Madeline Miller "The Song of Achilles" Signed Collector's Edition, Slipcased Limited Edition of 50 w/COA [Double Sealed]

“Madeline Miller is a magical combination of brilliant and generous. If you want a wildly enthusiastic audience and a gracious and thoughtful speaker, who is as friendly and approachable as she is learned, you could hardly do better than Madeline, whose scholarship and creativity are superlative.” – Sweet Briar College

Personally signed by Madeline Miller, who spent ten years writing The Song of Achilles while she worked as a teacher of Latin and Greek. The novel tells the story of the love between the mythological figures Achilles and Patroclus; it won the Orange Prize for Fiction, making Miller the fourth debut novelist to win the prize.

SLIP-CASED SIGNED LIMITED EDITION OF ONLY 50 W/COA

Harper Collins 2022. Madeline Miller "The Song of Achilles" A Deluxe, Exclusive B&N Hardcover Edition of the #1 New York Times Bestseller. Beautiful, brand new, exclusive cover featuring gold foil, embossing and original art. Hardcover paper over board format. Custom turquoise edge stain. Gorgeous colored end-papers. Unique designed "This Book Belongs To" dedication page. No dust-jacket as issued. Very Fine without any flaws. Slipcased and sealed.

Signed Collector's Edition - Slipcased Limited Edition of only 50 w/Hand-numbered COA

 "The Song of Achilles", in the "first thus" edition that is more collectible, with the substantially different and longer-lasting hardcover format.

This special signed collector's edition is more scarce than the true first edition copy.

Features Exclusive To This Edition

• Personally signed by Madeline Miller (no bookplates)
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A New York Times Bestseller

“At once a scholar’s homage to The Iliad and startlingly original work of art….A book I could not put down.” —Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House

A thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War from the bestselling author of Circe

A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homer’s enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived and executed page-turner, Miller’s monumental debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fiction’s brightest lights—and fans of Mary Renault, Bernard Cornwell, Steven Pressfield, and Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series will delight in this unforgettable journey back to ancient Greece in the Age of Heroes.

“A captivating retelling of The Iliad and events leading up to it through the point of view of Patroclus: it’s a hard book to put down, and any classicist will be enthralled by her characterisation of the goddess Thetis, which carries the true savagery and chill of antiquity.” — Donna Tartt, The Times

Specially Bound By The Publisher

Personally signed by Madeline Miller directly onto the special title page. 
SLIP-CASED DELUXE SIGNED FIRST "Thus" EDITION, LIMITED TO ONLY 50 w/COA.

Full number line on the copyright page. 

One of the most collectible states of the publication.  THE SONG OF ACHILLES, in the "first thus" edition that is more collectible, with the substantially different and longer-lasting hardcover format. No dust-jacket as issued. Blue sprayed edges.

About the Book

Greece in the age of Heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. Here he is nobody, just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles.

Achilles, “best of all the Greeks,” is everything Patroclus is not—strong, beautiful, the child of a goddess—and by all rights their paths should never cross. Yet one day, Achilles takes the shamed prince under his wing and soon their tentative connection gives way to a steadfast friendship. As they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper—despite the displeasure of Achilles’ mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.

Fate is never far from the heels of Achilles. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate.

Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.

Madeline Miller

Madeline Miller (born July 24, 1978) is an American novelist, author of The Song of Achilles (2011) and Circe (2018). Miller spent ten years writing The Song of Achilles while she worked as a teacher of Latin and Greek. The novel tells the story of the love between the mythological figures Achilles and Patroclus; it won the Orange Prize for Fiction, making Miller the fourth debut novelist to win the prize. She is a 2019 recipient of the Alex Awards.

Madeline Miller was born in Boston and grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. She attended Brown University, where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. She has taught and tutored Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students for more than fifteen years.

She has also studied at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought, and in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms.

The Song of Achilles, her first novel, was awarded the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction and was a New York Times Bestseller. It has been translated into over twenty-five languages including Dutch, Mandarin, Japanese, Turkish, Arabic and Greek. Madeline was also shortlisted for the 2012 Stonewall Writer of the Year, and her essays have appeared in a number of publications including the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Lapham’s Quarterly and NPR.org.

Her second novel, Circe, was an instant number 1 New York Times bestseller, and has been widely praised from NPR to People Magazine to the Washington post. Novelist Ann Patchett called it “An epic spanning thousands of years that’s also a keep-you-up-all-night page turner.” In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man’s world.

Madeline Miller - The Song of Achilles

“A real page-turner. It’s a gripping narrative and vividly told.” ―Charles Palliser, author of The Quincunx

Awards & Honors

Winner of the 2012 Orange Prize (now The Women’s Prize for Fiction)

New York Times Bestseller

Massachusetts Must-Read of 2013; Finalist for the Mass Book Award

Stonewall Honor Book, American Library Association

Shortlisted for the UK Independent Bookseller Award

Shortlisted for Stonewall’s Writer of the Year

Finalist for the Chautauqua Prize

Semi-finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award

Reviews for The Song of Achilles

“Others have penned imaginative riffs on Homer’s epics, not least Margaret Atwood in her witty and wise The Penelopiad. Yet Miller’s fantastic first novel—shortlisted for the Orange Prize—seems singular in its scope and scholarship. . . Miller has combined scholarship with imagination to turn the most familiar war epic into a fresh, emotionally riveting and sexy page-turner. Patroclus follows Achilles into battle, but it is their magnificent and very modern love story that makes this an epic." ―The Independent

“A wildly romantic retelling of the Trojan Was as a story of longtime companions narrated by Patroclus. Miller plays with the historical record as established by Homer. . . and puts a sexy new narrative spin on the ancients that is surprisingly suspenseful. Some of the suspense comes from curiosities, like who will tell the story after Patroclus dies, but most of it comes from the urgency of Miller’s storytelling. . . bringing those dark figures back to life, making them men again, and while she’s at it, us[ing] her passionate companion piece toThe Iliad as a subtle swipe at today’s ongoing debate over gay marriage. Talk about updating the classics.” ―Time Magazine

“The Song of Achilles becomes a quiet love story, one so moving that I was reluctant to move on to the war and Homer’s tale of perverted honor and stubborn pride. But Miller segues into that more public story with grace. Her battle scenes are tense and exciting, as the young, half-divine Achilles comes into his own. . . Informed by scholarship, her imagination blends seamlessly with incidents from The Iliad. In prose as clean and spare as the driving poetry of Homer, Miller captures the intensity and devotion of adolescent friendship and lets us believe in these long-dead boys for whom sea nymphs and centaurs are not legend but lived reality. In doing so, she will make their names known to yet another generation, deepening and enriching a tale that has been told for 3,000 years.” ―Washington Post, Click here for full review.

“You don’t need to be familiar with Homer’s The Iliad (or Brad Pitt’s Troy, for that matter) to find Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles spellbinding. While classics scholar Miller meticulously follows Greek mythology, her explorations of ego, grief, and love’s many permutations are both familiar and new. . . Miller treats the men’s mutual sexual passion with refreshing straightforwardness and convincingly casts their love in such mythic proportions that we’re convinced when Patroclus declares, “He is half of my soul, as the poets say.”” ―O Magazine

“Madeline Miller’s brilliant first novel, The Song of Achilles, is the story. . . of great, passionate love between Achilles and Patroclus, as tragic as that of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. . . Even for a scholar of Greek literature, which Miller is, rewriting the Western world’s first and greatest war novel is an awesome task to undertake. That she did it with such grace, style and suspense is astonishing.” ―Dallas Morning News

“Next to the daughter-killing Agamemnon, Achilles was my least favorite character in The Iliad. . . How accomplished is Madeline Miller’s debut novel? Darned if she didn’t make me like the guy in Song of Achilles. Miller, a scholar of Latin and Ancient Greek, brings a remarkably conversational style to her Homeric retelling and manages to inject urgency and suspense into a tale whose outcome is already a foregone conclusion.” ―The Christian Science Monitor

“Miller’s debut novel. . . is a tour de force of history, mythology, politics, and devotion. . . What Miller adds is depth, and life, to every character and facet of the story. . . Immersion into Miller’s world, with descriptions reminiscent of Mary Renault at her best, and not a single false note in the dialogue, is a true pleasure. Readers may suffer from withdrawal as they reluctantly finish this book, and this reviewer hopes to see more soon from this talented author.” ―Historical Novels Society, Editor’s Choice Review

“One of 2012’s most exciting debuts is Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles, a prequel of sorts to The Iliad that traces the rise and fall of the Greek golden boy of myth. A young classics scholar who specialized in adapting classical tales for a modern audience at the Yale School of Drama, Miller has penned a seductive, hugely entertaining backstory that lends complexity to Homer’s virile action-adventure by imagining the intimate friendship between Achilles and the devoted Patroclus, who meets his end fighting in the Trojan War on Achilles’s behalf. Scouring ancient Greek texts for every mention of Patroclus, Miller conjures a lonely child whose sympathetic vulnerability becomes the foundation of the bond. The boys grow up together, becoming not simply companions but soulmates. The resulting novel is cinematic—one might say epic—in scope, but refreshingly, compellingly human in detail.” ―Vogue.com

“The Song of Achilles retells The Iliad like you’ve never read it before. . . in a realistic account of history and fantasy. . . Madeline Miller’s knowledge of ancient Greek history and her affinity toward the classic myths intensifies the novel and heightens the experience for the reader. Seamlessly blurring the lines of reality and time, Achilles is an amazing, spellbinding page-turner that I couldn’t put down until I’d read it cover to cover, twice!” ―Instinct Magazine

“With this novel, we can fall in love again: for Madeline Miller has made blind Homer sing to her. . . It has the magnificence of myth; it has the passions of humanity. . . Madeline Miller avenges the girls left behind while their brothers and husbands and sons “spoke to Plato.” Her Homer has sung to her, and the result is The Song of Achilles.” ―Bryn Mawr Classical Journal

“Miller skillfully weaves tender scenes of the boys’ relationship with breathtaking descriptions of battles and their bloody aftermath. [Her] degrees in Latin and Greek as well as her passion for the theater and the history of the ancient world have given her the tools to create a masterly vision of the drama, valor, and tragedy of the Trojan War. Readers who loved Mary Renault’s epic novels will be thrilled with Miller’s portrayal of ancient Greece.” ―Library Journal, *Starred review*

“A captivating retelling of the Iliad and events leading up to it through the point of view of Patroclus: it’s a hard book to put down, and any classicist will be enthralled by her characterisation of the goddess Thetis, which carries the true savagery and chill of antiquity.” ―Donna Tartt, author of The Secret History and The Little Friend, in The Times

“To re-write Homer’s Iliad as a modern novel was a bold move—but it has paid off superbly. . . I read this book awestruck with admiration for the quality of its writing, its narrative pace and its imaginative depth. If I were to give a prize for the best work of fiction I’ve read this year, this would be the runaway winner. As a first novel, it heralds the arrival of a major new talent.” ―Reader’s Digest

“For a whistlestop tour around the life and times of Achilles, you’d be hard pressed to find a better guide than Madeline Miller. . . This accomplished and enjoyable novel. . . is original, clever, and in a class of its own. . . an incredibly compelling and seductive read. Her skill is considerable: she has to make us believe in Achilles and Patroclus almost as if they were modern-day characters in a Hollywood movie. . . It’s an entirely successful piece of writing, sitting comfortably between literary and commercial genres. It does what the best novels do—it transports you to another world—as well as doing something that few novels bother to: it makes you feel incredibly clever.” ―The Independent on Sunday

“With language both evocative of her predecessors and fresh, and through familiar scenes that explore new territory, this first-time novelist masterfully brings to life an imaginative yet informed vision of ancient Greece featuring divinely human gods and larger-than-life mortals. She breaks new ground retelling one of the world’s oldest stories about men in love and war, but it is the extraordinary women—Iphigenia, Briseis, and Thetis—who promise readers remarkable things to come as Miller carves out a custom-made niche in historical fiction.” ―Publishers Weekly, *Starred Review*/Pick of the Week

“Only the finest of historical novelists are able to adequately convey the sheer strangeness and otherness of the past, particularly the ancient past. By this criterion alone, Madeline Miller shows exceptional promise. . . a remarkably fresh take on one of the most familiar narratives in western literature. . . It is quite an achievement.” ―The Times

“Miller draws on her knowledge of Classical sources wisely. . . [she] is particularly good at characterization. . . The novel is well paced, engaging and tasteful. For a writer of Miller’s training and talent, the characters of The Iliad and The Odyssey offer a wealth of further story-telling possibilities.” ―The Times Literary Supplement

“[The Song of Achilles is] brilliant at conjuring a world where capricious gods and unbreakable prophecies are simply part of life, and at capturing the tangled amorality of politics and war, like some delirious fusion of Game of Thrones and Jean Genet. . . the story wonderfully brings home how eye-poppingly weird and gripping classical mythology really is.” ―Word

“Beautifully done—sensitive and scholarly, without sacrificing the page-turning qualities of an unashamed romance.” ―The Metro

“Extraordinary. . . Beautifully descriptive and heart-achingly lyrical, this is a love story as sensitive and intuitive as any you will find.” ―Daily Mail

“An original page-turning homage to The Iliad. . . Miller’s prose is vividly atmospheric, retelling the siege of Troy in all its heroic devastation.” ―Marie Claire

“If every first novel I read was as accomplished as this one is, it would say much for the future of publishing. This deft pairing of subject and craftsmanship is enormously impressive, and makes the book stand out as something original and fresh and beautiful. . . it’s on my ‘best of the year’ list.” ―Cornflower Books

“This is a terrific novel. Miller’s style (uncomplicated) and her language (modern) is a winner. This book, in my opinion, deserves a wide readership. I was enthralled from beginning to end. I shall now tackle the dustier Iliad with vigour (well, perhaps restrained vigour) thanks to Miller for whetting my appetite. Highly recommended.” ―The Bookbag

“Miller’s prose flows easily and poetically, and she treats the relationship between the two men with sensitivity and skill. . . A fascinating debut.” ―Sunday Herald

“I loved the book. The language was timeless, the historical details were slipped in perfectly. I hope Song of Achilles becomes part of the high school summer reading lists alongside Penelopiad.” ―Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

“Mary Renault lives again! A ravishingly vivid and convincing version of one of the most legendary of love stories.” ―Emma Donoghue, author of the bestseller Room

“The Song of Achilles is at once a scholar’s homage to the Iliad and a startlingly original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist. Madeline Miller has given us her own fresh take on the Trojan war and its heroes. The result is a book I could not put down.” ―Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto and State of Wonder

“The Iliad turns on Achilles’ pride and his relationship with Patroclus, but Homer is sparing with the personal—so much so that, though we believe in their friendship, we do not understand it. The Song of Achilles brings light to their love. This is a beautiful book.” ―Zachary Mason, author of The Lost Books of the Odyssey

“Madeline Miller takes the ancient art of the rhapsode, the singer of Homeric tales, and makes it sing again. The mutual devotion of Patroclus and Achilles is at the heart of a world so richly imagined that we seem to walk through it with them. . . Reading this book recalled me to the breathless sense of the ancient-yet-present that I felt when I first fell in love with the classics.” ―Catherine Conybeare, Professor of Classics, Bryn Mawr College