An absolutely extraordinary debut novel. Glorious Exploits was written over several years, and the attention to detail shows: the story is set in 412 BC, after the disastrous attempted invasion of Sicily by Athens which sees thousands of captured Athenian soldiers left to die in scorching quarries just outside the city of Syracuse. Local potters and childhood friends Lampo and Gelon become gripped by the idea of using these doomed prisoners to put on a performance of Medea and The Trojan Women, two of the newest tragedies written by already-acclaimed Euripides. These works will be lost if Athens falls, as the world assumes it will at this point – but the imprisoned Athenians have seen these shows and many know the words by heart, reciting lines in exchange for food – so the potters see a chance to create art in the face of chaos and impossible odds. But will anyone actually come to see this ill-fated production, starring those who until very recently were busy slaughtering Syracusans?

Lampo is a sardonic, hugely real narrator who absolutely leaps off the page – his post-rehearsal scenes in the local bar feel so believable, and his confused, hasty decision-making will make you laugh out loud then wince when reality bites: you can’t help but hate and love him at the same moment. The post-conflict world he inhabits is incredibly brutal and physical, and the gritty, visceral reality of existing on the edge of these quarries, surrounded by those who’ve lost everything in the recent wars, is not hidden from view – but in the same moment this book is also strangely beautiful and hopeful, even in the face of such extreme atrocity. It leaves you wondering about the purpose of art, and friendship and love – and what it is that truly makes us human, regardless of which side we fight for. A painful, yet also deeply touching and absolutely unforgettable read which will win awards: get your copy now before everyone else does.

Featured in the January issue of Cambridge Edition magazine - digital version linked below

I was floored by this read! It was a privilege to follow alongside this story of two friends!
It was a story about art, love, friendship, as well as grief and loss, tragedy and what it means to be human. It poses such big questions that stick with you even after finishing this story, as will the characters themselves. A true delight to read!

This is a funny little book and one that I didn't think I was enjoying until, all of a sudden, I realised I loved it.

A story of two Syracusan potter-directors and a troupe of Athenian prisoner-actors putting on a production of MEDEA in a quarry. Why on earth would they do that? I hear you ask. And it's a good question. One I couldn't really answer until about half way through.

Is it to torture their prisoners? No, I don't think so.

Is it out of boredom? Maybe a little bit.

Is it because they were witnesses to a world with so very little humanity left that they wanted to remind everyone what it was to feel empathy? Yes, and because they have an unhealthy obsession with Euripedes.

A modern tale of an ancient story, filled with big ideas - how very Greek.

An unusual book. Ancient history tools in contemporary Irish speech. I’m not familiar with the history, or Waiting for Godot/Where Art Thou Brother, and yet I did recognise their influences. If you asked me what I liked about it, I would struggle to explain the hold this bookbook had over me - and yet I read it in large chunks, enjoying it. It gets under your skin and you’re never quite sure how, but it does. Lampo’s attachment to Paches and Lyra, and his actions after the play, speak to guess growth as a man. It definitely left an impression on me, and I’d recommend reading it. 4.25 stars.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Glorious Exploits is hilarious, sad, horrific, brutal and, of course, glorious.

This is a story that shows the need for art even in a time of war and horror, and the importance of friendship, love, family and community.

Lampo, one of the two main characters leaps from the page in the way that he describes life in the city of Syracuse. He’s poor and uneducated, but he certainly has a lot to say! His venture with his best friend, Gelon, sees beyond the horrors that the Athenians must have committed - or perhaps he’s come to terms with what they’ve done - and he can see that their punishment doesn’t really fit their crime.

The Syracusans speak in the Irish vernacular, and what’s really strange, is that it doesn’t sound out of place (in my head, anyway!).

I laughed and cried whilst reading this. It really is a glorious read.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Viking/Penguin for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: death, violence, war, starvation, abuse, slavery

I can honestly say that I’ve never read a book like “Glorious Exploits” before and I doubt I’ll ever read one like it again. Set after the failed Athenian expedition of 412 BC in Syracuse (Sicily) during the Peloponnesian War, “Glorious Exploits” follows Lampo and his friend Gelon- both men who’ve lived through the invasion- as they do their daily visit down to the prisoners of war in the quarry. The Athenians have been down there for months and some of the satisfaction in seeing their enemies brought down so low is starting to fade as the men starve to death, especially for Gelon who worships Athenian theatre- particularly the work of Euripides. Lampo and Gelon don’t have much, they’re potters with no work and no money, but Lampo can never say no to Gelon when he has one of his ideas, and this new one will be defining for both of them. Realising he can get the Athenian prisoners to recite lines in exchange for good quality food, Gelon makes a declaration: within the quarry, they’re going to stage a performance of the play Medea using the prisoners. Lampo soon finds himself thrust into the life of a director, collecting food for the enemy and helping Gelon to realise his vision of Athenian theatre in Syracuse with the assistance of now fatherless children and others in the community. After Gelon finds out about another play, The Trojan Women, that is believed to be Euripides’ last, he decides they’re going to perform that as well- because who knows how much longer Athenian theatre will last? It soon becomes apparent that what they’re trying to do could be legendary and the prisoners become more like friends than enemies, as long as the furious, grieving locals don’t find out. However, as things escalate, the performance gets closer and tensions rise, the value and impact of art and literature becomes all the more clear, even if it is written by Athenians. At the same time, Lampo falls in love with the slave girl Lyra who works at the tavern, which leads him to realise the kind of man he wants to be, even if it means challenging everything he thought he believed in.

One of the first things that I loved about this book is that it’s written in a contemporary, Irish voice despite its setting of ancient Sicily in the middle of the Peloponnesian War. The sense of humour and atmosphere is completely at odds with the situation, thousands of men dying as prisoners in a quarry after a failed invasion, but somehow it works. This is a brutal, violent and stark story of war and anger but also one about the beauty and brotherhood found in art, and how love can transcend barriers. It’s hugely funny, Lampo’s voice is so original and vivid (and crude) as he narrates the difficulties of trying to stage an illegal play in a prison (I loved the scene where, when given a pouch of more money he’s ever seen in his life, Lampo went insane spending instead of buying food). Gelon’s character touched me so much, he adores the work of the Athenians and his belief in carrying on their work affects the whole novel, especially when it becomes clearer to Lampo just how much it means to him. This book won’t be for everyone, it’s too different for that, but it also doesn’t require historical background knowledge to be hugely effective as a book. I’m so glad I read “Glorious Exploits” because, despite its subject, it’s still a hopeful and beautiful story at heart.

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon.
Thanks to Penguin General for sending me this book to review.

Love the cover!
Love the fact this book is set in ancient Greece because I only have a degree and masters in classical studies Latin.

Not that you need those to read and enjoy this book but it did bring me back many years to the Classics Department of U.C.D...Good times...

Back to the book!
This is a debut novel by Irish author, Ferdia Lennon. He also did a Classics degree so he knows it.

The book is set in 412 BC, and Athens' invasion of Sicily has failed . Thousands of Athenian soldiers are captured and held in the quarries of Syracuse, starving to death there.

In comes our protagonists, Lampo and Gelon with Lampo beiing the narrator. They are potters from the area and they love Greek tragedies for some reason I was unable to make out or connect with!
The dialogue is spot on and the irish dialect in an Ancient Greek setting works extremely well, there is a brilliant sense of craic and humour throughout.
They find out the poor, dejected Athenians will recite lines from Greek tragedies to get fed so the two lads set about putting on Medea.

I found this book very hard to get into. I was not feeling it so I also listened to it on audible as I read. This helped immensely. Ferdia narrates this wonderfully and if you are going to read this, try it on audible as his accent just works!

There is a lot of swearing in this book and at times too much for the story.

But, it has a good energy to it and is written very well. I love the parts where Lampo finds love and his friendship and bond with Gelon shines.

I think if you are not interested in this part of Ancient Greek history you may not be drawn to this. It is quite a masculine (Can I say that!?) cursing, fighting, boozing type of book that may isolate some readers. It is hard not to like the book.

#rozzie
#netgalley
#gloriousExploits
#ferdialennon

421 bce and the great Athenian conquest of Sicily has failed. Now the remnants of the army are kept confined in a quarry outside Syracuse and are starving to death. Gelon, an unemployed potter, is a Euripides obsessive and decides to put on a performance of Medea for the people of his city with a cast drawn from the prisoners. He encourages his best friend Lampo to assist him alongside a backer in the form of mysterious merchant Tuireann and the help of the local children. Lampo, meanwhile, has fallen for the slave of a bar owner and he is desperately trying to raise the money to buy her freedom.
I am often skeptical of books which have received such glowing reviews as this one but I was more than pleasantly surprised here. I loved the passion for Euripides and the knowledge of classical Greek civilisation and cultural - that should make the reader think that they are going to be reading a worthy and intellectual book. That's not to say that this isn't, but it wears it's learning hidden in plain sight. What is on the surface is a madcap plot, written in modern Irish idiom and populated by engaging characters. Fabulous at every level.

What a refreshing take on this popular genre. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, as it was just that little bit different to the usual historical tales. Yes, there are some tough passages, but they just serve to highlight the reality in the story. Well worth recommending.

I’ve seen people comment that this is the book you didn’t know you needed in your life and I whole heartedly agree. Set in Syracuse, Sicily, during the Peloponnesian War it is so unique and idiosyncratic, unlike anything I’ve read recently. Yes, you’re thinking here’s another book set in the Ancient Greek world but you’ll be wrong assuming you’ve read something like this before.

The Athenians have been defeated and are being held captive in a quarry on the outskirts of town and our narrator Lampo and his friend Galon decide they will use the prisoners to put on some of their favourite Euripides tragedies. What ensues is both horrendous and laugh out loud funny. The plot is simple and uncomplicated, leaving wide open spaces for such entertaining characterisation. Granted it is written in the Irish vehicular so I’m not sure how the wider audience will receive it but I’m excited to read other reviews.

Lampo, our narrator is an outrageous character, someone to love and hate in equal measure and yet for all his bravado and crassness his capacity to love his fellow man is cathartic. And that’s its message, its themes, brotherhood, respect, putting yourself on the line for nothing more than the connection you feel for another. Hats off to you Mr Lennon, I do believe you’ve introduced Euripides to a whole new market.

Well done, an absolute banger!

Thank you to the author, @netgalley and @vikingbooksuk for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

Glorious Exploits published Jan 18th, 2024

What an unsusual read this was. I love historical fiction, but knew little about the background to Athenian attacks on Syracuse.

This book is both comically crude and heartbreakingly compassionate at the same time. Lampo and Gelon have big dreams which require the cooperation of the Athenian prisoners in the Syracusian quarry. Initially it reminded me of the TV programme, Plebs, but the novel has darker elements in it. Conditions in the quarry are extremely harsh and bringing their dream to reality seems to be jut a pipe-dream. Somehow, Lampo and Gelon, against all odds, raise enough money to bribe guards, feed the prisoners and put on a unique production, which ends in a dramatic way.

However, along the way - Lampo develops a filial affection for one of the actors and the book takes a turn from comedy to thriller as he plots a way to help his friend escape from the quarry.

I think this would make a great movie! It was an entertaining, though slightly unbelievable read.

It’s hard to know how to describe Glorious Exploits, which mashes up an ancient Roman setting (412BC) with modern Irish vernacular and - somehow, incredibly- this actually works.

Following two down-at-heel labourers on the island of Sicily who, during the Peloponnese War, take it upon themselves to stage Euripides’ Medea using Athenian prisoners of war, reading it is a bonkers experience but great fun.

For some reason I found this book very difficult to get into. The narrator, Lampo, struck me as quite annoying, thoughtless and sometimes cruel, so I didn't always enjoy spending time with him. The subject matter is tough too, with quite a bit of death, starvation and general nastiness.

I tried listening to the audiobook version available at my local library and found that easier to get on with. The author Ferdia Lennon read it himself and I found the Irish vernacular very natural in his voice.

It was definitely more of a tragedy than a comedy for me, not a lot of laughs. Two and a half stars, rounded up.

An interesting look at the aftermath of an Athenthian invasion of Sicily, it turned out to be more than I thought though going into more difficult themes along the way and the author really conveys a sense of place and fleshes out some curious characters! It's a unique angle and nothing like I've ever read before.

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon should not work at all but it absolutely does. Set in Sicily in 412BC but littered with vernacular from modern Ireland, when I first started reading the dialogue in this book I was like “what is going on?!”, however it quickly becomes the norm and is suited to the characters’ personalities.

Set in Syracuse, Sicily, during the Peloponnesian War
(412 BC), this story is centered around Lampo and his friend Galon, who decide to make use of the Athenian prisoners who are being held captive in a local quarry, and have them act in a play that the duo want to stage. What follows is a lot of humour, a bit of a love story, and a terrible tragedy. The writing in this book is very accessible, and with a simple story I would almost call this YA if it weren’t for all the cursing throughout. I loved Lampo, our narrator and protagonist, and his sense of humour and wit drives the story from start to finish.

Congrats to first time author @ferdialennon for making a story set so long ago seem so contemporary and relatable.

Thank you to @penguinfigtree for the advanced copy of this book via @netgalley . Glorious Exploits is out now!

"Glorious Exploits" by Ferdia Lennon takes readers back to 412 BC, offering a unique perspective on Athens' failed invasion of Sicily. Lampo and Gelon, penniless potters, devise an audacious plan to stage a performance of Euripides' "Medea" in the quarry where Athenian soldiers are held captive. Lennon's writing, though initially challenging to immerse into, proves distinctive with Lampo's authentic, crude, and hilarious narration, enriched by an Irish-pattered dialogue.

This atypical historical novel doesn't demand prior knowledge of ancient history, making it accessible to all. Lampo's narrative voice is a delight, capturing the essence of the characters and the era. The book, described as madly ambitious, cathartic, and shockingly funny, successfully blends brutality, humor, and horror. Lampo and Gelon's characters, along with the introduction of Euripides' work to a new audience, contribute to a vibrant and real narrative. Despite the initial challenge in getting accustomed to the tone, "Glorious Exploits" emerges as a four-star read, offering a compelling and entertaining journey into a unique historical setting.

What an absolutely brilliant book! There's been a fair bit of historic fiction focusing on Greek legends in recent years but none as utterly original as this. I know nothing about Euripides or the Peloponnesion War but it didn't interfere a jot with my enjoyment of this book.

Essentially the story is about two Syracusian potters, Gelon and Lampo who decide to put on a performance of Medea and The Trojan Women using imprisoned, half-starved, near-dead Athenian prisoners as their cast, Is the language and turn of phrase authentic to the time period? Probably not but actually that's what makes it so enjoyable and accessible. The two central characters, Gelon and Lampo (especially Lampo) are so vividly brought to life and feel just like any two eejits you might know from your own town - big dreams, all talk and underneath the bluff and bluster a good(ish) heart.

But amidst the humour and vitality of Ferdia Lennon's story-telling, there's darkness and violence and a profoundly, moving commentary on the ugliness of revenge and on how easy it is to close your eyes to the horrors and traumas of those suffering on the other side of a wall. Gelon and Lampo aren't just directing the performance of a Greek Tragedy, they're living through one.

It's an amazing book and i'm already completely confident it'll be one of my favourite reads of 2024.

With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Set in Syracuse in the aftermath of the Peloponnese wars, this debut novel is an enjoyable story of hope and joy. Attacked by Athens, the Spartan-allied Syracuse has defeated the Athenians and is left with 7000 prisoners of war to deal with. The solution? Hold them all in the many available disused quarries and let them rot in the relentless summer heat. There are nominal guards, but for a few coins or a skin of wine they will let in any Syracusean who wants to enter, for whatever purpose. Two such visitors are Lampo and Gelon, unemployed potters who choose a quarry every day and go and feed some prisoners.

The story is told by Lampo, and centres on a crazy scheme dreamt up by the poetry-loving Gelon to put on a Euripides double-bill in the quarry with parts played by any Athenians who might remember enough lines from Medea and The Women of Troy.

As a narrator, Lampo is a fine device. He is an illiterate unemployed potter, apparently not especially well liked in his community but with a staunch friend in the poetry-loving Gelon. Lampo comes across as a fairly amoral pragmatist, sporadically charming but mostly not, a bit quarrelsome, not especially perceptive, a wheeler dealer with little impulse control. But as the story progresses it turns out he does have a heart, albeit a somewhat selective one. Our first glimpse of this comes in his first encounter with an Athenian prisoner called Paches, whose life he saves from a fellow Syracusean who is in the process of beating him to a pulp, having already killed his close companion.

There is a lot to like about this debut - it has a big heart, it's an interesting story, and the main characters, while not precisely likeable, certainly sweep you along with their mad plans as they find a dubious funder for their enterprise, source props for the play, and finally manage to spring a good number of more-than-half-dead Athenians from the quarry. At the beginning, one thing really jarred for me to the extent that I considered not finishing the book - the fact that colloquial working-class Sicilian as spoken by Lampo sounded far too much like cliched salt-of-the-earth Oirish in this imagining. But as I got caught up in the story this bothered me less and less. This is an assured and enjoyable tale and is highly recommended.

Glorious Exploits is a book that, at first glance, you might think is simply a humorous tale. It’s a historical novel set during the Peloponnesian War. So far, so normal. But it’s told in a contemporary Irish dialect. You might not expect this to work, but Ferdia Lennon manages it deftly.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say this is a tragicomedy (it’s compared to Waiting for Godot, after all), and it’s one where the tragic elements of it creep up on you. In fact, in general, a lot of this book creeps up on you. I read this thinking perhaps I hadn’t connected so much emotionally with it (while still enjoying it a lot!), only to find that the end came like a gut punch. Lampo and Gelon, and the cast that surrounds them, are characters that sink their hooks into you when you least expect it.

Plot-wise, this book hasn’t a huge amount: it’s about two characters’ desire to put on two of Euripides’ plays, except they don’t have a script and the only actors they might find who already know the plays (or parts of) are… a group of captive Athenians, enemies of Syracuse, who are kept starving in a quarry, since no one knows what to do with them. It’s a character-driven plot that still manages to contain some slightly wild and surprising elements, one that keeps you on your toes and, even as its tragic nature is slowly revealed, has you wishing for a happy ending.

But above all, this is a story about stories and how their telling connects across cultures. The Syracusans and Athenians are enemies, the latter the sufferers of a shock defeat and, throughout Syracuse, reviled. Euripides, though, brings them together against all odds, and against the expectations of Lampo and Gelon themselves.

Frankly, then, this is a book you don’t want to miss out on. It feels like one of the freshest and most creative of recent releases, and I can only hope Ferdia Lennon has a lot more to come.

Fresh, quirky and shocking exploration of the aftermath of an Athenian invasion of Sicily.. It's an ambitious book that didn't quite grip me as much as I wanted, but the story of Lampo and his friend Gelon is well-told and explores many issues you might think follow a war and plenty you might not.

The characters are many and so maybe aren't explored as in-depth as they could be, and it's difficult to like any of them, although that might be due to the difficult circumstances that are explored through the novel. The mysterious producer and his ship-bound god, the slave-owning landlord and the hapless potters that are at the centre of the story make for an interesting tale but I just found it lacking an emotional connection for me, although it does have its moments.