Winner of Indies Today Best Poetry Award 2021 for her debut novel Breaking Birds, Roberts returns with this beautifully poetic retelling of the myth of Achilles.
‘Prophecy of Achilles’ is a novel in verse which follows the legend of Achilles from birth to death. Born under the weight of expectation, Achilles excels as a warrior in the battle of Troy. With a legend to live up to however, Achilles begins to lose himself to the glory. This tragic story considers the emotions behind mythology’s greatest hero.
Winner of Indies Today Best Poetry Award 2021 for her debut novel Breaking Birds, Roberts returns with this beautifully poetic retelling of the myth of Achilles.
‘Prophecy of Achilles’ is a novel in verse which follows the legend of Achilles from birth to death. Born under the weight of expectation, Achilles excels as a warrior in the battle of Troy. With a legend to live up to however, Achilles begins to lose himself to the glory. This tragic story considers the emotions behind mythology’s greatest hero.
Fire raging
Heat scorching
Smoke billowing
Flames licking
Flesh searing
Skin blistering
Child screaming
Life dying
Body smouldering
Embers cooling
Mortality enduring
Death conquering
Hope dwindling
In Greek mythology, Achilles is the son of a mortal, King Peleus, and Thetis, a shape-shifting sea goddess or “Nereid.” Seeking immortality for her son, Thetis dips Achilles in the River Styx, holding him by his heel. Achilles becomes renowned as arguably “the greatest of all Greek warriors.” That is, perhaps, until he meets Hector, the greatest of all Trojan warriors.
In between we hear from Peleus, Thetis, Achilles, and Patroclus, Achilles’s best friend. The rest of this book is Achilles’s story, told in the first person from its main characters, respectively.
The story is told in verse via a unique format and fashion, both visually and narratively. The format varies, as does paragraphing, indentation, and page layout. It’s eye-catching, dynamic, and moves the story forward effectively.
The narration ping-pongs back and forth mostly between Achilles and Patroclus and their respective viewpoints and emotions. It teeters on maudlin and meandering on occasion and seems to lose its way en route to the Greek/Trojan war and a showdown with Hector. The rhyming seems forced at times and may demonstrate a masterful grasp of the obvious: “I walk in his wake/He is a hero/Yet I feel a fake.”
The story gets back on track when Hector steps into the fray. A different type font and point of view set this Prince of Troy apart from the Greeks. Considered Troy’s greatest warrior and one of the greatest warriors in all antiquity, Hector leads the Trojan Army into war against the Greeks. In the process, Hector kills Patroclus. This earns Hector a target on his back. Achilles is breathing fire and out for revenge. The two heroes clash in an epic duel. Achilles kills Hector, thus avenging his friend’s death.
Some readers will appreciate the strong writing undergirding The Prophecy of Achilles. Others may find it mawkish, or just trying too hard. Overall Rating: 2.5.