A review by mat_tobin
The Iliad by Gillian Cross
4.0
I found this to be an excellent retelling of Homer's epic poem. Cross does not just choose to recap main events but covers the relationships and the reasoning behind many of the actions that the characters take. In previous versions, writers have shied away from other members of the story, generally focusing on key players and their actions but in this version, the author weaves a carefully thought-out story, choosing to keep in the minor players and sharing the sadness and conflict that they felt and saw throughout the war. I also thought that the gods were written well too.
The highlight though is Neil Packer's illustrations. He claims that Cross' writing made the job of illustrating the book easy (it's a lovely, chunky size) but I'd argue that his whole-page illustrations do more than enough to hold their own with their bold colouring and characters whose poses and positioning are echoes of the same characters to be found on Ancient Greek pottery. I would hope that these stories, some of our oldest and best, are shared with children.
The highlight though is Neil Packer's illustrations. He claims that Cross' writing made the job of illustrating the book easy (it's a lovely, chunky size) but I'd argue that his whole-page illustrations do more than enough to hold their own with their bold colouring and characters whose poses and positioning are echoes of the same characters to be found on Ancient Greek pottery. I would hope that these stories, some of our oldest and best, are shared with children.