Theseus The King who Killed the Minotaur

by Madeline Miller

Miller takes the same irreverent approach to Greek mythology that Curtis does—she strips away the dusty textbook version and gives you characters who feel genuinely alive, with humor lurking beneath the heroic posturing. Like Theseus, Achilles gets a complete reimagining that's both respectful to the source material and utterly fresh, with the same blend of adventure and unexpected emotional depth.

by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman does for American mythology what Curtis does for Greek—he treats ancient stories as living, breathing things that collide messily with the modern world. The episodic structure mirrors how Curtis builds Theseus's story through a series of encounters and trials, and there's that same playful irreverence about how we tell hero stories, just transplanted to truck stops and forgotten roadside attractions.

by William Goldman

Here's your surprise pick: Goldman's novel (not just the film) has that same comedic sensibility about adventure narratives—it winks at you while delivering genuine thrills, and the framing device of a grandfather reading to his grandson gives it a storytelling warmth that Curtis captures too. The sword fights, the impossible quests, the lovable rogues—it's all there, but filtered through a writer who refuses to take any of it too seriously, which is exactly the Curtis-Robinson energy.

by Jennifer Blake

While this is from a more recent decade (2018), it shares Curtis's gift for making mythological figures feel like real people with agency and wit. Robson gives you the same Greek world, but from a completely different angle—it's still packed with incident and danger, yet intimate in a way that complements the broader heroic sweep of Theseus's tale. The two books together create a fuller picture of that mythological landscape.

by George MacDonald

This might seem like a left turn, but Addison writes with the same warmth and humor about an unlikely hero thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Like Curtis's Theseus, her protagonist is constantly navigating dangerous court politics and impossible challenges, but she focuses on the character's decency and cleverness rather than just the action beats. It's got that same 'person dealing with chaos through wit and determination' energy, just in a fantasy setting rather than ancient Greece.