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A Prince of Troy
PART ONE OF THE TROY QUARTET
Bringing ancient myth to life with passion, humour, and humanity, Lindsay Clarke vividly retells the story of Troy and of the heroes who fought there.
When the mortal Paris settles a contest between the gods, he is promised the love of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world.
But Helen is already married, to the powerful Menelaus of Sparta, and the kings of many cities have sworn to defend their union. Paris’s divine gift threatens to set his world aflame.
‘An engaging retelling of the whole story, neatly blending mythic archaism with modern psychodrama and satire’
Mary Beard
1 – A PRINCE OF TROY
2 – THE WAR AT TROY
3 – THE SPOILS OF TROY
4 – THE RETURN FROM TROY
Bringing ancient myth to life with passion, humour, and humanity, Lindsay Clarke vividly retells the story of Troy and of the heroes who fought there.
When the mortal Paris settles a contest between the gods, he is promised the love of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world.
But Helen is already married, to the powerful Menelaus of Sparta, and the kings of many cities have sworn to defend their union. Paris’s divine gift threatens to set his world aflame.
‘An engaging retelling of the whole story, neatly blending mythic archaism with modern psychodrama and satire’
Mary Beard
1 – A PRINCE OF TROY
2 – THE WAR AT TROY
3 – THE SPOILS OF TROY
4 – THE RETURN FROM TROY
Audiobook
Published August 1, 2020
5 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
About the author
Lindsay Clarke
34 books41 followersLindsay Clarke is a British novelist. He was educated at Heath Grammar School in Halifax and at King's College Cambridge. He worked in education for many years, in Africa, America and the UK, before becoming a full-time writer. He currently lives in Somerset with his wife, Phoebe Clare, who is a ceramic artist. Clarke lectures in creative writing at Cardiff University, and teaches writing workshops in London and Bath. Four radio plays were broadcast by BBC Radio 4, and a number of his articles and reviews have been published in 'Resurgence' and 'The London Magazine.' Lindsay has one daughter from his first marriage.
His novel The Chymical Wedding, partly inspired by the life of Mary Anne Atwood, won the Whitbread Prize in 1989. Clarke's most recent novel is THE WATER THEATRE (published in September 2010 by Alma Booka), of which a review by Antonia Senior in THE TIMES of 28 August said "There is nothing small about this book. It is huge in scope, in energy, in heart...It is difficult to remember a recent book that is at once so beautiful and yet so thought provoking."
His novel The Chymical Wedding, partly inspired by the life of Mary Anne Atwood, won the Whitbread Prize in 1989. Clarke's most recent novel is THE WATER THEATRE (published in September 2010 by Alma Booka), of which a review by Antonia Senior in THE TIMES of 28 August said "There is nothing small about this book. It is huge in scope, in energy, in heart...It is difficult to remember a recent book that is at once so beautiful and yet so thought provoking."
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 18, 2022
First of four in a modernized version of Greek mythology surrounding Troy, the sack of Troy, and Odysseus’s return to Greece. I’m sucker for the whole Greek mythology bit and the modernization of the myths is done quite tastefully. The stories are quite thorough, and if anything, therein lies the weakness in the book. The book begins with the presentation of the golden apple at the wedding feast, but before getting into that story, however , we are presented with page after page of backstory, first of the guests at the wedding, then that of Paris and then that of Helen, and in both the latter cases it goes quite far back into their ancestry. That depth weakens the power of the actual main event for me, but others may not see it that way. I chose the audio book version, which I thought was pretty good.
September 23, 2020
I'm what you might call a devotee of The Iliad. I've read it three times, continue to read around it as the mood takes me, and I give a chance to any re-telling that comes my way. So far, this series (I'm about to start book three,) and the masterful Pat Barker's, The Silence of the Girls, are the best of the batch, adding insight, depth, and the desire to go even deeper into Homer's verses.
A Prince of Troy launches us into the story of the Trojan War and its aftermath. In many ways, it's a book of back stories, especially that of young Paris and Helen, both bestowed and cursed with great beauty and all the passions of Aphrodite and Eros. As we know, it will be their undoing. It's a slower start than I would have liked, but it moves us forward and was worth the time - a small criticism, but I can see how it would put some readers off.
Discovering this book, and going on to finish the second book in the quartet, has introduced me to an author that is no where as well known as he should be - or perhaps he is, in Great Britain, but certainly not here.
I'm also posting a review of The War at Troy, book two of the quartet.
A Prince of Troy launches us into the story of the Trojan War and its aftermath. In many ways, it's a book of back stories, especially that of young Paris and Helen, both bestowed and cursed with great beauty and all the passions of Aphrodite and Eros. As we know, it will be their undoing. It's a slower start than I would have liked, but it moves us forward and was worth the time - a small criticism, but I can see how it would put some readers off.
Discovering this book, and going on to finish the second book in the quartet, has introduced me to an author that is no where as well known as he should be - or perhaps he is, in Great Britain, but certainly not here.
I'm also posting a review of The War at Troy, book two of the quartet.
December 31, 2022
Very excited to have found such a vivid, splendid, well-written retelling of the story of Paris, Helen and the lead up to the Trojan War.
The gods are included (always a bonus), and the focus is on Paris. This isn’t a modernisation, Clarke plays it pretty straight.
The only criticism I have is that if you’re not familiar with all the Ancient Greek mythology the early few chapters might be less accessible, but the rest of the book is fabulously told.
I’m so pleased there are three more in the series to read! Onwards to Troy!
The gods are included (always a bonus), and the focus is on Paris. This isn’t a modernisation, Clarke plays it pretty straight.
The only criticism I have is that if you’re not familiar with all the Ancient Greek mythology the early few chapters might be less accessible, but the rest of the book is fabulously told.
I’m so pleased there are three more in the series to read! Onwards to Troy!
October 20, 2020
If I could give this 100 I'd do just that for the audio performance of this book! WOW!
If you love the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid, if you love Greek myths, heroes, and folk tales, you have to listen to this book and the other three in the series.
The narrator performs this book, he becomes Homer, the bard sitting in a dining hall or around a fire, telling the story of the how the Trojan War began, of the gods and goddesses, of the heroes we all know, complete with their successes and failures, their hubris, character flaws that make them human.
The author takes the myths and origin stories in the Iliad and arranges them in chronological order. Book one ends with the kidnapping of Helen by Paris after a sweeping series of tales that lead up to this event.
As a student of ancient history (Greek and Roman) and having read the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid in both the original languages and English, I fell in love with this performance and the Homeric tales all over again!
For a review of the performance, see AudioFile Magazine http://www.audiofilemagazine.com
If you love the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid, if you love Greek myths, heroes, and folk tales, you have to listen to this book and the other three in the series.
The narrator performs this book, he becomes Homer, the bard sitting in a dining hall or around a fire, telling the story of the how the Trojan War began, of the gods and goddesses, of the heroes we all know, complete with their successes and failures, their hubris, character flaws that make them human.
The author takes the myths and origin stories in the Iliad and arranges them in chronological order. Book one ends with the kidnapping of Helen by Paris after a sweeping series of tales that lead up to this event.
As a student of ancient history (Greek and Roman) and having read the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid in both the original languages and English, I fell in love with this performance and the Homeric tales all over again!
For a review of the performance, see AudioFile Magazine http://www.audiofilemagazine.com
November 13, 2020
This was a really enjoyable retelling of the events leading up to the kidnapping of Helen by Paris, and very different to the ones I've read before.
Admittedly, as a retelling, it doesn't really add anything new to the table when it comes to the story. It's not interpreting events or characters in any new way, just reordering them chronologically to provide context to the main events. What makes it brilliant is how Clarke manages to make the characters truly come to life through their thoughts and actions on the page. It doesn't judge them, or raise any of them up as particular heroes (at least beyond the definition of a hero by Greek myths) but presents them as people who are capable of both good and bad. Which, honestly, to me does make it a little different from the others I've read, which try a lot harder to make certain characters out to either be inherently good or bad.
If you can, I'd recommend picking up the audiobook. The story is framed as a retelling itself by a bard, and Jonathan Keeble acting as the bard works incredibly well.
Admittedly, as a retelling, it doesn't really add anything new to the table when it comes to the story. It's not interpreting events or characters in any new way, just reordering them chronologically to provide context to the main events. What makes it brilliant is how Clarke manages to make the characters truly come to life through their thoughts and actions on the page. It doesn't judge them, or raise any of them up as particular heroes (at least beyond the definition of a hero by Greek myths) but presents them as people who are capable of both good and bad. Which, honestly, to me does make it a little different from the others I've read, which try a lot harder to make certain characters out to either be inherently good or bad.
If you can, I'd recommend picking up the audiobook. The story is framed as a retelling itself by a bard, and Jonathan Keeble acting as the bard works incredibly well.
June 14, 2021
Rating: 2.5 stars
For some reason, despite myunnecessarily vast amount of mythology knowledge, I have a major blind spot when it comes to the Trojan War. I don't know why, it's not that I've avoided it, but I just haven't ever been required to extensively study it for school, nor have I looked up about it on my own accord. I hope to remedy this soon and read The Iliad, but I'm reading other long ancient texts for school (about epicureanism and stoicism, if you care) and I can only handle one at a time at the moment. I don't know whether I'll continue with this series, because it reads like fiction which is automatically making me second guess everything I read (this is my own fault, not the book's).
For some reason, despite my
February 22, 2021
Best story of the history of Troy & Sparta I've ever read or seen. Can't wait to start w/ part 2.
March 19, 2024
I was worried if this would be a bad idea to jump into straight after finishing Fry's Troy. My concerns were over being bored of the story already, and, inevitably, comparing the two.
However, I needed not have those above worries. I found that reading Fry's work first gave me knowledge of all the characters and events that made this book more enjoyable in it's more story-like approach of the telling.
This series breaks up the origins of the fall of Troy starting from the wedding that caused the wrath of Eris the goddess of discord and focusing mainly on Paris' journey.
I enjoyed hearing more about Paris; for example, I hadn't realised how friendly he had been with Menelaus before stealing away Helen for himself. It didn't make me like him much more than I did. He seemed too entitled in who and what he deserved to have, at any cost... I mean just look at how the rest of the story plays out. He really doesn't care unless he has who he lusts for.
I also enjoyed hearing more about Helen's life before all of this happened. I didn't know anything really about her, other than the fact that she was greatly beautiful. I felt like I was given a chance to empathise with her situation some more, but her history still remains quite illusive to me.
Overall, this was an enjoyable recount of the early spark that set the war on Troy in motion.
Pick it up, give it a go & enjoy!
However, I needed not have those above worries. I found that reading Fry's work first gave me knowledge of all the characters and events that made this book more enjoyable in it's more story-like approach of the telling.
This series breaks up the origins of the fall of Troy starting from the wedding that caused the wrath of Eris the goddess of discord and focusing mainly on Paris' journey.
I enjoyed hearing more about Paris; for example, I hadn't realised how friendly he had been with Menelaus before stealing away Helen for himself. It didn't make me like him much more than I did. He seemed too entitled in who and what he deserved to have, at any cost... I mean just look at how the rest of the story plays out. He really doesn't care unless he has who he lusts for.
I also enjoyed hearing more about Helen's life before all of this happened. I didn't know anything really about her, other than the fact that she was greatly beautiful. I felt like I was given a chance to empathise with her situation some more, but her history still remains quite illusive to me.
Overall, this was an enjoyable recount of the early spark that set the war on Troy in motion.
Pick it up, give it a go & enjoy!
November 16, 2023
A decent book, but I would hesitate to call it a true retelling, more of a filling-in-the-blanks/making the myth more understandable for modern readers. But to me it took several chapters into the book before it even started to feel like a story, before the middle it felt too much of a transcription of what went down - with the occasional burst of dialogue.
Not bad writing, especially not for those who enjoy the mythology, but not really written as a story the way I think of most fiction. I don't feel that much more fulfilled reading this than I could have reading about the myths on Wikipedia or other sources. Or; I don't feel the story added all that much, or enough, to what is already known about the myths.
That it's written from a third person narrative didn't help; we're not shown what the characters feel so much as we're told which made it hard to connect to them. They all felt rather two-dimensional and as a whole, the storytelling
fell flat: I couldn't get invested, not the way I usually do with most fiction. To be honest, for the most part this book bored me rather than grab me - and I say that as someone who loves Greek mythology (which is also the only reason I finished it).
Not bad writing, especially not for those who enjoy the mythology, but not really written as a story the way I think of most fiction. I don't feel that much more fulfilled reading this than I could have reading about the myths on Wikipedia or other sources. Or; I don't feel the story added all that much, or enough, to what is already known about the myths.
That it's written from a third person narrative didn't help; we're not shown what the characters feel so much as we're told which made it hard to connect to them. They all felt rather two-dimensional and as a whole, the storytelling
fell flat: I couldn't get invested, not the way I usually do with most fiction. To be honest, for the most part this book bored me rather than grab me - and I say that as someone who loves Greek mythology (which is also the only reason I finished it).
January 11, 2026
4.5 stars
I haven’t read The Illiad so I don’t know how it’s supposed to compare to the story. We’ll also never know how much was myth and how much was history.
I loved this book and I am very excited upon finding out that it is part of a four book series.
It humanised characters that I’ve known since I was little in a way I hadn’t seen before. It made Peleus’ life so tragic, and Paris’ betrayal of Menelaus heartbreaking, but also the love and passion Paris and Helen share was described so beautifully.
I took off half a star since the book takes a long while to hit its stride. It begins in a very confusing manner with the narrator being quickly introduced and then going back and forth between the family trees of multiple people.
It would have been so much better if the geography of the countries and their relationship was explained at least in passing. I had to pull up wikipedia a couple of times since I listened to this on Audiobook and I wanted to check how some names were written and to have more context on certain people and places.
I haven’t read The Illiad so I don’t know how it’s supposed to compare to the story. We’ll also never know how much was myth and how much was history.
I loved this book and I am very excited upon finding out that it is part of a four book series.
It humanised characters that I’ve known since I was little in a way I hadn’t seen before. It made Peleus’ life so tragic, and Paris’ betrayal of Menelaus heartbreaking, but also the love and passion Paris and Helen share was described so beautifully.
I took off half a star since the book takes a long while to hit its stride. It begins in a very confusing manner with the narrator being quickly introduced and then going back and forth between the family trees of multiple people.
It would have been so much better if the geography of the countries and their relationship was explained at least in passing. I had to pull up wikipedia a couple of times since I listened to this on Audiobook and I wanted to check how some names were written and to have more context on certain people and places.
August 25, 2021
Really excellent audio book which brings the myth about the ups and downs of life of Paris ( he who had to judge the beauty competition between Aphrodite, Hera and Athene) to life. The background to his life and his parents and cousins is clear and I really enjoyed the story of the start of the Trojan War being brought to life with various viewpoints ( including Helen’s) brought to the fore. If you have any interest in the Greek Myths I would recommend this book as a entertaining companion to the work of Homer.
Read
September 5, 2020I rated this three stars but I feel bad adding that to the overall rating. My response to this book: Mehhhhhh. I want the retelling to *bring* a little something, you know? This is... just the story but in modern language. I’d like a bit of ‘interpretation’!
However, if you are new to these classical stories, this is actually a really accessible way to experience them for the first time.
Not what I was looking for but by no means terrible.
However, if you are new to these classical stories, this is actually a really accessible way to experience them for the first time.
Not what I was looking for but by no means terrible.
July 9, 2021
Not really sure who the audience is for this. It was a useful retelling of the events leading up to the siege of Troy, but the characters remained stubbornly two-dimensional, making it hard for modern adult readers to connect or even sympathise with much of what takes place. ‘The gods made me do it’ was always a lousy excuse. On the other hand there was far too much sex, violence and casual misogyny for it to be something you could recommend to children.
April 8, 2021
Quite enjoyed this version of the story of Helen and Paris! Not what I expected either, an enjoyable book.
October 10, 2021
3.5 ⭐️
September 25, 2022
Grand / I’m interested in Greek mythology so I was interested in reading this series.
It’s a little dry but good enough, damm that pesky Aphrodite!!
It’s a little dry but good enough, damm that pesky Aphrodite!!
October 3, 2022
engaging, thrilling, entertaining, a really great and accessible retelling.
December 17, 2023
The rating purely on my distaste of young Paris - not the writing.
March 31, 2025
I enjoyed this story, and it is quite witty. A good retelling.
December 31, 2025
wonderously brilliant
May 30, 2024
Just what I was looking for, a novelization of the events leading up to the Trojan War that helps you remember characters and mythological context for the events of the Iliad.
January 30, 2024
i just really hate Paris
October 27, 2023
As far as the story is told and the information, its quite well done. Incredibly straight and sometimes meandering, but its a good introduction to the Troyan War fiction as any.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews