The Hymn to Dionysus

Natasha Pulley

$55

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Gollancz
10 June 2025

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Science fiction

'Witty, bittersweet, surprising, and compellingly readable' Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

'A completely original and bewitching adventure' A. D. Rhine, author of Daughters of Bronze and Horses of Fire

'A dazzling labyrinth of a book that pulls you in with both hands' Luna McNamara, author of PSYCHE AND EROS

'This is more than a story of love and escape and broken chains. This is more than an exquisitely crafted tale. This book is a candle in a dark hour' Maya Deane, author of Wrath Goddess Sing

Raised in a Greek legion, Phaidros has been taught to follow his commander's orders at all costs. But when he rescues a baby from a fire at Thebes' palace, he defies those orders and keeps the blue-eyed boy's existence a secret.

Years later, after a strange encounter that led to the death of his battalion, Phaidros has become a training master for young soldiers. He struggles with panic attacks and flashbacks, and he is not alone: all around him, his fellow veterans are losing their minds.

Madness is not his only problem: Phaidros has become entangled with the search for Thebes' lost young crown prince-a search that leads him to a blue-eyed witch named Dionysus, whose guidance is as wise as the events that surround him are strange. In Dionysus's company, Phaidros witnesses sudden outbursts of riots and unrest, and everywhere Dionysus goes, rumors follow about a new god, one sired by Zeus but lost in a fire . . .

In The Hymn to Dionysus, bestselling author Natasha Pulley transports us to an ancient empire on the edge of ruin to tell an utterly captivating story about a man needing a god to remind him how to be a human.

Praise for The Hymn to Dionysus

'[Pulley] makes the ancient world feel close-by. I was enthralled from the first page to the last'

Elyse John, author of Orphia and Eurydicius

'[A] fresh and stylish reimagining . . . Fans of Greek myth retellings won't want to miss this' Publishers Weekly, Starred review

'This novel twists the ideas of duty and honour, exploring the depths of humanity and the power of connection in a world consumed by chaos. An absolute must-read' Crystal King, bestselling author of In the Garden of Monsters and Feast of Sorrow

By: Natasha Pulley
Imprint: Gollancz
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 158mm, Width: 214mm, Spine: 34mm
Weight: 619g
ISBN: 9781399618656
ISBN 10: 1399618652
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 10 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

NATASHA PULLEY is the internationally bestselling author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. She has won a Betty Trask Award, been shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, the Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award, and the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, and been longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize.

Reviews for The Hymn to Dionysus

Few writers combine such warmth and heart with such consummate skill as Natasha Pulley... Reading her is both a joyful and profound experience - and The Mars House is her most daring, ambitious, and exciting book yet' * CATRIONA WARD, Sunday Times-bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street * Simply unputdownable - hilarious, ingenious, and full of warmth, The Mars House asks important questions about what it means to be human, and doesn't shy away from nuanced conversations about immigration, climate breakdown, and augmented reality. Plus it has talking mammoths and a very clever twist. What's not to love? * THOMAS D. LEE, Sunday Times-bestselling author of Perilous Times * This is a book about language, how new society subcultures form, gender, mammoths, and space... I want to live inside Natasha Pulley's brain - and I would happily read a thousand more pages set on Mars. The incredible arranged marriage queer romance was just an added bonus. Book of the year for me * LAUREN JAMES, Carnegie-shortlisted author of The Quiet at the End of the World * Already one of my favourite books of the year... There's palace intrigue, a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers plot, sassy footnotes, and also there are mammoths! It's a total delight from start to finish * LITERARY HUB * Pulley astonishes in this thorny and addictive sci-fi romance * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * Readers will appreciate all the delightful details of worldbuilding, character arcs, and slow romantic tension. Exquisitely layered and entertaining, Pulley's latest novel is a queer tale of planetary refugees, politics, and populist views (and mammoths).''Readers will appreciate all the delightful details of worldbuilding, character arcs, and slow romantic tension. Exquisitely layered and entertaining, Pulley's latest novel is a queer tale of planetary refugees, politics, and populist views (and mammoths) * LIBRARY JOURNAL * Pulley has wrapped an enemies-to-lovers, fake-marriage romance in a fascinating sci-fi world package... Magnetic... Charming... Readers will have incredible fun reading about this slow-burn romance, the itch of two creepy background mysteries, and a delightful scene involving judgmental mammoths * BOOKLIST *