I enjoyed experiencing this classic in graphic novel form, since it really brought the characters and the tale to life. The gods were still petty, the "heroes" were still self-absorbed jerks, the battles were still gory as hell, and the book still ended on a cliffhanger - but the colorful illustrations added another dimension to the story and made everyone seem more...human, in a way. I really liked the author's notes at the end of the book - well-researched yet easy to read tidbits on the history of the Iliad, of Homer, of the ancient world and it's myths and truths. Very fascinating stuff.

Okay, so I'm honestly not sure if this review is going to be the best or not, but I'm going to do the best with what I can, so just bear with me. The reason I'm starting off my review like this is because this was literally the hardest book to read as an e-book... At least, the copy that I received from Netgalley was. The writing was all jumbled and there was hardly any organization to explain who was talking or which character was being talked about. That being said, I'm going to try to focus solely on the content so that this is a fair review because it's totally not the author's fault that the e-book was all wonky.

First, the book itself wasn't entirely what I was expecting. I was expecting a graphic novel, like a comic. Instead, from what I can tell, at least, this is more like a book with illustrations, except the illustrations are in graphic novel form... If that makes sense? *shrugs* I did really like the artwork, though! The colors were beautiful and the style was really cool, though it could be kind of graphic at times.

I also really liked the cliff notes for certain terms and references throughout the book. I'm a huge Greek mythology fan, so it was really cool to read the facts behind certain parts of the story. Along with that, I also loved the Historical Accuracy section in the back of the book! I really enjoyed learning the history behind the Iliad; I honestly didn't know that the Trojan war was a real event, so I thought learning that was really cool!

All-in-all, I feel like I definitely would have enjoyed reading a finished physical copy of this book, but I did enjoy the story! I definitely recommend this if you're into Greek mythology or history, especially if you're trying to ease yourself into it. It really shows that Gareth Hinds put a lot of thought into the details of this book, and I would definitely be willing to give it another chance if it shows up at my local library one day. This book was just released on Tuesday, so if it sounds like something you'd like, be sure to check it out!

I haven't read The Iliad by Homer yet, but this seems to be an interesting adaptation, even if I think that the ratio of text and images wasn't always optimally balanced. I could imagine giving this graphic novel to teens as an introduction to the epic of Homer.

“I’ll never follow your orders again if you take Briseis. And should you lay claim to anything else of mine, your blood will soak my spear.”

The Iliad has always been my favorite of the three classics. I don’t know exactly why, but I guess there’s something unequivocally sad and melancholic about Achilles’s character and the madness he experienced after Patroclus’s death. The same madness that drove him to kill Hector and fulfill that atrocious prophecy.
This graphic novel was interesting to the point I didn’t want it to end. Told in prose, lines and stunning drawings, it’s one of the most beautiful versions of the Iliad I have ever seen. I would recommend it to adults, but children as well. The drawings were engaging and those who portrayed Patroclus and Hector’s death were poignant and quietly eloquent.
Loved the electronic version. I am wondering about the paperback…

Thank you Netgalley and Candlewick Press for providing me this copy in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wow. There is a lot going on in this book. Like a super lot. For me, someone who is not well-versed in the Iliad or Greek mythology, this was just too dense.

Reading this felt a bit like trying to watch all 8 seasons of Game of Thrones condensed into one season. The result is a massive info dump of character names and relationships and that doesn't leave a ton of room for engaging story. I chose to read this because I thought it would be an easier way to familiarize myself with the stories. I think the opposite is true.

This material will be much more enjoyed by those who already have some understanding of the story. My 10-year-old nephew who has been absorbing these stories since he was about 6 would LOVE this. He already knows the background information, so reading this would not nearly be the same struggle for him. I think this is well-suited for that kind of reader.

The art here is good, and I appreciate the efforts Hinds made to try to differentiate between the characters. I also quite like the notes throughout that explain certain words or ideas.

Overall, I give this 3 stars, but think that people familiar with the story will like this much more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for providing me with a DRC of this book.

Mythologies of all types have always been one of my weaknesses. Anything related to Greek mythology including the Trojan war and anything like that, just hand it over. That is the reason for which I jumped at the opportunity to review this book. I was a bit disappointed. While Mr. Gareth Hinds did not disappoint in his adaption to The Iliad, (the art is wonderful), the storytelling could have used just a little help especially since this book is aimed at Teens and YAs. There was a lot of poetry that while beautiful, I felt will confuse the younger audience. That being said, I love the historical accuracies to the original story. Recommend to younger audiences

I like the idea of making classic literature accessible to modern audiences via graphic novel. The language is understandable without being babyish. My largest qualm is with the art. While the panel that focuses on Andromache after Hector's death is very well done, there is bias and colorwashing throughout. In a story about ancient Greece, why is Helen blonde? Why are so many blonde and pale? Of course Helen was portrayed as very Barbie!

There are some explanations in footnotes, but the text dances around the issue of Achilles and Patroclus that have been interpreted by critics in other ways. I do appreciate that the role of the women is represented and Hecuba and Cassandra are shown. I would be interested in seeing all of the other texts regarding the Trojan War also given the graphic novel treatment, and see if the fate of the Trojan women is given its due.

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.

ARC Copy...well that was a much better adaptation the "Troy" movie. It was a good if thick tome adaptation of the Iliad, which I feel Greek buffs would enjoy plus interesting to depict the as colourful monochromes to emphasize their "different" nature from mortals.

It looks like an oldish book, with simple artwork (pencils, maybe?) and too much text. I love The Iliad and, although I think this graphic novel can be perfect for the youngsters to get to know the classic story, for me it was a little dissapointing. Don't expect something like 300, this is the story (not only the Trojan horse but the whole story) with drawings. I think it's great for aproaching to Homer's tale but not so much for people that have read the original many times, like myself.

Don't let the graphic novel format fool you into thinking this is a dumbed-down version of Homer's classic work. Rather, its gorgeous illustrations, maps, and character charts (the latter two are a brilliant addition) provide a new facet or two to the work, while still maintaining the same story, same gorgeous (albeit abridged) language, and plenty of the same epic violence. If your children are not ready for reading about spears through heads, bloody battles, and the like, then hold off on this. But if they're just about ready for Homer, try this first--it is much easier to keep track of which characters are which and how the events unfold with the visuals provided by illustration. And then find the audiobook of the original narrated by Dan Stevens so they can experience the language of Homer as generations have before them: recited by a great storyteller!

This was horrible. This was not what I was expecting from a graphic novel. It is essentially a book with random (bad) small pictures thrown into it. Not the traditional format of a graphic novel at all. This was just down right bad to read as an ebook as well. The writing was all messed up and sentences were mixing together so the story itself made no sense. Hopefully a print version of this will be a lot better. I liked the idea of making older stories easier to read in graphic novel form but this fell completely short of those expectations.

Thank you to the publisher & Netgalley fod allowing me to read and review this book.

The Iliad is undoubtedly one of my favorite books ever written. There is such majesty inside the story and perhaps this is why it has been around for many generations and will be for many generations to come. This version written by Gareth Hinds is a great addition and introduction to the Iliad world. Told with colorful drawings and an introduction of characters I was greatly impressed. With some of these classics it is often times very nice to see it from a different perspective and I think this version will help get new generations of readers to understand and appreciate the majesty of the Iliad.

I had trouble getting into this one. I like the idea of modernizing old stories for new audiences, but had trouble getting into the text-heavy panels. It's a great concept, it just didn't resonate with me.

Oh dear. As a graphic novel, this is far too wordy, and stagy, with just literal images of people and nothing more dynamic, interpretative, or fancy. As a book getting the young into the particular story, it fails – the characters are impossible to tell apart, even with the key at the beginning, and it washes over the reader with far more names than the average telling. I don't think this works at all for the target audience. It might be a quality, fulsome, lengthy and well-meaning undertaking, but the young me really wouldn't have got much out of these pages, and the older me certainly didn't.

I love the original classics of The Odyssey and The Iliad, so I thought this would be one of my new favorite graphic novels. Unfortunately there were a few things I found to be annoying while reading. My number one complaint was with the font. Why oh why would you use a font like Papyrus? I guess I understand the thought process of "this font looks like something Homer would have used" or something, but it's just bad here. Really cheapens the story, and it's a great story for sure. It just doesn't shine like it should, hidden behind the flaws of the font and art.

The art wasn't terrible. It could've been worse. I gave it some leeway because of the disclaimer in the beginning stating that "This is a NetGalley file. All artwork has been rendered in low resolution". It was just distracting to me personally because it looked like some Bible study coloring book pages, which is just so not a successful style for something like this epic.

I loved the maps, the pages of important characters and gods, and any informational charts. I wished there was more honestly. I wish I had known about the maps in the back and the "Page-by-Page Notes" at the end of the book. I guess if I had had a physical copy I might have looked in the back? Doubtful though. I usually avoid doing that so as not to spoil anything I might see while flipping through.

I think this would be a nice way for a younger audience to be introduced to classics like this, but for me I think I prefer the originals. I hate to say that because I love graphic novels, but this one feels like it just wasn't done correctly. Or maybe it just wasn't my thing, but it could definitely appeal to others. I could see this being someone's favorite book, especially since it is quite lengthy for a graphic novel. I bet it would be a nice book to showcase on a bookshelf next to Homer's classics.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC. I really do not know how to review or rate this book. It did tell the story of the Illiad, but the ARC was not even ready in my opinion since the lettering was not complete.

I love this as a retelling of The Iliad in graphic novel form. It was a bit tricky to read on ebook (formatting issues?) but the illustrations are exceptional. The story is wonderfully told and together with the artistic rendition of the story, makes this a terrific introduction or reread of this material.

I have already looked for other titles by Gareth Hines in addition to this one to have the physical copies.

Beautiful!

#TheIliad #NetGalley

I have enjoyed this comic. It remained true to the original story., however, I have struggled with the illustrations a bit. It wasn't as good on my device and e-reader. Maybe as a comic version it would be more distinguishable.

The Iliad is an epic story telling about the heroic battle between two ancient people. Although these armies fought each other over three thousand years ago, readers are still turning pages and authors are still writing their own version. Hinds has created a new graphic novel interpretation of these events to help readers with many visual ques. This is a book about an extensive battle that transpired with close contact fighting. With that being said, the art work shows these graphic scenes, yet they aren’t distasteful in the least. This is a companion graphic novel to Hinds’s version of The Odyssey and readers who enjoyed that adventure should be pleased with this one. This is the story of The Iliad and not the story of the Trojan horse, just in case that is what readers are thinking.