I’ve read Mythos before but skipped the next 2 and went straight to Odyssey. As stated in the intro though there’s no problem with this (I surely want to read the others still though). Fry’s retelling of the Greek / Roman myths in modern language and structure is unparalleled.  Only a true wordsmith and  classical historian could create these books and they’re so well done I almost worry about reading translations of Homer knowing they will not feel as real as this. 

The first half of this I did struggle with though, it jumped around and felt more like a collection of short stories than a cohesive narrative, much in the same way as Mythos did, but still brilliantly written. However, the second half is a masterclass in storytelling. I also “read” this as an audiobook which I have found in the past is less immersive than text for myself which may account for my struggles in the first half. As with all of Fry’s works though the big benefit of the audio book is that it’s read by himself, and being read to be Stephen Fry is just glorious. Despite feeling I might find the original work disappointing now, I think I might appreciate it more knowing the story in advance and not worrying about complicated language of translations. 

A true genius of many disciplines I will undoubtedly read more by Fry in the future and will always search out his works in whatever form they come.