The Song of Achilles

Last week, I wrapped up the Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. This was my second book of Miller’s, who also wrote Circe. I was extremely excited to jump right into another of Miller’s books, since I really enjoyed Circe and couldn’t wait to discover the story of this infamous Greek warrior. However, about a couple of chapters in, I quickly realized it would not the case when it came to The Song of Achilles. 

The Song of Achilles was a complete 180 from Circe. The book was composed of a more male dominated character cast, complete with constant battles, fighting, blood, lies, and military terminology. Like I said, COMPLETE 180 from Circe, where Miller focused on witchcraft and journeys around the world. In hopes that it would get better, I pushed through each chapter, only to be disappointed chapter after chapter.

At first it was hard for me to understand how different the two books could be, especially when having the same author. However, I soon realized that not every book is as good as its predecessor or in this case, its successor. Now, I do not want to say that the writing wasn’t as good, but I just could not get into the storyline and it quickly turned into a book where I was counting down the hours until it was over. Having completed it, I wonder if it was the lack of a connection with the main character, or it was the concept of war throughout the whole storyline. I will always give credit where credit is due, and while the storyline lacked in so many ways for me, I will say, the narrator for the audiobook, Frazer Douglas was beyond talented. He surprised me with the number of voices he was able to create for each and every single character, and trust me, there were a ton of characters (similar to Circe). Listening to him and experiencing his talent, was something positive I did take away and was something I actually did enjoy in the 11 hours it took to listen to The Song of Achilles.