Odyssey

Lindsay Hasluck's Review 

A masterpiece of joyous storytelling, Stephen Fry’s new work once again brings to vivid life the ardour of the ancient Greeks. It’s the fourth book in Fry’s Mythos series, but you don’t need to have read the earlier ones to enjoy it. Odyssey recalls the traditional tale of Odysseus’ long battle to return to his native island of Ithaca after the Trojan War. In this modern telling, however, Homer would be pleased with the new life breathed into the ancient mythical journey. Fry brings out of the shadows often overlooked characters, and skilfully weaves them into the tapestry of a post-Trojan War Mediterranean world. By doing so he places the hero’s journey home in the context of the greater political and social changes of the period, including Aeneas’ founding of Rome, and ultimately shows us how Homer’s story marks the point at which human agency takes the control of history from the will of the capricious gods: a point which he underlines in the epilogue. 

A great deal of informative detail and authorial wit is typically hidden in the footnotes, which can be taken or left as the reader desires. As with previous books in the series, the modern dialogue connects Homer’s tale, Fry’s retelling, and the reader’s imagination. This makes the Odyssey once again a rip-roaring yarn of high adventure in a fantastical and brutal world of gods, heroes and warriors, kings, queens, sailors and beggars. Whether you are an afficionado of Homer or new to his world, Fry’s book will captivate you.  A great read for all ages, young (14+) or old, Fry’s Homeric adventure is the page-turner the grand old poet would have wanted it to be. A handsome hardback gift.

Publisher's Review 

The epic FINAL chapter to Stephen Fry's outstanding retellings of the Greek Myths.

Troy has fallen. After 10 years of war, the Greeks make their way back to their own lands - but what homes now await them? Agamemnon must return to his wife Clytemnestra, who has been nursing her rage since he sacrificed their daughter to the gods for a favourable wind. Her revenge will know no bounds.

Meanwhile, Odysseus has angered the god Poseidon and he is cursed to wander the seas, facing angry monsters and possessive demi-gods as he attempts to return to Ithaca and his patient, clever wife Penelope.