Tag Archives: Song of Achilles

My Favorite Books of 2012

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I make a concerted effort to read lots of books. I do it to support fellow authors and good-quality small presses. It also helps to keep my literary muscle in shape.

According to Pew Research Center, most American readers read 17 books annually. E-book readers read more – 24 on average.

That sounds pretty good, but not so encouragingly, Pew’s survey found that one in five Americans don’t read any books at all. And the percentage of readers and the number of books read each year has been steadily declining since the 1970’s.

This year, I’ve read 19 books. I would have to give myself a C+ as a reader based on Pew’s statistics.

Here’s a round-up of my favorites. As with last year, I try, really try to include some new releases; but with an ever-expanding reading queue, it’s hard for me to keep up with what’s current.

Top Pick

SONG OF ACHILLES (Ecco, 2012) is a true 2012 release, and a truly outstanding work of mythic fiction. At its center is a love story between Patroclus and Achilles that spans from childhood to young adulthood when the two join the Greeks to fight the Trojan War. Miller’s portrayal of young love is extraordinary, and she renders the time period and setting beautifully. You can read my full review from June 12, 2012 here.

 

 

Close Second

I have never included a short story anthology in my top picks, but this issue of sci-fi/fantasy journal Collective Fallout (Vol. 3, No. 3) was my most enjoyable read of the year. It’s theme is futuristic, and it’s filled with entertaining stories of queer love in dystopian worlds. Highly imaginative and unexpectedly romantic. Here’s my full review from March 14, 2012.

 

 

 

Pick #3

Strange Fortune came out in 2009, but I’m sneaking it in here because I felt it edged out the remaining new releases that I read this year. It’s published by a high quality, LGBT small press (Blind Eye Books).

I’ll give a little more extensive review of the book since I haven’t talked it up on my blog. The story is set in a fantasy world that is an intriguing blend of high fantasy and ancient Indian sensibilities. There’s an Indiana Jones-ish hero Valentine Strange, and a more timid Warlock-y co-hero Alleister Grimshaw. The two get thrown together on an adventure to recover a magical, ancient artifact: the diadem of the goddess Purya.

The two men’s simmering attraction pulled me through the story, but Strange Fortune is equally an engrossing fantasy adventure. The two heroes are up against it early on. Bandits, sent by a mysterious patron, for a mysterious purpose, want to kill Valentine and Grimshaw to get the diadem. A complex mystery unfolds, and between my eagerness to figure out the significance of the diadem, and whether or not Valentine and Grimshaw would get together, I rushed through to the end of the book. A really fun diversion with a fresh fantasy setting.

Honorable Mention

Allison Moon sums up her self-pubbed Lunatic Fringe in two words: “lesbian werewolves.” I took a peek, got hooked and sped through the pages.

It’s the story of Lexie, a reserved young woman raised by her widower father, who goes off to an elite liberal arts college and struggles to fit in with a more “worldly” crowd. Delightfully, she gets taken in by an otherwordly crowd, a politically-empowered group of women who secretly hunt werewolves. They call themselves “The Pack.”

Meanwhile, Lexie falls for an independent-minded townie named Archer, who Lexie discovers is a werewolf.

What worked for me so well in this story was the interwoven political commentary, and Lexie’s journey to find her political self. Things heat up on that score when there’s a rape on campus, and the threat of werewolf attacks becomes symbolic of the physical/sexual violence that maintains male power and privilege on college campuses and elsewhere.

But I didn’t find Lunatic Fringe to be a preachy book. Both feminist politics and the werewolf world are portrayed as complex, with unexpected discoveries of what constitutes “good” or “evil.” There are good guys and gals and bad guys and gals on both sides of the political and werewolf spectrums. Moon brings an interesting perspective to werewolf mythology, with a variety of factions within that are warring as much with each other as they conflict with the human world. The intriguing question becomes: where will Lexie fit in?

Madeline Miller’s SONG OF ACHILLES

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Anytime I come across a new title based on ancient Greek myth or history, I am liable to add it to my reading queue. When I heard about Madeline Miller’s SONG OF ACHILLES, which revisits the Trojan War from the perspective of Achilles’ male lover Patroclus, the book went to the top of my list.

SONG OF ACHILLES did not disappoint.

Miller imagines Patroclus as an awkward, lonely boy who is alienated from his curmudgeonly father. Patroclus brings disgrace on his family when he shoves the bullying son of a wealthy countryman, and accidentally kills the boy. His father’s solution is to send Patroclus off to a faraway kingdom that is the home of Achilles, a half god, half mortal prince, Aristos Achaion—the best of the Greeks. Despite his father’s banishment, that’s where Patroclus’ life truly begins.

Out of all of the young, famed prince’s boyhood admirers, Achilles chooses Patroclus as his favorite companion. A scene where Achilles juggles figs for his entourage’s amusement, and tosses a fruit to Patroclus, launches a compellingly romantic story.

It’s truly one of the very best love stories I’ve ever read.

Miller’s style is earthy and visceral. She gorgeously depicts the sights, sensations and smells of young love. On Patroclus’ sensual awakening:

“I kissed his neck, the span of his chest, and tasted the salt. He seemed to swell beneath my touch, to ripen. He smelled like almonds and earth. He pressed against me, crushing my lips to wine.”

While the setting is many centuries removed from modern day, I found the portrayal of blossoming teen romance to be spot on and timeless. The boys’ feelings for one another tentatively unravel, but once they do, the realization is transcendent, their declaration scarcely spoken but felt with greater certainty than anything they’ve known.

Miller perhaps take some liberties for the time period by positioning Patroclus and Achilles’ coupling as an unqualified love affair. They’re the same age, which would be unusual for a same sex relationship, at least one that perseveres beyond adolescence.

But in that, I found it to be a refreshingly angst-free gay relationship. Neither one of the boys struggles with uncertainty and shame. The barriers that stand between the two young men are external.

There’s Achilles’ goddess mother Thetis, for whom no man or woman would be good enough for her son; and the expectations of the day for young nobles: politically-bartered heterosexual marriage and the siring of male heirs.

Achilles disentangles himself from his bride-to-be by telling her father that Patroclus is his “husband.” It’s a great moment that subverts the hetero norm in a delightfully profound way. If Achilles considers Patroclus to be his husband, does that mean he sees himself as Patroclus’ wife? Could both young men be considered both husband and wife to each other?

I love stories that explore non-conventional sexuality constructs, and one of my only qualms with SONG OF ACHILLES is that the latter third of the book didn’t quite realize the unusual, egalitarian partnership between the men. When Achilles and Patroclus travel to Troy, and it comes time to fight, the hallmark of “manhood,” Patroclus timidly strays away from battle, and takes up the role of a medic’s assistant. He’s been trained for combat just like Achilles, and the Greek army needs all the warriors they can spare, so it didn’t make sense to me. Nor did it seem in line with Patroclus who had been brave enough to fight off bullies, not to mention to spar with Achilles during their training.

Notwithstanding that little glitch in characterization, Miller achieves a highly satisfying story rich in setting and emotionality. There are many of the characters and sub-plots from the Iliad in the background–Helen, Hektor, Odysseus, the fulfillment of Achilles’ prophecy–but essentially it’s a story about everlasting love.