Staff Pick
The Song of Achilles revisits the sprawling story of the Trojan War but focuses on the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. It is a love story so intensely searing, the brutal 10-year Trojan War somehow takes a backseat: the love they share means more than Helen, the war, and all of Greece put together. While Patroclus learns that he is much stronger than he ever imagined, Achilles learns, the hard way, about pride. Miller's take on this slice of Greek history is a passionate view of love amid disaster. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
"A story that dazzles and surprises right up until the final page." —J. Courtney Sullivan From a ferociously talented writer, praised as “the fire, in my opinion. And the light," by Junot Diaz, comes a blazing portrait of one woman’s rise from courtesan to world-renowned diva.
Lilliet Berne is a sensation of the Paris Opera, a legendary soprano with every accolade except an original role, every singer’s chance at immortality. When one is finally offered to her, she realizes with alarm that the libretto is based on a hidden piece of her past. Only four could have betrayed her: one is dead, one loves her, one wants to own her. And one, she hopes, never thinks of her at all. As she mines her memories for clues, she recalls her life as an orphan who left the American frontier for Europe and was swept up into the glitzy, gritty world of Second Empire Paris. In order to survive, she transformed herself from hippodrome rider to courtesan, from empress’s maid to debut singer, all the while weaving a complicated web of romance, obligation, and political intrigue. Featuring a cast of characters drawn from history, The Queen of the Night follows Lilliet as she moves ever closer to the truth behind the mysterious opera and the role that could secure her reputation -- or destroy her with the secrets it reveals.
Review
“Mary Renault lives again! A ravishingly vivid and convincing version of one of the most legendary of love stories.” Emma Donoghue, New York Times bestselling author of ROOM
Review
“THE ILIAD turns on Achilles pride and his relationship with Patroclus, but Homer is sparing with the personalso much so that, though we believe in their friendship, we do not understand it. THE SONG OF ACHILLES brings light to their love. This is a beautiful book.” Zachary Mason, author of THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY
Review
“At once a scholars homage to THE ILIAD and a startlingly original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist. Madeline Miller has given us her own fresh take on the Trojan war and its heroes. The result is a book I could not put down.” Ann Patchett, bestselling author of BEL CANTO and STATE OF WONDER
Review
“Although the details of the story are Millers own, the world is one that all who love the Iliad and its epigones will recognize. Reading this book recalled me to the breathless sense of the ancient-yet-present that I felt when I first fell in love with the classics.” Catherine Conybeare, Professor of Classics, Bryn Mawr College
Review
“I loved this book. The language was timeless, the historical details were slipped in perfectly. I hope SONG OF ACHILLES becomes part of the high school summer reading lists alongside PENELOPIAD.” Helen Simonson, bestselling author of MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND
Review
“A modern take on The Iliad, full of love and feats of glory and told in an open, lyric, loose-limbed fashion that should appeal to many readers.... Next up from Millerthe story of Circe...historical fiction fans, get in on the ground floor.” Library Journal
Review
“In the tradition of Mary Renault... Miller draws on her knowledge of classical sources wisely… Well-paced, engaging and tasteful.” London Times Literary Supplement
Review
“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 worlds oldest stories about men in love and war [and] extraordinary women.” Publishers Weekly (starred review), Pick of the Week
Review
“Millers prose is more poetic than almost any translation of Homer… This is a deeply affecting version of the Achilles story: a fully three-dimension man - a son, a father, husband and lover - now exists where a superhero previously stood and fought.” The Guardian
Review
“Extraordinary… Beautifully descriptive and heartachingly lyrical, this is a love story as sensitive and intuitive as any you will find.” Daily Mail
Review
“A captivating retelling of THE ILIAD and events leading up to it through the point of view of Patroclus: its a hard book to put down, and any classicist will be enthralled by her characterisation of the goddess Thetis, which carries the true savagery and chill of antiquity.” Donna Tartt, THE TIMES
Review
“A masterly vision of the drama, valor, and tragedy of the Trojan War. Readers who loved Mary Renaults epic novels will be thrilled with Millers portrayal of ancient Greece. This reviewer cant wait to see what she writes next.” Library Journal (starred review)
Review
“Miller somehow (and breathtakingly so) mixes high-action commercial plotting with writing of such beautiful delicacy you sometimes have to stop and stare.” The Independent
Review
“[Miller] makes a persuasive argument for the timeliness of her subject. …Millers winning debut focuses on Patroclus, a young prince living in Achilles golden shadow. Miller also gives voice to many of the women who were also consigned to the shadows.” Publishers Weekly, Spring 2012 Preview, Top 10 Literary Fiction
Review
“A psychologically astute Iliad prelude featuring the heady, star-crossed adolescence of future heroes Patroclus and Achilles.” Vogue
Review
“You dont need to be familiar with Homers The Iliad (or Brad Pitts Troy, for that matter) to find Madeline Millers The Song of Achilles spellbinding....her explorations of ego, grief, and loves many permutations are both familiar and new....[A] timeless love story.” O magazine
Review
“Beautifully done. . ..In prose as clean and spare as the driving poetry of Homer, Miller captures the intensity and devotion of adolescent friendship and lets us believe in these long-dead boys...deepening and enriching a tale that has been told for 3,000 years.” Washington Post
Review
“Powerful, inventive, passionate, and beautifully written. ” Boston Globe
Review
“Fast, true and incredibly rewarding…A remarkable achievement.” USA Today
Review
“Wildly romantic [and] surprisingly suspenseful....[B]ringing those dark figures back to life, making them men again, and while shes at it, us[ing] her passionate companion piece to The Iliad as a subtle swipe at todays ongoing debate over gay marriage. Talk about updating the classics.” Time magazine
Review
“One of the best novelistic adaptations of Homer in recent memory, and it offers strikingly well-rounded and compassionate portrait of Achilles....[Miller] injects a newfound sense of suspense into a story with an ending that has already been determined.” Wall Street Journal
Review
“One of 2012s most exciting debuts...seductive, hugely entertaining....[I]magining the intimate friendship between Achilles and the devoted Patroclus...Miller conjures...soulmates. The resulting novel is cinematicone might say epicin scope, but refreshingly, compellingly human in detail.” Vogue
Review
“Madeline Millers brilliant first novel...is a story of great, passionate love between Achilles and Patroclus....[R]ewriting the Western worlds first and greatest war novel is an awesome task to undertake. That she did it with such grace, style and suspense is astonishing.” Dallas Morning News
Review
“The Song of Achilles...should be read and enjoyed for itself, but if Madeline Millers novel sends the reader back to Homer and his successors, she is to be thanked for that as well.” Washington Independent Review of Books
Review
“I loved it.” J.K. Rowling
Review
"A luminous tale of power and passion. Chee gives us an unforgettable heroine and a rich cast of characters—many of them real historical figures. The story dazzles and surprises right up until the final page." —J. Courtney Sullivan
“A night at an opera you'll wish never-ending.” —Helen Oyeyemi
Review
"We’ve been awaiting Chee’s sophomore novel, and here it finally is! A sweeping historical story — “a night at the opera you’ll wish never-ending,” says Helen Oyeyemi — and the kind I personally love best, with a fictional protagonist moving among real historical figures. Lilliet Berne is a diva of 19th-century Paris opera on the cusp of world fame, but at what cost? Queen of the Night traffics in secrets, betrayal, intrigue, glitz, and grit. And if you can judge a book by its cover, this one’s a real killer."--The Millions
"A luminous tale of power and passion. Chee gives us an unforgettable heroine and a rich cast of characters—many of them real historical figures. The story dazzles and surprises right up until the final page." —J. Courtney Sullivan
“A night at an opera you'll wish never-ending.” —Helen Oyeyemi
Synopsis
"At once a scholar's homage to The Iliad and startlingly original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist....A book I could not put down."
--Ann Patchett
"Mary Renault lives again " declares Emma Donoghue, author of Room, referring to The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller's thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War. A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homer's enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived and executed page-turner, Miller's monumental debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fiction's brightest lights--and fans of Mary Renault, Bernard Cornwell, Steven Pressfield, and Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series will delight in this unforgettable journey back to ancient Greece in the Age of Heroes.
Synopsis
Now Available in Hardcover
A New York Times Bestseller
"At once a scholar's homage to The Iliad and startlingly original work of art....A book I could not put down." --Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House
A thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War from the bestselling author of Circe
A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homer's enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived and executed page-turner, Miller's monumental debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fiction's brightest lights--and fans of Mary Renault, Bernard Cornwell, Steven Pressfield, and Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series will delight in this unforgettable journey back to ancient Greece in the Age of Heroes.
"Mary Renault lives again " --Emma Donoghue, author of Room
Synopsis
“At once a scholars homage to
The Iliad and startlingly original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist….A book I could not put down.”
—Ann Patchett
“Mary Renault lives again!” declares Emma Donoghue, author of Room, referring to The Song of Achilles, Madeline Millers thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War. A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homers enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived and executed page-turner, Millers monumental debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fictions brightest lights—and fans of Mary Renault, Bernard Cornwell, Steven Pressfield, and Colleen McCulloughs Masters of Rome series will delight in this unforgettable journey back to ancient Greece in the Age of Heroes.
Synopsis
The legend begins...
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia to be raised in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. “The best of all the Greeks”—strong, beautiful, and the child of a goddess—Achilles is everything the shamed Patroclus is not. Yet despite their differences, the boys become steadfast companions. Their bond deepens as they grow into young men and become skilled in the arts of war and medicine—much to the displeasure and the fury of Achilles mother, Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.
When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece, bound by blood and oath, must lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
Built on the groundwork of the Iliad, Madeline Millers page-turning, profoundly moving, and blisteringly paced retelling of the epic Trojan War marks the launch of a dazzling career.
Synopsis
"A story that dazzles and surprises right up until the final page." —J. Courtney Sullivan In the Paris of the Second French Empire, what did it take to rise from courtesan to diva? From a ferociously talented writer who is “the fire, in my opinion. And the light” (Junot Diaz) comes a blazing portrait of a woman who creates her own fate.
About the Author
ALEXANDER CHEE won a Whiting Award for his first novel, Edinburgh, and is a recipient of the NEA Fellowship in Fiction and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Ledig House, and Civitella Ranieri. His writing has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, Tin House, Slate, and NPR, among others. He lives in New York City.