The Song of Achilles: A Novel

Madeline Miller

Mar 2012 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

“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

Words cannot express the ocean of emotions this book put me through. It's SO well done, and I absolutely loved it. A day after and I'm still thinking about this book, even contemplating just re-reading it. It's an easy read, with artful and poetic language that still clearly conveys what's happening. The dialogue and internal monologue is always an anticipated ingredient in this love story. Also, if you already know the Iliad and liked it, then you'll enjoy this. And if you're like me and the only thing you really know about the Iliad is that it's a Greek tragedy... then you'll also love this book. You'll be mentally prepared for the ending, but without knowing the actual events in the Iliad, you'll be reading a story completely raw. AND! You won't NEED to read the Iliad, because this is the same story, just with added dialogue and monologue to better convey a confirmed romance in a way the Iliad never did (though scholars have always suspected there was a romantic relationship between Achilles and Patroclus). And yes... you're given the closure you need at the end. And every page is worth the ending.

This is one of the bets books I've ever read, an perhaps the best. The descriptions of characters and writing overall was one I think everyone should uncover and enjoy. Madeline made a beautiful retelling, and though I feel some scenes could of had been slightly better, the parts that did were worth the experience. I hope all who read this can really understand the grief it told, especially those who want to learn of Greek Mythology after reading it.

Loved the story of Patroclus and Achilles. This is the first book I read related to Greek Mythologies. I know little about Greeks and the Trojan war. But after reading the book, I gained sufficient knowledge about what really happened in that times. It was cruel and sad. And I love how the author write the narrative, it was short and direct, mostly.

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.