Fire From Heaven

FIRE FROM HEAVEN

by Mary Renault

 

Nomination: Booker Finalist 1970

 

Date Read: September 25, 2021

 

For readers that are really into war novels, this would definitely be their jam. Mine? Not so much. This is almost like Hilary Mantel meets Michael Shaara. While truly gifted at her art, the subject matter is just not for me.

 

Alexander, son of King Phillip, is a willful child just coming into his own. Beloved by his mother, who King Philip loathes, Alexander is eager for his first kill in battle, which he achieves by the age of 16. Being a willful child, however, means that he often crosses his father, even going to far as to almost fight his father at his father’s wedding to a 15 year old girl (ew!). I guess you could have more than one wife in those times.

 

Knowing that crossing the King like that put both his life and the life of his mother, Olympias, in danger, he gathers the men loyal to Alexander and his mother and flees back to her hometown. And there Alexander remains until King Philip is certain that Alexander has come to regret his hasty actions and summons him back to Pella. They never do fully reconcile, all their interactions having a fraught undertone.

 

There are a lot of shenanigans and sub-plots, treachery and allegiances. And there’s lots and lots of war and war strategy. Renault is clearly gifted and her command of the times of Alexander are mesmerizing. How she keeps all the names dropped in this novel is awe-inspiring. I am glad I got through it.

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