Title: Circe
Author: Madeline Miller
Genre: Novel, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fantasy Fiction
Release: April 2018
Price: e-book (eng) 6.49€ | Paperback (eng) 6.83€ | e-book (ger) 14.99€ | paperback (ger) 18€ (all via amazon)
Rating:
Summary
Circe is the daughter of the Titan Helios and one of four children. She’s to be the plainest and weakest of them, not able to get a husband, while her sister marries King Minos and later even gives birth to the famous Minotaur.
As it turns out, Circe is a witch, just like her siblings and because Zeus wants to make sure no one bothers him, Circe is put in exile as an example. She has to stay on an island for the rest of her eternal life. There, she learns more about her magic than changing a mortal into a god or turning a nymph into a sea monster.
She has had many lovers over time, Daedalus is one of them (the father of Icarus). Later she starts something with Hermes, but that falls out once she isn’t challenging enough. Her last lover for a while is the famous Odysseus. He stays with her for a few months to repair his ship to continue home to Ithaca. When he leaves Circe finds herself pregnant with a son, she gives birth to via a C-section. From then on she has to protect him from Athena, who wants him dead.
As he turns sixteen, he wants to sail to Ithaca to meet his father, which he does as Circe bespells the boat and hands him a poisonous spear to protect himself from harm but mostly Athena. Sadly, he accidentally kills his father instead, comes back and has Penelope and his older half-brother Telemachus with him. After a while, a new deal seems struck, as Athena can no longer attack her son and Telemachus refuses Athena’s offer of glory. But Circe’s son, the younger son of Odysseus is offered the very same and he takes his chance. Circe on the other hand calls upon her father and threatens him with hidden knowledge so that he pleads with Zeus on her behalf to lift the exile. Then she and Telemachus start to travel to the Greek island and fall in love. They return to the island she had lived on and where Penelope is living now as a witch. They take a break and Circe makes a potion for herself to make herself mortal.
Review:
The book was confusing at times because it seamlessly switches between present and future. It also dragged in parts and then it was hard to continue. Circe wasn’t a character I felt drawn to. Actually, there wasn’t a single character that I was able to connect to. It felt more like I was a mortal listening to the great story told by the goddess herself. Like a distant story.
Yet it was wonderfully written, more challenging than other novels and I really liked that. It had no spice, which is absolutely fine for me, but if you really need that in your books, then Circe might not really be your cup of tea. But if you have knowledge of ancient greek myths and legends, then Circe is a very cool read.
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