The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, read by Frazer Douglas
Fantasy/Mythology/Romance
Summary: 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.
352 pages
My Rating: B+
I have so much to say about this one. I'm a huge Greek Myth nerd, and given the angle of this story into gay romance, I knew I had to give this a try after enjoying Circe as much as I did. And I plan to check out her other stories once I get my hands on them. However... This is the ultimate origin of the "Kill the Gays" trope. And I knew that going in. But I had hopes that she would find a way to twist it to mitigate the ending. Unfortunately, Miller is a Greek studies scholar. And this story is too well known for her to easily twist it. So... If "kill your gays" is something you avoid, this one unfortunately has to be a pass. Because they both die just as they do in the Illiad. There is a little twist at the very end which I won't give away, but I certainly wouldn't call it a happy ending.
So now that you are warned, here are my feelings about the story itself. To start off, I was surprised at her choice of telling this story from Patroclus's point of view, given his role in the ending of their story. At the same time, I think it was the right choice. He goes through a much greater story arc than Achilles, who knows himself to be a Great Hero from the very beginning of his life. Unfortunately that means he really has no big change over the story, while Patroclus's story has great arcs in several ways that make his pov far more interesting. In the end, his choices make sense, and at least he keeps up the narration even after his ultimate fate, though I won't tell you what he tells us, so that you can experience that for yourself.
All said, it's a wonderful telling of their tale, as her Circe was for those characters. It was interesting seeing Odysseus in this after seeing him in Circe, and she's very consistent of her characterization of him, and his story. The boys are sweet together, especially during their time training with Chiron, which is my favorite part of the book. I say if you're a fan of greek myth, particularly the Illiad, you will enjoy it. So long as the big warning above doesn't scare you away. Madeline Miller is someone I will definitely be reading more from.
