‘Scottish Myths and Legends’ is a fantastic collection of short stories designed to give you a taste of the varied myths from Scotland and the Scottish isles. The stories range from a page or two to slightly longer stories, but they will all capture your imagination.

As a mythology/indigenous culture student, it was really fascinating to see the similarities in stories from cultures that likely never met. This was compounded by Daniel Allison’s footnotes at the end of each story which gave you an idea of the history behind each tale and pulled out some of these recurring themes. This book isn’t a standalone, it draws on works by others and stories across time and culture and Allison gives credit to the inspiration each time with a helpful bibliography at the end.

I loved Allison’s style of writing. Sometimes oral storytelling’s magic doesn’t carry over into the written world. But word by word, these stories came to life before me. They were beautifully written, unrepetitive and had the familiarity of a favourite story that you couldn’t quite recall. This was a pleasure to read and a book I genuinely looked forward to picking up after a long day at work.

I highly recommend this one to those interested in mythology, those looking for a quick (but rewarding) read and those who want a window into another world. I’d definitely read more of Allison’s work and look forward to seeing how this book may influence my PhD research.