March 6, 2012Amazon Best Books of the Month, March 2012The legend begins...Greece in the age of heroes.Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom ofPhthia to be raised in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son,Achilles. “The best of all the Greeks”—strong, beautiful, and the childof a goddess—Achilles is everything the shamed Patroclus is not. Yetdespite their differences, the boys become steadfast companions. Theirbond deepens as they grow into young men and become skilled in the artsof war and medicine—much to the displeasure and the fury of Achilles’mother, Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.Whenword comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece,bound by blood and oath, must lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced bythe promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and tornbetween love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do theyknow that the Fates will test them both as never before and demand aterrible sacrifice.Built on the groundwork of theIliad, Madeline Miller’s page-turning, profoundly moving, and blisteringly paced retelling of the epic