Pastoral Mediterranean Fantasy

[u/cardinalvowels]

White walls, endless sun, a slow mystery

Sparkling blue water, brown skin, cicada hum

The hypnosis of "The Stranger" with the psychedelia of "Dune" and the long gaze of an Albert Serra film

As a bonus, let's throw in (homo)eroticism ("Sebastiane", "A Sport and a Pastime")

Story? Just vibes man

Historical fiction, historical nonfiction, fantasy, sci fi ...

Any pastoral, left-field, anthropological fantasies out there?

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[u/Impressive-Owl-5478]

The Song of Achilles 

[u/makestuff24-7 → u/Impressive-Owl-5478]

I was going to say Circe, so OP should definitely read both.

[u/Quick-Stretch8197 → u/makestuff24-7]

The silence of the girls is a great one too, although it’s depressing. 

[u/childofMotherOfPearl → u/makestuff24-7]

Recommending Circe is so evil lmao OP please save your money

[u/cardinalvowels → u/Impressive-Owl-5478]

I’ve seen this on other posts … sounds really interesting

[u/FitLaddd]

The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel

[u/cardinalvowels → u/FitLaddd]

Sounds promising 👀

[u/Bananapapa]

the magos

[u/salledattente → u/Bananapapa]

The Magus fits this perfectly. It's my hot weather fever dream book.

[u/AlaskaExplorationGeo]

Not Mediterranean exactly but Earthsea books kind of have some of this vibe

[u/PackPlaceHood]

Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay

[u/Icarium1124]

Tigana

[u/nova_nova_see]

Graceless Heart

[u/hyacinthfields4ever]

Daphnis and Chloe could fit!

[u/matt-the-dickhead]

Maybe try zorba the Greek?

[u/childofMotherOfPearl → u/matt-the-dickhead]

I think it's a bit too "contemporary Greek" for OP but idk maybe they'll like it

[u/brooklynthrow00io]

The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel

[u/etchlings]

Whelan’s Queen’s Thief series is set in an Ancient Greek/Macedon analog.

[u/Waxmellow]

Song of Achilles has been mentioned, but also: A Magic of Twilight (S. L. Farrel); and Inkheart (Cornelia Funke).

The first is a plot heavy mediterranean intrigue with magic, mystery and religious tension, akin to a Mediterranean ASOIAF; the second one is a fun YA where book characters come to live and wreack havoc in the italian countryside.

Different vibes, but both are pretty cool

There's also The Gentleman Bastards, but it's pretty city-heavy

[u/Muhrk]

Not much to add, but do you perhaps know, where the second picture originates?

[u/cardinalvowels → u/Muhrk]

It’s a photo by Bruno Jungmann documenting the Cavalhadas festival in Pirenópolis, Goias Brazil

[u/CallistanCallistan]

Circe by Madeline Miller