Glorious Exploits

Glorious Exploits

Fiction & Poetry, Modern & Contemporary Fiction | Paperback Published on: 23/01/2025
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Published 23/01/2025
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Bookseller Reviews

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Glorious Exploits
A really glorious tragedy
Oh my gosh I loved this book. I picked it up expecting a little light entertainment and, within a couple of pages, was overwhelmed by how brutal and humane... READ MORE
Emma Southon
Glorious Exploits
The perfect balance between comedy and tragedy
A brilliant debut novel by Ferdia Lennon, Glorious Exploits it's a beautiful, funny and heartbreaking tale about how powerful art is and how it connects us... READ MORE
Ana Jordao
Glorious Exploits
‘This book is a love letter to theatre and art alike.’
Wow wow wow. Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Fig Tree for allowing me to read this proof of Glorious Exploits because I think you may have just spoiled... READ MORE
Abigail at Wokingham
Glorious Exploits
A Modern Tribute to the Classical Playwrights
Ferdia Lennon's "Glorious Exploits" is nothing short of an absolutely fantastic modern tribute to the classical playwrights, blending the richness of their... READ MORE
Holly at Craigavon
Glorious Exploits
Completely enthralling
I'm already calling this my book of the year- funny, adventurous, sad, thoughtful and so tense I could not put it down. By the end I was ignoring all my re... READ MORE
Josephine Wilks
Glorious Exploits
Genuinely Hilarious
This was such a refreshing read, with so much character-driven humour. The conceit is very original and well executed, but the characters truly bring it to... READ MORE
Charlie
Glorious Exploits
Just Superb!!!
Quality writing and storytelling. Reminds me in style and tone of Pat Barker's Greek novels. Suitably funny and tragic. Recommended.
Sean Quigley,  Gloucester
Glorious Exploits
Brutal, compelling and brilliant
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon is a novel that will grab you from the first sentence and won't let you go until the last. It is based on Ancient Greek ... READ MORE
Leonie
Glorious Exploits
Amazing!
I'll be honest, I didn't really expect to enjoy a book about two potters in 412 BC staging a perfomance of Medea using captured Athenian soldiers, but this... READ MORE
Helen at Scarborough
Glorious Exploits
Absolutely phenomenal!
I'll keep it brief because there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been better said by other reviewers. Glorious Exploits is nothing like anything I'... READ MORE
Hannah at Hanley
Glorious Exploits
A grand madness
How on earth can I describe the grand madness that is Glorious Exoloits? It’s set in 412 BC in Sicily, and tells the bizarre and unlikely tale of two unemp... READ MORE
Beth at Chesterfield
Glorious Exploits
One of the finest debut novels I've read
Ferdia Lennon's audacious, and utterly original novel is best surmised by one of its characters, Tuireann--a collector of antiquities, a lover of storytell... READ MORE
Archie at Wells
Glorious Exploits
My Book of the Year!
This was an absolutely phenomenal read, quite unlike anything I've ever read before. The writing is beautiful, with a dry, Irish tone. You will fall in lov... READ MORE
Hebe at Fareham
Glorious Exploits
A Comedic, Unexpected Triumph Of A Read
A comedic and unexpected triumph of a read. Following 2 foolish young men who decide on a whim to put on a play using prisoners from the quarry who knows... READ MORE
Nicole @hemelwstones
Glorious Exploits
Play on Words
The plays of Euripedes performed by Athenian PoWs in a Syracusian quarry, all told in an unmistakably Irish-English idiom: that sounds worth exploring, rig... READ MORE
Richard Hayden in Rye
Glorious Exploits
The West End in Ancient Greece
I really enjoyed the unique premise of this story and Lennon's writing felt accomplished. Throughout the book, the witty elements made for a page-turning r... READ MORE
Josh (Waterstones Chichester)
Glorious Exploits
an homage to the arts
a perfect blending of modern storytelling and ancient epic. a story full of hope, tragedy, passion and loyalty, this book truly had everything. it was poet... READ MORE
Libby Low
Glorious Exploits
Mythology retelling meets Waiting for Godot
Thank you to the publishing house on Netgalley for sending me an early copy of this book. From the first chapter of Glorious Exploits you are thrown into ... READ MORE
Chloë at Cheltenham Waterstones
Glorious Exploits
A new take on historical fiction
I loved every part of Glorious Exploits, from its prickly characters to its tragic plot. Lennon’s style is a refreshing take on historical fiction; Lampo’s... READ MORE
Emily
Glorious Exploits
Nothing short of Glorious!
Incredible from start to end, I kept going back to it and read the whole book in a day. It's original, poignant, funny at times, and a beautiful ode to the... READ MORE
Cerys at Hemel Hempstead
Glorious Exploits
Highly recommend!!
This novel gripped me from the start and took me on a journey full of twists and turns, several surprising but all deeply satisfying. Along with the main a... READ MORE
Sophie from Waterstones Swindon
Glorious Exploits
Hilarious and Heartbreaking
A thoroughly entertaining debut from an exciting new voice. A biting dark comedy that will crack you up and make you cry in equal measure. Perfect for fans... READ MORE
Jade B
Glorious Exploits
Takes a while to match the narrative to the action
Set in ancient Greece but the language is 21st Century A couple of friends thinks that it would be a good idea to stage a play using Athenians who are held... READ MORE
Neil Challis @Windsor
Glorious Exploits
Hilarious, heartbreaking - glorious!
An absolute triumph, and a more than worthy winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. Despite its historical setting, the novel's Irish voice makes it... READ MORE
Ross at Silverburn
Glorious Exploits
Read it - it’s brilliant!
I just loved this book. Original, clever, funny, beautifully written with an emotional punch. A story about friendship, the importance of forgiveness and h... READ MORE
Kelley
Glorious Exploits
My favourite read of 2024!
Very few authors can perfectly mix a blend of comedy and tragedy and have both effect you in equal measure. Lennon does this amazingly and leaves you with ... READ MORE
Molly at Silverburn
Glorious Exploits
GLORIOUSLY GOOD
Glorious Exploits a historical romp set in 412 BC Syracuse, Sicily, after a failed Athenian invasion leads to the captives being incarcerated in the town's... READ MORE
Yasmeen at Islington
Glorious Exploits
You don’t have to be into The Classics to love this book!
Lampo and Gelon are two regular potter lads who go down to the quarry to feed the Athenians and think, “Hey! Perhaps we should be directors and put on a pl... READ MORE
Maylan Murray
Glorious Exploits
Not my cup of tea
It started off okay and was fairly enjoyable but as it went on i didn’t find anything funny if anything it made me cringe. Also it felt like the only way t... READ MORE
Lucy
Glorious Exploits
Glorious, glorious, glorious!
This novel is so skilfully executed, a glorious masterpiece that shouldn’t work, but does, beautifully. Expect dry Irish humour with a mythical backdrop, h... READ MORE
Laionie Sarson
Glorious Exploits
Vibrant and brave
I’ve got to admit, the ending of this novel took this book from a 7/10 to a 10/10 for me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading its entirety, but the story really c... READ MORE
Rhianne at Winchester High Street
Glorious Exploits
Refreshingly original
This lived up to its title in that it was "glorious" and there were lots of exploits. The narrator is Lampo, who is an unemployed Sicilian potter . The ... READ MORE
Tracey McHardy
Glorious Exploits
Glorious!
Lennon's debut is witty, full of charm, and glorious! It's 412BCE, Syracuse, and we follow two friends and their escapades of trying to put on a play in a ... READ MORE
Kayleigh Cooper

Synopsis

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024

‘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

***

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?

***

‘Fierce, funny, fast-paced … Brings the ancient world roaring to life’ Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre

‘Love, war, poetry, reckless ambition, terrible failure, and glorious triumph … A delicious treat of a read. I loved it’ Jon McGregor, author of Lean Fall Stand

  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
  • ISBN: 9780241998007
  • Number of pages: 288
  • Weight: 500g
  • Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 35 mm

Customer Reviews

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Glorious Exploits
Poignant, funny, dark, violent, heartbreaking, tender and eminently readable
This might just be the most original book I read last year (thanks to an ARC) - and I loved every word. Best friends Gelon and Lampo live in a rapidly ... READ MORE
Jessica Thompson
Glorious Exploits
A stunner from the start
A novel well worthy of our times, Glorious Exploits blinded me with its brilliance. Transported back to 412BC Syracuse where Athenian would-be-invaders, no... READ MORE
KimG9
Glorious Exploits
A very clever conclusion, interesting story
This was an interesting story of a very different kind to the usual stories about this part of the Meditteranean.. Some great descriptions that brought the... READ MORE
Patricia Moren
Glorious Exploits
Crazy and rather fantastic
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... READ MORE
Jo-anne Atkinson
Glorious Exploits
Incredible and unique
This book is delightful and original. I read an advanced copy though NetGalley and it was one of my top reads of 2023. It's written beautifully, with a nar... READ MORE
Rose Kooper-Johnson
Glorious Exploits
a story about stories and how their telling connects across cultures.
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 ... READ MORE
Charlotte Graham
Glorious Exploits
Original and hugely entertaining
Glorious Exploits is sensational! What an amazing read; bursting with life and action and I couldn’t put it down. Difficult to believe this is a debut. T... READ MORE
Anita Wallas
Glorious Exploits
Funny historical fiction
5th century BC Syracuse recently fought off an attack by the Athenians and hundreds of Athenian prisoners are kept in a disused quarry. where they are slow... READ MORE
Aidan Dunn
Glorious Exploits
Glorious Exploits
The bench mark by which I will compare all the rest of this year’s books . Utterly original , very funny and profoundly moving . Absolutely first class wri... READ MORE
Judith Gilbert
Glorious Exploits
A glorious tribute to the importance of storytelling
In many ways Glorious Exploits is like an Asterix novel for grown ups with numerous humourous moments, a dash of romance and sublimely-drawn comic characte... READ MORE
H Rose
Glorious Exploits
Flann O'Brien Meets Euripides
This is a strange book. It's sort of like Flann O'Brien meets Euripides and I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. Set in 412BC, the Athenians have just ... READ MORE
Katy Wheatley
Glorious Exploits
Great fun
An irreverent and rather cheeky take on the Ancient World and Greek drama in particular. Laugh out loud funny at times the two main characters are on missi... READ MORE
Kate
Glorious Exploits
Unique!
Thank you to the publishers for this review copy. This is quite a unique read! Funny in part, but also moments to tug at your heart strings. I will cert... READ MORE
Fiona Sharp
Glorious Exploits
An enjoyable debut with a big heart
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... READ MORE
BluestockingLondon
Glorious Exploits
I LOVED THIS BOOK !
This is a story of enemies. Gelon and friend Lampo want to put on a play. It's 412 BC and the only cast they have are Athenian prisoners, half starving and... READ MORE
Sue
Glorious Exploits
Glorious Exploits
Set in the aftermath of the ‘Sicilian Expedition’ - a failed attempt to conquer Sicily by the Athenian forces during the Peloponnesian War. It was disatrou... READ MORE
Nicola G
Glorious Exploits
4.5 stars - a witty visit to Ancient Greece
*I received a free preview copy of this book from NetGalley* ‘What people expect rarely happens. Things which seem impossible come to pass. It’s always ... READ MORE
Amy C
Glorious Exploits
Glorious indeed!
This was an unexpected gem. Obviously the setting and plot outline piqued my interest enough to start reading but I wasn't prepared for how completely imme... READ MORE
Kirsty McClymont
Glorious Exploits
Glorious novel
Glorious Exploits is the most unlikely novel I’ve read in years. Set in the aftermath of the Athenian defeat in Syracuse, it has two young Syracusan lads, ... READ MORE
Miles Parker
Glorious Exploits
Surprisingly intriguing
Maybe my book hangover caused the lower rating, it’s more of a 3.5. Following idealistic friends with a curious, yet daring, dream we are met with a sto... READ MORE
Davidp McIlwrath