The Song of Achilles
The 10th Anniversary edition of the Women's Prize-winning bestseller
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4.4 • 272 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
**OVER 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD**
WINNER OF THE ORANGE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
THE INTERNATIONAL SENSATION
A SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
'Captivating' DONNA TARTT
'I loved it' J K ROWLING
'Ravishingly vivid' EMMA DONOGHUE
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.
'A book I could not put down' ANN PATCHETT
'An exciting, sexy, violent Superman version of The Iliad' GUARDIAN
'Sexy, dangerous, mystical' BETTANY HUGHES
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Following in Mary Renault's footsteps and adding some surefooted steps of her own, Miller debuts with a novel that combines the poetic drama of The Iliad with a 21st-century understanding of war, sex, sexual politics, and Trojan War heroism. Miller's tale begins with Patroclus' unhappy childhood as the disappointing son of an ambitious king. Exiled to Phthia, the 10-year-old is befriended by confident Prince Achilles. Over time their friendship blooms into love, while Achilles' mother, the sea nymph Thetis, grows jealously resentful. Patroclus and Achilles follow Agamemnon to recapture Helen from Troy, but the siege wears heavily on Achilles, who awaits the destiny his mother has foretold and his mentor, the centaur Master Chiron, has forewarned: to become the greatest of Greek warriors. In addition to the central story of Achilles and Patroclus, Miller offers a complex study of Briseis, the trophy beauty who inspires a rift between Achilles and Agamemnon; evokes Iphigenia's sacrifice at Aulis in one quick, brutal image; and probes relationships Homer only hinted at. With language both evocative of her predecessors and fresh, and through familiar scenes that explore new territory, this first-time novelist masterfully brings to life an imaginative yet informed vision of ancient Greece featuring divinely human gods and larger-than-life mortals. She breaks new ground retelling one of the world's oldest stories about men in love and war, but it is the extraordinary women Iphigenia, Briseis, and Thetis who promise readers remarkable things to come as Miller carves out a custom-made niche in historical fiction.
Customer Reviews
Read it!
The most beautiful tragic love story ever!
OMFG
read it read it read it read it read it read it
Good soup
What can I say? This is an honestly well written piece. I literally bawled my eyes out at the end, and then 2 days later, rereading the last few paragraphs and still cry my eyes out. Very emotional and to me, a good book is when the ending makes you feel things.
if I were to reflect on it generally, I would still say it is a good book. The language that the author used was beautiful. It was like reading an art; I have a love for complex and poetic type of writings, kind of thrilling. Some words that was used to describe things within the story is so disgustingly-creative. Like the author had no filter when it comes to visual descriptive words, such as using oil as a metaphor for sweat???? Why does that paint the picture so well!!!!! D’:
Although I did kind of got bored in some parts. And the part where Achilles was going insane after the BIG incident by behaving a bit inhumane, that was good, I love that part because it showed me the sorrow, and grief masked as anger within him. But the thing is, it didn’t feel shocked, it wasn’t as emotional for me. I didn’t feel much revengeful as he was. It was just a ‘oh so he had lost it’ moment. That part was dull. And it wasn’t just those, there were others, too and it happens on and off within the story.