Fire From Heaven

Book Title: Fire From Heaven

Author: Mary Renault

Series: Alexander the Great #1

Date Started: July 2nd 2018

Date Completed: July 28th 2018

Genres: Historical

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Four stars

Review:

Fire From Heaven is just pure, classical joy. I can't believe I've never read a Mary Renault book until now, she's like the Margaret Atwood of historical antiquity. And I really enjoyed this book, even if it did take me an age to read.

Something I've always loved about texts from or about antiquity is that they're mostly constructed of moments in time. It's like the stories were told in mosaics that gradually came together over time without a necessary order - and I guess they were. When you think about the history of oral storytelling and the fact that everything was spoken where you might miss parts in the middle, the stories are often designed to be able to be picked up from wherever. As long as the character is known to you, you can enjoy it. Which of course adds to the dreaminess; how you can make grumsome slaughter poetic as well as grim I don't know, but it amazes me.

Alexander the Great is one of the more lacking areas of ancient history in my knowledge. I've studied Classics, but Alexander and his campaigns weren't included, so the only information I really had going in was that this man conquers the entirety of the Persian empire and doesn't stop there. And I think I might have enjoyed it more because I didn't know the original story. It felt a lot more like a well-constructed storyline even though it's based on reality (well, as much of reality as we can get from highly biased and old records).

This was one of the most accesible retellings of classical history/myth I've read, actually. Even if the little nuances are lost without prior education/awareness, Renault manages to get across the politics, the religion and the social dynamics through his characters and theie experiences alone. I was aware of the Persian wars and Xerxes, I recognised the Herodotus references and I knew what they were talking about when they quoted Homer, but I'm sure the Athenian politics and Aristotle's philosophy was lost on me - but that didn't actually matter. I didn't feel patronised but I also wasn't overwhelmed by all the new information I was being given.

If you need an in-point for this series, it has very strong Songo of Achilles vibes. In fact the relationship between Alexander and his closest friend is likened to that of Achilles and Patroclus about a hundred times. If you haven't read any retellings of classical mythology/history, this is maybe a little dense to start with. But once you have even a basic knowledge and interest in ancient history, I would strongly recommend getting around to Mary Renault.