I have tried several times to write this review of Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon, and I’ve ended up feeling unsatisfied with my thoughts and feelings on this book. I picked this book up because it was marketed as a comedic work of historical fiction by a young first-time author who clearly has a passion for history and classical literature. And yes, it is undeniably all of those things. The strange thing, however, is that none of those things ended up being the things I liked most about it.
When it comes to ancient Greek stories, it is well-understood that comedy is never far from tragedy. Lennon adapted this to his contemporary novel in a way that I really appreciated. The idea to have the actors in the play be Athenian prisoners of war working in a quarry meant that from the very beginning, there was a darkness to the tale. As Lampo and Gelon plan their production, there are many good times to be had, and it’s clear that Lampo in particular has dreams in mind. But Lennon never allows the reader to get too removed from the hard reality of this war-torn Sicily inhabited by slaves, soldiers, and ordinary people who carry the traumas and memories of war. The scenes where these brutal truths overtook events were the ones that stood out most to me.
As a comedic novel, I can’t say Glorious Exploits worked for me. But I still appreciated Lennon’s exploration of the ways in which art can be a unifying force and source of hope in an otherwise bleak time.
The Once and Future Lit 