What do You think about Fire From Heaven (2002)?
tl;dr version: Muddled in places and not as good as Persian Boy, but still wonderful work by wonderful 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 not only is ready to throw down the historical knowledge upside down and backwards, she is an engaging, evocative, author. The only reason this took me so long to read even cheating and skipping a hundred pages is that Ms Renault is ALSO simultaneously a freaking encyclopedia and the most suble author I have ever read. Ever. She so minutely and intensely recreates her settings/situations/people that my basic knowledge of them was not nearly enough to know what on earth was going on half the time. Re: Historical Genius - Google is your friend, unless you're all up on your Ekbatana layout and your Sarissa techniques and your Life of Kyros the Great. Re: Subtle Subtlety is Subtle - She likes to dance around topics about which she doesn't want to write outright, and by dance I mean literally every paragraph will be about completely random, disparate, seemingly non-related topics. I kept reading this one series of pages over and over, combing but feeling like I was missing something VITAL VITAL that wasn't being said outright...it took me my fourth read to totally understand that six pages about baby foxes, boring teachers, Aristotle, forest running, the Iliad, gambling, and science projects was actually A SEX SCENE. The most delicate, subtle, completely adorable sex scene I've ever read, but, like, wow try burying it a little deeper next time. Also, it was really interesting reading this AFTER Persian Boy (the sort-of sequel), because you spend three-quarters of Persian Boy going JFC GTFO HEPHAESTION UGH and in this one he's clearly a badass sweetheart.
—effie
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.
—Rachel
Now I understand why Dorothy Dunnett is so often compared to Mary Renault...I originally read this novel many years ago and I admit much of its history and subtleties were lost on me (hence my original 3-star rating). Upon rereading, I absolutely loved this book (although I read it rather slowly, partly to savor its nuances). I love how Ms. Renault doesn't tell the reader everything, she expects her readers to be intelligent and either understand the history and backstory, or to look up information for better understanding. I loved how she didn't spell everything out and left the reader to make up its own mind. Really well done! She wove a fascinating story, one that I know I will reread again. Now on to "The Persion Boy."
—Sara Giacalone
