The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊
Heartbreaking and gorgeous; easily one of the best Iliad-inspired books I've ever read. And that's no idle boast: I took a semester-length course in Trojan War themed fiction where I read a dozen books, and have been a voracious consumer of the genre ever since. While I enjoyed this slightly less than her Circe, this is still a rich, remarkable book.
The style is plain but not simple, and she creates (re-creates?) intensely memorable characters that will make you ache, and haunt your dreams. Her pacing/plotting is so good that she somehow manages to make a 10,000 year old story (that holds no surprises) into a page turner. As an added bonus for those familiar with the Iliad, her attention to detail in the source material is exquisite, and adds another layer of joy. I especially appreciated her engagement with the Gods, who sometimes appeared where they were expected, and sometimes did not creating a kind of meta-commentary about theophany which was delightful.
Strongly Recommended.