Goodreads' best fantasy novel of the decade pick drops in time for Nolan's The Odyssey

Joining Lord of the Rings and the Earthsea books in the annals of fantasy history: a retelling of Homer's Odyssey, if Goodreads users are to be believed. (And they probably should be — they read a lot!)

Goodreads has announced that Circe, Madeline Miller’s Homeric retelling from 2018, is the Best Fantasy Book of the Decade according to its users. The popular online platform designed to help avid readers track books, find recommendations, and post reviews shared trending data with ScreenRant, which measured star ratings and praise to land on the aggregated distinction.

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Image: Little, Brown and Company

While this news might come as a shock to some fantasy readers, it’s important to note that the word “best,” especially when it comes to books, is subjective and almost always varies from person to person. There have been plenty of truly phenomenal fantasy novels published over the last ten years (not to mention all the mythological retellings from different cultures within the genre). As such, something like “highest ranking” or “most popular” might have been a little more appropriate and less divisive.

According to the Goodreads Data Team, the decision here was made based on “the highest total shelving and an average rating above 3.5 stars, published from 2017 to the present. The 3.5-star threshold served as a quality check, while total shelvings measured popularity among readers.”Circe clocks in with 1.4 million ratings and has a whopping 140,000 reviews. By comparison, The Way of Kings byBrandon Sanderson has only 696,000 ratings and 56,000 reviews, which explains why it didn’t make the cut.

Miller herself is no stranger to the fantasy genre. 2011 marked the publication of her first novel, The Song of Achilles, a heartbreaking retelling of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus in which they are portrayed as young lovers. The book was critically acclaimed, with The Times calling it “a remarkably fresh take on one of the most familiar narratives in western literature”. Seven years later, Miller returned to the world of Ancient Greece with her second spellbinding novel, Circe.

In Homer’s Odyssey, Circe is described as a beautiful but temperamental enchantress with “lovely hair” who seduces Odysseus and turns his crew into pigs by using a wand and potions on them. Odysseus then stays on the island for a year until he is able to overcome Circe’s powerful magic with the help of Hermes. Miller, however, takes a different and arguably more feminist approach.

Rather than a vindictive temptress, Circe is described as evolving from being shy and neglected by the gods to a powerful and resilient sorceress who, while ruthless, is also shown to be compassionate unlike the gods, as well as nurturing and capable of love. The result is a much more developed character and, frankly, a welcome change to the original text. This, along with Miller’s popularity and people’s love for Greek mythology, undoubtedly helped to propel Circe to the top of the list of Goodreads’ fantasy novels.

Now, with director Christopher Nolan’s own take on The Odyssey coming out in July, and Charlize Theron reportedly playing Circe in the film, we can’t help but wonder which direction Nolan will take and how that will affect the book's popularity. Will Circe once again be reduced to a seductive witch or did someone manage to slip Nolan a copy of Miller’s novel ahead of filming? Time to check his Goodreads page.

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