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Glorious Exploits

A bold and funny Sunday Times bestselling debut novel set in Ancient Sicily

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Glorious Exploits

By: Ferdia Lennon
Narrated by: Ferdia Lennon
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024
WINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2024
LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
A BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS PICK
PICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT, THE IRISH TIMES, THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TLS

Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: lovesick, jobless, in need of a distraction.

Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads.

They’re fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food.

And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry.

It’s audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of.

What could possibly go wrong?

‘One of the most original and brilliant debuts in years’ Irish Times

‘Bold and totally unexpected ... I was hooked from the first page’ Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain

‘Brilliant ... Hilarious, moving, and profound’ R. F. Kuang, author of Yellowface

©2024 Ferdia Lennon (P)2024 Penguin Audio

 Ancient Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Funny Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Witty
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Critic reviews

One of the most original and brilliant Irish debuts in years
'The debut novelist to watch ... Remarkable ... This debut is entertaining, vivid, original – and has a huge amount of fun turning the genre on its head ... The premise is irresistible ... Terrific ... A novel to be gulped down'
Bold and totally unexpected, I loved this book. A brilliant novel about friendship, the healing power of art, and why we must fight for our dreams. I was hooked from the first page
Immensely likeable ... Raucously funny ... The writing is beautifully controlled
Brilliant ... I love contemporary Irish fiction and Greek tragedy, so how wonderful to find a novel where they are brilliantly paired. It is as hilarious, moving, and profound as promised
As thrilling for me as the first time I picked up a Kevin Barry novel. Glorious Exploits is exuberant, funny, lyrical and profoundly moving. It is, quite simply, a rare beauty
Glorious Exploits stinks of misery, despair, love, war, poetry, reckless ambition, terrible failure, and glorious triumph. It’s a novel thick with the stuff of the Classics, in other words. A delicious treat of a read. I loved it
In At Swims-Two-Birds, Flann O'Brien gave us cowboys riding through Dublin. Now, Ferdia Lennon gives us modern-day Dubliners living among the ancient Greeks. This is a very special, very clever, very entertaining novel
One of the best debut novels of the year – it even received an award saying so – this is a ridiculously fun book…It's a poignant story about war, art, and friendship, while also being very funny
Funny, thoughtful, moving, brilliant
All stars
Most relevant
This is my kind of book, think of an Irish Hans Solo in ancient Syracuse, relating a tale. The best book I've read in a long time about the horrors of war and slavery, the transformative power of theatre and the importance of friendship. Now I need to find a copy of Euripides' plays.

Such a good audiobook

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This is entrancing and a sheer delight from start to finish. I loved the portrayal of Lampo as a chancer but with fierce loyalty, determination and a true heart. The Irish accent was perfect to show that he was an 'ordinary bloke' whereas the 'aristos' all had 'posh' speech.
The next thing I liked was the brilliant prose, sometimes lyrical, befitting the telling of a brand new Greek myth, at other times straightforward storytelling in familiar language.
I also very much liked that I learned a lot about Eurypedes' stories and absolutely loved the way in which the story of the events in the quarry linked up with the old, famous tales.
I highly recommend the audiobook.

A joy

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A fabulous story, beautifully read. It’s a really unique plot and a book that I came to it with no expectations only that it had been recommended by our local bookshop. I’d certainly say give it a listen if you love reading / listening and want to lose yourself in a tale for a few hours.

Harrowing yet heart warming

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This is one of the highest-flying books by a new author I’ve ever read. The genius of combing ancient Syracuse with modern Dublin voices is utterly brilliant and creates multilayered echoes of conquest. colonisation and cruelty. I can’t recommend this author and this book highly enough.

A stunningly brilliant debut only slightly marred by poor audio quality

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I loved this book, like a Greek tragedy, funny but intense. No suner one in laughing when a very intense episode occours. One will be move by the story

Original

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