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Achilles:A Love Story: A Novel of the Trojan War
AchillesA Love Story A Novel of the Trojan War Author:Byrne Fone By the author of American Revoiution: A Gay Novel The story of the war at Troy, as Homer?s readers all knew, was not only a tale of battles and exemplary heroism, but also a a story of love between men--of the devotion of Achilles, unrivalled hero, terrible warrior, and so it is said in legend, the most beautiful man in the world, for anothe... more »r great warrior, the handsome Patroclus. Their names resound in the catalogue of heroes and lovers and their tragic tale is one of the greatest, most emblematic, and earliest gay love stories ever told. In the "Iliad" Homer also tantalizingly hints at another love story, that of the handsome Prince Antilochus for Achilles, as it plays out against the legendary battles of the Trojan war that brought down a great kingdom and created one of literature?s greatest stories and most enduring legends. In the tradition of Mary Renault?s, "The Persian Boy" and "Fire From Heaven," Yourcenar?s "Memoirs of Hadrian"? and Vidal?s "Julian," "Achilles: A Love Story" creates the passionate, epic, and tragic tale of Antilochus and Achilles, a story told by no other writer. Reader/reviewers have called ?Achilles: A Love Story? a ?beautifully written retelling of a beautiful story, the Iliad, from a homoerotic perspective? and noted that the book is "an unapologetic celebration of male love and valor." The book's ?real power is in reconstructing a mythical epoch in such a realistic way, that you are left convinced that the ancients truly lived among the sights and sounds the author so adeptly describes." The author ?brings alive from antiquity the passions of love and war. He makes these iconic characters and events profoundly knowable and relevant. Whether Homer's Iliad is well-trodden ground or uncharted territory, you're in for a vivid, engaging and thoroughly satisfying story? and ?if you are a devotee of history, fiction, romance, and a darned good read, I highly recommend "Achilles: A Love Story" as the fulfillment of them all. Five stars.?« less