I was really grateful to be asked to review this ARC and I can totally see a version of this book that would be amazing, unfortunately I just didn't think this one stuck the landing.

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨,’ 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴. ‘𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺.’

Glorious Exploits tells the story of Lampo and Gelon, Sicilian potters who are out of work shortly after Athens' attempted invasion of Sicily. The surviving invading Athenian soldiers are held captive in the quarries of Syracuse, being kept alive but slowly starving, and Lampo and Gelon have taken to visiting them, demanding lines of poetry in exchange for bread. Gelon is obsessed with Athenian tragedy and having so many Athenians at his disposal... well he gets an idea. Gelon convinces Lampo to stage Euripides' Medea and The Trojan Women in the quarries using the starving soldiers as actors, but can this plan really mean anything good for anyone involved?

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘈𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦

The tone of the book is clearly striving for sardonic wit, trying to utilise the same kind of satirical sensibility as Catch-22 but in this book it can come across as really basic and bland (such as lines like "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘱, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩. 𝘎𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘱, 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩.") or otherwise really mean spirited and cruel. I do believe that the balance the author is trying to make between gruesome gallows humour and morally nuanced commentary is possible but I don't think he quite managed it, partly because of how unbearable his main character, Lampo, is. So much of the book is also slowed down by Lampo's love subplot with a slave woman which honestly added nothing to the story at all.

I can see a great novel in here, but it just isn't quite there yet. I think trying so hard to make the book funny, which largely failed, was a mistake as it actually undermines the parts that are really powerful and touching. Gelon's character, in particular, is brilliant. The way his portrayal hints at the overwhelming grief he keeps hidden, which provides context for some of his more stubborn and callous actions was really well thought out. But Lampo was such a boring Everyman, that instead of being a foil to Gelon or an interesting contrast, you just wish he would shut up and go talk to Gelon instead.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵. 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘈𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦 – 𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘴 – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴.

412BC in Syracuse. Athenians are being held prisoner in an old quarry, exposed to blazing sun during the day and plagued by rats at night. The Syracusans despise them, but two Syracusans decide to get them to put on a performance of Medea.

A rich trader arrives in Syracuse. His origins and motives are unclear, but he agrees to finance the performance. With his backing, they can afford to feed the Athenian performers, keeping them from death in the harsh conditions in the quarry.

The scheme is not popular with others in Syracuse - will the performance go ahead, and what will happen to the actors and the backers...

A good read.

Despite the occasional dark bits (but you expect that from this era) I found this a fun and lighthearted read. But there was more to it than that, as it deals with emotional fallout, friendship and values that aren't what they seem. I was disappointed by the ending though.

A great look at period of history that is dark, interesting and insightful told in a comical tone in surprisingly Irish dialect, works really well doesn’t seem out of place at all.
A book of friendship and making the right choices…a tale as old of time.
Not your usual historical read and it’s all the better for that

I loved this book! Glorious Exploits explores the fallout of the Sicilian Expedition during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. The protagonists are two normal men from Syracuse whom, on a whim, decide to use the Athenian prisoners to put on a play by Euripides. I read a lot of fiction about ancient Greece but rarely military fiction - as I read for research I usually read Greek myth retellings, but Glorious Exploits does very well what a lot of myth retellings lack. In particular, slavery is dealt with very thoughtfully, and at the forefront of the novel is always the humanity of the imprisoned soldiers from the losing side. Despite its serious topic, the novel is very funny and wonderfully written. A fantastic novel that I will definitely read again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting story of a very different kind to the usual stories about this part of the Meditteranean.. Some great descriptions that brought the story to life. A very clever conclusion

I was invited to read this and i have enjoyed reading other book set in this era.
I am disappointed. The first chapters have the main characters visiting a “prisoner of war camp” where captured Athenians are kept in appalling conditions. This is apparently a regular occurrence for entertainment and involves gratuitous violence.
I kept to my rule of reading at least 20% of book I am doubtful about but as this continues the language and the action is rude and unpleasant and i have decided not to continue. It is not for me.

This book is absolutely genius, i loved it so much and it will definitely be one of my favourites of 2023. It's funny, heartwarming and brutal all wrapped up in one very interesting and well paced story. It's based upon some fact which really opened up my eyes to this part of history. It;s a tale of friendship, love, grief and loss, and how arts can bring people together to show us what really matters in life. My review really doesn't do this book justice, I can't get into words how much I enjoyed it and would encourage anyone to give it a read!

I was eager to read this book having read a novel many years ago with a similar focus on the aftermath of the disastrous Athenian expedition to Syracuse and the way in which some of the young Athenians escaped death by reciting the plays of Euripides, loved by some Syracusans.

Initially I was disappointed, the jokey style, the Irish dialect and rather modern characters weren't what I expected and it took me over half the novel before I began to enjoy it for what it was rather than what I had anticipated. It deals with the power of art and storytelling, the horrible aftermath of wars well and the characters do take life and feel real. The final scenes are poignant.

Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a review copy.

Glorious Exploits is set in 412 BC where an invasion of Sicily by Athenian soldiers has failed, and any invaders who haven’t been killed have been dumped to die of heat and starvation in the Syracuse quarries.
Two local potters, Gelon who is grieving the loss of his son and wife, and Lampo
an immature young man who still lives at home, have no work and too much time on their hands. They decide to visit the quarries and after hearing some of the Athenians quote Euripides in exchange for crumbs of food decide to put on a production of Medea in the quarry.
Some historical novels can be a little dry but Lampo’s (the narrator) voice has an Irish dialect that surprisingly doesn’t seem at all out of place.
As their seemingly impossible dream begins to take shape events force Lampo to find his courage and take risks he would never have previously considered.
This tale of friendship (particularly the bond between Gelon and Lampo), determination, class, culture and most of all the healing power of art make this an exciting, occasionally amusing, original story that will stay with me. Absolutely loved it!

Many thanks to Penguin Random House UK for an ARC

This is, without a doubt, the single most important piece of #ancienthistory fiction published in the past decade (if not longer).

I have struggled for some time to write this review, as I have struggled to summarise just how much, and in how many ways, I love this book. And how I think it is so necessary, and so vital, particularly to our understanding of the ancient world.

The failed Sicilian Expedition of c.413BC was devastating for Athens and, due to the biased nature of our sources, we hear very little of the Syracusan side of the war. We do know that captured Athenians were held prisoner in Syracusan quarries, and were forced to recite snippets of plays (which were always performed in Athens). Ferdia Lennon has seized this remarkable anecdote, and created something truly astounding out of it. The voices of Lampo and Gelon are real. Their home, their lives, their feelings, are real. I want to pour over this book and read it again and again and again, because I haven’t come across anything quite like this in all the ancient historical fiction I have read. Lemon’s writing is empathetic and hilarious and absolutely devastating. Simply magnificent.


Thank you so, so much to NetGalley and Penguin FigTree for this genuine privilege. I am an Editor in Classics at a major academic publishing house, and I’ll be recommending this to everyone I possibly can.

What a fantastic novel. Original, erudite, sad, funny, violent, touching and totally engrossing. I absolutely loved it.

This is a cut above the recent slew of women's gaze mythology/history (and I really enjoy them).

The writing is excellent. The characterisation is superb and the ending, as is life is definitely messy.

Read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin - and well spotted Penguin if this really is a debut novel.

An irreverent and rather cheeky take on the Ancient World and Greek drama in particular. Laugh out loud funny at times the two main characters are on mission to use Athenian prisoners to put on a production of Medea. That made me laugh before I even started reading. They certainly have glorious exploits trying to raise money and get embroiled in some rather dodgy dealings without even trying but their friendship is tested as things are not always as they seem. A little heavy on the swearing at times which got in the way of the story and spoiled my enjoyment of snappy writing and a fast moving plot. Great fun.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

There are some books that have the power to make you look at the world a little differently after you have read them, and I truly believe this is one of them. I didn’t know anything about the Peloponnesian war and I didn’t care about the Peloponnesian war before reading, and none of that mattered once I read the first page.

The style was immediately fresh - though it takes place in 400BC I did not have to struggle with olde language as it is written “in contemporary Irish dialect”. This choice is not jarring as you think it might be, somehow it just works. It was genius, it added flair and humour to some parts of the story, but did not feel gimmicky in the more emotional beats.

The story itself: a tale of overcoming differences, the power of art and love, brotherhood, romance, war, quests, victory, defeat, heartbreak, Glorious Exploits honestly had it all. It was both an epic and a tragedy and a comedy. The plot of the novel nearly mirrored the plays put on by the characters inside it. It was fully fledged and magnificent.

I nearly cried on the tube reading it on my tiny phone, I could imagine scenes in the climax as clearly as if they were played on a movie screen in front of me. You will not know until you read it what the desperation of that hill and that fence in the night felt like. It felt vivid and real! And that is such a rarity.

I will be buying this for myself and for others when it releases. I am truly thankful I was allowed to read it!

I will be publishing my review via Goodreads and Storygraph on 11 January 2024

Whilst i was heavily intrigued by the premise of this book, it took me a long time to get into it and sadly did not end up necessarily enjoying it.

This book is delightful and original. It's genuinely one of the best I've read this year. It's written beautifully, with a narration in a contemporary Irish vernacular that brings an element of humor and makes the story feel modern and relatable. It's dark, deeply funny, with glimpses of hope scattered throughout. It's also very readable, I burned through it in two days because the story really immersed me and I wanted to see what happened next. I thought it was well paced and had a satisfying ending.

The novel features two friends, Lampo and Gelon who are unemployed potters during the Peloponnesian war. Syracuse defeated invading Athenians and imprisoned them in a quarry. The two friends like to go to the quarry and mess with them to pass the time. Gelon often has them recite from his favorite playwrite, Euripedes and gets the idea to stage a play with the Athenian prisoners as actors, the closest he ever gets to seeing his hero's work staged in Athens. We see the process as they bring it to life, securing an eccentric patron, getting to know the 'actors', collecting a group of children to assist, securing different elements they need, and promoting the play. Along the way we really get to know the characters and root for them even when they don't necessarily deserve it.

I did not know anything about the Peloponnesian war or Euripides going into this, but I appreciated the glimpse into this place and time which felt well researched but accessible. This accessability is also helped by the MCs not being war heroes or gods like a lot of ancient/historic greek retellings.

I've been recommending it to everyone I can and I really hope it gets the attention it deserves, I think a lot of people would enjoy it.

The refreshingly original novel following two Sicilian potters putting on a play using captured Athenian soldiers. Clever, funny, heartbreaking. One to look out for in 2024.

From the first chapter of Glorious Exploits you are
thrown into a liminal world and this is how the rest of
the book remains. Fast paced, witty and incredibly
easy to read Lennon's prose is jovial then knife edge
sharp. The entire book is about a play, the
importance of the play, how the play is important
both to the people but to society, how creativity and
the arts are so interjected with the human experience
that to try to rid one of the other would be to kill off
both entirely. At times I found myself giggling along
to the two main characters, at other times | found
myself shocked by their actions and how they treated
others. Then, the beautiful end. One of the most
unexpected, poignant and lovely endings and not one
I saw coming at all. A really fantastic read if you are
looking for something a bit different. Coming 2024.

This book exceeded my expectations and then some. It's an original, funny, heartwrenching and hopeful piece of historical fiction that I would thoroughly recommend you pick up.

In a nutshell, this story is set in Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War. We follow friends Lampo and Galon as they decide to use some captured Athenian's to put on a unique performance of Euripides in the quarry they are imprisoned within.

I really did fall in love with this book, the writing is fantastic and the characters (especially Lampo) jumped off the page. The juxtaposition between the Ancient Greece and the contemporary dialect was so refreshing and made Glorious Exploits an absolute pleasure to read.

Really excited to see how this one does when it is released and I will for sure be buying a copy for myself.

Please also check out my TikTok as I will be posting a video review of this amazing book - @indiacaitlinc

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

THIS IS AN ARC REVIEW
Follow Lampo & Gelon as they manoeuvre their way through their directorial debuts. After all the who can put on a play as well as the Athenians and luckily for these two Syracusens they have a whole quarry of them!
I really admired this viewpoint narrative, it’s a really interesting reading concept; to see something or someone through one persons eyes. In saying this though it’s also part of the reason why I struggled with it. Being introduced to to certain events and scenes that we only get a glimpse of because Lampo wasn’t present therefore it’s just bits and pieces of information as he is simply reiterating someone else’s experience. This infuriated me as personally I like to know all that is happening or has happened. But eventually you do end up with about 80% of the information which at least eased my mind!
Look out for this book when it gets published 25.01.2024