Telling the story of Alexander the Great this is the first part of a trilogy and covers Alexander’s childhood. This is a fictionalised account but Renault has a keen eye for historical detail and an obvious interest in her subject matter. A great start to a superb trilogy.
New York Times Bestseller and Man Booker Prize Finalist: A novel of ancient Greece by the author Hilary Mantel calls ';a shining light.' Alexander the Great stands alone as a leader and strategist, and Fire from Heaven is Mary Renault's unsurpassed dramatization of the formative years of his life. His parents fight for their precocious son's love:
New York Times Bestseller and Man Booker Prize Finalist: A novel of ancient Greece by the author Hilary Mantel calls ';a shining light.' Alexander the Great stands alone as a leader and strategist, and Fire from Heaven is Mary Renault's unsurpassed dramatization of the formative years of his life. His parents fight for their precocious son's love:
On one side, his volatile father, Philip, and on the other, his overbearing mother, Olympias. The story tells of the conqueror's two great bondsto his horse, Oxhead, and to his dearest friend and eventual lover, Hephaistionand of the army he commands when he is barely an adult. Coming of age during the battles for southern Greece, Alexander the Great appears in all of his colorsas the man who first takes someone's life at age twelve and who swiftly eliminates his rivals as soon as he comes to powerand emerges as a captivating, complex, larger-than-life figure.Fire from Heaven is the first volume of the Novels of Alexander the Great trilogy, which continues with The Persian Boy and Funeral Games.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Mary Renault including rare images of the author.'
Mary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers. She does not pretend the past is like the present, or that the people of ancient Greece were just like us. She shows us their strangeness
discerning, sure-footed, challenging our values, piquing our curiosity, she leads us through an alien landscape that moves and delights us.' Hilary Mantel
A welcome return to print of this first volume in the Alexander the Great trilogy, originally published in 1970. The story focuses on the boy Alexander and the strange events that turned him into the mighty warrior he became. As a boy Alexander is blessed with good looks and lineage that on the face of it seems impressive - although his mother is reluctant to discuss his paternity. Not that this matters too much, for Alexander is willing to learn from experience and is a keen observer of everything that is likely to shape him into the character he is determined to become. His role model at first is his father, whose capacity for war and kingcraft are impressive. On the other hand there is the father's sexual depravity, which disgusts Alexander. Mary Renault has spun a tale of rare impact, bringing one of history's greatest characters to life and making him seem human in a way the history books can never do. (Kirkus UK)
Author
About Mary Renault
Mary Renault was educated at Clifton High School, Bristol and St Hugh's College, Oxford. Having completed nursing training in 1937, she then wrote her first novel Promise of Love. Her next three novels were written during off-time duty whilst serving in the war. In 1948 she went to live in South Africa but travelled widely. It was her trip to Greece and her visits to Corinth, Samos, Crete, Delos, Aegina and other islands, as well as to Athens, Sounion and Marathon, that resulted in her brilliant historical reconstructions of Ancient Greece. Mary Renault died in 1983.
New York Times Bestseller and Man Booker Prize Finalist: A novel of ancient Greece by the author Hilary Mantel calls ';a shining light.' Alexander the Great stands alone as a leader and strategist, and Fire from Heaven is Mary Renault's unsurpassed dramatization of the formative years of his life. His parents fight for their precocious son's love: On one side, his volatile father, Philip, and on the other, his overbearing mother, Olympias.
Fire from Heaven features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
Paperback, Ebook. £17.99. Digital. Available Immediately. Country restrictions apply..
Fire from Heaven was written by Mary Renault and published by Open Road Media
£17.99. Digital. Available Immediately. Country restrictions apply..
