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I read this last year and enjoyed it a lot. It is hard to talk about without giving spoilers as it is the differences from the Iliad and from other mythic fiction from the Iliad that are most interesting, the choices the author makes.

This excellent review expresses my opinions and feelings better that I: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I'm only 3 chapters in, but so far I really like the style. It seems it's going to be a beautiful story.

I read this book over the weekend and really enjoyed it. I read the classics, or parts of them, in school many years ago so am not able to offer much about how this interpretation compares.

I liked the book for the character driven story line between Patroclus and Achilles. Miller did a fine job in developing their childhood friendship and it was refreshing to read of a same sex relationship developing between young adults that was not filled with angst. While the topic is touched on, the struggle with sexual attraction does not overtake the story and the tale continues on with the more interesting conflicts around honor, pride and compassion.

I would recommend this book for young adults and older both for a good introduction to The Iliad and for a presentation of love between two men that is a natural part of the story without being the focus of it.

I think I've read far too much fanfiction to enjoy this book. I guess I am simply too cynical for it.

That's why I wonder whether Miller possibly once wrote Skinner/Mulder slash. Bella/Edward also somehow springs to my mind. And it's not as if you couldn't find direct fanfic of the Iliad either. As it is I had the impression of someone squeeing all over Achilles and writing herself a slash self-insert in Patroclus.

I would have loved reading a serious exploration of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, but for once I'd say I doubt there truly was a gay one unless in the eye of that special beholder and it did not work for me. I do not think old Greece was just that cut and dried.

Why fanfic, SW?

It's what the constant adulation of Achilles by Patroclus most reminds me of, in fact what the whole set-up reminds me of, including the changes Miller effected.

I'll not enter the fray here with a lengthy debate on whether or not the two of them actually were gay, or whether we face more a case of homosocial male bonding between warriors/soldiers and a quasi-fraternal attachment, as I personally would interpret Homer due having read countless memoirs and diaries of soldiers from several, very different wars.

Instead I'll just say I teethed on X-Files, DS9 and Stargate fanfic and the similarities between some of that, or fanfic for any of the buddy shows like Starsky & Hutch or The Professionals, and what Miller wrote are a bit too close to not notice.

Maybe I'm just too jaded there, but The Song of Achilles was way more Mills & Boon or fanfic than any novels by Renault for example. At the time the Orange Prize finalists and then the winner were announced I actually remember heaving a sigh and thinking that the judges would have benefited from a foray onto fanfiction.net or reading tvtropes.com.

Heh. I can't help it, the book doesn't impress me. ;) But I seem to have that problem with several novels recently winning literary prizes.

I was excited when the book came out, but later, after a few descriptions I read, I came to believe it's in the style Steelwhisper describes. There were extracts quoted that made it plain to me this is... yes, I too can best call it fanfictionish. I have a background in fanfiction too (Blake's 7 if you want to know). But this seems to be the type of fanfic I used to avoid.

Of course I may be dead wrong about the book and I read comments with interest. But I have been put off. Passages were proof enough for me: brief and out of context I know, but I thought, 'I can't read a book with that passage in it.'

I pretty much think I can find an Achilles/Patroclus slash with more the atmosphere I want if I explore the fanfic sites... and indeed this novel triggered me to start such a search.

I've suspected it gets a support vote: mainstream novel -- gay Achilles. But hey, in fanfic we're used to that. And if the detraction is true, then I want slash better represented.

I have to say I too found the book disappointing.

Somehow, this book doesn't seem to actually delve into Achilles and Patroclus' relationship, for all that it's the point of the book. Neither does it delve very deeply into the characters, for that matter. I really don't have any sense of who either of them are, or why they're in love with each other. The only reason Patroclus seems to love Achilles is because he's perfect, and Achilles, well I don't really know why he's in love, we're just told he is. Or did I miss something here?

It's interesting to me that some of you are finding similarities between the book and fanfic, because for me, one reason the book was disappointing is that it's *not* enough like fanfic, which (if it were good) at least would have shown them connecting more. Emotionally and physically.

I think Miller was too concerned with the tone and style of her writing and not enough with writing a real relationship.

Dana wrote: "It's interesting to me that some of you are finding similarities between the book and fanfic, because for me, one reason the book was disappointing is that it's *not* enough like fanfic, which (if it were good) at least would have shown them connecting more. Emotionally and physically."

I understand you here, Dana. That deep focus on two people and their interaction are what I still value fanfic (slash) for -- and what I feel slash has to teach or contribute to mainstream.

Bryn wrote: "Dana wrote: "It's interesting to me that some of you are finding similarities between the book and fanfic, because for me, one reason the book was disappointing is that it's *not* enough like fanfi..."

Heh, maybe I should have added I meant bad fanfic, but given that I mentioned "self insert" I thought that's self-explanatory. ;)

So I happened upon this short puppet animation of the story of Achilles from 1995. It's narrated by Derek Jacobi and the production is amazing, but I really don't know what to make of it.

I had mixed feelings about this book. Miller is a great structural storyteller who keeps the action going and the pages turning to great effect, but apart from the early scenes where Patroclus is falling in love with Achilles, which are tenative and sweet, it's very difficult to enter into the emotional lives of the characters. Perhaps it's because there are two novels at work here - a romance and a historical action thriller, and the thriller is the one that comes out on top.

Having said that, i think Miller's turn of phrase, her ability to describe battle scenes and take the complexity of Ancient Greek ideals and translate them into an easy read pageturner, are admirable.

I would have liked more of the romance, though!

I gave it 4 stars for historical parts of the book but 1 star for the romantic parts

I rather agree, Mick. But then I love mythic fantasy and am not much into romance. If romance is there I;d rather it be queer than straight of course.

I really enjoyed this book. My exposure to the classics is limited to very cursory introductions, but I still felt incredibly connected to the book and the characters without feeling lost.

I get what people are saying about fanfic, but definitely of a much higher caliber. The language is terrific and I actually appreciated the matter-of-fact tone about their relationship and more "romance" would have ruined the book for me.

Definitely glad I read this and think this is a selection that I wouldn't have picked for myself, but glad it came up in the book club.

Like some others I have mixed feelings about this book. The romance is sweet but simplistic. The scenes where Achilles was killing on the battlefield seemed very artificial. The focus was on how beautiful he looked and not how horrifically he was killing others. I was expecting horror and understanding however sometimes it seemes like Patroclus hadn't gotten past getting such a hot boyfriend. I agree with the commenters who said the romance part of it seemed very fanfiction-ish.

However, I did enjoy it. It was a page turner and the political intrigue between the kings was interesting. And even though I was dissapointed in the simplicity of the romance, I do like them sweet sometimes. And I did cry at the end (although I am not sure that is hard to do).

I really wanted to love it, especially after I read a few reviewers comparing her to Renault. Maybe that is why my expectations were so high so I was dissapointed to find something so much less. But compared with most of what is out there, I think it was still a pretty good book.

You guys all make some really interesting points. I think, though, that some of the lack of depth in places might be because Patroclus' love for Achilles was fairly shallow hero worship. That's how I read it, at any rate. Lois Lane's love for Superman while ignoring that Clark Kent is who he really is, in a sense.

I'd suggest the Superman/Clark Kent myth is a lot more complex than the Achilles'.

I struggled to get into this book but I am really glad that I stuck with it to the end. One of the things that was most satisfying to me was seeing the development of Patrochlus' character and the way in which the underdog was in the end considered by many to be the equal of the son of a god. Yes, I agree that Patroclus' love for Achilles was rather akin to shallow hero worship but I don't think that it necessarily diminished the novel as I feel that it does reflect the reality of many teenage /ya relationships. Also, the visceral nature of the book is echoed in Achilles and Patrochlus' relationship where much of Patroclus' love for Achilles is wrapped up in his physicality.

I could almost smell the blood on the battlefield and really did get that delectable feeling of being transported to another time whilst reading this book. Donna Tartt a favourite author of mine recommended this book and now I know why.

I loved this book too. The love story was very well written. There was however a part where Odysseus hinted that their relationship was something that might dishonour Achilles and so Patroclus suggested they might have to hide it. What a clanger! It nearly derails the whole book.

I like to be totally absorbed in the story and not be distracted by something "technical" about it. So a first person retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus was a problem for me for much of the book. But the way she handled the problem in the end was brilliant and I found the very last paragraph very moving.