cyphomandra

"What song the Syrens sang, or what name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, though puzzling questions, are not beyond all conjecture.” - Thomas Browne

This is a retelling of the Iliad with Achilles as a trans woman, and, like all the retellings, some bits of it work better for me than others. It starts with Achilles on Skyros, an island home to many other trans women (kallai), where they use herbs to suppress male hormones and where Achilles has achieved some sort of peace after the relentless bullying and abuse she suffered as a child/young adult. This refuge is ripped away from her when Diomedes and Odysseus track her down, but she receives a divine gift from Athena where her body is transformed to match her true self, and it is in this form that she fights the Trojan War.

It’s a fascinating & bold take on Achilles, and it works well with the text. Deane keeps the gods as well, which I always like in Iliad retellings (although there are some alterations, e.g. Achilles’ parentage), and adds an original character, Meryapi, an Egyptian princess married to Achilles’ cousin (!) Patroclus, who is great and who brings yet another perspective to the story.

( Spoilerish. )

However. I did enjoy it; it’s engaging, even when I disagree with certain decisions. The book has, unfortunately, fallen foul of the strand of ownvoices critique that picks greedily over anything with GLBT+ characters looking for missteps, as well as constantly (perhaps wilfully) failing to comprehend the concept that depiction does not equal endorsement. It’s not as bad as the Isabel Fall incident, but it’s disturbing.

(one thing I would warn for that you might not expect from familiarity with the source material is a graphic birth scene)