The Song of Achilles: A Novel

· HarperAudio · Narrated by Frazer Douglas
4.7
184 reviews
Audiobook
11 hr 15 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook

“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.

Ratings and reviews

4.7
184 reviews
Brandon B
December 10, 2021
Where do I even start...this book is about as bad as the Brad Pitt movie Troy. It portrays Patroclus as a feeble/sickly/weak hero that needs protection. Anyone whom has taken a college level humanities class or read works by Homer and truly studied the Iliad knows it was Patroclus who again and again attacked the walls of troy and was repelled by Apollo. A true devastating warrior in his own regard. Call this what it is...a romance novel that flows like a 2 hour bad movie. Hardly an in depth work. Hardly accurate. Use a local library. Buyers remorse for sure.
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Patrick Sweeney
April 2, 2021
Very well written, but not what I thought it would be. It's a homoerotic (graphic in parts) re-telling of Achilles and his lover Patrocles (sp?) which, if that's what you want to read, is very well done. I thought it was going to be different, so I gave it a 4 but in terms of quality it probably deserves a 5. This book is 7 parts gay teen romance, 3 parts mythology (which was excellent btw). Be warned, not for everyone.
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Hannah Black
August 29, 2024
A poetry-like re-imagination of the story of Achilles and Patroclus. It is told from Patroclus's point of view and gives context to an otherwise unseen side of the story. Madeline Miller's writing is fluid and beautiful- filling your mind with complex and emotional scenes. The overall tone of the story is sadly hopeful. As in, you wish the story wouldn't come to an end the way you know it will if you've ever heard the story of Achilles. I highly recommend the audiobook if you have trouble reading anything a little more artistic. The voice actor carries such emotion in his voice, you can feel it as if it was your own.
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About the author

Madeline Miller is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two novels: The Song of Achilles, which won the Orange Women’s Prize for Fiction 2012, and Circe, which was short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019. Her books have been translated into over thirty two languages. Miller holds an MA in Classics from Brown University, studied in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms, and taught Latin, Greek, and Shakespeare to high school students for over a decade.

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