THE HYMN TO DIONYSUS

Sid Sagar immediately draws listeners into this riveting novel, set in ancient Thebes. Phaidros is a soldier who was raised to fight. Now he's in his 30s, lonely and grieving the loss of his sworn companion even as he trains a new generation. He's immensely likable, and the first-person perspective and colloquial language mean that Sagar is able to bring listeners intimately close to Phaidros and everything he experiences. When chaotic things begin to happen in Thebes--singing, dancing, and an explosion of wild nature, even though the city is suffering from a terrible drought--Phaidros finds himself caught up in political machinations and caught in the orbit of a compelling witch healer named Dionysus, whom Sagar sets apart with a slightly different British accent. Listeners won't want this lovely, moving story to end. J.M.D. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2025]