I’ve never really been that into Greek mythology for some reason; I mean, I knew most of the Greek God’s names through one way or another, and I’ve always been a fan of the God Of War video games (the latest of which, was awesome), and have greatly enjoyed playing the board game Santorini, in which the Greek Gods give you extra advantages in the game; but I’ve never taken them time to read any books or watch many movies that tackle the whole mythology around them.
And then, a couple of months ago, while browsing through audiobooks to borrow through the CloudLibrary app, that the Oakville Public Library provides, I came across ‘Circe‘ by Madeline Miller, which I had heard quite a bit about, but wasn’t sure what to expect given the topic.
Anyway, I thought I’d give it a try, and see what all the fuss was about.
As soon as I started listening to it, I was fully blown away!
The writing style was amazing! I was immediately sucked into the story, the characters, the places, the events; I just wanted to keep going, getting deeper, following the thread of the story as it unfolded.
The narration of the audiobook, by Perdita Weeks, was great and very engaging too, and brought the book to life.
It follows the story of Circe, one of the daughters of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans. She’s born a strange child, lacking any powers like her fathers, and without the allure of her mother.
She turns to the world of mortals, discovers that the power she has, is that of witchcraft, which sets her, and us with her, on an incredible journey from being banished, to crossing paths with other Gods and mythological figures, to many other adventures.
I couldn’t stop listening to the audiobook, and thoroughly enjoyed every detail of it. It’s easily one of my most favourite books I’ve read in the last couple of years. So good I’ll be buying a copy of the book for our home library, to read and enjoy again.
Having enjoyed the book that much, I started looking to see if Madeline Miller had any other published books, and found that indeed she had a previous book called ‘The Song Of Achilles‘, which won the 2012 Orange Prize for fiction.
I borrowed the audiobook, narrated by Frazer Douglas, and there I was again, transported into ancient Greece, witnessing events that played out before and during the famous Trojan war.
The story centred around Patroclus, an awkward young prince, who was exiled to the court of King Peleus, where he befriended his perfect son Achilles.
It follows their path together, their growth, and the evolution and strengthening of their bond to a much deeper relationship, and how that influences their story as the events of the Trojan war unfold.
It’s another very well told and engaging story, that was very enjoyable to read.
Between the two books, I’ll have to admit I enjoyed Circe more, but they’re both great books, that I would highly recommend everyone add to their reading list.
On my end, I can’t wait for another Madeline Miller book to come out, to take us on another magical ride. In the meantime, I will be grabbing her short story ‘Galatea’ to read next.
I’ll have to say that I’ve become a big fan of her writing style, and her ability to weave these amazing narratives around a set of great characters, and hope to read many more of her works in the future.
