I wasn’t able to get to this one before the publish date. However now that I have read it I am giving it 3.5 stars.

A really original, absorbing historical novel in an utterly unique voice. Lennon's modern Irish style is a perfect match for the personality of Lampo, a rough-hewn, innocent thug whose love for the plays of Euripedes offers him and his friend Gelon a vision of a better future than the one offered to them in war-torn Carthage. The plot is complex and the setting vividly rendered, but it's the hopeful, empathetic, self-deluding, long-suffering Lampo who keeps you reading. His profane honesty is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking as he tries to help his friend realize an impossible fantasy and learns to pity the enslaved Athenians he's been taught to despise.

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon is a debut historical fiction novel set during the Peloponnesian War in ~400s B.C. Sicily.

Once I saw comparisons to O, Brother Where Art Thou and Monty Python, I knew I had to pick this one up, and I'm so glad I did. I borrowed the audiobook version, narrated by the author, from my local library and followed along in my physical ARC.

While the scene is set in the far past, the book is written in modern Irish vernacular, including slang. Two unemployed potters organize a group of Athenian prisoners (being kept alive on starvation rations) to stage two plays by Euripides.

I felt so many different emotions while reading this! Tragedy, hope, elation, sorrow, anxiety, etc. This is a very uplifting but tragic tale that really packs an emotional punch. "Tragicomedy" is a good description for it. AND THIS IS A DEBUT?!

I feel like I can't really say much in this review except how this book is an experience you should try. If you like dry humor, and themes like friendship and loyalty, love and loss, and art appreciation, do not pass go and pick this up. And congrats to the author for winning the debut fiction prize from Waterstones!

Glorious Exploits. The Goodreads description describes this as being "riotously funny." Upon my reading, I missed that part. However, I did find it to be an enjoyable thought-provoking novel.
The two main characters, Lampo and Gelon, remind me of Laurel and Hardy in a tale worthy of O. Henry. Two unemployed potters producing a play in a prison quary using prisoners ask the cast.
In Glorious Exploits, Ferdia Lennon has written his own Greek tragedy. I enjoyed following Lampo and Gelon on their quest to fulfill their dreams.
As per Gelon, "He says the best theatre isn't about showing some but finding it."
Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC which I received for giving am honest review

First of: The cover? Stunning!
This was a very fun read overall, Very entertaining, i was worried because of the subject of the book it would be boring but it is a very fun read!

Ferdia Lennon has written a winner with Glorious Exploits. The use of Irish banter in dialog (rather than some overly formal version of English) really brought the characters to life. The book was strange, slightly absurd, and highly enjoyable.

Many thanks to Henry Holt & Company and Netgalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed Glorious Exploits. I liked the references to philosophy and the story was propulsive and kept me reading.

This original, witty exposition of the meaning and impact of art in the midst of tragedy left an indelible mark on my psyche! It's an innovative discussion of what gives hope in the darkest of times.

There is so much to love about this book; Compelling characters, wonderful setting and exciting history. At first it was slightly jarring to read contemporary Irish slang in a ancient Sicilian setting, but after a while I got used to it and it worked. The novel works primarily because the friendship between Lampo and Gelon feels real. They are both well-drawn, fascinating characters and I cared (a lot) about what happened to them.

This feels different than the typical rewriting of ancient myths and history. Lennon doesn't try and take and old story and make it new, or take a modern story and put it in an ancient setting, instead we are reminded of the timelessness of friendship, love, loss and tragedy.

Set in 412 BC, the people of Syracuse do not know what to do with the Athenians they have captured (after the Athenians tried to invade). Two men come up with the idea of putting on a play.

I liked the story here, but the writing style was not my favorite. I can't place exactly what it was but it just wasn't for me.

Review of "Glorious Exploits" by Ferdia Lennon posted at BookBrowse: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/ref/pr307456

It's 412 BC and we're in ancient Greece. Syracuse, a city on the coast of Sicily, to be exact. Syracuse has defended itself against a long siege by the Athenians and is now in charge. Two out of work Syracusan potters decide to stage a play by Euripedes, using the Athenians wasting away in a prison quarry as actors. What could go wrong?

Glorious Exploits is indeed glorious, and funny, and poignant. It went places I wasn't expecting. Lampo, our storyteller, is a character for the ages. The book reminded me of Christopher Moore's Lamb with a tiny pinch of Madeline Miller's Circe and a generous dash of Monty Python. The cover is a good indication of what you're in store for.

It's a comedy, it's a tragedy. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll root for Lampo and his buddy Gelon (the brains behind the operation?), you'll be on the literal edge of your seat as the lads get closer to production, you'll hiss at the bad guys. It was a wild ride.

My thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC. Glorious Exploits was published in March 2024.

Published by Henry Holt and Co. on March 26, 2024

I never tire of reading, but I do get tired of reading the same plots in book after book. Readers who think (in the words of Monty Python) it’s time “for something completely different” might want to check out Glorious Exploits. The novel is funny, surprising, and poignant.

The story is set in Syracuse early in 4th century BC. Syracuse at that point was populated by Greeks, but the prose is 21st century British (“Still a gobshite, I see.”).

Toward the end of the 5th century BC, Syracuse was invaded by Athens. With the help of Sparta, Syracuse defeated the Athenians. The story begins with captured Athenians imprisoned in a quarry, where they are visited by Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters. Like most Greeks in Syracuse, Lampo and Gelon are fans of Athenian theater. They are convinced that nobody does Euripides like the Athenians. On a visit to the quarry, Gelon gets it into his head to put on a production of Medea using the Athenians to act out the play. He finds a few who have acting experience and who know the parts. Lampo is taken with a green-eyed Athenian who he believes will be perfect for the part of Jason.

Lampo is even more taken with Lyra, a slave from Lydia (a kingdom that once existed on land that is now in Turkey). Lyra is owned by the proprietor of a tavern that Lampo often visits. Lampo falls in love with Lyra and promises to one day buy her freedom. That will be a difficult promise for an unemployed potter to keep, although it gives Lampo a resolve and purpose that he previously lacked.

Equal parts comedy and tragedy, the story follows Lampo as he works with Gelon to produce Medea. The captive Athenians are slowly starving to death, but the actors are incentivized by bread and wine. As Gelon and Lampo are casting the roles, they find an Athenian who not only knows Medea, but has acted in Euripides newest play, Trojan Women. Gelon believes that Athens is doomed and decides they must save the new play by bringing it to life. To that end, they plan to produce both plays.

Their plans come to the attention of a wealthy businessman named Tuireann who is passing through Syracuse. He provides the gold that Gelon and Lempo need to purchase sets and costumes to stage the play correctly. Yet not all Syracusans are pleased that the Athenians who killed their family members during a siege of the city are being treated so well. Will the plays ever be produced in the face of such hostility?

Glorious Exploits is in equal parts a comedy and a tragedy. Euripides (we are told at the end) “was ever in love with misfortune and believed the world a wounded thing that can only be healed by story.” Most of the story in Glorious Exploits unfolds between the invasion of Syracuse by Athens and its invasion by Carthage. During the years when Syracuse is free from invaders, Gelon and Lampo contrive to heal their wounded city with stories told by Euripides. Misfortune does indeed seem to be the human condition, particularly for slaves and captured soldiers who are starving to death in a pit. Some of them, at least, might be healed before the story ends.

The story told by Ferdia Lennon also has healing value. It is a story about the redemptive power of love and a story of the enduring power of Lampo’s rocky friendship with Gelon, but it is also the story of an unlikely friendship between Lampo and a conquered Athenian. The novel eventually becomes a story of how we should treat our enemies and whether we should think of other humans as enemies at all — at least in moments when we are not trying to kill each other.

Glorious Exploits has everything this reader could want: silliness, drama, excitement, unexpected twists, a story worth telling and lessons worth learning. The story is told in pitch-perfect prose that restores ancient Syracuse to its momentary glory. The year is young, but this is the best book I’ve read so far in 2024.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This isn't a story for everybody, but for the right person it'll be an absolute gem.

I don't think I've ever read a book that could be described as "a romp through ancient Greece." And I've certainly never read one that combined ancient Greek theater with a modern Irish dialect. It's a combination that could only work with a skillful writer, and here, Ferdia Lennon certainly is.

In the book Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennonn we meet two friends with time on their hands and tired of staying out at the inns Jealon loves the Greek tragedies and the other Lampo, is loyal to a fault one day they decide to go meet the Athenian slaves left in a quarry to starve to death. At first they are there just to waste time but soon a plan comes about in before they know it what starts out as entertainment becomes a mission of humanity. This book had seemingly two endings one was bittersweet and one was just so sad but it all made for one great book. I love a historical fiction book that has that historical feel and usually when there or swearwords in a historical book it takes me out of that era but that didn’t happen with Glorious Exploits I loved Lampo and jealous friendship lampos love for Lira The writing style but especially the author‘s grasp on the time and place the book is set. This is a great book and one I definitely recommend please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Charmingly anachronistic in its language, GLORIOUS EXPLOITS was slow to get my attention but eventually unputdownable. Ultimately the message is one of art above all and how even under the ugliest and worst circumstances can some beauty and love find a way.

Take a couple Syracusans back millennia ago. They decide on a whim to put on a play using defeated Athenians who have been chucked into a quarry to starve to death. Pen the entire novel not in an old fashioned voice but in an Irish one belonging to today. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? Maybe it is, but it works.

I was actually offered this book rather than having requested it, and I was a tad skittish, partly because of the cover, partly because I’m more of a modern history gal, not an ancient history gal. If you’re like me: don’t let either of these things stop you. The subject matter transcends all of that. It’s about seeing an enemy but finding a friend, and maybe pushing back against brutality and cruelty instead of seeking punishment, even if you have lost loved ones and think you’re owed vengeance. And, of course, it’s about how art can transcend all else, how it has the capacity to soothe, to entertain, and to even save.

Lampo, the narrator, seems a trifle selfish at the onset, but he grows into this character willing to work hard for love and to risk everything for Paches, an Athenian who, by all rights, he ought to hate and scorn. Gelon, shot through with a ribbon of melancholy over the losses he has suffered, has empathy and compassion to suit ten men, and pulls himself up again even when things seem bleakest. They were both such good characters (and Paches, too! I loved Paches!), but most of the funny bits are provided by Lampo.

Everything kicks off when the pivotal play is performed, and after that moment, I was racing through the pages on tenterhooks, worried about what would happen and desperate to find out as quickly as I could. The book is funny, it’s sad, it’s grim, it’s brutal, but above all—it’s hopeful.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My favorite part about this book has to be that goofy cover with the googly eyes on the Greek statue. That is what initially caught my attention. Marketing tactic successful.

This reads like a Greek tragedy. 2 anti heroes in Syracuse are visiting Athenian prisoners held in a quarry when they decide to put on a play by Euripides. They start with Medea, which is obviously quite an exciting play. The book itself has all of the elements of a good Greek tragedy. And then there's the play within the play element. It's really quite clever.

If you have any interest in Greek culture and antiquity, I recommend this one.

This one was a DNF for me. Nothing against the writing, but I just couldn’t handle the violence against the captured. Even though it’s not a book for me, the narrative was good and I think the plot line makes a good story. Therefore giving it a good rating.

I picked this up primarily because of its setting: 412 BC, the middle of the Peloponnesian War, and two young and broke Syracusan 'lads' decide to stage a play, Euripides' Medea, using Athenian POWs as actors and the stone quarries that serve as their prison, as decor. Sicily is my favourite holiday destination, not in the least because of the incredible Greek remains and I kept imagining the famous Ear of Dionysus as the site.

The novel is a peculiar thing though and I find it hard to get my thoughts straight about it. On the one hand, I couldn't really go along with the idea of giving two young, unemployed Greeks strong, modern Irish accents. From what I learned about the ancient Greeks, they were very different from us. It remained strange until the end.

On the other hand, once I decided to go along with the main character Lampo and the story he tells about his time 'directing' the play, I was entertained and curious to see how it would end.

I do still wonder what it all meant, though. Probably I missed things in terms of message or parallels with today. Or else why would a young Irish writer choose this setting?

Anyway, apart from its original setting, this seems pretty straightforward historical fiction, certainly not as weird as the cover would suggest and unfortunately also not as brilliant as for instance Alvaro Enrigue's 'You Dreamed of Empires'.

3,5 rounded down