The Iliad: A Graphic Novel

A picture is worth a thousand words, and this version of the classic tale is full of detailed images, drawn with love. Hinds doesn't limit himself to merely telling the story, he also shows us maps of the ancient locations, and provides a detalied explanation of the context of this famed trojan war. He provides a near exhaustive list of all the characters involved, and their respective feats (or defeats) in the plains of ancient Troy. Some consider this attention to detail as detrimental, but I consider it entirely positive.This is not necessarily a children's book (though it is rather child friendly) as it is full of blood and violence, and some sexual references, though never in a distasteful manner.In conclusion, this new adaptation by Gareth Hinds a great, innovative version of the classic tale. Filled with both words and images, it captures the depth of The Iliad while also captivating our minds with wonderful illustrations. Do not pay attention to the bad reviews, this is a very enjoyable version, well worth the price. Even as an 8 year old, I believe I would have greatly enjoyed this book. Reccommended for all lovers of history, greeks (or achaeans as Homer called them) and ancient battles.

This graphic novel is an excellent introduction for all readers, adults and children alike, to classical literature. Gareth Hinds' adaptation of Homer's 'The Iliad' is thorough but does not overcomplicate the story for young readers. Another review criticized Hinds' work as being "word heavy", but although there is indeed alot of writing on most pages, the words compliment the illustrations, they do not detract from them. The drawings and the prose fit together like a hand in a glove. It is great value for money at approximately 250 fully illustrated pages, with the illustrations capturing the drama of the story very accurately. It takes great skill to retell the story for it to be both engaging for younger readers but detailed enough for teens or adults to enjoy.Overall, I highly recommend this graphic novel as Hinds' has made both 'The Iliad', and his other adaptation of Homer's work, 'The Odyssey', very accessible to a wide range of reading abilities.

There is a lot to like about this book. The illustrations are detailed and carefully presented so that the key characters are easily distinguished. The story is well told and easy to follow, despite the various threads and large number of characters. The author has mostly steered clear of gratuitous gore - it is a book about a war, and there are several deaths and quite a lot of blood, but all in keeping with the story and not over the top. Highly recommended! (We also have the Odyssey book, which is also great)

great illustration and a lovely piece of writing.

Homer's epic war poem The Iliad, set in ancient Greece, is one of the most revered classics of all time, and it's quite a tough read for many, so I was excited to discover this graphic novel version which I thought would be especially perfect for introducing youngsters to Homer's works. However, I'm afraid there were a number of issues. It was very difficult to read as the words ran into one another, and I felt describing it as a graphic novel was a bit of a misrepresentation; it's more accurately described as pretty much the entire tale in writing with a few accompanying illustrations which was not what I chose to read this for. It's simply too wordy to be called a graphic novel, and that, of course, defeats the purpose.The inclusion of maps and charts was a nice touch and much appreciated but with all of the formatting issues, this was too messy to enjoy. I would like to think that the finalised version will have all of the problems resolved or there are going to be some rather unhappy readers. There were also far more characters than the usual telling of the story which isn't ideal and will almost certainly be off-putting to many. If I, a reasonably astute reader, have problems engaging with this then those that are younger are likely to have a similar problem. I'm also, sadly, not a fan of the artwork. A great concept but poor execution.Many thanks to Candlewick for an ARC.

My thanks to Candlewick Press for a digital edition via NetGalley of Gareth Hinds’ ‘The Iliad’ in exchange for an honest review.I was jumping with joy over the idea of a graphic novel based on Homer’s epic poem about the Trojan War.However, I quickly discovered that this was an illustrated book not a graphic novel in the accepted definition of the term.There are certainly lots of illustrations and some maps and while the art was a little simplistic for my taste, it served to give another dimension to the text. It would be interesting to see how the text and illustrations are laid out in the print editions.At the end Hinds provides extensive notes including ‘What Happens Next’, the historical background to the poem, and page-by-page notes on the text, his illustrations etc.Overall, even if not a graphic novel, I felt it was a well illustrated introduction to Homer’s Iliad and one that certainly would be a good choice for schools, libraries, and those looking for an accessible format as introduction or companion to a more formal text.