Troy: The Greek Myths Reimagined by Stephen Fry
In this brilliant conclusion to his bestselling Mythos trilogy, legendary author and actor Stephen Fry retells the tale of the Trojan War.Full of tragic heroes, intoxicating love stories, and the unstoppable force of fate, there is no conflict more iconic than the Trojan War. Troy is the story of the epic battle retold by Fry with drama, humor, and vivid emotion. Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, Helen, their lovers, and their mortal enemies all burn bright in Fry's compelling prose. Illustrated throughout with classical art inspired by the myths, this gorgeous volume invites you to explore a captivating world with a brilliant storyteller as your guide., BELOVED AUTHOR: Stephen Fry is an icon whose signature wit and mellifluous style makes this retelling utterly unique. Fans will love hearing his interpretation, whether they are familiar with the original Greek myths or not., TIMELESS STORIES: For fans of Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, Madeline Miller's Circe or Song of Achilles, or Pat Barker's The Silence of the Girls, this is the perfect next great read. These ancient tales never get old., STUNNING SERIES CONCLUSION: Mythos and Heroes, the first two installments in the trilogy, were international bestsellers. Now fans can read the thrilling third book., GORGEOUS GIFT: With a vibrant contemporary design, full-color artwork throughout, and shimmering.
- Author - Stephen Fry
- Publisher - Chronicle Books LLC
- Publication Date - 06-29-2021
- Page Count - 288
- Hardcover
- Adult
- Classics
- Product Dimensions - 7.3 (W) x 9.4(H) x 1.1 (D)
- ISBN-13 - 9781797207070
Web ID: 14789400
Great addition to anyone’s Greek collection
Stephen Fry is wonderful! I adore all of his books in this set. I have Heroes, Mythos and also bought Troy. They are gorgeous books that all deal with Greek mythological stories. I love the structure and appearance of these books and Troy is completely worthy of the high praise of the other two. These are books that you can read cover to cover or choose sections and read those individually. I have been a lifelong fan of this genre but have reignited my love for it with the publication of many recent books set in this genre. Troy is a fantastic tale of the Trojan War with all that accompanies war. Highly recommend for those mythology lovers. Troy is fantastic, as are all of these books. #Troy #NetGalley #ChronicleBooks
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
a lighthearted retelling of murder and tragedy
I previously enjoyed Stephen Fry's books Mythos and Heroes, detailing other stories in Greek mythology, and Troy was no different. Fry's writing style is witty and easy to read, and if you're new to these stories, I would certainly recommend them. I will say that he can sometimes take the gravity or emotion out of parts of the story; but then again, there are plenty of other renditions of stories in Greek mythology that tell the story differently, it might just not be everyone's cup of tea. As suspected, there will be a fourth book in the series, detailing the events of the Odyssea, which I will definitely pick up whenever it comes out.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A readable and witty take on the classic story
In Troy, the third volume in his Greek Myths Reimagined series (following on from his bestsellers Mythos and Heroes), Stephen Fry re-tells the complex, timeless and thrilling story of the Trojan War. Fry's narrative is based primarily on the story as related in Homer's The Iliad (c.800BCE), although he also draws on other relevant ancient texts including Aeschylus's The Orestia (c.458BCE), Euripides's Iphigenia at Aulis (c.420BCE), and Virgil's The Aeneid (c.19BCE) together with more modern works such as Chaucer's (c.1380-90) and Shakespeare's (1601) interpretations of the story of Troilus and Cressida. Whether, and to what extent the legend is based on historical events remains a matter for fascinating conjecture between historians, classicists, archaeologists and linguists. For context, the battles upon which the stories are based are believed to have occurred at some point between 1280BCE and 1160BCE, up to 3,300 years ago, during the Bronze age. While I must admit to never having read a translation of The Iliad in its entirety, I came to Troy with a reasonable degree of familiarity with the subject matter, having been fortunate to visit the sites of Mycenae, Sparta and Troy myself some years ago and having subsequently studied The Orestia. While a basic understanding of the story and knowledge of the major players are useful, I believe that Fry's Troy would also provide an entertaining, comprehensive and readable opportunity for those readers not already familiar with the legends. To summarise the plot, Paris, an impetuous prince of Troy (a prosperous city-state located on what is now Turkey's northern Aegean coast), visits the Mycenean city-state of Sparta (on modern Greece's Peloponnesian peninsula) and abducts (either willingly or not) the queen, Helen, who is renowned as the most beautiful woman in the world. Helen's aggrieved husband, King Menelaus of Sparta, assembles an expeditionary force, led by his brother, King Agamemnon of Mycenae and featuring legendary heroes including Odysseus of Ithaca, Achilles and Ajax, who together set out with a flotilla of 1,000 ships to invade Troy and bring Helen home to Sparta. Priam, King of Troy, supported by his heroic son Hector and various Ethiopian, Macedonian and Amazon allies, holds off the invasion for 9 years before a final decisive series of battles and the rather inventive use of a large wooden horse bring the conflict to a bloody conclusion. Meanwhile, the Olympian gods, who initiated the series of events in the first place, can't resist but take sides and interfere at various points during the hostilities. As Fry rightly points out in his introduction, both the chronology and the enormous cast of interrelated characters can be bamboozling for readers. I much appreciated the explanatory map, timeline and list of characters in this regard. The book is illustrated with many photographic images of works of art inspired by the story. While I read Troy in the cumbersome protected PDF format for review, I would strongly recommend reading this book in physical form, for ease of reference back and forth. Troy is an engrossing, well-written and (at times) wryly amusing re-telling of a classic tale of human passions, hubris, endeavour and heroism. I can recommend it highly to all readers, from middle grades and up, with an interest in history, myth, adventure, human nature or who seek simply a rollicking good read. My thanks to the author, comedian-presenter-polymath Stephen Fry, publisher of this US hardcover edition, Chronicle Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this wonderful title.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com