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Song of the Red Cloak
Two Spartan boys grow up together, and become inseparable friends. One is a prince of Sparta , destined to rule this ancient Greek state, the other a slave, or helot, who serves the young prince. In the harsh training camps, or agoges, where boys are groomed to become the great warriors of Spartan fame, their skills are honed and brutally tested. Only citizens may aspire to the warrior's Red Cloak, and one of the tests is the annual crypteia, or hunting of the helots.A beautiful and mysterious young Sibyl speaks of an uprising of the slaves. The Oracles warn of a deadly conflict between two ruling factions. Evil forces will challenge the two boys and test their loyalties, as secret truths about their own identities are revealed.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 26, 2011
7 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Chantel Acevedo
16 books241 followersCalled "a master storyteller" by Kirkus Reviews, Chantel Acevedo is the author of Love and Ghost Letters, A Falling Star, The Distant Marvels, which was a finalist for the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and most recently, The Living Infinite, hailed by Booklist as a "vivid and enthralling tale of love and redemption." Her essays have appeared in Vogue and Real Simple, among others. THE MUSE SQUAD: THE CASSANDRA CURSE, is a new middle grade series forthcoming from Balzer + Bray. She is a Professor of English at the University of Miami, where she directs in the MFA program.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 15, 2012
Simply splendid. Intricately woven plot lines. Deftly drawn characters. Hairpin turns and twists... and an ending that superbly satisfies, yet sets up the next installment. Acevedo's historical and cultural context and details really place the reader inside the story. Wonderful read.
November 6, 2011
Full disclosure time: I know the author from a summer Fulbright seminar for teachers and I've kind of been in awe of her writing for awhile now. However, we don't always have the same taste in books (case in point, The Magicians). So when I read on Chantel's blog that she was self-publishing a YA book about Spartan Boys with Swords, I was underwhelmed. There are several things about this book that suggest it would not be for me: while I like YA fiction, I tend to prefer dystopias to magical tales, and while I like historical fiction, I tend to prefer crazy English royals or despotic Italian Popes to anything having to do with ancient Greece. And while I know that YA fiction is experiencing a renaissance of female protagonists (what with Belle and Katniss), I'm old enough to remember a time when it wasn't that way.
All of that to say--I'm so glad I bought and read this book! I bought the book on a Wednesday when I was coming down with a cold and have been very glad of the company of Galen, Nikolas, Zoi, and Korinna this weekend. The pace of the story was break neck, the history effortlessly woven into the narration, the characters complex, surprising, and lovable and while Galen is definitely a sword swinging boys' boy, he keeps company with some pretty kick-ass girls. All the while I was reading this book, I was thinking of my high school students who learn all about ancient Sparta in their history class and how much they would love reading this novel.
So go! Buy the book--it's only $4.99 in ebook form--and you can thank me later.
All of that to say--I'm so glad I bought and read this book! I bought the book on a Wednesday when I was coming down with a cold and have been very glad of the company of Galen, Nikolas, Zoi, and Korinna this weekend. The pace of the story was break neck, the history effortlessly woven into the narration, the characters complex, surprising, and lovable and while Galen is definitely a sword swinging boys' boy, he keeps company with some pretty kick-ass girls. All the while I was reading this book, I was thinking of my high school students who learn all about ancient Sparta in their history class and how much they would love reading this novel.
So go! Buy the book--it's only $4.99 in ebook form--and you can thank me later.
March 15, 2012
Original review posted here.
A prophecy has been told of one prince's betrayal of another, of a slave uprising and the destruction of Sparta, of love and death. The time has come to pass that these prophesies may be fulfilled.
Galen and Nikolas have grown up the best of friends, much to the concern of most of Sparta; Nikolas is a prince, destined to be king, while Galen is a helot--a slave--destined only to serve. Galen dreams of freedom, of being a true Spartan and wearing a red cloak, but he knows this will not happen, so he will help Nikolas to achieve his. While assisting Nikolas in a cruel coming-of-age ritual, Galen and Nikolas have a run in with Zoi, a mysterious young woman with unusual powers. Galen, however, begins to suspect that Zoi has her part to play in the prophecies he learns from Karinna, Sparta’s beautiful new sybil.
So, like many out there, I tend to shy away from self-published books, at least until I hear good words from others. Chantel Acevedo is a real life friend of an author I love, Rachel Hawkins, and she had such kind words to say about Chantel and her book that I just had to give it a shot. Chantel Acevedo is a total sweetheart, and I was excited to read a book that began as a NaNoWriMo book to see what someone could achieve from this event. I am so happy to say that not only were there no noticeable typos, Song of the Red Cloak offered a compelling story of friendship, love, and BADASS SPARTANS.
Song of the Red Cloak was an excellent historical fiction, with some awesomely creative fantasy elements drawn both from Grecian myth and Acevedo’s own creation. I loved all of the elements of Spartan society that were discussed, especially the details about the women. I’ll say it right now, if I ever have to be part of a past society, I’ll take Sparta please (just not as a helot). They get to go to school, get trained to fight, can speak their minds, and are pretty much awesome:
When foreigners asked why Spartan women were the only females in all of Greece allowed to speak their minds, the answer was always the same: because Spartan women gave birth to real men.
Yeah, I know, it’s one of those cliche Spartan phrases, but it’s always in Spartan stuff BECAUSE IT’S AWESOME. Song of the Red Cloak did not include the other Spartan phrase, “Come back with your shield or on it.” so we’ll let it roll. I will say though, that one of the things that bothered me a bit about the book in the first half was feeling a bit like I was getting a history lesson. This is somewhat necessary to make sure readers understand terminology, but occasionally it felt like facts were thrown in because they were cool facts more than because they were necessary. Another aspect that bothered me were a couple of inconsistencies in descriptors. For example, near the beginning, Nikolas surprised Galan by coming up behind him, but about three pages later when describing Nikolas, it is said that he could never sneak up on anyone. My only other issue was the time-line. While the pacing of the story was good, things seemed to come to a head very quickly, in a matter of days events took place which to me would have made more sense over a matter of weeks.
Song of the Red Cloak addresses the age old and tragic issue of prophecy. As so often with prophecies, they are open to interpretation, misinterpreted, or people attempt to avoid them. This, as always, works toward the detriment of those involved. We see this story through the eyes of Galen, a slave who both respects and hates Spartans. I very much enjoyed the focus on a male protagonist, and a story where there was just as much (if not more) emphasis on the value of his friendship with Nikolas as there is on his relationships with Zoi and Karinna. All in all, I very much enjoyed the world depicted by Acevedo, which was both historically accurate and wonderfully creative.
A prophecy has been told of one prince's betrayal of another, of a slave uprising and the destruction of Sparta, of love and death. The time has come to pass that these prophesies may be fulfilled.
Galen and Nikolas have grown up the best of friends, much to the concern of most of Sparta; Nikolas is a prince, destined to be king, while Galen is a helot--a slave--destined only to serve. Galen dreams of freedom, of being a true Spartan and wearing a red cloak, but he knows this will not happen, so he will help Nikolas to achieve his. While assisting Nikolas in a cruel coming-of-age ritual, Galen and Nikolas have a run in with Zoi, a mysterious young woman with unusual powers. Galen, however, begins to suspect that Zoi has her part to play in the prophecies he learns from Karinna, Sparta’s beautiful new sybil.
So, like many out there, I tend to shy away from self-published books, at least until I hear good words from others. Chantel Acevedo is a real life friend of an author I love, Rachel Hawkins, and she had such kind words to say about Chantel and her book that I just had to give it a shot. Chantel Acevedo is a total sweetheart, and I was excited to read a book that began as a NaNoWriMo book to see what someone could achieve from this event. I am so happy to say that not only were there no noticeable typos, Song of the Red Cloak offered a compelling story of friendship, love, and BADASS SPARTANS.
Song of the Red Cloak was an excellent historical fiction, with some awesomely creative fantasy elements drawn both from Grecian myth and Acevedo’s own creation. I loved all of the elements of Spartan society that were discussed, especially the details about the women. I’ll say it right now, if I ever have to be part of a past society, I’ll take Sparta please (just not as a helot). They get to go to school, get trained to fight, can speak their minds, and are pretty much awesome:
When foreigners asked why Spartan women were the only females in all of Greece allowed to speak their minds, the answer was always the same: because Spartan women gave birth to real men.
Yeah, I know, it’s one of those cliche Spartan phrases, but it’s always in Spartan stuff BECAUSE IT’S AWESOME. Song of the Red Cloak did not include the other Spartan phrase, “Come back with your shield or on it.” so we’ll let it roll. I will say though, that one of the things that bothered me a bit about the book in the first half was feeling a bit like I was getting a history lesson. This is somewhat necessary to make sure readers understand terminology, but occasionally it felt like facts were thrown in because they were cool facts more than because they were necessary. Another aspect that bothered me were a couple of inconsistencies in descriptors. For example, near the beginning, Nikolas surprised Galan by coming up behind him, but about three pages later when describing Nikolas, it is said that he could never sneak up on anyone. My only other issue was the time-line. While the pacing of the story was good, things seemed to come to a head very quickly, in a matter of days events took place which to me would have made more sense over a matter of weeks.
Song of the Red Cloak addresses the age old and tragic issue of prophecy. As so often with prophecies, they are open to interpretation, misinterpreted, or people attempt to avoid them. This, as always, works toward the detriment of those involved. We see this story through the eyes of Galen, a slave who both respects and hates Spartans. I very much enjoyed the focus on a male protagonist, and a story where there was just as much (if not more) emphasis on the value of his friendship with Nikolas as there is on his relationships with Zoi and Karinna. All in all, I very much enjoyed the world depicted by Acevedo, which was both historically accurate and wonderfully creative.
October 29, 2011
I could not put this book down. Literally. I took it to the gym and the doctor's office. I walked around my house reading it. I made a terrible pot of coffee because I was reading while I set up the machine, and I read it through both cups of bad coffee. The bad coffee was totally worth it, though, because this book is SO GOOD. I finished it in a day and a half, and then proceeded to geek out over analyzing it in a way I haven't geeked out since I read the Harry Potter books. I also realized, in the end, that I'd learned so much about ancient Greece -- and without even realizing it! The research is not only impeccably done, it's impeccably woven into the plot. This book is a major achievement. READ IT!
August 14, 2013
Really good book. Can't wait for the sequel!
November 24, 2017
This historical fiction sets twins into two different worlds because the Spartan tradition was to choose one and discard the other. The two boys grow up and meet. There is a slave insurrection and some "divine intervention." In other words, this book has a magical element. I can imagine that they considered the paranormal as real back then so it's not completely unprecedented. I found the paranormal to be unoffensive. The real message of the book is love (not romantic love per se but loyalty).
Read
February 8, 2012Disclaimer: I typically don't read self published books. I don't have anything against them. I just have so many books to read and it can be so hit and miss. This one was a bit different. First, Rachel Hawkins (one of my favorite authors!) raved about this book on Twitter. That was enough to convince me to buy it. Then I read a post by the author on her decision to self publish. That is what convinced me to move the book up to the top of Mt. TBR :) Well, that and the fact that it takes place in SPARTA!!! How can you not want to read that?!?!?
I adored the time and place that this book was set. I was so interested in the customs and culture of the people. I know it's historical fiction so the author can take some liberties with actual events and such but I still loved it. And the mythologies! I find Greek gods and goddesses to be so interesting to read about. I just loved all of it!
Song of the Red Cloak started off with a prologue that caught my attention. I wanted to know more about the events mentioned and what happened to the families involved. It also kept me guessing about how the characters from the story fit with the prologue. I wanted to know where Galen and Nikolas fit, as well as Acayo and his crew.
At times this book was really hard to read because the Spartan culture was heavy on the blood and violence. They were warriors plain and simple. Things like the Crypteia made me ill. (I can't decide if describing it would be spoilery or not so you can go here and read what it is at your own risk! It takes place in the book but I don't think it gives anything away!) The fighting and violence really isn't more than books like The Hunger Games. It affected me more because I know that it is based on a time and place in history. The mentality that so disturbed me actually existed and drove a people group. The story was still amazing and I couldn't put it down but it really got to me.
Song of the Red Cloak is an addictive read! Action, danger, romance, mythology, history... it has it all!
I adored the time and place that this book was set. I was so interested in the customs and culture of the people. I know it's historical fiction so the author can take some liberties with actual events and such but I still loved it. And the mythologies! I find Greek gods and goddesses to be so interesting to read about. I just loved all of it!
Song of the Red Cloak started off with a prologue that caught my attention. I wanted to know more about the events mentioned and what happened to the families involved. It also kept me guessing about how the characters from the story fit with the prologue. I wanted to know where Galen and Nikolas fit, as well as Acayo and his crew.
At times this book was really hard to read because the Spartan culture was heavy on the blood and violence. They were warriors plain and simple. Things like the Crypteia made me ill. (I can't decide if describing it would be spoilery or not so you can go here and read what it is at your own risk! It takes place in the book but I don't think it gives anything away!) The fighting and violence really isn't more than books like The Hunger Games. It affected me more because I know that it is based on a time and place in history. The mentality that so disturbed me actually existed and drove a people group. The story was still amazing and I couldn't put it down but it really got to me.
Song of the Red Cloak is an addictive read! Action, danger, romance, mythology, history... it has it all!
Read
January 24, 2017Disclaimer: I typically don't read self published books. I don't have anything against them. I just have so many books to read and it can be so hit and miss. This one was a bit different. First, Rachel Hawkins (one of my favorite authors!) raved about this book on Twitter. That was enough to convince me to buy it. Then I read a post by the author on her decision to self publish. That is what convinced me to move the book up to the top of Mt. TBR :) Well, that and the fact that it takes place in SPARTA!!! How can you not want to read that?!?!?
I adored the time and place that this book was set. I was so interested in the customs and culture of the people. I know it's historical fiction so the author can take some liberties with actual events and such but I still loved it. And the mythologies! I find Greek gods and goddesses to be so interesting to read about. I just loved all of it!
Song of the Red Cloak started off with a prologue that caught my attention. I wanted to know more about the events mentioned and what happened to the families involved. It also kept me guessing about how the characters from the story fit with the prologue. I wanted to know where Galen and Nikolas fit, as well as Acayo and his crew.
At times this book was really hard to read because the Spartan culture was heavy on the blood and violence. They were warriors plain and simple. Things like the Crypteia made me ill. (I can't decide if describing it would be spoilery or not so you can go here and read what it is at your own risk! It takes place in the book but I don't think it gives anything away!) The fighting and violence really isn't more than books like The Hunger Games. It affected me more because I know that it is based on a time and place in history. The mentality that so disturbed me actually existed and drove a people group. The story was still amazing and I couldn't put it down but it really got to me.
Song of the Red Cloak is an addictive read! Action, danger, romance, mythology, history... it has it all!
I adored the time and place that this book was set. I was so interested in the customs and culture of the people. I know it's historical fiction so the author can take some liberties with actual events and such but I still loved it. And the mythologies! I find Greek gods and goddesses to be so interesting to read about. I just loved all of it!
Song of the Red Cloak started off with a prologue that caught my attention. I wanted to know more about the events mentioned and what happened to the families involved. It also kept me guessing about how the characters from the story fit with the prologue. I wanted to know where Galen and Nikolas fit, as well as Acayo and his crew.
At times this book was really hard to read because the Spartan culture was heavy on the blood and violence. They were warriors plain and simple. Things like the Crypteia made me ill. (I can't decide if describing it would be spoilery or not so you can go here and read what it is at your own risk! It takes place in the book but I don't think it gives anything away!) The fighting and violence really isn't more than books like The Hunger Games. It affected me more because I know that it is based on a time and place in history. The mentality that so disturbed me actually existed and drove a people group. The story was still amazing and I couldn't put it down but it really got to me.
Song of the Red Cloak is an addictive read! Action, danger, romance, mythology, history... it has it all!
April 13, 2012
It is fast-paced story from a third person view giving more space to explore its surroundings and weigh each character's personality well. 'Song of the Red Cloak' made an impression to me for pricking my anticipation of what's going to happen next, after that and the following events then it surprised me for its twists and turns on some of which I did never expect to happen.
The two boys---Galen and Prince Nikolas---are two different characters but their loyalty and friendship unites them showing us of what true friendship means that it's not about your family background, status in the society, good looks or how wealthy you are but it's about accepting your friends for who they are and looking beyond their flaws and trying to look through their heart. They were put to tests that would measure their loyalty and that would strengthen their character which intensifies the plot of the story.
I'm impressed with this book because in spite of the fact that it didn't deal with plenty of love story but only with enough to show that the boys are still young and are trying to look for the girl of their dreams is still interesting to me because Acevedo did not rely on making her novel wonderful out of too much love story instead she worked greatly on touching some facts about Sparta's history during its Golden days like the story of the two ruling families, Crypteia, Helots, Sibyls or seers, Ephors and many more that does not make the story dull and lacklustre but adventurous and excting! The story is just a cliffhanger so I'm keeping tabs on the latest updates for the second book on this trilogy which is entitled 'Song of Glass and Dust'. Thumbs Up! I highly recommend this to all YA Historical fiction fans who wants to discover new characters with different identities from Sparta. S'agapo!
The two boys---Galen and Prince Nikolas---are two different characters but their loyalty and friendship unites them showing us of what true friendship means that it's not about your family background, status in the society, good looks or how wealthy you are but it's about accepting your friends for who they are and looking beyond their flaws and trying to look through their heart. They were put to tests that would measure their loyalty and that would strengthen their character which intensifies the plot of the story.
I'm impressed with this book because in spite of the fact that it didn't deal with plenty of love story but only with enough to show that the boys are still young and are trying to look for the girl of their dreams is still interesting to me because Acevedo did not rely on making her novel wonderful out of too much love story instead she worked greatly on touching some facts about Sparta's history during its Golden days like the story of the two ruling families, Crypteia, Helots, Sibyls or seers, Ephors and many more that does not make the story dull and lacklustre but adventurous and excting! The story is just a cliffhanger so I'm keeping tabs on the latest updates for the second book on this trilogy which is entitled 'Song of Glass and Dust'. Thumbs Up! I highly recommend this to all YA Historical fiction fans who wants to discover new characters with different identities from Sparta. S'agapo!
February 27, 2012
A new series based in ancient Sparta, & the main character is a guy. THe writing was refreshingly fantastic, the story was fun & action packed, & there were minimal references to 300 (yay!). No coarse language or weird teenage sexual encounters, although there were weird english exclamations coming out of our spartans at odd moments. I mean, if you're sticking to the whole sibyl/greek gods/lamia mythology, why would you throw in a "bloody" & whatnot? All in all a good read. Historical fiction meets paranormal fantasy.
August 25, 2017
Acevado wrote a Greek myth as engaging and mystical as the ones we study today. Her characters were kind, brave, sometimes cruel, and unpredictable. They spanned every bit of human nature. The plot's every moment was thrilling. Her world building was skillful; I felt like I was there, but never felt like I was being buried in words or facts. The context of her tale was built subtly and felt very natural.
There isn't a person on this earth I wouldn't recommend this book to. She hit everything a good story is made of and surpassed it.
There isn't a person on this earth I wouldn't recommend this book to. She hit everything a good story is made of and surpassed it.
April 12, 2012
Song of the Red Cloak is a fantastic historical young adult novel!! Acevedo puts you in the world of ancient Sparta, but does not lose the teen angst of the young adult genre. This book is a well written young adult novel that has just the right mixture of historical content and teen turmoil.
August 2, 2016
Educational and entertaining, Acevedo demonstrates storytelling finesse with a commitment to historical accuracy.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews