The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

My Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 4.10 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 4.06 / 5.00

It is Greece in the Age of Heroes. Young Prince Patroclus accidentally kills another boy and is exiled to the court of King Peleus. There he meets Achilles, Peleus’ son born of the cruel sea-goddess Thetis. They are the total opposites of one another because Achilles is the epitome of all that is desirable in a Greek man: beautiful, graceful, strong, intelligent and gifted. Nevertheless, Peleus’ golden son is drawn to the troubled Patroclus and the two become firm friends despite Thetis’ antagonism to the friendship.

All too soon they have grown to manhood and are drawn away from their training with the centaur Chiron to join the battle against Troy to retrieve the beautiful Helen of Sparta. However, Achilles learns that he is destined to either be the ‘Best of the Greeks’ and die young or live a long life of no distinction. Achilles chooses to live a brief but glorious life, while Patroclus tries to prevent the death of his lover.

I was very eager to read this title because I have a fascination for the Greek myths and the literature associated with them. As part of my BA in Classical Studies, I studied both The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer in some detail, so I am fairly familiar with them as both texts and evidence for life in Ancient Greece. As such, it was rather difficult for me to approach this work as a layperson with only a passing knowledge of the Achilles / Patroclus mythology, and, unfortunately, it seems that my familiarity was actually a hindrance. The blurb on Goodreads says:

. . breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination . .

However, to my mind, there is little originality in the book because it is so heavily based upon the works of Homer, and the praised imagination is also simply a recreation of the world based upon the evidence that can be drawn from Greek literature and other sources. This led me to be somewhat disappointed with the rather dry approach that the author chose to take in retelling this ancient tale.

I often enjoy a new approach to a familiar story, but this author did not seem able to breath life into the heroic characters at her disposal. The only one who comes across as a truly three dimensional person is Odysseus, while the others are sadly lacking. This is especially true for the two leads, who do not show much change or development over course the story. I imagine that this was because the author has had to extrapolate them from their last days at Troy to the days of their youth, but it was ultimately unsatisfying. Patroclus was almost exclusively a stereotypical underdog, crippled by self-doubt, whilst Achilles was all easy success and heroic magnetism. Their relationship always seemed to be unequal, with Achilles somehow slightly ‘absent’ emotionally and often oblivious to his effect on Patroclus and the other people around him. This feeling was probably heightened by the first person, present tense used to give us Patroclus’ view of events.

I was particularly disappointed by the choice to make their friendship into a homosexual romance. This is not because I have an aversion to reading an exploration of homosexual love, far from it, but I had hoped that the author would try to show how the great love between these two characters could have been based upon friendship alone and not sexual attraction. I know that their relationship, and its exact nature, has been the source of many millions of words of scholarly discussion, but I sometimes feel that to simply write off their feelings as homosexuality makes light of the strong bonds that men can develop that have nothing to do with sexual feelings. Yes, we know that the Greeks did have a culture of Pederasty, but this does not mean that all male-male friendships were sexual in nature. This reminds me somewhat of the dilemma that some people had with The Lord of the Rings films and the physical affection shown between Frodo and Sam: why is it so difficult for people to believe that men can have deep feelings for one another without it being sexual?

Unfortunately, this has become a rather negative review, so I will try to finish with some positive notes. Firstly, I was very pleased with the ethereal, other-worldliness of Thetis. Unlike the gods and goddesses that we often see on television or in films, she is terrible and awesome, with a legitimate grievance against Peleus and the gods that helped him to rape her. Their uneasy relationship is well drawn and yet she loves her son with a total fierceness that is only really revealed in the last few pages of the book. Indeed, I would say that the final two or three chapters are the most successful of the entire story and are genuinely moving.

Also, for those readers who are unfamiliar with Patroclus, this is a great way to discover much about Ancient Greek culture and learn some the less famous stories behind the Trojan War. The world building is relatively subtle and does not feel too heavy handed when it introduces unfamiliar ideas, morals and traditions. The way that these great heroes are depicted as real people is quite refreshing, as are the descriptions of the War itself. This is no glossy epic, but a gritty story full of blood, sweat and tears, which makes it all seem much more approachable.

Other Recommended Reviews:

Gossamer Obsessions

Into the Hall of Books

I read this title as part of a couple of Challenges:

 

Once Upon A Time VII Challenge

I can hardly believe that it is that time of year again so soon, but it is and Once Upon A Time VII officially began on March 21. You can head over to Carl’s post at Stainless Steel Droppings to check out the details and sign up to take part. Last year I completed Quest the Second, and I am determined to succeed again by reading four titles that fit into each of the sub-genres of Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Folklore and Mythology. Wish me luck!

Here are the titles that I plan to read:

The Tormay Trilogy by Christopher Bunn

I do not normally review more than one book in a series at the same time. However, I feel that this trilogy reads much more like one book in three volumes and that each of the titles cannot really be treated as a stand-alone book.

Disclaimer: I was given this trilogy free by the author via a Librarything Member Giveaway, in return for an honest review.

The Hawk and His Boy

My Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 3.90 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 3.75 / 5.00

The Shadow at the Gate

My Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 4.20 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 4.02 / 5.00

The Wicked Day

My Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 4.40 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 3.98 / 5.00

Jute is a young thief in the city of Hearne, seat if the Regent and the center of Tormay. As an orphan he was taken in by the Juggler and put to work as a pick-pocket and burglar and it quickly became obvious that he had a special talent for avoiding the magical wards that are used to protect property. On night this talent is needed to gain entrance to a wizards’ house so that a certain box can be stolen. Jute is warned not to open the box, but to return it to his partner in crime, the Knife. However, after wriggling down the chimney and finding the box, Jute feels compelled to open it and accidentally cuts his finger on the knife inside. When he returns to the top of the chimney he hands over the box to the Knife, but is then betrayed.

Ronan of Aum is also known as the Knife, assassin and executioner of the Thieves Guild, answerable only to the Silentman who runs the Guild. He did not want to kill the boy, but that was the job he was paid to carry out. It seemed like a terrible betrayal to pull him up to the top of the chimney only to inject the poison and then push him back into the dark, but someone had paid very handsomely to retrieve that box and they wanted the job kept as secret as possible. Even so, he felt bad for the boy and his death. If only he could save up enough money to leave Hearne and live peacefully on an island in the far northwest, far away from the Guild and its casual violence.

Levoreth is the niece of the Duke of Dolan, but she is also something much older. She has an affinity with the earth, able to awaken flowers and plants and bend them to her will. She can also communicate with animals, which revere her. Her uncle is determined to attend the Autumn Fair in Hearne so that he can view the Regent’s horses, and Levoreth is to travel with him in order to possibly find a husband. However, she feels a change in the land and fears that she has been asleep and complacent for too long.

The miller’s daughter, Fen, wakes with a gasp in her home in the Rennet Valley. There is a strange smell of death in the air and an unnatural silence. She sees the barn door open and rushes down to secure it against foxes. However, inside she finds the family’s old dog with his throat ripped out and then she catches sight of a tall, thin man with a long knife and a pair of monstrous dogs coming out of her house. She seeks shelter in the hayloft, but somehow the hounds know where she is and jump up to attack. As she scrambles away from their jaws she falls down through a trapdoor into the spikes of the harrow. She is impaled but protected by the spikes as she loses consciousness.

Severan is a scholar, not a real wizard, although he knows quite a few words of power. He spends his day searching through the remains of the ruined University for the Gerecednes, a treatise on the four Anbeorun, the stillpoints of the four elements: earth, fire, water and wind. The book is supposed to contain words of power that have not been spoken since the very creation of the world. However, at the moment he is nursing the boy Jute who fell down one of the chimneys on the night that the box with the carvings of the hawk was stolen. Severan’s fellow wizard, Nio, is very upset that the box has been taken and wants to question the boy to discover where the box is now. In fact, Severan has started to worry about Nio: the man seems obsessed with the box and there is a strange smell coming from the basement.

As you can see, this is quite a complex tale, with several storylines intertwined. At first, it seems that we will be following the boy Jute through his adventures, but it quickly becomes obvious that the book has a much greater scope than that. Unfortunately, many of these elements are introduced in the first few chapters, so it does seem like we are bouncing about a country with no real understanding of what is connecting the people that we are visiting. This sense of too many threads is compounded by the introduction of ‘Ronan’ in one of the early chapters when we do not know that Ronan is another name for the Knife. However, as the first volume progresses, these disparate strands start to make more sense as the action converges on the city of Hearne and our characters begin to interact. In the end, we end up with a satisfying collection of story threads that interweave to produce an interesting pattern.

We have a fairly large cast of characters, many of whom have a name and a title, which can be a little confusing at first. Fortunately, most of the characterization is very strong, so that each person has their own ‘voice’ and they and out from one another reasonably well. Jute is basically the central character of the story, and he does show the greatest development during his journey. However, he remains a street urchin at heart and is a very believable character. His relationships with the other characters are also believable, and some of the best dialogue comes in his interplay with the Hawk. The Hawk becomes Jute’s mentor, and is as crotchety and arrogant as any wizened old Kung Fu master that I have ever seen or read. He was probably my favorite character. Ronan is also an interesting character, although he begins the story as the villain. As we get to know him he changes quite dramatically in our eyes, and eventually becomes a very honorable and courageous hero. Levoreth shows very little development during the story, but that is due to her nature: I will not say any more about this as I do not want to throw out any spoilers. These are really the main protagonists, although it takes a while for that to become obvious.

The secondary characters are also enjoyable. Severan and several of the old scholars are surprisingly courageous and resourceful in difficult situations. However, Nio is a fine example of how good intentions can be perverted by the desire for power at all costs. He begins the story as a man teetering on the brink of falling to the ‘Dark Side’ and his journey is a tale of obsession and remorselessness. Fen plays a much smaller part in the story than I had expected, although she does draw us into the house of Owain Gawinn, the Captain of the Guard in Hearne. He is a pragmatic man and charismatic leader who tries to protect the country whilst he is constantly rebuffed by the allegedly impoverished Regent. Possibly my favorite of the secondary characters is a ghost that attaches himself to Jute part way through Volume 2 and then stays with him until the bitter end. He is very old and so has forgotten who he is and most of the useful knowledge that he once had. He constantly drones on about any given subject at great length, only stopping occasionally to bemoan his situation. The Hawk gets very frustrated with him and they make a great double act.

The world building is well done and we are rarely presented with piles of exposition. There is an interesting magic system based upon the use of words of power that can be used to take control of things. I especially liked the idea of the magical wards, which had a variety of uses varying from simple alarms when a door was opened to disguising a person’s identity. We are also provided with a creation myth and a far portion of history relating the battle between the Anbeorun and the Darkness that seeks to destroy all life. Elements of this did seem a little similar to Tolkien’s creation story, as outlined in The Silmarillion, but was sufficiently different to keep me interested. One aspect of this world that I particularly liked was the interaction with animals. Some, like the Hawk, were able to speak to all humans, but mostly we saw exchanges between Levoreth and the various animals that she encountered. There was one particularly delightful scene with her helping a squirrel by asking a tree to grow a branch towards another tree so that it could gather nuts without crossing the ground and being harassed by foxes.

On the whole this was a fantasy with some elements of epic scale, such as battles and whole nations plunged into conflict. However, in the great tradition of Tolkien, it kept a firm grounding in the actions of individuals and their connection to the homes and families.

Reviews I Recommend:

The Hawk and His Boy by Fantasy Book Critic

The Shadow at the Gate by Fantasy Book Critic

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

My Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 4.50 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 4.13 / 5.00

Perseus Jackson is called Percy by his friends, not that he has many. He is what they call a ‘troubled’ twelve year old, diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. Add in serious impulse control issues and a very bad temper, and it is easy to understand why he never lasts more than a few months in any school before he is expelled. It is almost the same at Yancy Academy, only this time he has found a friend, Grover, and a teacher that he actually likes, Mr Brunner, who teaches Latin. However, during a field trip to a museum, Percy’s pre-algebra teacher, Ms Dodds, turns into a large, winged creature and attacks him. Percy vividly remembers Mr Brunner throwing him a pen that becomes a sword, which causes Ms Dodds to disintegrate when he hits her. This is strange enough, but when he gets outside no one else remembers Ms Dodds at all, not even Mr Brunner.

At the end of the year, Percy returns to the apartment that he and his mother, Sally, share with his horrid stepfather, Gabe. Sally decides that she and Percy should take a brief holiday in Long Island, but then Grover turns up, shows them that he is in fact a satyr and warns them that the Furies are coming. As they race towards a safe place called Camp Half-Blood, they are attacked and Sally disappears in a golden shower of light as the Minotaur strangles her. In his fury, Percy kills the Minotaur so that he and Grover can get to the safety of Camp Half-Blood. Once in the Camp, Percy discovers that he is the son of a god, as are all the other children there and Mr Brunner is actually the centaur Chiron. As if that were not shocking enough it soon becomes clear that the gods hold Percy responsible for stealing Zeus’ lightning bolt, so he has to go on a Quest to find it before returning it to its rightful owner.

I chose this book as my ‘Mythology’ title for the Once Upon A Time VI Challenge. I found it difficult to find an interesting title in that genre but I had heard that the Percy Jackson books were very good. I did see the film adaptation, which I thought was pretty poor. However, I know that it is very difficult for films to recapture what makes a book great: the Harry Potter novels are far superior to their film counterparts. I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised, and I was.

Percy has a cynical, world-weary tone of voice and we immediately sympathize with the unwarranted persecution that seems to follow him from school to school. He seems to have nothing going for him, what with the ADHD and dyslexia, and I can understand his frustration with trying to cope in classes. I found the later explanation of his dyslexia a little forced, although I have studied ancient Greek myself and I could never get the hang of the different letterforms, so it did make sense to me. This does bring me to one minor criticism though: I was confused as to why the phrase “Di immortales!” was used so much. This is the Latin for “By the immortal gods!” but I thought that they were hard wired for Greek, not Latin. I was also a little confused as to why Mr Brunner / Chiron was a Latin teacher but included Greek mythology in the course: I can only assume that this is an aspect of the American education system, with which I am not familiar, as Mr Riordan thanks a Classicist for his input.

The other characters were also appealing, although I felt that they were not given much room to show any complexity. I am not sure if this is due to the fact that Percy is the narrator or not. I particularly liked Grover and his habit of munching on tin cans. Chiron was suitably fatherly and wise, while Mr D made an excellent camp leader: totally disinterested in his charges and ever so put-upon. I liked Annabeth, the Hermione clone, but it would be so nice to see a girl who was not the brains of the operation, but the brawn instead. I also thought that her Cap of Invisibility was a rather blatant nod to Harry Potter’s cloak and provided an overly easy answer to many of their problems. I would have preferred to see more examples of quick thinking like that in the scene with Cerberus, which was actually rather cute.

As Ellie at Musings of a Bookshop Girl comments, the action is face paced with the mythology nicely integrated into modern America. It is also nice that the gods behave more like petulant children than all-powerful beings. They have their petty disputes and, as the Little Red Reviewer notes, they have not changed since ancient times, even if they now wear beautiful Italian suits or Hawaiian shirts. Refreshingly, Percy is untrusting of the adults he meets and so he avoids that starry-eyed, too-good-to-be-true vibe that YA characters can have. I guess my other criticism is that the book definitely seems to read as if it is aimed at the YA audience, which is something I did not feel whilst reading The Hunger Games recently, or remember from the Harry Potter novels or those in the His Dark Materials trilogy. However, I will try the next book in the series.

Once Upon A Time VI Challenge

After a busy weekend trying to contain my husband's desire to own vast numbers of tortoises, turtles and now crested geckoes (it's his version of a mid-life crisis), I have finally had a chance to select my titles for the challenge. It was difficult to narrow down my choices, but I finally found some good recommendations from my blogging friends, which made life a little easier. Here are my choices, feel free to give me some feedback! :D