Audiobook Review: Troy (Stephen Fry’s Great Mythology #3)

Author: Stephen Fry

Narrator: Stephen Fry

Audiobook Length: 11 hours 2 minutes

Full of tragic heroes, intoxicating love stories, and the unstoppable force of fate, there is no conflict more iconic than the Trojan War. Troy is the story of the epic battle retold by Fry with drama, humor, and vivid emotion. Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, Helen, their lovers, and their mortal enemies all burn bright in Fry’s compelling prose. This volume invites you to explore a captivating world with a brilliant storyteller as your guide.

Beloved author: Stephen Fry is an icon whose signature wit and mellifluous style makes this retelling utterly unique. Fans will love hearing his interpretation, whether they are familiar with the original Greek myths or not.

Timeless Stories: For fans of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, Madeline Miller’s Circe or Song of Achilles, or Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls, this is the perfect next great book. These ancient tales never get old.

Troy is the third installment in Stephen’s Fry Great Mythology series. I still need to try the second, Heroes, but I greatly enjoyed the first, Mythos. The fourth one, The Odyssey, even made my TBR before I finished this one as I had confidence, I would continue to enjoy his style of retelling. The story covers everything from Heracles, Agamemnon, Helen, Achilles, and everything in-between. There are pieces of The Iliad throughout and all of it is told in a very accessible manner.

Before the battle of Troy, Fry goes through the backstory where each family and their history are given to set up the main events. There are a lot of players in this story, so it can come across as confusing at times. Since I am familiar with this story, it was easy to track everyone since I have prior knowledge; however, I can see how it can be more overwhelming to those that either are not as familiar or are brand new to this story. Along with the bloodshed and more somber tones, Fry also integrates some humor along the way, which provide a nice balance to the experience.

As the story navigates between the Heroes and the Gods, it is interesting to see the divide among the Olympians and how this affected the overall tale. For those that are interested in Greek history/mythology, they will greatly enjoy this story. While the printed versions have great visuals, I love listening to the actual stories on audiobook, which continue to be narrated by Fry himself. The rise and fall of Troy were interesting events that has been retold many times whether in fiction or nonfiction, so I enjoyed this simplistic take.  I continue to greatly enjoy this series and cannot wait to read the other two soon!