The Song of Achilles: Deluxe Edition
The Song of Achilles: Deluxe Edition
by Madeline Miller
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About the Book
A thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War from the bestselling author of Circe.
This deluxe edition features:
- Elegant sprayed and stenciled edges
- Sparkling gold foil
- Endpapers featuring a map of Homer’s Greece
- A guide to Greek gods, mortals, and heroes
- Essays by Madeline Miller and discussion questions
A tale of gods and goddesses, kings and queens, immortal fame and the human heart.
Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks,” son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful—irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods’ wrath.
They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when words comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to 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 cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
About the Author
Madeline Miller is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Song of Achilles and Circe, and the short story Galatea. Her books have been translated into forty languages. Miller studied in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms, and has an MA in Classics from Brown University.
Editorial Reviews
“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
“Although the details of the story are Miller’s 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
“At once a scholar’s 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
“The Iliad turns on Achilles’ pride and his relationship with Patroclus, but Homer is sparing with the personal---so 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
“Fast, true and incredibly rewarding…A remarkable achievement.” —USA Today
“Powerful, inventive, passionate, and beautifully written. ” —Boston Globe
“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