This is the story of the Iliad, retold by Colleen McCulough, one of the big and most meticulous historical fiction writers around.

However, this book fails to live up the the usual McCulough expectations. Her research is meticulous, as usual; she's clearly read the Iliad, dug into the history of ancient Greece, etc', but somehow, unlike in her vast and significantly superior Masters of Rome series, she fails to engage.

Her problems in this book are threefold:

She strikes a poor balance between revisionism of classical tects, and the retention thereof - she tried her best to stick to the story of the Iliad but, for several reasons which will be partially discussed further down, fails to stick to the characterizations it provides, and has to go to great lengths to bring forth reasons and explanations for things that happened.

She tends to admire people far too strongly - this is a problem which appears to be typical of McCulough. Her adoration for a specific 'hero' or personage blinds her to everything else. She picks out her 'favourite', and everything concerning him spirals downward from there. In the Masters of Rome books her golden boy is Caesar, the man of no flaws; she subjects his enemies to deterioration of character not indicated by any of the ancient sources - Cicero is a coward and egotistical; Brutus is a weakling, Lucullus had too many 'shrooms...

In the Song of Troy, her darling is Achilles, for which reason she chooses - wrongly,I think, to represent him as a warrior poet perfect in his virtues in all way but his rage. She chooses to disregard what the Iliad puts forth as a petty, rather selfish character, and to explain his behaviour in line with the Iliad's actual text, she has to create convoluted, albeit fascinating, ploys.

Just as she loves Achilles in particular, she sides with the Greeks in general. There are foolish Greeks, but there are also wise, insightful and clever Greeks. Whereas the Trojans are nothing but negative Priam is an old, deluded fool. Hektor is not old, but a deluded fool for all that.

The women - Honestly, Colleen? Did you have to? You are female; you managed strong women in the Masters of Rome (perhaps even overly strong?) and yet all your women here act and think, even in their own POVs, like the ancient men thought they behaved and thought. My disappointment was vast.

In addition, as a final straw, all points of view in the book have the same voice. Somehow, despite the fact that one is told by Agamemnon, another by Odysseus, and a third by a semi-anonymous commander, the language of all parts was the very same.

It was not a poorly written book, but I found my enjoyment of it too often curtailed by annoyance.

This was wonderful as a history of the Trojan war , to learn how Agamemnon high king of Mycenae , brought together the kings of Greece to make war on ilium. Odysseus , the wily king of Ithaca , Achilles son of peleus king of the myrmidions, diomedes the argive , Ajax heir of salamis . These aecheans sailed to Troy at the mouth of the Dardanelles (then the Hellespont ) to fight for Helen, to take control of the straits, long blocked to Greece and vital for the trade for tin in Asia Minor. Tin was not available anywhere but the lands around the euxine (black) sea and without it the men of the age of heroes could not make bronze , necessary for armour.

As literature it wasn’t the finest the device of multiple narrators is wasted when the voices are all the same , the one of author as expositor. Nonetheless an enjoyable read

Well I reckon it happened, to some extent anyway. The Battle of Troy is one of those stories we all know a little bit about, it seems to be a mixture of Mythology and History. The most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Troy (or Sparta) – was the daughter of Zeus. Zeus was the Sky and thunder God. So, to believe that is a bit of a stretch. But on the other hand, there is considerable archaeological evidence to indicate Troy was in fact a small town in Western Turkey. A place called Hisarlik, has remains of a fortified town, like Troy. There are even some archaeological ruins of the gates and walls of Troy. Reading a book such as this forced (well, hardly forced) me to look up various places mentioned in this book, you can see pictures, read up about them and imagine what happened around 1180 BCE.

The Song of Troy by Colleen McCullough is a wonderful story that straddles Ancient Mythology and History. McCullough paints a vivid, complex, picture of the period, and all the actors involved in this mysterious period.

As she did in Masters of Rome, the author recreates the characters and makes them real – she gives them personalities, dramas and lives. I feel like I’ve just returned to the land of the living – this book caused me to ‘go missing’ for the last 4 or 5 days. It’s dense, thorough, slow moving but totally immersive.

The dramas start when Helen leaves her home in Ancient Mycenean Greece to go and live with her Trojan lover Paris. She leaves her husband King Menelaus, brother of King of Kings Agamemnon, to be with Paris – who later turns out to be a bit of a jerk. Menelaus and Agamemnon are mightily miffed by this development and decide to gather up the many Kings of Ancient Greece, create a flotilla of over a 1,000 ships and sail to what is now Western Turkey, to lay siege to the fortified town of Troy.

The King of Troy – Priam, Helen’s now father-in-law had his hands full for a decade as the Greek armies sat on the beaches, slowly strangling the life out of his wealthy city. By the way, Priam had over 50 sons and close to 20 daughters – one wonders how he found time to be king, but he did!

The battle scenes in this story are fantastic. More importantly, the suspenseful build-ups for each battle were so tense I could hardly bear it. There were also some wonderful duels, such as the one between the Achilles and Hector, who were the two most feared warriors of the day.

Odysseus was perhaps my favourite character. He reminded me a lot of Sherlock Holmes, a bit of a smart-arse (in a good, brainy way), he had an answer for everything and fought with his mind rather than his brawn. Helen was also a favourite, how could someone so beautiful not be? Poor Helen seemed to end up with idiots as lovers though, no wonder she was a bit lost.

Then, there’s The Horse. Enough said.
If you read this, be prepared to leave your family and friends for a few days, slap on your armour, jump in your chariot and be introduced to countless characters whilst cruising the beautiful waters of the Aegean Sea and lazing around the beaches South of the Dardanelles while you prepare for battle. You’ll love it.

I can’t get enough of McCullough’s historical fiction. I must give this one 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 – only because I prefer the Masters of Rome series and that’s more my thing. Less myth, more history.

4 Stars

I've enjoyed Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series. I was rather surprised to see she had written a historical fiction about the Trojan War. "The Song of Troy" is an attempt to take the epic events of the Illiad and tell the story in a more realistic way- this is the story of Troy without the gods and myths common to the Illiad. I am not saying this is a bunch of atheists, but their "gods" are no more real, nor do they appear, any more than the Christian God appeared to Crusaders.

This story revolves really around two people. One is Odysseus and he is a clever, cunning, if not brilliant man. Then there is Priam, who is the polar opposite. In fact, the fall of Troy can be laid squarely at the feet of Priam.

The conflict starts due to the Greek states being cut off from trade with the Trojans. This is due to Priam's greed and his duplicity when dealing with Herakles. This sets off a chain of events that ends with Helen leaving with Paris. This is the excuse Agamemnon needs to start the war.

The events are the events from the Illiad, but told with less fantastical elements. While famous heroes do exist, they are nothing more than really gifted human beings. From Achilles to Ajax and Hector to Sarpedon, these are far more believable versions than the man-gods running around the Illiad.

Perhaps the best thing is that there are no real heroes here, save perhaps Hektor, and that like most real history the blame can be spread around. Helen is an awful person, Menelaus is strangely weak and even the great Achilles is shown as a supreme warrior but hardly a demigod.

But the true hero? Odysseus who uses intelligence and cunning to win the war. A very interesting book and one that I enjoyed. A retelling of the Illiad in a more "realistic" sense. The reasons behind the war and the way in which it was conducted makes much more sense than the Illiad's version. While not all purists will enjoy this, I think people who enjoyed the conflict more than the tale will appreciate this historical fiction around the Trojan War.

Not a big fan of Colleen McCullough although I love Greeek mythology and was happy to see a name author tackle the subject matter. I think if she had centered on one or two characters point of view I would have enjoyed it more. As it was I don't really enjoy her style of writing and just found most of the characters unlikeable.

wow! how do you sum up an epic story like this in a few lines? you can't really.
we all know the story. or at least bits and pieces of the story......so it all focuses on the way the story is written. Colleen McCullough is a master storyteller and this book was bloody amazing.
it took a while to read; i could only read a chapter or so at a time so as to absorb the tale.....but that doesn't mean i didn't enjoy it. I did. Immensely.

The author died whilst i was about halfway through the book......the world has lost an amazing storyteller, a wonderful tale peddler and a most amazing woman.

Vale Colleen. I loved your words and your stories.

4.5 stars

I was slow to get into this but once convinced it was my favourite version so far. I think most HF aficionados have favourite periods; I am willing to believe that, like me, they have the opposite about some periods. This is one of mine; I've read some of the classics around the story but the novels just don't attract me. It seemed a crazy event to me. However, CMcC managed to make it have logic as an event - it wasn't Helen after all but economic necessity, human nature and, to a degree, sheer perversity.

Some excellent characterisation and a well-established story line. Using her usual technique of moving from one POV to another, it was initially jarring to have it happen every chapter but I got into the swing and ended having really enjoyed it. I had tried Margaret George's Helen of Troy but never completed it. CMcC's self-centred Helen was far more convincing. I note my favourite collective of Kate Quinn et al are putting out a version of this story this year; if that fails to please I will eat a few hats (need some new ones anyway!)

This is the kind of historical fiction that I love to read. I've always had a passing interest in mythology, but sometimes it can be so dry! "So & So, son of Such & Such, did A, B, C, & D, had son Whatchamacallit with Whatshername who was the daughter of Whosthatguyagain?..." That's one of the reasons I've put off reading the Bible. Too many begats.

But McCullough manages to work all of the necessary begats in, while at the same time still moving the story along, and further making you CARE. She brings these characters to life in a way that mere Mortals could only dream of. History and myth gives them names, but McCullough gives them LIFE. Personality, aspirations, hopes and dreams, conniving brilliance, worshipful adoration, undying loyalty, etc. These are the things that McC gives us and inspires our adoration of her.

First, let me say that I wish I'd have taken notes when reading this book. Each chapter is narrated by a different character, and it's not always easy to keep track of who is who in the beginning, or which side they are on. (I said I have a passing interest in Mythology - I'm not a scholar with Heroes' names, important dates and country of births memorized!) This is the one thing that dropped this down to 4 stars for me. Granted, once I got to the midway point, I was just along for the ride and following everything without a problem, but getting there would have been easier if perhaps the chapter headings had say "Priam of Troy" instead of just "Priam" for the narrator.

That being said, even once I was up on the who's who and which side is which, McC made it VERY difficult to pick a side to root for! She portrayed everything so realistically that there is no "right" side to an impartial judge; rather "right" is dependent on which King you serve and which version of the story you get from them. Much like wars today *cough*, the Greeks' war against Troy was less for the proclaimed scapegoat reason and more for profit and political gain (read: land and money). Come to think of it, we're quickly coming up on 10 years too... But I digress.

I was surprised by the humor and modernity in this book. Odysseus especially was fairly snarky and at times I felt like he would just step out of the pages and start pulling strings everywhere. I got a few chuckles out of him. I liked that while the feel of the book was true to the traditional story, it did feel updated and accessible to everyone- not just mythology buffs.

I also appreciated that the magic and the miracles were left open to interpretation. There is always a plausible scientific, or at least non-magical, explanation for miraculous events. That's a fine line to walk, actually, to say "Here's a possibility" but not try to sell it or convince us. I appreciate McC for being able to do that well, and for doing it at all. Too often authors want to spread their opinions like little seeds, hoping that they will take root in someone else. It's a rare thing for an author to write a book without a stance.

I also enjoyed the fact that there was homosexuality and bisexuality in the book, but that it wasn't done in such a way as to be a slur or a joke. It was simply presented as an everyday occurrence and accepted. Too bad that's relegated to history, we could use a little of that mindset now.

Speaking of which, my four favorite characters in the book were portrayed as bisexual and gay: Diomedes, Odysseus, and Achilles (bi) and Patrokles (gay). I loved how these men were able to be Men (RAWR!) on the battlefield but then off the field share a part of themselves with another man that men of today wouldn't dream of. Get your mind out of the gutters! I mean their feelings, not their tools. Really though, knowing that these men were gay did not make me feel any differently about them as warriors - and I love warriors. If anything, it made me respect them more for their duality. They were able to truly love and be loved by men, yet go out and kill hordes of them daily. Crazy.

I notice that my favorite characters are all Greek, which is interesting because I am still very undecided as to which ideological side I wanted to win the war. I mean, obviously I knew which side would win, but there is a part of me that just loves the underdog and will always root for the losing side. But neither side was faultless, and both sides were harmed by the other prior to war, so who is right? Conundrum.

Anyway... I really enjoyed the book... It certainly is fuel for thought and shows that mythology is just as relevant today as it was 4,000 years ago. Give or take a century.

"A absolute divergence from the normal Troy saga, it take you through the Saga as various key character help unfold how and what happened. You are taken through the eyes of Chiron, Priam, Heckor, Achilllies, Helen, Agemmemon etc.

It has an different narrative style and a totally different take on how the story unfolded. Brilliant..."

Più che una versione in prosa dell'Iliade, Il canto di Troia è una sorta di enorme calderone in cui l'autrice riversa una marea di fonti diverse, creandone una sua personale rilettura (perciò, se pensate di trovare attenta fedeltà al testo di Omero, cambiate libro).
La storia è scorrevole, fatta apposta per lasciare che il lettore si appassioni ai personaggi e viva con loro le vicende di cui sono protagonisti, ma alla fin fine non lascia nulla di più di un qualsiasi altro discreto romanzo storico.

A distanza di tempo, solo un'immagine di Ulisse mi è rimasta impressa: mancino, rosso di capelli, l'uomo più malvagio del mondo!

This was one of Colleen McCullough`s earliest books, and a fine effort. This book is the story of the Homer`s Illiad, or the taking of Troy, told as a historical novel. Her later books showed improved grasp of story-telling and an excellent scholarly take on the historical research relating to that period of time. All of her books tell the story of the main characters while taking an unusual but plausible viewpoint for the reasons for their actions.

McCullough's "Song of Troy" tells the story of the legendary 10 year-long Trojan War, drawing from Homer's "Illiad" as well as multiple ancient literary and historical sources. While the "Illiad" accepts the reality of Olympus's Pantheon of Gods, "Song of Troy" gives human explanations along with the traditions. For example, Achilles dies not because his heel was not dipped in immortalizing waters, but because Paris finds a vulnerable spot in his gold-plated armor. I enjoyed the book; it provided a great way to be familiar with the heroes and legends of classic Greek literature.