I've never quite understood why it is that science fiction and fantasy writers ever feel the need to create brand new worlds from scratch. It seems like such a waste of time considering the wealth of material that's at their fingertips if they were only to look into the stories of the various people of this planet. Even staying within our own culture you can find some pretty amazing stuff.
How much more fantastic can you get than a guy dying and then coming back from the dead three days later? And that's just for starters. Of course people have mined the tale of King Arthur until its been bled white, but what about the Vikings, the Greeks, and the Romans? The gods and goddesses alone could supply enough material for who knows how many books.
Of course if you wanted something a little more exotic there's always Asia and the far East. Incorporate a few figures from their stories into your books and believe me you'd have something that's as fantastical as anything that came from the most fevered imagination. Of course you'd have to make sure and do proper research so that you don't use someone else's stories inappropriately or disrespectfully.
One of the best examples of an author who's been able to incorporate bits and pieces of other cultures into his work without it feeling like appropriation or cheap exploitation is the British author Jon Courtenay Grimwood. So far I've read works of his that have integrated Islam, Japanese, and Norse mythology into his stories. (No, not all at the same time) Therefore, it didn't come as too much of a surprise that in his novel 9 Tail Fox, published in North America by Night Shade Books, he'd been able to accomplish the same feat successfully with Chinese culture.
Set in contemporary San Francisco, the protagonist is initially Sgt. Bobby Zha, who's a second generation Chinese immigrant on his father's side and very British via his mother. When both his parents died young it was his paternal grandfather who took over his upbringing. At the time we meet him his grandfather has been long gone, but Sgt. Zha still retains the fluent, if slightly archaic, Cantonese he learned from his grandfather, and the memories of the stories he had been told of creatures like the Nine Tailed Celestial Fox.
Even so, that doesn't stop him from being surprised to see Jinwei hu of the pure white fur, nine tails, and coal red eyes, as he lies dying, spewing his life's blood onto the concrete floor of the warehouse he'd been ambushed in. After all, how often do you find out the mythical creatures of your childhood really do exist, let alone have one appear in front of you no matter what the circumstances? Of course, it could all be just an illusion, and it doesn't really matter as he's dying - isn't he? Still what did the fox mean he has only one more chance to set things right?
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