Medea

A Novel

By: Eilish Quin

Narrated by: Gail Shalan

Discover the full story of the sorceress Medea, one of the most reviled and maligned women of Greek antiquity, in this “haunting, deeply moving” (Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author) debut in the tradition of Circe, Elektra, and Stone Blind.

Among the women of Greek mythology, the witch Medea may be the most despised. Known for the brutal act of killing her own children to exact vengeance on her deceitful husband, Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, Medea has carved out a singularly infamous niche in our histories.

But what if that isn’t the full story?

The daughter of a sea nymph and the granddaughter of a Titan, Medea is a paradox. She is at once rendered compelling by virtue of the divinity that flows through her bloodline and made powerless by the fact of her being a woman. As a child, she intuitively submerges herself in witchcraft and sorcery but soon finds her skills may not be a match for the prophecies that hang over her entire family like a shroud.

As Medea comes into her own as a woman and a witch, she also faces the arrival of the hero Jason, preordained by the gods to be not only her husband but also her lifeline to escape her isolated existence. Medea travels the treacherous seas with the Argonauts, battles demons she has never imagined, and falls in love with the man who may ultimately be her downfall in this fresh and propulsive “must-have” (Library Journal, starred review) story in which you will finally hear Medea’s side of the story through a fresh and feminist lens.

©2024 Eilish Quin (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

Beautifully written, lovely re-imagination of Medea

I fell in love with the re-imagination of Greek mythology from a woman's perspective when I first read Circe. Medea is just as well written. The story is well ploted and the voice dramatization is awesome. Thank you for offering a new version of this ancient story. I enjoyed it.

Loved the book but not the narrator

Great storyline but the narrator was difficult to listen to. Would've preferred to read the book i stead

Absolutely loved it!

her downfall."
If you love Madeline Miller's "Song of Achilles" and
"Circe", Lauren J. A. Bear's "Medusa's Sisters",
", or Nikki
Marmery's "Lilith",
', you will adore this Medea retelling.
Told with beautiful, poetic prose, strong feminist themes, and a more sympathetic lense, I couldn't help but to fall in love with this view of Medea. Instead of the heartless sorceress and murderer that she is known to be, Eilish Quin does a breathtaking job of making this greek figure seem to be what she truly is: a daughter, sister, wife, mother, and (most importantly) someone who made life-altering, heartbreaking mistakes on her journey to achieve the life and happiness she hoped for. While reading, I couldn't help but feel ever instance of Medea's hope and despair.

Amazing yet terribly sad!

Circe is one of my all time favorites so I was beyond excited to find this and listened non-stop from start to finish. I’m blown away, of course!

The author did an amazing job of making Medea complex and a character you can empathize with… almost. By the end, after she slaughters her children… I couldn’t quite forgive her but at least I did not turn it off in disgust!

Unlistenable and interesting

This white washed version of Medea’s story dilutes her madness and complexity. The narration is bleating.

I flew between delight and rage listening.

Disappointing

I hate to give a book a lesser rating when it is likely based on opinion & unmet expectations rather than the quality of the book itself. I understand this book is based on mythological characters. However, I was under the assumption the characters would be portrayed in a more realistic manner.

In this story, the characters maintained their mythological attributes which made it very unrealistic & unrelatable. Additionally, there was witchcraft & sorcery woven throughout as well as references to otherworldly creatures. I don’t mind some elements of witchcraft in historical fiction because I realize these practices were not uncommon throughout history, but here it all seemed very farfetched.

Again, this might be an entertaining story for those who enjoy books based on mythology & fantasy, but it simply wasn’t my cup of tea. All that being said, I would like to add that the narrator was superb!

Terrible narrator

I'm only on chapter 3, but this is going to be a return. The narrator is atrocious. The delivery is a constant variation of average speech and breathy, whispery, and difficult to hear. Male voices "shound like thish" with the 's' being pronounced as 'sh'. I don't think I've ever returned a book based solely on the narrator. This shall be a firSHt. (insert eye roll and vomit emojis here)

roller-coaster story. Follows most mythological story lines, but with dramatic variations.

some dialog was hard to follow the. I had to pack up and replay segments.

Really great!!!

I loved this story, loved the narrator. I was completely captivated. The Circe cameo was my fav part

Quite a compelling reimagining of Medea

In all my studies and reading of ancient myths and sources, Medea is painted as thoroughly evil. I really enjoyed the strategic creative license the author took in making Medea’s actions a bit more understandable. Some acts are undone, while others cannot be undone. I find it makes her even more complex. For I always held a little bit a faith in Medea; the gods did frequently side with her after all the horror she supposedly committed. Perhaps like many Ancient Greek myths, the common understanding of Medea’s story unfairly shines in favor of the men and casts the women in shadow. I really enjoyed this retelling. And by the way, for lovers of Madeline Miller’s Circe, this novel stands strongly on its own or makes for a nicely intertwined companion novel. I look forward to Eilish Quin’s next novel.