Troy
Author: Stephen Fry
Published by: Michael J Books
Pages: 395
Format: Hardback
My Rating ★★★★★
Troy.
The most marvellous kingdom in all the world.
The Jewel of the Aegean. Glittering Ilion, the city that rose and fell not once but twice.
The story of Troy speaks to all of us – the kidnapping of Helen, a queen celebrated for her beauty, sees the Greeks launch a thousand ships against the great city, to which they will lay siege for ten whole and very bloody years.
It is Zeus, the king of the gods, who triggers war when he asks the Trojan prince Paris to judge the fairest goddess of them all. Aphrodite bribes Paris with the heart of Helen, wife of King Menelaus of the Greeks, and naturally, nature takes its course.
It is a terrible, brutal war with casualties on all sides. The Greeks cannot defeat the Trojans – since Achilles, the Greeks’ boldest warrior, is consumed with jealousy over an ally’s choice of lover, the Trojan slave Briseis, and will not fight…
The stage is set for the oldest and greatest story ever told, where monstrous passions meet the highest ideals and the lowest cunning.
In Troy you will find heroism and hatred, love and loss, revenge and regret, desire and despair, written bloodily in the sands of a distant shore.
My thoughts:
I don't even have the words to describe my excitement for this! To be honest, I was waiting for this book ever since I finished Heroes, the second book in the series. Troy is an amazing subject area since it is full of great myths, stories, heroes, villains, sorrow, pain, lust and love.
Fry's trilogy about Greek Mythology has been really wonderful, and Troy continues in every aspect of the previous two works (Mythos and Heroes) in the re-imagining of the tragedy of Troy.
A large chunk of the book is spent setting the scene and giving some backstory to the events that ultimately led to war. We learn about the causes and preparation of the war, the creation of Troy and all myths surrounding it. This was my favourite part of the retelling, and there were so many little details and side characters who were new to me - I loved hearing their stories and figuring out who they were, as well as which heroes were present and why, and which God and Goddess supported which side of the battle.
This all makes for a highly entertaining and compelling reading experience. The first half of the book prepares the reader well for the second part, everything that happens during the war, in the Iliad and the aftermath.
Fry’s writing style is witty and eloquent, as always. His narration makes it easy to understand for readers with no prior knowledge of these stories, whilst also remaining interesting and highly entertaining for all, no matter how well-informed you already feel going in.
Just as in the previous two instalments, Stephen Fry has once again brought to life the extraordinary tales of Ancient Greece and the Greek myths. The author’s clear life-long passion for Greek mythology shines through on every page, and it’s impossible not to get swept up in these truly epic stories. Fry’s knowledge of the world - ancient and modern - bursts through at the seams. With his usual wit, elegance and humour, he brings every part to life for modern readers. This is a fantastic retelling of the Siege of Troy.
It is fascinating entertainment. A great story in the hands of a great storyteller - it's really not like anything could go wrong here. Fry is at his story-telling best. Perhaps Stephen Fry’s most epic book yet? I’m just so sad to see this trilogy come to an end so soon. I’m not ready!
Overall reaction:
