Books 2015 - The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achille's mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.
This book is my eighth book of the year, and was via my book group, and probably not one (again!) that I would have picked up from a bookshelf, simply because there are other periods of history I'm more interested in - and yet again, I would absolutely have missed out, so here's to book groups! I loved every word of this - it was beautifully written, and the story it told was gorgeously tragic and yet warm and touching and all about the world (oh, the betrayals we humans can't stop ourselves from making...), spiced up by seeing it as a place where the deities walk among us. It was hugely readable - I didn't want to put it down - and despite their flaws I loved the two main characters, Patroclus and Achilles. It also turned out to be a slash story (depending on which versions of the legend you read) and an m/m romance, because Patroclus and Achilles were in love and devoted to each other, which pleased me very much. I'll be interested to see what the book group makes of it!
I had to go and look up the actual myths, because I only knew them vaguely, and just like the myths The Song of Achilles chooses the aspects it wants to include. There was no mention of Achilles famous heel (I was watching out for it!), and in some of the versions I glanced at Patroclus wasn't even mentioned, but Miller has skilfully and easily woven so very many threads from the stories together, and created one that reads just as true as they do - maybe even more so, because I'm reading it not as a dry myth, but as a beautifully-written story that somehow I could relate to. She made all the characters feel very human - even the gods - and I absolutely recommend this!
I'm also doing a History Challenge reading thingie, and this means (if I cheat just slightly, having read the vast majority of this still in January), that I've read three books for it so far, which means I was briefly a 20th century reader, but am moving along the way to being a happy Victorian Reader! *g*
20th century Reader - 2 books
Victorian Reader - 5 books
Renaissance Reader - 10 books
Medieval - 15 books
Ancient History - 25 books
Prehistoric - 50+ books