The Song of Achilles

How it reads

The Song of Achilles is historical fiction (mythological historical romance, specifically), and its dominant mood is romantic. The relationship is the engine of the story. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in an international setting, in the historical past, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are love, war and loss and grief. In weight it's heavy and literary — denser, more serious, and more demanding of you.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is bittersweet: it resolves, but at a price. At 352 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.