The Song of Princes follows the myth of the Iliad, the fate of well-known characters such as Paris, Helen, Achilles and the Greek gods which all leads up to the battle of Troy The Song of Princes is book one of three which will chronicle the entire war and well into the adventure of Odysseus after. The Princes mentioned which the story follows are Paris, Hektor, Achilles and Odysseus, while I believe book one focuses more on Paris/Hekor.
I’ve been fascinated by Greek mythology since I was young so naturally, when I found this book, I knew I had to read it immediately. Many Iliad retellings I’ve read seem to focus really on one character and continue to tell the story through their eyes and what I liked about Song of Princes was that it’s like The Iliad, it changes it’s POV constantly but keeping in line with the plot but never wavers or becomes a bore. When you already know the fates of each character beforehand, it breaks your heart as they continue on their journey. Despite us knowing what happens, Rhiannon tells us her version of how it happens and that’s what I really love about retellings. What’s great about The Song of Princes is that it involves all the characters, rather than focusing on one. We see how one action of one character come to affect another and the events seam together effortlessly. (While in some parts, it becomes overwhelming but nonetheless, I enjoyed this)
As someone who had previously studied Classics at A-levels, I gained greater knowledge about the period of time the myth occurred and I liked that Rhiannon tries to keep to a truer image of the character. While I loved The Song of Achilles for focusing on Achilles’ softer side, the Song of Princes shows their violent sides and felt truer to the original text. I was quite impressed that Rhiannon wrote with such depth and while some readers might feel overwhelmed but I have to give credit to Rhiannon as it showed a clear and deep study of the period.
Overall, I’m so excited to read the sequel. (And that may or may not be because we’ll get to see more of Patroclus since he’ll be important in book two) I can’t wait to read more from Rhiannon and her version of the Trojan War.
Janell always had her nose in a book, reading by flashlight when it was “lights out” time. Her love of reading turned to a curiosity about writing. She now writes in all the spare moments she can squeeze out of a day. She also writes fiction and fantasy with some romantic spice for good measure. Janell adores Mythology and Fantasy. Anything magical and mystical. And dragons. And gargoyles. Her guiding motto: “I tell stories, not genres.”
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as told by zaheerah 
Great review! This sounds like a well written read and unique too! Glad you liked it! 🙂
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Excellent review! I love retellings of all kinds, but especially mythology. Is this YA? Just curious…
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