The Song of Achilles
Author: Steve Cavanagh
Published by: Bloomsbury
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
My Rating ★★★
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.
My thoughts:
This is the story of the fall of Troy, focusing heavily on the tale of Achilles and Patroclus and their relationship.
This story had such a wonderful ambience. Set in ancient Greece but told through the narrative of a quiet, conflicted main character, Patroclus. I thought the childhood years of Patroclus and Achilles growing up side-by-side and being trained together were beautifully presented, and Miller’s writing in the first half of the book is fantastic in developing the characters so vividly. I loved reading about these early years of the boys, and the friendship and romance that blossomed between them.
Unfortunately, about halfway through I felt as though the strong connection between Patroclus and Achilles had become a little lost along the way. Alongside this, I felt my interest begin to dwindle at times, and I personally found a lot ofthe middle section much less interesting. The Trojan war was not as exciting to read about as I’d hoped, and it honestly felt like nothing significant was really happening, many new characters were introduced without much importance to the overall plot, and the closeness between Achilles and Patroclus was breaking down. Achilles became obsessed with fame and status, and after a while I just didn’t really care what might happen to him. I only wish the book had been less about Achilles’ honour, and instead had remained more focused on the character development of these two extraordinary young men.
Reading The Song of Achilles is a bit like reading Romeo and Juliet. We all know the story, and we all know the outcome. Be that as it may, whilst reading this historical fiction you can’t help but hope for another ending; for someone to step in and save these characters from themselves. Even though I knew how it was ultimately going to end, I was not prepared for how much I had grown to care for these characters in the early stages of the book.
Overall, this story had a wonderful aesthetic, and I thought parts of it were beautiful. The writing, the way that Achilles is described, the first half of this book developing the characters was just remarkable. The story is heart-breaking yet powerful, but I didn’t enjoy all the lengthy violent war scenes a great deal. I felt the war scenes dragged too much without helping the story to progress.
However, with The Song of Achilles, the author has undoubtedly created an overall compelling story, while staying true to the spirit of the original myth. I just personally couldn’t quite engage with this one as much as her second book, Circe.
Overall reaction:
Published by: Bloomsbury
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
My Rating ★★★
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.
My thoughts:
This is the story of the fall of Troy, focusing heavily on the tale of Achilles and Patroclus and their relationship.
This story had such a wonderful ambience. Set in ancient Greece but told through the narrative of a quiet, conflicted main character, Patroclus. I thought the childhood years of Patroclus and Achilles growing up side-by-side and being trained together were beautifully presented, and Miller’s writing in the first half of the book is fantastic in developing the characters so vividly. I loved reading about these early years of the boys, and the friendship and romance that blossomed between them.
Unfortunately, about halfway through I felt as though the strong connection between Patroclus and Achilles had become a little lost along the way. Alongside this, I felt my interest begin to dwindle at times, and I personally found a lot ofthe middle section much less interesting. The Trojan war was not as exciting to read about as I’d hoped, and it honestly felt like nothing significant was really happening, many new characters were introduced without much importance to the overall plot, and the closeness between Achilles and Patroclus was breaking down. Achilles became obsessed with fame and status, and after a while I just didn’t really care what might happen to him. I only wish the book had been less about Achilles’ honour, and instead had remained more focused on the character development of these two extraordinary young men.
Reading The Song of Achilles is a bit like reading Romeo and Juliet. We all know the story, and we all know the outcome. Be that as it may, whilst reading this historical fiction you can’t help but hope for another ending; for someone to step in and save these characters from themselves. Even though I knew how it was ultimately going to end, I was not prepared for how much I had grown to care for these characters in the early stages of the book.
Overall, this story had a wonderful aesthetic, and I thought parts of it were beautiful. The writing, the way that Achilles is described, the first half of this book developing the characters was just remarkable. The story is heart-breaking yet powerful, but I didn’t enjoy all the lengthy violent war scenes a great deal. I felt the war scenes dragged too much without helping the story to progress.
However, with The Song of Achilles, the author has undoubtedly created an overall compelling story, while staying true to the spirit of the original myth. I just personally couldn’t quite engage with this one as much as her second book, Circe.
Overall reaction:
