Fire from Heaven (Alexander the Great, #1)

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Fire from Heaven (Alexander the Great #1)

4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 · rating details · 2,073 ratings · 126 reviews

Alexander’s beauty, strength, and defiance were apparent from birth, but his boyhood honed those gifts into the makings of a king. His mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their son’s loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. His love for the youth Hephaistion taught him trust, while Aristotle’s tutoring...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published June 11th 2002 by Vintage (first published 1969)

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Jan 07, 2013 Sue rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wonderful book. Am completely in love with Alexander of Macedon but like his mythical hero Achilles he is doomed to die young. His adult years are spent fighting and capturing Egypt,Turkey, present day Middle East, Central Asia, Pakistan even parts of India. This book covers his youth and early adulthood to his accession at age 20. Well researched, the book focuses on his relationships and what he learns from his parents - the lessons on statehood and military tactics from his father and wild di...more Wonderful book. Am completely in love with Alexander of Macedon but like his mythical hero Achilles he is doomed to die young. His adult years are spent fighting and capturing Egypt,Turkey, present day Middle East, Central Asia, Pakistan even parts of India. This book covers his youth and early adulthood to his accession at age 20. Well researched, the book focuses on his relationships and what he learns from his parents - the lessons on statehood and military tactics from his father and wild dionysiac revels of his mother. He is left in a constant state of uncertainty about his parentage. He doesn't know whether Philip of Macedon is his father and whether he is the heir, and is ashamed and angry at his father's sexual excess and threats to disinherit him. There is much enjoyable detail about his education with Aristotle, together with his "Companions". Alexander's relationships with his Companions are key. These are his future generals and heirs to his kingdom after his early demise. Above all, this part of the Alexandriad covers the development of his close emotional relationship with Hephaistion who will become his lifelong companion, despite other lovers and wives.

By the end of the book Alexander is already a successful and gifted military leader but his relationship with his father over the inheritance has deteriorated to the point where Alexander is exiled. They are reconciled but Alexander no longer trusts his father who despite his fondness for Alexander, his obvious heir, continues to try and create or find alternative heirs. Alexander and his Companions form a court within a court. The tension rises in the final chapters. The brilliant final scene in the book covers the assassination of Philip during the wedding of his daughter (Alexander's sister) with her uncle (yet another ruse to disherit Alexander). The tension and sense of foreboding are palpable. As Alexander takes control, we are left wondering who ordered the assassination and whether his mother Olympias or even Alexander himself were implicated. (less)

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Oct 30, 2012 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Rachel by: Christin

Shelves: favorites, boys, historical-fiction, want-to-re-read

Alright...I had this at 4 stars last night when I finished it, but the more I think about it, I have no reason not to give it 5, so I changed it. I don't want to be stingy for no good reason.

Basically, I loved everything about this book except how long it took me to read it, which is not the book's fault, it's my own.

I read The Persian Boy first (even though it's the second in the series) so I had already grown fond of many of the characters. In this book, my fondness changed to love, adoration...more Alright...I had this at 4 stars last night when I finished it, but the more I think about it, I have no reason not to give it 5, so I changed it. I don't want to be stingy for no good reason.

Basically, I loved everything about this book except how long it took me to read it, which is not the book's fault, it's my own.

I read The Persian Boy first (even though it's the second in the series) so I had already grown fond of many of the characters. In this book, my fondness changed to love, adoration, admiration, all of the above. I LOVE Alexander. He's just such a stand-up guy, in basically all aspects of his life. Not that he doesn't make mistakes and stuff, but he owns them, admits to them, works through them. I also really like that he's a lover AND a fighter, not just one or the other. That's a characteristic that not too many people can accomplish with success, but I think he does. I felt strong emotions for him while reading this book. I felt very sad for him in regards to his relationships with his parents, which are no fault of his own. As I said to Christin while reading this, it's no wonder he preferred the company of men because his father teaches him to hate women, and his mother is the first helicopter mom in history. Give the kid a break, already! He has done nothing but try to please you both, and you both just crap on him for your own benefit, and use him against each other. He's perpetually stuck in the middle of them. Somehow, he still manages to turn into a good person, which is lucky for us.

Next, I just have to talk about Hephaistion because I'm basically obsessed with him. I can't help it. I love him so much, I can't even describe it. He is so faithfully devoted to Alexander, loves him with all his heart, and it's just SO SWEET. But better yet, even though he so clearly feels that way, he somehow manages not to let it blind him in a way that could become damaging to Alexander. For instance, he would never tell Alexander something he wanted to hear, simply to please him. It's not in him. He will give his true opinion, and let Alexander decide whether or not he agrees. The only way I can describe their relationship is that they are two pieces of a whole. They belong together, side by side, and they compliment each other. Their bond is something most people will never experience in their lifetime. It's just beautiful.

The timeline of events is just as much a part of this book as the detailing of the relationships of the characters. It was nice to get a broad overview of the significant things that happened in Alexander's life, and just as in The Persian Boy, it is done without feeling like a textbook history lesson, which is wonderful.

The history is certainly important, but what sucks me in is the characters and their relationships. I can't get enough of it. Who knew I was secretly harboring a love for historical fiction? Not me. (less)

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Jan 07, 2009 LeAnn rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Historical fiction buffs

Recommended to LeAnn by: Howard Beale

Mary Renault did a good job of bringing ancient Macedonia and Alexander the Great's world to life. I found Alexander a bit opaque, however, and many times her use of personal pronouns was hard to decipher (i.e., I couldn't tell who the pronouns referred back to). I also found the explanation of the ancient Greek/Macedonian viewpoint of erotic love and friendship a bit unclear. Renault has Alexander enter into a homosexual relationship with his best friend Hephaestion, who is pretty straightforwa...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Nev Percy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who can handle references from Classical Antiquity that aren't all spelled out

Shelves: historical-fiction

Mary Renault's telling of the Theseus story, 'The King Must Die' was one of the favourite books of my teen years -- one of the first grown-up books I read as an adolescent, and re-read several times.

I was delighted on finally returning to her to find 'Fire from Heaven', the start of the Alexander story (which some appear to call "her Alexandriad"), compelling, mostly beautifully written, and a masterwork of Classics.

It's very economically written, which means it's repeatedly very rich on detail...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Pat Anderson rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-novels

This was the first of Renault's Alexander trilogy and, to my mind, the weakest. Not really having a lot to go on about this period Renault attempts to reconstruct the early life of Alexander. Unfortunately, in her quest to completely whitewash Alexander, the other characters come across as extremely shallow. Olympias is like the wicked queen in a fairy tale, while Philip appears as a drunken oaf. Philip actually built up Macedon from a primitive backwater to a power that held sway over the whole...more

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May 02, 2011 Chelsea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

The novel is absolutely AMAZINGLY written, and I’m not even half way done withthe first volume and already I’m dreading the end of the entire trilogy. I can see what my friend Jesi was talking about when she said that this is the book that makes you fall in love with Alexander. And not in that ‘we love him because he was part of history’ way but love as in an overwhelming attachment to what happens to him. And even though Renault makes it fairly clear from the get-go that she’s part of the whole...more The novel is absolutely AMAZINGLY written, and I’m not even half way done withthe first volume and already I’m dreading the end of the entire trilogy. I can see what my friend Jesi was talking about when she said that this is the book that makes you fall in love with Alexander. And not in that ‘we love him because he was part of history’ way but love as in an overwhelming attachment to what happens to him. And even though Renault makes it fairly clear from the get-go that she’s part of the whole ‘Alexander liked boys’ philosophy, he is still possibly one of the most attractive literary creations of the actual man that I’ve ever read.

I think part of my love for this book stems from a childhood fascination with everything Greek, and in that light it doesn’t disappoint. The book speaks of Alexander’s witch-mother Olympias, who is described as being absolutely beautiful, but complete terrifying in that beauty. She is constant defiance of her husband, King Phillip II of Macedon, who is also described as an almost tyrranical leader, and the two seem to be waging almost silent but constant war over how to raise Alexander. Even with this tension in the background, the book outlies the many ways in which Alexander becomes known as the King of Asia, and one of the greatest Greek kings. He kills his first man in hand-on-hand combat at age 12, years before even his father had, and he is placed under the tutelage of Aristotle in his early teens, which is when he also forms a solid friendship with Hephaistion, the young son of an underlord, who participates in Alexander’s education with him.

This is as far as I’ve gotten in the book, and it’s heartbreaking – the passages where Hephaistion describes his budding (non-friendly) love for Alexander, with the knowledge that taking a bed-boy may be common practice, but love between men seldom was, are enough to bring you to tears. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the book, however, is that it immediately takes you to ancient Greece, envelops you in the world that existed there. It doesn’t necessarily matter that my Greek political/military history is pretty much non-existent, or that the names are pretty much totally confusing (a problem I also, funnily enough, had with Tolstoy), it speaks to the power of the book that I am able to open its pages and forget that I’m riding a smelly old bus to campus to take a test I haven’t studied for – I become a member of Philip’s court, watching this beautiful, strong, headstrong and talented boy grow up in to what will be (with the beauty of hindsight) an absolutely legendary military leader! I can’t say enough for the book – literally, I’m out of time at the work computer – but please, please, PLEASE read it
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Apr 28, 2010 Sophie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, greek, historical-fiction, owned, lgbt

This is my second copy of this book. I bought another one years ago, tried to read it, found I couldn't get into it and sold it. This time, I started reading it and could barely put it down. Go figure.

Since Fire from Heaven is the first volume of Mary Renault's trilogy about the life of Alexander the Great, it's not very surprising that this book is about Alexander's childhood and youth. Like I said, I found it a very compelling read, but not so much because of the plot, but because I didn't wan...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Tamakichoi rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is simply marvelous. I don't even have the words to describe it.

As others have already touched on what the book is about, I won't bother going into details.

What I really found compelling was that this is no simple, "Alexander did this", "and this", "and this" retelling. The paragraphs are saturated with meaning. Every sentence that Mary Renault wrote in this book had a purpose, if not, more than one. Some might say that this is a dense piece of writing. True, this is not a book you c...more This book is simply marvelous. I don't even have the words to describe it.

As others have already touched on what the book is about, I won't bother going into details.

What I really found compelling was that this is no simple, "Alexander did this", "and this", "and this" retelling. The paragraphs are saturated with meaning. Every sentence that Mary Renault wrote in this book had a purpose, if not, more than one. Some might say that this is a dense piece of writing. True, this is not a book you can skim, unless you want to miss out on 99.9% of what Mary Renault has to say. But for me, I found the dense language to be beautifully written. I really appreciated having to read a slower than usual pace, in order to catch exactly what the character said, what he/she meant to say, why he/she meant to say it, what that meant for the character to say what he/she did in the first place, and al the ramifications that action/thought/speech meant. The only criticism I can offer about her writing is that occasionally, the he's are a little hard to distinguish between all the male characters on the scene.

This is the kind of book, where the words will not directly state, "he had sex", instead, the language will be wrapped in innuendos and phrases that get to the heart of why sex was important at all and not the details of the sex act itself. ... Just to be clear, this is not a highly dolled up sex novel.

Some of the reviewers mentioned that the characters seemed a bit black and white and not as nuanced as they could have been. While certainly you could tentatively place the characters as "good supporter of Alexander" and "person who might harm Alexander and thus should die!", there was a far bit more you could read into, if you read between the lines. Mary Renault offered some great lines for thoughts regarding friendship, valor, and women's status at the time that all came through her characterizations.

If you are looking for a book that has the stuff that all fantasy novels are made of and yet made so much more tantalizing because of the beautiful language and grounded by the fact that this is not fantasy so much as a dramatic retelling of THE Alexander the Great, then I would highly recommend you read this.

This is going on my bookshelf of rererererererereads.
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Jan 27, 2010 Leandra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've tried reading this book a couple of years ago, but I got stuck fairly in the beginning. A huge part of the book is dedicated to Alexander's childhood, the relationship to his loving, but possessive mother who thinks Alexander a child of Zeus and tries to keep him from associating with Philip, his father. Renault takes pain in trying to show how Alexander is shaped through his childhood experiences - she delves into psychology to explain his character and his motivations. Some anecdotes are...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

This is the first book of Renaults trilogy on the life of Alexander the Great. If you enjoy historical fiction this is probably a book for you. I first read all three books as they came out and have gone back to them over the years to reread. Renaults creation of the ancient world of Alexander is flawless with many of the accounts reworkings of existing Greek and Asian history. Alexander is created here very human, flawed but also a genius at warfare and friendship. A few years ago I watched a P...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Nenia Campbell rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: x-1960s, x-series-bk-1, did-not-finish-or-skimmed

Gave up sixty pages before the end. Not because the book was bad -- it was incredibly well-written, but because I felt like the style was just becoming too pompous. Fire from Heaven is a case of an author telling too much and not showing. Mary Stewart did an incredible amount of research to write the imagined story of Alexander the Great, of whom no original biographies exist (I suspect many were destroyed when Cleopatra's library was, but I'm not a history buff so I'm not entirely sure). She di...more

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May 03, 2013 Jesse Field rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, greece

Dusk was falling; eddies of pure mountain air pierced through the heavy mingled smells of wood-smoke, porridge, bean broth, horses, crudely-cured tent hides, and many thousand unwashed men. On leather camp-chairs, Philip and Alexander sat warming their wet boots at the glowing crumble of their fire. The steamy reek of his father's feet blended for Alexander with the other homely and familiar scents of war. He himself was no more than fairly dirty; when streams were hard to come at, he would rub

...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Klytia marked it as unfinished

Alessandro Magno è il mio personaggio storico preferito.
Il Ragazzo persiano di Mary Renault mi era piaciuto molto e recentemente avevo scoperto che è il secondo volume di un ciclo di tre dedicato ad Alessandro.

Lanciando maledizioni alla casa editrice che aveva pubblicato solo il secondo romanzo ho pensato di recuperare, piena di entusiasmo, il primo: Fire from Heaven. Delusione.

Protagonisti a cliché, soprattutto Filippo “l’uomo che non deve chiedere mai” e Olimpiade, mezza isterica e possessi...more

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May 05, 2013 John Garner rated it 4 of 5 stars

Like all of Mary Renault's books that I have read, this one will put you in a trance. Renault's thorough knowledge of Ancient Greece turns her historical account of Alexander the Great into an intimate experience with the ancient Macedonians. Much of the story directly concerns warfare, since war is what Alexander spent his entire life, heart, and soul on. I am impressed that Renault had such an understanding of ancient warfare: tactics, gear, etc. This book, as many of her others on Greece, is...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Patricia Bracewell rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's clear that Mary Renault fell in love with Alexander as she was writing this novel. He comes across as all that is good, especially in his relationship with his father - protective of the king at the same time that he is angry with him, disagrees with him, sees and judges his faults.

There are flaws in this novel - one is the writing style - a certain reluctance to come straight out and say something; she likes to be mysterious, to a fault, I think. Another is an assumption that her readers...more

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Jul 27, 2009 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

This should have been at least a 4. It had all the makings of a 4, but it was so concentrated on war that I had to demote it. I understand why - war was a major impetus in Alexander's life. But I don't much like war, so 3 it is.

What I did like was how Renault constructed the relationships between Alexander, his parents, his best friend, and his sister. I wish the book had focused more on those, particularly the constant power struggle between his parents which kept Alexander in the middle of a p...more

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Aug 13, 2010 Cristina Apavaloae rated it 4 of 5 stars

I find that almost any other book I have ever read about Alexander or during Alexander's time read rather like mythology or like a book of war tactics than a novel. One never fully understands the politics of the day or Alexander's personal relationships. One merely gains some small perspective on Alexander's accomplishments and views on things. Renault manages to make this book a novel. I adored her attention to detail and the humanity of her characters.

The humanity of every character, of cours...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Pete Jones rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not a hard read, but not an easy one either. It helps if you know your Greek history, geography, and mythology. Once you get past the strange syntax and grammar used to apparently mimic Greek (or Macedonian) and can remember all those character with at least ten characters in their names with the vowels and consonants thoroughly homogenized, you can make your way through this book with a dictionary close by. Where else could find words like “clem” and “medize” used properly, let alone used at al...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Holly Lindquist rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-literature

Ahem...
So this book starts with Alexander as a young boy, in bed, playing with his pet snake. (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.) Then his snake slithers away. He trundles off on his little toddler feet to search for it and wanders into his mother's room. (He really loves his mother. This is VERY important!) And then he sees his father naked.

Two words: SIGMUND FREUD.
On a billboard, approximately 900 feet tall, on a mountaintop, glowing with the brilliance of a thousand suns. Avert your eyes, lest you b...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Amber rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ancient-greece, historical, fiction, gay

I felt the book started a tad bit slow while recounting Alexander's childhood, but that could just be due to my impatient excitement to get to the good stuff haha. His teenage/young adult years certainly didn't disappoint in the drama department. I really enjoyed all the royal intrigue and machinations; it was almost like a soap opera.

Something I found a bit odd about this book was that when a physically intimate (sexual) act occurred between a male and female character, the act was described wi...more

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Mar 01, 2009 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this in sophomore or junior year in high school, and really enjoyed it. I wasn't down with the gay stuff, though, so managed to convince myself that nothing was really happening between older guys and young pages. It's funny to me now, the Christian Brother who assigned this as reading for our history class was always trying to shock us out of our cozy Catholic cocoons, and I was definitely sheltered at the time, but I still appreciated his teaching style and remember him fondly. At least...more

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Aug 19, 2009 John Schwabacher rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a novel about the early life of Alexander the Great up to the death of King Phillip. It's the first of Renault's Alexander Trilogy (I've already read The Persian Boy but not Funeral Games). It focusses a lot on his relationships, especially with both of his parents. You get a pretty strong sense of his remarkable personality and character. Although any book about Alexander is necessarily speculative, I trust her history, since she's gotten high marks from scholars.
I believe I learned a l...more

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Feb 18, 2011 Tay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alexander the Great became my favourite childhood hero after I read this most inspiring, moving & well researched historical fiction, when I was 12. In many ways it's tragic because some of his childhood comrades betrayed his loyalty. Fortunately, most were loyal to him till the end. This book is about his birth, his first battle at age 12 (I think) and ends with him becoming king of the Macedonians at age 20. Well researched, most moving & inspiring. The sequel deals with his campaigns...more

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May 07, 2013 Alicja rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: lgbt-fiction, historical-fiction, ancient-greece, alexander-the-great, to-re-read

Rating: 5/5

Summary: Alexander the Great is known as the man who conquered the biggest empire of the ancient world, his battle strategies are still being studied in military schools today, some 2300 years after his death. But what made the man who he was? Renault’s first book of the Alexander trilogy follows him from about the age of three until his father’s murder, his life as told from the eyes of his family, friends, lovers, tutors, enemies, fellow soldiers and others who shaped his life.

Revi...more Rating: 5/5

Summary: Alexander the Great is known as the man who conquered the biggest empire of the ancient world, his battle strategies are still being studied in military schools today, some 2300 years after his death. But what made the man who he was? Renault’s first book of the Alexander trilogy follows him from about the age of three until his father’s murder, his life as told from the eyes of his family, friends, lovers, tutors, enemies, fellow soldiers and others who shaped his life.

Review: Renault uses historical records of Alexander the Great’s life (youth) and embellishes them with a brilliant tale tying these real glimpses of an extraordinary life into a complete tale of what could have been. I read the second book, the Persian Boy, first. This book differs in that it is told from many points of view which don’t just show us Alexander but paint a picture of the politics and culture around him. Her descriptions of the ancient world are just as stunning and place the reader right in the middle of the action. Her words are beautiful, almost poetic, making the ancient world come alive. Born of Olympias and King Philip (or Zeus as the legends and Olympias herald), Alexander was born into a household filled with drama; right into the hatred between Olympias and Philip, Philip’s lovers and other wives (and children), and friends and enemies (and sometimes both). Taught by the famous Aristotle, born to battle Alexander’s development is wonderfully chronicled. I love Bagoas, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love Hephaestion either (or I mean Renault’s characterization of them both). The love between Alexander and Hephaestion is presented beautifully (paralleled against Achilles and Patroclus) and shows the impact that it’s had on Alexander’s life. But my favorite love story is that between Alexander and Bucephalus (Oxhead). Renault presents them as one of a kind, with a spirit that is greater than any other. I even cried during the scene where Alexander and Oxhead first bonded. Alexander’s life and destiny is crafted carefully without leaving a prophecy, legend, or symbol unturned (just like the ancient Greeks would have done it). Renault shows brilliantly how his personality and temperament collided with outside forces in his youth to create the man who became a legend lasting through thousands of years.
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Jan 14, 2013 Chris Gager rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I got my new New Yorker yesterday and what should be in it but an article about Mary Renault! I was already planning to begin reading the Alexander Trilogy anyway but I enjoyed the coincidence and read the article last night. Started a bit this morning...

Starting out reminding me of the Theseus books: the adventures of a self-possessed young man. Mary R. expressed the desire herself to have been born a boy. Probably a homosexual one although Theseus was not portrayed in that light. I guess all t...more I got my new New Yorker yesterday and what should be in it but an article about Mary Renault! I was already planning to begin reading the Alexander Trilogy anyway but I enjoyed the coincidence and read the article last night. Started a bit this morning...

Starting out reminding me of the Theseus books: the adventures of a self-possessed young man. Mary R. expressed the desire herself to have been born a boy. Probably a homosexual one although Theseus was not portrayed in that light. I guess all that came much later in Greek history. Certainly it's referred to immediately in this book's unfolding which is taking place many centuries later.

We're up now to age ten for Alexander, a precocious lad for sure but afflicted with an awful mother. The Philip-Olympias marriage seems very familiar in the category of Battling Baxters. She is beautiful, earthy, headstrong, emotional, manipulative and immature, while he's more logical, goal-driven and focused. Alexander is one of their battlegrounds. Sad to see how the mother interferes with and poisons the father-son relationship out of passive-aggressive resentment. Certainly it seems that MR does not "approve" of Mom(a witch-bitch).

Moving along but slowed by the writing of trivia questions. MR's vocabulary is as awesome as John Cowper Powys but mostly in a different ballpark... Ancient Greece. ALL words used in the questions come from the dictionary. If a word's not there I don't use it.
Anyway... We have another boy-horse encounter similar to the one in "The King Must Die". I have to admit to some squeamishness about the boy-boy thing. I'll try to maintain "detachment". The Mom-Dad battles continue as Alexander must bear the cross of his father's sex life and his mother's rage and anguish.

Alexandros is moving closer to adulthood and experiencing plenty of troubles, mostly still concerned with Mom and Dad. What a pair. It's a bit disconcerting to read what seems like a familiar tale of confused, sensitive adolescent and teenager with his parent issues and read about the warfare and killing he joins in with. Even so, this Greece has moved incrementally away from the religion and superstition ridden Greece of Theseus' time. They're not - usually - doing the human sacrifice thing anymore though they do still take a toll on the animal kingdom. Aristotle and his fellow philosophers are promoting reason, logic and science as better ways. Still, for all the progress there's still a lot of weird, brutal stuff going on. But of course there is today as well. Hitler was only 70 years ago...
- like Theseus, Alexandros is exposed to some shocking female ritual behaviour.
- MR handles the boy-boy thing well and expands it's meaning nicely. She doesn't go into the sex much.
- one of my favorite words from "A Glastonbury Romance" turns up here... "hamadryad"... Bravo Mary R.

My progressed has been stalled due to busy-ness, mostly work. It's interesting to read about the incompatibility between Alexandros and Hephaistion. H. wants more form Al but Al's focus is elsewhere. How similiar that is to a kind of problem in modern relationships. H. "settles" because he loves A. so much. Sound familiar? In a kind of way Alexandros reminds me of Gen. Ripper in "Dr. Strangelove"; he sees women as drainers of his energy. Not the sex so much as the relationship B.S. Again... sound familiar?

Getting ever nearer the end of book 1 as Alexandros splits from his father over political-family stuff, mainly his mother's humiliation. MR represents it as primarily emotional but there must have been some political motivation there too. The emotional stuff is compelling too, especially during a guest appearance by Dionysios the Younger, a big character from "The Mask of Apollo". Struggling to get by in much reduced and humble circumstances and talking about family difficulties.
- A difficulty and a challenge: how to integrate the personal/family/ relationship stuff surrounding young Alexandros, which is mostly speculation, with all the historical stuff that's "known" and make it believeable. With Theseus at least there was pretty much nothing to go on but legend so MR was freer to invent. And.. there's the ongoing challenge of following MR's prose as she trys to write English that is in accordance with Greek structure. Attention must be paid...
- Alexandros meets three shrine-servants-priestesses like Macbeth meets the three witches.

And now finished and satisfied. Not a great book but good enough for a 4* rating. Difficult to follow at times with all the characters and the Greek-English syntax and vocabulary. The character of Alexandros is a challenge as well. He still seems like a mystery to me but then his character was formed in such a different society than mine. Advanced in some ways but totally barbaric in others. As I pointed out above it was easier to do Theseus. At the end we get a version of what the Kill Philippos conspiracy(if there was one) might have looked like. It's very reminiscent of the whole JFK-Oswald thing. We'll never know. It's unclear if Renault believed that Alexandros was involved fully or even partly. Seemed like she was saying that he might have had a whiff of what was up but was not on the inside. As for Olympios, MR makes it clear that she was a monster. She also implicates Darius and Demosthenes as at least likely co-conspirators.
- Nikeratos and Thessalos from "The Mask of Apollo" make an appearance at the end as Alexander did in that book. 4.25*(less)

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Feb 17, 2012 Rosemary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ultimate-teen-guide

Historical fiction set in 4th century BC Greece, this is the story of the young Alexander the Great from early childhood to the age of 19 when he became King of Macedon. By that time he had already fought in a number of wars and negotiated the minefield of the deadly rivalry between his mother and his father. He had also forged a relationship with his male friend Hephaistion that would last for the rest of their lives. Since this was published in 1969, the sex is not described explicitly, but it...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Shane rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's been 2300 years since Alexander of Macedon died, so we can of course no very little about who he really was. There are events told in the ancient source histories about him, but back then history meant something a bit different than it does today - strict accuracy wasn't necessarily the point, and extrapolation from known facts into unknown fancy was the norm.

This book covers the period from Alexander's youngest memories to the death of his father King Phillip. It is first and foremost exc...more It's been 2300 years since Alexander of Macedon died, so we can of course no very little about who he really was. There are events told in the ancient source histories about him, but back then history meant something a bit different than it does today - strict accuracy wasn't necessarily the point, and extrapolation from known facts into unknown fancy was the norm.

This book covers the period from Alexander's youngest memories to the death of his father King Phillip. It is first and foremost excellently written. Ms. Renault makes the ancient world come alive in a way few authors can accomplish. She has a tendency to skip over the moments that would, in a movie, form a majority of the film. Battles are prepared for and thought about after. Great events are remembered. This book tells it's story through interweaving the quiet times. Much of it is told from the perspective of a fly on the wall as two people speak privately - Phillip and Alexander; Alexander and (his mother) Olympias; above all Alexander and Hephaistion. So this is an intimate, personal story.

As such it only works because its characters are so well written. The places seem real, like they could really have been just as described here. These characters live and breathe. They do what they do from underlying motives we can all understand. And they are shown here with great gifts and serious flaws that make us understand them all the better. The book is of course about Alexander, but we rarely find ourselves inside his head. Instead, certainly for the last 2/3 or so of the book, we are generally outside witnesses to events or seeing the book from Hephaistion's point of view. In the book he knows Alexander's mind as well as his own, and it is through this lens that we see most of what is revealed of Alexander's motivations.

If you like historical fiction, if you like well-told stories, if you are interested in ancient history, really if you like reading stories of any kind, you need to read this book.(less)

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Aug 19, 2010 Effie rated it 4 of 5 stars

tl;dr version: Muddled in places and not as good as Persian Boy, but still brilliant work by brilliant lady historian. Also, Hephaestion.

Looooooooved this book. Minus the first eighth (which was historically interesting but narratively not so much), I ate this thing up in one six-hour sitting. Mary Renault (MY IDOLLLL) not only knows her shit upside down and backwards, she is an engaging, evocative, kick-ass wonderful author.
The only reason this took me so long to read even cheating and skippi...more

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Mar 24, 2010 philip watson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 30, 2009 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: what-you-own

October 2009: I'm having a hard time getting into this; the POV changes so much and some of the writing seems so convoluted I have to keep going back a page or two to figure out where I am and who my narrator is. I'll try again, but for the moment, this is not getting read.

November 2009: I'm trying this again. (It was chosen as part of the Read What You Own challenge.)

I finished this November 29, 2009. It did pick up a bit as Alexander got older, but I still am in no hurry to pick up the other b...more

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About Mary Renault

Mary Renault
AKA Eileen Mary Challans

Born: 4-Sep-1905
Birthplace: London, England
Died: 13-Dec-1983
Location of death: Cape Town, South Africa

Father: Frank Challans (physician)
Mother: Clementine Newsome Baxter
Sister: Joyce
Girlfriend: Julie Mullard (life-long companion)

High School: Clifton Girls School, Bristol, England
University: BA, St. Hugh's College, Oxford University (1928)
Medical School: Radcl...more

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The Persian Boy (Alexander the Great, #2)

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