A true classic

Exactly what one expects from Mary Renault and in my humble opinion a classic. An audio book that I can listen to many times without tiring of it.

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2 people found this helpful

The Joy of Rediscovering Mary Renault

When I was in my teens, 40 years back, they had 3 Mary Renault books in my local branch library in Rochdale . These books opened up a world of stunning imagination and colour to me and I devoured all three - The King Must Die, The Bull from the Sea and the Mask of Apollo.

Many years later I downloaded this novel, and all the rest of Renault's historical novels, and for sure these books have lost nothing whatever for me. This woman writes like an angel. This is prose of the very highest class. I have reread and relistened and enjoyed them every time.

The Ancient Greece-based titles are all historical in a sense. Certainly Mask of Apollo, the Praise Singer and Last of the Wine include historical characters of one kind or another, but more of an exploration of the time and place, with relationships and characters woven through them. In that respect I think perhaps Ken Follett's Kingsbridge novels are comparable. Whereas the Kingsbridge book are vast in scope, their characters and themes are fairly straightforward, although always compelling.

Mary Renault's stories, characters, relationships and themes are on a different level of sophistication, and even more beautifully written than Follett.

Meanwhile, Fire from Heaven and the other Alexander the Great books are true historical fiction. I have never read better examples of the art for sure. Hilary Mantel has nothing on this. Telling the story of Alexander's conquest of Persia from the point of view of his Persian eunuch and bedfellow is the kind of approach many a modern writer might conceive of. However, actually writing it and pulling it off as Renault has done in The Persian Boy is a feat totally beyond most writers.

The Persian Boy must be Renault's crowning achievement, but Fire from Heaven is my favourite of all these books - fabulously written and a wonderfully imagined Alexander, full of fire, intensity and a nobility akin to purity. And why not? He must have been an incredible human being. Then there are the nuanced and beautifully drawn relationships with his mother, his father and with Hephaestion.

Make no mistake, very, very few writers in any medium are capable of this imagination, this sophistication of characters and relationships, and above all the craft and technique to realise the whole.

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15 people found this helpful

Historical fiction of great quality

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Well written book well read. Very interesting tale.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Yawn.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No

Any additional comments?

A fine book that has certainly stood the test of time (written in 1969) as quality writing does. Beautifully crafted with great detail that is not allowed to obstruct the story. The characters of this early age are real and have depth despite the difference in culture and time. I really enjoyed listening to the book and will certainly revisit the author at a layer date.

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3 people found this helpful

they f*** you up, your mum and dad

I recently finished Last of the Wine. Both are great stories and the depiction of ancient Greece feels authentic and immersive. The narration in this book is better and so, I believe, is the writing. As a whole, highly recommended.

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3 people found this helpful

The inferno that forged Alexander

The story follows the childhood of Alexander the Great from a young child to becoming King at 19. Through the inferno of his parents’ bitter in-fighting, often with their son as the most effective weapon, the plot follows how Alexander manages to live through it all to become a functioning adult despite this crippling emotional experience.

The novel depicts a period of the famous conqueror’s life of which no accounts have survived, but for a few well polished anecdotes.
Renault takes the anecdotes and brings new life to them, uses the general political situation of the time, some good splashes of imagination and a seasoning of human knowledge to serve up a believable and exciting tale told in a gorgeously stark language.

Would Alexander have recognised his own childhood? Well, no, this is fiction after all - but it’s a swashbuckling and psychologically persuasive tale.

Are there no flaws then? Well, yes there are. Alexander’s mother, Olympias, is portrayed as an outright ogre - and quite foolish as well. Alexander’s father, Philip, is portrayed with much more understanding and humour. The adage “It takes two to tango” comes to mind. Renault’s well known issues with women are not unlikely behind her portrayal of the famous parents - that said, she is a brilliant author and makes the characters believable all the same.

Nicely performed. I do miss the introductory quote, though - and the interesting Author’s Notes.

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Not as compelling as the book

Where does Fire From Heaven rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Easily an eight out of ten

What was one of the most memorable moments of Fire From Heaven?

Philip's assassination

What does Roger May bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He has a good reading voice and is well able to handle the narrative professionally

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No I was well aware of the story having read all mary renault's ancient historical novels when I was in my twenties

Any additional comments?

It's a very good book that doesn't translate quite as well to the spoken word but the story, whilst compelling, makes a valiant attempt to fill all the gaps in our knowledge of Alexander's early life with credible possibilities. It is a little over romanticised but not so much that it detracts from the overall history. I suppose that because one has to keep reminding oneself that we know nothing of Alexander from anyone who wrote about him during his lifetime, that most of what we DO know is from histories written hundreds of years after his death. Mary Renault has made a creditable story from what she knew of his life that humanises him when history tends to lionise him. Actually I have read recently that modern psychological theory might suggest that he was a bit of a Mummy's boy! The Persian Boy is likely to over romanticise Alexander even more. It's the second book in the trilogy and is written from the point of view of a slave of Alexander's called Bagoas who did exist but I am not at all sure that there is any evidence he was a lover of Alexander's. Historically, however, the second book has more history to draw upon and therefore contains more accuracies.

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1 person found this helpful

Alexander the boring

Some books hook you and make you want to listen more. This book is not one of those.

There seemed to be no real story, no thread to tie the events together. It felt like a mild dramatisation of the events of Alexanders earlier years and seemed content with not connecting the events in any coherent way.

The narrator was satisfactory, but given the way the book was written, he didn't have much of a chance of making a good go at it.

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11 people found this helpful

Lamentable

Just for starters the audio quality is so poor it was a constant distraction. The delivery is also monotone and off putting. Consequently I have little to go on with regards to the quality of the story. Can I have my credit back please?

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1 person found this helpful

Wondering, unable to keep track of who is been spoken about, very confusing

Narration was good the distinction between voices sometimes sufficient to work out who was speaking but for a book about Alexander waffles on considerably about other people other places other things, sometimes there is a long dialogue about some of the character and descriptions going to farm too much detail, an incredibly boring book to listen to

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Sadly, no fire in the story

Thought I remembered this from reading as a teenager many years ago. Perhaps not. Story could not grab my attention despite being interested in that history period and also found narration flat and dull.

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