The Hymn to Dionysus
by Natasha Pulley
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A timely reimagining of the story of Dionysus-Greek god of ecstasy, revelry, and ruin-and a captivating queer love story for readers of The Song of Achilles and Elektra.
Raised in a Greek legion, Phaidros has been taught to follow his commander's orders at all costs. But when Phaidros rescues a baby from a fire at Thebes's palace, his commander's orders cease to make sense: Phaidros is forced to abandon the blue-eyed boy at a temple, and to keep the baby's existence a total secret.
Years later, struggling with panic attacks and flashbacks, Phaidros is enlisted by the Queen to find her son, Thebes' young crown prince, who has vanished to escape an arranged marriage. The search leads him to a blue-eyed witch named Dionysus, whose guidance is as wise as the events that surround him are strange. In Dionysus's company, Phaidros witnesses sudden outbursts of riots and unrest, and everywhere Dionysus goes, rumors follow about a new god, one sired by Zeus but lost in a fire.
In The Hymn to Dionysus, bestselling author Natasha Pulley transports us to an ancient empire on the edge of ruin to tell an utterly captivating queer love story about a man needing a god to remind him how to be a human.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9781639732364
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Authors
- Natasha Pulley
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Published Date
- March 18, 2025
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 416
- Physical Info
- 1.6 in H x 9.3 in L x 6.3 in W (1.55 lb)
I was hooked from the first page and held throughout. This book made ancient Greece -- pre-Homeric Greece -- new and vivid and full of marvels. I loved it, though I spent chunks of the book fearful that the glorious rush through the pages would end in tragedy.I don't want to reveal the turns along the way, nor the final ending, but I will say that I loved Phaidros, the narrator and central character, raised from infancy to be an elite Theban soldier (dubbed a knight in the book). And I loved Dionysus.Five out of five ivy stars.About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
Wonderful lyrical story with intrigue and mystery and plot and romance. I truly loved so many things about this novel - I laughed out loud and read lines to friends. A delightful book.
This story is an epic, a shell game, and a love story crafted into one exquisite package. It's like an untold Greek myth. It's set perhaps 700 years or more BCE, in a parallel world to our own. We learn about our two main characters, Phaidros and Dionysus, from Phaidros' perspective.Phaidros is a polemarch, which is a senior military position. He meets Dionysus at different points in his life, and at none of them is his identity clear.This is not the Dionysus, or Bacchus, god of wine, celebration, and madness you might think. He is deeper, stranger, and more necessary than you might imagine.Most of this story is set at a time of drought and famine, where terrible choices are made. Yet there's a strange lightness to the storytelling that keeps it from drowning you.Highly recommended!
I loved this and can't wait to read it again. All her books are brilliant and this is no exception
Every book by the author draws me into the skin of the main characters, so much so that when I stop reading, I look around at the skin I shed and wonder who I am supposed to be. Hymn does not disappoint. The characters are finely drawn, the foreign land comes alive, and the conflict imprints upon the heart. I feel nostalgic for a life I never lived. Any reader with a background in the gods will enjoy it even more than I. Fabulous book, one of Ms Pulley's best yet.
