Teacher Publishes Ground-breaking Interactive Odyssey Book

A Churcher’s College Classics teacher has turned one of the greatest stories ever told into an epic interactive adventure – and it’s already winning acclaim.

Laura Jenkinson-Brown’s You Are Odysseus reimagines Homer’s Odyssey as a “Choose Your Own Odyssey” book, blending rigorous scholarship with an innovative, game-style format. With over 700 sections, 51 possible endings and 250,000 words, the book invites readers to step into the sandals of Odysseus and decide his fate.

The project grew into a years-long labour of love.

Laura began developing the idea in 2019 after her husband joked about a ‘Choose Your Own Odyssey.’ Inspired by Odysseus’ defining trait of ‘polytropos’ – the man of many twists and turns – she saw how perfectly the Odyssey lent itself to a branching narrative. Early drafts were tested with her pupils – at Role Play Gaming Club and Fighting Fantasy Reading Club – who found the format deepened their understanding of Homer’s hero.

The project grew into a years-long labour of love. Drawing on eight translations, Bronze Age Greek history and even a newly imagined Egyptian detour for Odysseus, Jenkinson-Brown incorporated mythological references, unheard voices from the epic, and original illustrations. Her approach has already earned recognition – she presented her classroom experiment at the Classical Association Conference in 2022, where she also won its Teaching Prize for Innovative Pedagogy.

Laura said she hopes the book will appeal to teens, young adults and adult readers alike

You Are Odysseus will be published on 25 September as a 700-page illustrated paperback and an interactive EPUB e-book. It’s currently climbing Amazon’s Classics and Ancient History Hot New Releases chart. It is available to order through any bookshop but the UK Amazon link is https://amzn.to/4gDti3n.

Laura said she hopes the book will appeal to teens, young adults and adult readers alike: “The Odyssey isn’t just a story to be studied – it’s a living, twisting adventure. I wanted people to feel they’re part of it.”

More about her work and updates can be found at @GreekMythComix on Instagram, https://greekmythcomix.com, and https://laurajenkinsonbrown.co.uk.