David Langford and Graham Sleight.

And like its companion Encyclopedia for Fantasy, its most engaging strength as a reference work is not so much its entries for individual authors or works, but its compilation of SF themes and terminology or tropes – although it doesn’t have the abundant classification of subgenres, nor quite the evocative phrases used as entry titles as the Encyclopedia of Fantasy. However, it does have a handy online index of themes, featuring such themes of interest as Dream Hacking or Medieval Futurism.

It even has an entry on itself. Kudos, SFE, kudos.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****
S-TIER (GOD TIER)

Top Tens – Heroes & Villains: Top 10 Villains of Mythology (Special Mention) (1) Chthonic Deities

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The classic chthonic god Hades depicted as villain in Disney’s 1997 Hercules film – character profile image in the Disney fan wiki

 

 

(1) CHTHONIC DEITIES

 

Chthonic deities are underworld deities – “gods or spirits who inhabited the underworld or existed in or under the earth, and were typically associated with death or fertility” (usually more the former than the latter). I mean, they were going to get special mention just based on the word chthonic alone, one of my favorite words.

It is somewhat unfair to rank chthonic deities as villains in mythology – and as my top special mention at that.

For one thing, while some gods are clearly more chthonic than others, “virtually any god could be considered chthonic to emphasize different aspects of the god” – Demeter and Hermes are classic examples, but even Zeus was referenced with the epithet at times.

For another, with those gods that were clearly more chthonic such as Hades, just because they were associated with death or the underworld did not make them evil or villainous as such. They could equally be neutral or even benevolent.

However, even when such deities are neutral or benevolent, there is just too powerful a tendency to default to depictions of them as adversarial or antagonistic – as with Hades himself, all too often cast as Olympian villain in popular culture. That’s just how the bones roll when your iconic association is with death or the underworld.

And for all the chthonic or underworld deities that are neutral or even benevolent, there’s others that are indeed chaotic, destructive or outright evil. After all, the Devil himself is a chthonic deity…

 

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (DEVIL TIER)

Top Tens – Comics: Top 10 Comics (Special Mention: 2000 AD) (1) Pat Mills – Slaine

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Peak Slaine – The Horned God with glorious cover art by Simon Bisley or the Biz!

 

 

(1) PAT MILLS – SLAINE (1983 – PRESENT: Yes, I’m counting the publication of the definitive collected edition)

 

“He didn’t think it too many”

Slaine’s catchphrase by reference to his body count. Also “kiss my axe” to much the same effect.

Slaine is essentially a prehistoric Irish Conan. although that is in itself turning full circle as the name Conan is of Celtic origin and Robert E. Howard identified Conan’s native Cimmerian people as prehistoric Celtic or Gaelic Irish and Scots. Or more accurately, a cross between Conan and Cuchulainn, the mythological Irish hero from the Ulster cycle – although there are other sources (and figures with whom Slaine interacts) from mythology, particularly Celtic or Irish mythology.

Slaine was introduced as a wandering exile from his tribe, banished for sleeping with the king’s intended consort Niamh – a figure adapted from Celtic mythology – and who remains something of a star-crossed lover for Slaine.

Getting into trouble with women is a recurring theme in Slaine’s early adventures, best personified by recurring antagonist and sorceress Medb, another figure adapted from Celtic mythology. Medb is something of a death cultist and Slaine earns her enmity when he rescued her from being sacrificed in a Wicker Man (in which he and Ukko were also imprisoned for execution) – unfortunately, she was a devotee of the dark god Crom Cruach and had eagerly embraced being a sacrificial bride of Crom.

Dark gods – of the Lovecraftian eldritch abomination sort – and their servants are the recurring antagonists for Slaine, his people the Tuatha de Danaan (living in Tir Nan Og or the Land of the Young) and their goddess Danu. Which is just as well as the morality of the protagonists, notably Slaine himself, is somewhat murky, but overshadowed by the completely monstrous antagonists. After all, the goddess Danu can be a bit of a bitch – “Sometimes I am the sister who befriends you, sometimes I am the mother who holds you and sometimes I am the lover who sticks one in your back”. It’s all part of her dance. Slaine himself tends to revel in raw brutality and blood lust, exemplified in his warp-spasm. Even the goddess snarkily rebukes him that he’s had his share of mindless violence, which Slaine acknowledges to be true.

The high point of Slaine is The Horned God story arc, painted by Simon Bisley (or the Biz as he is known in, well, the biz) with breathtaking results.

 

RATING: 

S-TIER (GOD-TIER – OR IS THAT GODDESS TIER?)

Top Tens – Fantasy & SF: Top 10 SF Books (Special Mention: Classic) (1) Isaac Asimov – Robot, Galactic Empire & Foundation

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Cover of the 2018 edition by I, Robot published by Voyager GB (left) and the 2016 edition of Foundation sold on Amazon (right)

 

 

 

(1) ISAAC ASIMOV –

ROBOT, GALACTIC EMPIRE & FOUNDATION (1940-1993)

 

I tend to disagree with Martin Prince’s ABC of the overlords of the science fiction genre – Asimov, Bester, Clarke – and not just because he disses Bradbury for Bester. As much as Ilke Bester (and Bradbury for that matter), I tend to agree with the ‘Big Three’ of science fiction – Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke.

Asimov was incredibly prolific as writer, but it’s his incredibly iconic status as writer that earns him the top spot here – even if he is better known in wider popular culture or consciousness for his concepts rather than his name or works.

Of all SF concepts codified or popularized by him, the holy trinity is the three concepts of this entry – although arguably the last is part of the second.

Perhaps his most iconic series is his Robot series. The core or inner circle of the series are his robot stories, commencing with his short story “Robbie” (alternatively titled “Strange Playfellow”) in 1940 and followed by other short stories which were compiled in his 1950 anthology of linked short stories, “I, Robot” (badly adapted into a film in 2004).

However, his Robot series didn’t end there – like the other series of this entry, the Robot series resembles concentric circles, depending on which works you accept are part of it. The inner or definitive circle are the robot stories compiled in “I, Robot”, but there were six subsequent stories, most of which were compiled in the 1982 anthology collection “The Complete Robot”. There were also four Robot Series novels, featuring the main robot character R. Daneel Olivaw and other backdrops against a background of an overcrowded Earth in conflict with its colonist Spacer planets.

Asimov didn’t originate the concept of robots in science fiction, or even the word robot – which interestingly did originate in fiction, from the 1920 play “R.U.R” or Rossum’s Universal Robots by Karl Capek (albeit for artificial biologically engineered human laborers rather than robots as the concept or word has subsequently been used). However, Asimov might be said to have codified the concept of robots in science fiction – most famously with his Three Laws of Robotics.

 

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

 

The original or core robot stories are essentially logical puzzles about the application or operation of the Three Laws – and not much changes about that as the premise of the other stories and novels.

The Galactic Empire series and Foundation series might be regarded as different but overlapping aspects or stages of the one concept of Galactic Empire – particularly after Asimov hammered them and his Robot series into his unified ‘future history’. If Asimov didn’t originate the concept of galactic empire, he at least codified or popularized it.

The Foundation series is the more famous – indeed, probably Asimov’s most famous series, even more than his Robot series. It’s essentially Asimov doing “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” IN SPACE! (And of course the future). It doesn’t get more transparent than naming your analogue of Belisarius as Bel Riose.

Again, the Foundation series might be regarded as a series of concentric circles – there’s the inner circle of the original trilogy, to which might be added Asimov’s subsequent two sequel novels and two prequel novels.

The Galactic Empire series of three novels and a short story chronicles the rise of the Galactic Empire rather than its fall.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GOD TIER)

Top Tens – Heroes & Villains: Top 10 Heroes of Mythology (Special Mention) (1) Apollo & Dionysus

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Collage of statues – the head of the Apollo Belvedere statue in the Vatican photographed by Marie-Lan Nguyen (left) and in wall protome of Dionysus in Kinsky Palace photographed by Zde (right) in Wikipedia “Apollonian and Dionsyian” under licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/deed.en and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en respectively

 

 

(1) APOLLO & DIONYSUS

 

Nietzsche famously propounded a literary or philosophical dichotomy or duality (or duo, if you prefer) between the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The classical Greeks themselves did not see Apollo and Dionysus as opposing figures but would probably applaud Nietzsche anyway, with all the reboots and retcons they gave the classical mythology.

The golden god of the sun, Apollo was the archetypal divine hero of classical mythology – the original Olympian Superman. His divine attributes or powers were extremely varied – the sun and light obviously but also archery (the symbolic equivalent of the sun’s rays), prophecy and truth (he was patron of the Delphic oracle), music and poetry, healing and more. In popular religion, he had a strong function as protector from evil – in short, he stood for truth, justice and the Grecian way. For Nietzsche, the Apollonian stood for the forces of reason and logic, control and clarity, structure and order, art and science – in short, the ideal of perfection

On the other hand, Dionysus was a foreign newcomer to Olympian pantheon and the god most associated with mortality – the son of a mortal mother (by Zeus) and a god who died to be reborn. He was also a darker figure as the god of intoxication in all its forms – ecstasy, fear and madness. What’s more, Dionysus was the god of the mysteries and theatre. For Nietzsche, the Dionysian stood for the forces of passion and emotion, chaos and mysticism, music and intoxication – in short, the ideal of a good night out…

 

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GOD TIER)

Top Tens – Mythology: Top 10 Mythologies (Special Mention: Equal Rites Rankings – Complete Rankings)

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Cropped image Afterlife (Egyptian Mythology) – free divine gallery sample art from OldWorldGods

 

 

TOP 10 MYTHOLOGIES

(SPECIAL MENTION: EQUAL RITES RANKINGS – COMPLETE RANKINGS)

 

She is the goddess and this is her mythology – but how do my mythology special mentions rack up against my top ten mythologies when ranking them for their goddesses?

Pretty well, as it turns out, with one special mention taking out the top spot above all other mythologies and five more taking out top ten goddess rankings – so six special mentions swap out for my top ten mythologies when it comes to goddess rankings. That leaves only four of my top ten mythologies in the top ten when ranked by goddesses. One more special mention scores higher than the top ten mythology with the lowest goddess ranking.

 

SCORE:

6 SPECIAL MENTIONS – TOP TEN GODDESS RANKINGS

(7 SPECIAL MENTIONS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN TOP 10 MYTHOLOGIES)

 

Anyway, here’s my complete goddess rankings for my top ten mythologies and special mention entries.

 

S-TIER (GODDESS TIER)

 

(1) PAGANISM – GODDESS

 

She is the goddess and this is her body – o yes!

In my equal rites rankings, paganism is its own goddess-tier of goddess-tier, combining as it does all the divine female figures or goddesses of all pagan mythologies in my top ten – classical, Norse, Celtic, Egyptian, and Middle Eastern. Indeed, arguably all but Biblical mythology – and there’s arguments for paganism even reclaiming goddess figures from Biblical mythology.

As such, it would outrank all other mythologies, particularly in its modern form or neopaganism, which adapts all divine female figures – arguably including those of the other mythologies in my top ten – into an uber-goddess or Goddess, a supreme female divine figure. Almost all versions of modern paganism propose at least equality between female and male divine figures, while some versions go all out for the supremacy or even exclusivity of a divine female figure or Goddess.

Indeed, modern paganism is distinct from the original forms of paganism and arguably unique among modern religion for its supreme divine female figure, with the exception of my next entry – which outranks modern paganism in number of followers but paganism wins out for me with the overarching quality of its goddess movement).

 

(2) HINDU – SHAKTI

 

My highest ranking top ten entry, up five places from seventh place in my general rankings, not surprisingly as the closest rival to modern paganism as goddess movement (and outranking it in number of followers)

 

(3) CLASSICAL – APHRODITE VENUS

 

(4) EGYPTIAN – ISIS

 

(5) MIDDLE EASTERN (BABYLO-SUMERIAN) – ISHTAR

 

Top ten entries, up or down only slightly from their general rankings – reflecting their iconic and influential divine female figures, particularly the ones nominated for their entries.

 

(6) TAROT – HIGH PRIESTESS & EMPRESS

 

I’m as surprised as you are by the Tarot’s goddess-tier ranking but the cards don’t lie. The Major Arcana – the 22 major cards of any Tarot deck – isn’t quite evenly balanced between its male and female figures but it comes close with ten of its cards as female figures and arguably they make up that slight deficit in quantity with better quality in positive aspects or meanings (and the female figure of the World card as the supreme or ultimate culmination of the Major Arcana).

The Minor Arcana are also balanced, with two of its suits traditionally seen as female – the suit of Cups (often identified with Hearts in modern decks and associated with the ‘female’ element of water) and the suit of Coins or Pentacles (often identified with Diamonds in modern decks and associated with the ‘female’ element of earth). The court cards are also balanced in some decks, with jacks or pages often converted to princesses or otherwise seen as female to add a second female court card to the queens.

 

(7) MAGIC – FATES

 

Magic ranks in goddess tier for equal rites because it gives opportunity or empowerment for just that – balancing the scales against male mythic figures, particularly those that rely on force, martial prowess, or physical strength. That can be seen by recurring goddesses of magic or other divine female sorceresses – with Hecate, Freya, and Isis particularly notable as goddesses of magic. Charms and enchantment – in the magic sense of those words – tend to have connotations with female magical figures. There’s also the recurring prevalence of female figures, particularly triple female figures, associated with fate or magic – Fates, Norns, and Weird Sisters among others.

 

(8) WITCHCRAFT – GODDESS

 

Where else could witchcraft rank but in goddess-tier?

I’d almost rank witchcraft higher because of its typical connotations as female magic, but those connotations are also typically negative or adverse – virtually by definition as it were. Good magic is male – high magic, ceremonial magic, ritual magic, theurgy and so on – while bad magic is female and witchcraft. And the latter can extend to almost anything by a woman if you so choose, particularly if it’s in rivalry to a male counterpart such as healing or herbalism.

Of course, witchcraft has also been associated with men – but the predominant association tends to be with women, particularly in Europe.

Modern witchcraft (or Wicca) and historians have sought to reclaim witchcraft as positive, female empowerment or even as a goddess religion – or Goddess religion, to rival the supreme divine female figure of modern paganism. Hence witchcraft also came close to a similar ranking as paganism.

 

(9) DISCORDIANISM – ERIS DISCORDIA

 

“How I found Goddess and what I did to Her when I found Her”

Hail Eris! Eris Discordia!

As per the subtitle of the Principia Discordia, Discordianism had to rank in goddess-tier and I might well have ranked it up with modern paganism as effectively a subset of the latter.

The reasons I didn’t were, firstly that Discordianism is very much a fringe religion within even the fringe religion of modern paganism, and secondly that it’s not clear how much the goddess is the punchline in a joke disguised as a religion – or a religion disguised as a joke.

 

(10) TANTRA – SHAKTI KUNDALINI

 

I might well have ranked tantra up there with Hinduism, as I understand that it effectively overlaps to a large degree with Shaktism, but I just felt it didn’t have the same weight and rounded out goddess-tier of goddess rankings with it instead.

 

 

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

(11) NORSE – FREYA

 

(12) CELTIC (ARTHURIAN) – LADY OF THE LAKE & MORGAN LE FAY

 

Even though they still rank in top tier, these two mythologies are outscored by special mention entries for goddess rankings – which sees them drop out of the top ten goddess rankings (all of which are S-tier or goddess tier)

 

(13) FAIRIES – FAIRY QUEEN

 

“O what can ail thee, knight at arms…La Belle Dame Sans Merci hath thee in thrall!”

Once again, fairy folklore ranks close to the Celtic mythology or Arthurian legend it overlaps, particularly when it comes to fairy female figures, foremost among them the Fairy Queen.

 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

(14) NATIVE AMERICAN (LAKOTA)

 

(15) AFRO-AMERICAN (VOODOO)

 

(16) MESO-AMERICAN (AZTEC)

 

While they have their goddesses, these top ten mythologies take a big hit from other entries to rank below the top ten goddess rankings.

 

X-TIER (WILD TIER)

 

(17) BIBLICAL

 

Biblical mythology takes out the top spot, but of wild tier rankings as opposed to THE top spot as in my general rankings, sacred space rankings or apocalyptic rankings! I mean, it could only have ranked in wild tier given its masculine monotheism (or Trinity) but its surprisingly prolific and iconic female figures earn it top spot of wild tier – even if they aren’t divine as such, unless you look under the (God)hood…

 

(18) GHOSTS

 

Wait – what? Ghosts rank just under Biblical mythology in wild tier?

Well, yes, because it’s surprising how large female figures loom in ghost lore – from White Ladies to the terrifying female figures of Japanese ghost lore.

 

(19) VAMPIRES

 

Not surprisingly, vampires rank close to ghosts for female figures – arguably they might even have ranked close to witches given the overlap between the two. It is also arguable whether they might outrank ghosts in terms of the prevalence of female figures as vampires, although I believe that prevalence may be more so in vampire fiction from Dracula (and Carmilla) onwards rather than in vampire folklore. There was of course the vampire hunting technique of locating their grave through a (naked) female virgin on horseback – which featured much to my delight in the 2025 Nosferatu film directed by Eggers.

 

 

(20) LEGENDARY CREATURES

 

It’s the mermaids.

They pretty much drag up legendary creatures to a ranking close to ghosts and vampires all on their own.

 

(21) SHAMANISM

 

Shamanism isn’t particularly associated with female figures but they’re not absent from it either – it is hard to generalize for equal rites in shamanism but some variants of it, particularly modern ones or neo-shamanism, have female practitioners (labelled as shamanka by Wikipedia) or at least divine female figures as guidance for shamans.

 

(22) ZEN

 

Although zen would seem to tend towards equal rites in principle, it has tended towards male figures in practice, albeit it has had some notable female practitioners.

 

(23) DRAGONS

 

Dragon folklore might not seem to have any distinctive association with female figures, except perhaps for female dragons, but there is indeed at least one such recurring distinctive association – and that is the sacrificial maidens that recur throughout dragon folklore, so much so that they have their own Wikipedia article as “Princess and Dragon”. Andromeda from classical mythology is the archetypal example.

 

(24) GIANTS

 

“Rest well, and dream of large women”

I rank giants similiarly to dragons for distinctive association with female figures. On the one hand, there is not the recurring sacrificial maiden or princess trope as there is with dragons. On the other hand, however, female giants are more distinctive, as in Norse mythology.

 

(25) LYCANTHROPES

 

There are female werewolves, right?

Well, yes – there are, enough for their own Wikipedia article (as werewomen). It’s not so surprising, given the overlap between werewolves and witches.

I suppose seal and swan maidens might also count but they’re more fairy folklore.

 

(26) UFO

 

I mean, there are female aliens, right? Or at least abductees? Science fiction – or pulp science fiction – seems to feature both, particularly s€xy ones.

Yeah, we’re starting to scrape the bottom now.

 

(27) URBAN LEGENDS

 

Well yes, there are female figures in urban legends – some of which even have some prominence in or are the central figures of the legend, such as the Vanishing Hitchhiker (when female) or Bloody Mary.

 

(28) CONSPIRACY THEORIES

 

Similar to urban legends, there are female figures in conspiracy theories – some of which again have some prominence in or are the central figures of the conspiracy theory, such as the conspiracy theories around the deaths of Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana.

 

(29) ATLANTIS & BERMUDA TRIANGLE

 

If I recall correctly, the gods – and goddesses – that feature in Plato’s legend of Atlantis are the Greek ones, so you could argue Atlantis should rank up there with classical mythology but I just don’t think the Greek deities in Plato’s legend get it that far.

You could also argue for topless Atlantean priestesses in similar style to those in the Minoan civilization which is usually seen as the historical inspiration for Plato’s legend.

But again that only gets it so far in equal rites rankings, indeed only one entry short of last place. Well, that and whatever bikini girls the Bermuda Triangle snatches up…

 

(30) CRYPTIDS

 

I got nothing – we’ve hit bedrock for divine or really any sort of female figures, so it comes last. I suppose some of the cryptids must be female for the ongoing survival of the species – female Bigfoot swiping right on Bigfoot Tinder – but that’s about it.

 

Top Tens – Top 10 Girls of Mythology

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Cover art of issue 7 War Goddess published by Boundless Comics

 

 

GIRLS OF MYTHOLOGY: TOP 10

 

That’s right – I can find Fantasy Girls in anything.

Of course, this is something of a personal novelty top ten list, as my Girls of Mythology don’t tend to have the same art or cosplay as my usual Fantasy Girls in popular culture – the holy trinity of comics, video games and anime of course, but also animation or fantasy and SF.

Although you may be surprised – my Girls of Mythology probably have more name recognition or adaptations in popular culture than those from other areas of culture (which I’ll similarly feature in novelty top ten lists – such as my Girls of History or my Girls of Poetry and Literature). And perhaps even more surprisingly, since some of them do pop up in popular culture – even in comics or video games – they do feature in art and cosplay. Of course, it helps to have video games in which gods and goddesses are playable characters, such as the game Smite.

And they’re reasonably diverse – mostly goddesses of course, but a few mortal girls or at least semi-mortal. You know how mythology is – sometimes the lines of the divine feminine are blurry. Also, they come from a range of my favorite mythologies. My classical mythology girls get top billing of course (and potentially their own top ten) – after all, I’m in it for the nymphs. However, the top ten is reasonably spread throughout different mythologies – including a surprisingly high billing for Biblical mythology, which reflects a surprisingly high prevalence of high profile Biblical bad girls (who will also potentially get their own top ten).

Anyway, counting down my Top 10 Girls of Mythology.

 

Not quite Erzulie but close enough – cover art for the first issue of Vertigo’s Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child

 

(10) AFRO-AMERICAN (VOODOO): ERZULIE FREDA DAHOMEY

 

Erzulie (or Ezili) Freda Dahomey is the voodoo love goddess, or more precisely, loa – and one of the few female figures in our top ten who is the subject of actual worship by substantial numbers of people today. Like many mythologies, voodoo gets a little messy with its pantheon- the Erzulie are apparently a family of loa associated with femininity and fluidity (or water), or perhaps different aspects of the same loa. Here we are concerned with Erzulie Freda, often titled more expansively as Maitres (also Metres or Mistress) Mambo Erzulie Freda Dahomey (or Daome) – goddess of love, but also beauty, dancing, flowers, jewelry, luck, luxury and more.

She is very much the flirtatious and sensuous party girl, so much so that she has three husbands and one ring for each of them, but can also be coquettish, vain or prone to jealousy and other flaws. In Catholic iconography – usually important in Haitian voodoo due to its history of camouflage for their deities – she is identified with the Mater Dolorossa, which reflects her characteristic depiction of never being able to attain her heart’s desire and prone to tears of longing or regret.

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

*

Free sample ‘divine gallery’ art – Old World Gods

*

(9) NATIVE AMERICAN (LAKOTA): WHITE BUFFALO CALF WOMAN

 

White Buffalo Woman is the sacred or ‘wakan’ woman of the native American Lakota nation. She came to the Lakota in a time of famine, appearing as a beautiful young woman in white, teaching them their sacred rituals and promising to return. Hers will be an apocalyptic return or ghost dance, in which evil will be swept from the world, and all the buffalo, ancestors and lost tribes will return.

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

*

 

Kali as she appears in her Golden skin character profile art in the Smite video game

 

(8) HINDU: KALI

 

Kali is the original bad girl goddess – and as a goddess of Hinduism, one with more actual live worshippers than any other female figure in my top ten.

In general, female figures in Hinduism are some of the few which appear attractive to modern eyes in their traditional artistic depictions, most notably their voluptuous temple sculpture (some of which would not look out of place in Playboy, or even an adult film in the more steamy temples). Indeed, there’s pinup style art by Elias Chatzoudis – inspired by Kali – would not be out of place there.

Good girl goddesses such as Lakshmi and Parvati might seem sweeter, but ultimately Kali is more iconic, although she is traditionally depicted as a fearsome or terrifying black or blue-skinned destructive figure (yet still often naked and voluptuous). Although Kali is sometimes identified as an aspect of Parvati as divine mother goddess – Hindu mythology can get convoluted in its polytheism. It’s complicated – and so is Kali.

Like Shiva – who tends to be identified as her consort – Kali is the destroyer (within the cycle of creation, preservation and destruction), but hers is a righteous destruction. Again like Shiva, she tends to destroy demonic or evil forces – “she destroys evil to protect the innocent” or as divine protector to bestow liberation. Even her image as destroyer can be seen as merely a form of a supreme goddess figure and mother of the universe (devi) or divine feminine force (shakti) – who is herself creator, preserver and destroyer

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

*

Morgan Le Fay character profile from the Smite video game

*

(7) CELTIC (ARTHURIAN): MORGAN LE FAY

 

Morgan or Morgana Le Fay (there are other variants) is characteristically the bad girl of Arthurian legend – an enchantress who seduces Arthur’s knights away from Camelot (such that they are mostly dead or lost or compromised) and plots to overthrow the kingdom.

Or not. Her early appearances in Arthurian legend “do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a goddess, a fay (or fairy), a witch, or a sorceress, generally benevolent and related to King Arthur as his magical savior and protector”. Her prominence increased over time, as did her moral ambivalence or outright villainy, particularly in Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, which was in many ways the codification of Arthurian legend.

She is variously portrayed as Arthur’s sister (or more precisely half-sister), even conflating her with another traditional character (and her sister) Morgause as his lover and mother by him to Mordred, usurper and adversary to Arthur in his fatal last battle (as in the film Excalibur, which remains my favorite cinematic adaptation of Arthurian legend). Yet she moves in mysterious ways and is one of the retinue of maidens who take Arthur to Avalon after his final battle.

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

*

 

Freya as she appears in her standard design in official character profile art in the Smite video game

 

 

(6) NORSE: FREYA

 

Freya (or Freyja or Freja) is the Nordic love goddess, blonde and blue-eyed, most beautiful of the goddesses and ogled lustfully by the giants – more than one Norse myth has a giant unsuccessfully claim Freya as their prize. She was also goddess of war and queen of the Valkyries, taking half of all heroes slain in battle into her heavenly field in Asgard (the other half going of course to Odin’s hall in Valhalla).

More broadly, she was the goddess of love, beauty, fertility, s€x, war, gold and magic – goddess of the golden necklace or torc Brisingamen, goddess of the falcon-feathered flying cloak and goddess of the cat-pulled chariot.

Above all, she was the lady of Friday, the day named for her. All hail Lady Friday, goddess of the weekend!

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

*

Ishtar in her standard art design for her Smite video game character profile

*

(5) BABYLO-SUMERIAN: ISHTAR INANNA

 

Babylonian goddess Ishtar (Sumerian Inanna) is the sensual goddess of love and war, personification of the morning star, and mistress of the mysteries of death and rebirth. Her most famous myth is her descent into the underworld for her lover Tammuz (Sumerian Dumuzi), where she had to take off one of her seven veils at each of the seven gates of the underworld (the dance of the seven veils) so that she came naked to the heart of hell.

Ishtar was above all associated with s€xuality – the rites of the sacred marriage (hieros gamos) and her cult of temple pr0stitution. As such, she may have been the original model for the Biblical Wh0re of Babylon. Certainly, she and her sister goddesses repeatedly seduce the Israelites away from their Biblical faith – the prophet Ezekiel lamented her rituals of “the women weeping for Tammuz” at the very “door of the gate of the Lord’s house” in Jerusalem. Yet she has also been seen as the model for Esther, the beautiful and virtuous Biblical heroine of the Babylonian exile. Such are the mysterious ways of this good and bad girl goddess, who dances with stars and descends into the underworld.

Her counterpart in the pagan borderlands of Biblical Israel was Astarte or Asherah, who recurs through the Old Testament as a constant temptress of the Israelites – even worshipped as the pagan goddess of Israel, the consort of Yahweh and Queen of Heaven. Her sacred figures or asherim – poles, trees or groves – were found throughout Israel and her worship maddened the prophet Jeremiah as the people of Jerusalem gathered “to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her”. (Those Biblical prophets sure knew how to spoil a good party)

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

Isis in her standard art design for her Smite video game character profile (under her more Egyptian name Eset)

 

(4) EGYPTIAN: ISIS

 

Outside of Hinduism, ancient Egyptian female figures are perhaps the other female figures that appear attractive to modern eyes in their traditional artistic depictions, particularly their monumental statues and paintings. Lithe and svelte in their tight, form-fitting dresses, with their golden skin and painted eyes, they would not look out of place as supermodels on a modern catwalk.

Isis is the most iconic and famous of Egyptian goddesses – throne goddess of the pharaoh, goddess of magic who seduced the secret name from the sun god Ra, lover of Osiris who resurrected him after he was dismembered by his evil adversary Set and mother of the divine hero Horus. She enchanted the Greek and Roman conquerors of Egypt, so much so that that she loomed as a goddess of the Roman Empire to rival even Christianity and it is tempting to think how the empire could have gone the way of the ankh and not the cross. In the words of her apostle, Lucius Apuleius:

“You see me here, Lucius, in answer to your prayer. I am nature, the universal Mother, mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time, sovereign of all things spiritual, queen of the dead, queen also of the immortals, the single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are…Though I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names … the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning and worship call me by my true name…Queen Isis.”

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

Cover art by J. Scott Campbell of Eve for the Hero Comics Hero Initiative Book published 1 April 2017 – both my favorite artistic representation of Eve depicting her temptation in all its naked snaky glory and one of my favorite J Scott Campbell artworks

 

 

(3) BIBLICAL: EVE

 

“When the apple reddens

Never pry

Lest we lose our Edens –

Eve and I”

 

Few mythic female figures are as iconic, as evocative as Eve – the original Biblical bad girl and primal woman. And few have as many faces. She has posed as the definitive femme fatale and temptress of Western art and literature, the Bible’s original sinner and siren of paradise lost. As such, she has been the focus and symbol of much misogyny – although without her role in it, there’d be no Bible. The words Margaret Atwood gave her fairy tale villainess could well be said by Eve – “I’m the plot, babe, and don’t ever forget it.”

Of course, as the iconoclastic Camille Paglia has noted, the Biblical story of Eden at least gave her a male accomplice in the serpent. However, even this has been reversed in Western art (notably during the Renaissance), which has even given the serpent Eve’s face – and breasts! That’s some deep Freudian kind of mixed-up right there. Although there’s something else equally as mixed up (albeit not quite so much in the Freudian sense) that’s easily overlooked which is implicit in the very bible narrative itself – the serpent had legs! (God curses it to crawl on its belly as punishment for its crime). If I came across a walking talking snake, I’d listen to whatever it said too – and quite frankly, the whole Garden of Eden set up smacks of a classic two-man con played by God and the serpent.

She has also posed as s€xual temptress, the naked woman for all seasons. Religious tradition saw Eve and Adam as models of physical perfection, befitting those shaped by God’s hand as opposed to those born into this world (or the reality of our ancestral African hominids). And although the Garden of Eden is a tangled jungle of symbolism (that deserves its own list), let’s not forget the steamy sexual symbolism of original sin. There is the temptation itself – Eve is tempted by the phallic serpent and Adam is tempted by the lush fruit offered to him by Eve (in the words of John Milton, “emparadis’d in each other’s arms”). And then there are the consequences – consciousness of their naked state of nature, Eve is punished by the pains of labor, and Adam is punished by the pains of a different labor, working the earth to feed his family. To paraphrase Kurt Vonnegut, it all smells of apple juice…

Finally, she has posed for those who would reclaim her as a figure of female power or even divinity – Promethean heroine plucking the knowledge of humanity from divinely imposed ignorance or goddess of paradise and mother of life. Some have seen the myth of a fall from paradise as an echo of each of our own experience of prenatal bliss (or at least childhood) – we all fall from the womb into the world. All hail Eve, God the Mother! She is the goddess and this is her body.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GODDESS TIER)

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Helen of Troy as portrayed by Diane Kruger in the 2004 Troy film

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(2) CLASSICAL: HELEN OF TROY

 

When it comes to girls of mythology, for me every other mythology is simply outgunned by classical mythology – and foremost among the female figures of classical mythology is Helen of Troy. I mean, come on – they fought a war for her! Greece’s greatest heroes fought the Trojan War for ten years – and in the end Troy burned – for her. Also, as an acronym, she’s H.o.T.

Apart from Eve, she is the other definitive femme fatale of Western art and literature – without her, there would be no Iliad or Odyssey, the epic heart of classical literature and rosy-fingered dawn of Western literature. And at the end of the war, when her husband Menelaus went with sword in hand to kill her for ten years of adultery, he had only to gaze at her as she dropped the robe from her shoulder and the sword fell from his hand.

Her legend has continued to enrapture throughout history, even occasionally tempting Christianity. The apostles had to compete with the cult of Simon Magus, who toured with his showgirl Helen of Troy, posing as an incarnation of the eternal feminine. And Christopher Marlowe’s Faust famously marveled at his Helen of Troy, one of hell’s temptations to seal the demonic pact for his soul – “Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?” Of course, he burned for her as well. Such is Helen of Troy

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GODDESS TIER)

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Aphrodite in her standard design art from her Smite video game profile

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(1) CLASSICAL: APHRODITE VENUS

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Is there any contest? Greek Aphrodite (Roman Venus) is the archetypal goddess of love and beauty – born of the morning star, the sea’s foam and the world’s desire. Her very name gives us aphrodisiac and her planetary sign for Venus is the universal symbol for the female sex. And there’s a reason that female figures in art are often labeled Venus – and that Aphrodite or Venus herself has been the predominant female figure in art, particularly for nudes, with perhaps the most iconic being that by Botticelli.

The Olympian goddesses Athena and Hera were foolish enough to compete against her for the prize of the golden apple inscribed “to the most beautiful”. No contest – the gods appointed Trojan prince Paris as the judge and he awarded it to Aphrodite. (He then took Helen as his reward and the rest is mythic history – the Trojan War).

In addition, Aphrodite and her Roman counterpart Venus had a plethora of aspects denoted by epithets which could well be a top ten all of their own – with the dualism of the ‘higher’ Aphrodite Ourania and the ‘lower’ (or dirtier) Aphrodite Pandemos being perhaps the most well known. Although I’ll always have a soft spot for Aphrodite or Venus Kallipygos – the Aphrodite or Venus “of the beautiful buttocks”. Baby got back!

Mighty Aphrodite! She is the goddess!

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GODDESS TIER)

Top Tens – Comics: Top 10 Comics (Special Mention) – Preamble & Preview

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The cover of Detective Comics #27 dated May 1939 by Bob Kane with the first appearance of Batman – one of the most famous and iconic comics covers, exceeded perhaps only by the Action Comics cover for the first appearance of Superman

 

 

TOP 10 COMICS

(SPECIAL MENTION)

 

I’ve ranked my Top 10 Comics, but comics are just too prolific to be confined to a mere top ten or even my usual list of twenty special mentions.

Instead, I have two lists for special mentions – the first for comics from 2000 AD, the British weekly SF anthology comic that is my comic of choice for regular reading, and the second for comics from everyone else.

This is the latter – for comics that I enjoyed or are an enduring influence on me from publishers other than 2000 AD’s Rebellion, including self-published webcomics.

Top Tens – Comics: Top 10 Comics (Special Mention: 2000 AD) – Preamble & Preview

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2000 AD logo

 

 

 

TOP 10 COMICS

(SPECIAL MENTION: 2000 AD)

 

I’ve ranked my Top 10 Comics but wait – there’s more!

Indeed, there’s enough for not just one but two of my usual lists of twenty special mentions.

In fairness to myself, that’s because I can compile one of those lists entirely from the anthology comic that is comic of choice for regular reading – 2000 AD, the British weekly SF anthology comic.

As it is, three of my Top 10 Comics are comics published as part of 2000 AD. First and foremost is of course Judge Dredd, 2000 AD’s most iconic character and featured in almost every weekly issue, ongoing since 2000 AD was launched in 1977 – although ironically for 2000 AD’s longest-running and flagship character, from its second issue onwards as the opening Dredd story was not ready for the first issue.

The other two entries from 2000 AD in my Top 10 Comics (in sixth and seventh place respectively) are Grant Morrison’s Zenith and Mark Millar’s Canon Fodder.

However, there’s so much more, not surprisingly for an anthology comic – usually with five comics within each weekly issue – that’s been published every week for almost half a century as at the time of this compilation.

These are my twenty special mentions for the rest of my favorite comics from 2000 AD.

Top Tens – Fantasy & SF: Top 10 SF Books (Special Mention: Cult & Pulp) – Preamble & Preview

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“Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos!” (immortal line of Homer Simpson from “Citizen Kang”, Treehouse of Horror VII, Season 8 episode 1 – featuring those recurring aliens of Halloween episodes, Kodos and Kang). Of course, Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution that only natural born citizens can be President would disqualify the- “NEEERD!”

 

 

TOP 10 SF BOOKS

(SPECIAL MENTION: CULT & PULP)

 

I’ve ranked my Top 10 SF Books, but science fiction is too prolific – and phantasmagorical – a genre to be confined to a mere top ten books or even my usual list of special mentions.

Instead, as I do for fantasy books, I have two lists of special mentions – one classic and the other cult and pulp.

This is obviously the latter – for those SF books or works that don’t quite that iconic status or recognition within popular culture and imagination of my classic special mentions but I like them anyway!

That or they’re an enduring influence on me despite (or perhaps because of) their “cult & pulp” status.