The Fate of Achilles

Landmann (The Incredible Voyage of Ulysses) continues her retelling of Homer’s epics with this haunting version of the Iliad. Ghostly, Giacometti-style figures accompany the story of Achilles’s life, from his baptism in the river Styx (“Your mother’s hand trembles./ Just for a moment./ And your heel remains dry”) to his departure for Troy (“If you fight in the Trojan War,” his mother warns, “your glory will be eternal./ But you will never return”), the death of his dearest friend (“Oh Patroclus! Because of my wicked anger,/ I failed to protect you!”), and his reconciliation with the father of the enemy he has slain. “Hector was a great man,” Achilles tells King Priam. “Carry him home and bury him with the honor he deserves.” Younger children may be put off by the chilly lunar landscapes in which Landmann’s mysterious figures stand, but older readers with the patience to sit through saga-length narratives will be fascinated by her prose, which moves easily through the sprawling epic without feeling ponderous or hurried. These kinds of retellings are few and far between, and hers are magic. Ages 9–12. (Sept.)