Resumo de The Alexander Trilogy

Mary Renault''s trilogy of novels about Alexander the Great (Fire
From Heaven, The Persian Boy and Funeral Games) is one
of my favorite works of historical fiction. With a grand theme as her topic,
one where the historical evidence is enough to inspire the imagination but not
so voluminous as to inhibit creativity, Renault tells a compelling and moving
story. Her reconstruction of history is plausible and learned, but she never
lets her sources trap her ? her world goes beyond the fragmentary records in
its coherence and depth. And her characters are vivid and plausible, never
modern people in costumes speaking strange languages.

Fire From Heaven is based on Alexander''s life up to the age of
twenty, when he assumed the kingship on his father Phillip''s assassination.
Trying to imagine the childhood of someone who was to develop into such an
extraordinary person is not an easy task, but Renault does it brilliantly,
weaving the thread of known anecdotes together with the skein of her own
imagination. Alexander''s mother''s tumultuous relationship with his father, his
training in philosophy under Aristotle, the development of his relationship
with Hephaistion and his other companions, killing his first man at twelve, his
meeting with Demosthenes ? she has done such a good job that I have trouble
remembering what is real and what is her invention.

The Persian Boy is the first person narrative of a young Persian
eunuch who serves first Darius and then Alexander, and is a strong contrast to
the first book. It tells the story of the climactic last seven years of
Alexander''s life, when he conquered Persia
and advanced over the Indus before being
stopped by the refusal of his troops to go any further. The tensions among the
various people held together by the force of Alexander''s personality are
clearly shown, prefiguring the events that were to follow his death.

Funeral Games traces the events of the fifteen years following
Alexander''s death, as the empire he had built disintegrated. It is less
personal and more of a historical and political drama than the first two
novels. The scene shifts all over Greece and the Middle East, following the
actions of the successors: the claimants to the Kingship (a posthumous child
and a halfwit brother with his youthful but militant wife); the generals (and
Alexander''s mother) competing for power and the regency; and the provincial
satraps seeking independence.

If you like historical fiction then you won''t want to miss this trilogy.

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