The Song of Achilles
A Novel
What love are you willing to sacrifice in pursuit of fame or respect? The arrival fallacy keeps Achilles driving toward a destiny he presumes is predetermined and keeps him from seeing the person he needs most. The publisher’s description (below), says that Patroclus was “forced to surrender his friend to the hands of fate.” But Patroclus so deeply absorbed Achilles’s desperate need for validation that he sacrificed his own life to preserve Achilles’s reputation. Despite living to serve his “friend’s” pride, Patroclus is relegated to a late-added note on a shared tombstone. It wasn’t fate that took Achilles nor Patroclus who surrendered him.
An incredibly fast-paced reimagining of Homer’s Iliad, this book hooked me with its deeply human story, framed by immortality and mythical gods.
He is a weapon, a killer. Do not forget it. You can use a spear as a walking stick, but that will not change its nature.
Publisher's Description
Patroclus, an awkward young prince, follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate. Set during the Trojan War.