I love mythology. I have loved it since elementary school, when I first discovered Edith Hamilton and Bulfinch, and started reading collections of Greek, Roman and Norse myths. My interests expanded as I got older, and I've sampled lore from many places and cultures over the years. Of course, there are endless gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, monsters and quests from every corner of the globe. Korwin Briggs, in Gods & Heroes: Mythology Around the World, provides a nice reference book for many of those stories.

Subjects range from Amaterasu, the Radiant Sun Goddess from the Japanese/Shinto tradition, to Zeus, the King of Olympus in the Greek/Roman pantheon. Other chapters cover the likes of Anansi, Baal, Coyote, Ganesha, Horus, Kali, Mithra, Nu Gua, Parvati, Quetzalcoatl, Viracocha and Yi.

It's by no means comprehensive, nor does it try to be. This book is more appropriate for younger readers of mythology, serving as an introduction to a wide variety of deities and possibly whetting their appetites to explore further into those cultural touchstones.

Each chapter is about three or four pages long, with the name of the characters in question, the cultural traditions from which each sprang, their legendary homes, and alternate names by which they are known. In his introduction, Briggs provides a brief explanation why these stories remain important today, along with a short glossary of important terms. Illustrations are colorful and cartoon-like, and the overall tone of Briggs' presentation is light, with a sense of humor.

Serious scholars of mythology probably won't find this book terribly useful. Like I said, it's mostly an introduction for beginners. Still, it's a handy reference to have around, just in case you want to refresh your memory or meet a new supreme being that's escaped your notice.