The Song of Achilles
2011
- trojan war
- achilles (greek mythology)
- male friendship
- fiction
- gay love
- thetis
- greeks
- history
- trojan war. fast (ocolc)fst01157294
- friendship, fiction
The story
This is the story of the seige of Troy from the perspective of Achilles best-friend Patroclus. Although Patroclus is outcast from his home for disappointing his father he manages to be the only mortal who can keep up with the half-God Archilles. Even though many will know the facts behind the story the telling is fresh and engaging.
What it’s like
Lyrical, unhurried prose that reads like a warm, golden-hour memory of the ancient Mediterranean: sun-bleached beaches, olive groves, the smoke of hearth fires and the clatter of bronze, with the sea always close by. The voice is intimate and first-person in its emotional register, close and tender, so the Greek world feels lived-in rather than grand. The mood is aching and romantic, a slow-burning melancholy that gathers toward tragedy, though much of the book is quiet domestic tenderness: shared training, long talks under open skies, the small rituals of a friendship that becomes first love. Pacing is patient and rhythmic, building through years rather than battles, with the war arriving late and heavily. Intensity is moderate: there is war, death, and some grim scenes of battle and its aftermath, rendered with restraint rather than gore, and sexual content is present but not explicit. It suits a rainy Sunday, a slow read over several evenings, or a late-night sit with a cup of tea. It is for readers who want romance with mythic weight, devoted love under the shadow of fate, and a retelling that trades spectacle for intimacy.
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