Here’s my first review of the year! This book comes out today, as does Gravity Is The Thing – both great books to start your reading year with, trust me.
Alexander the Great is a fascinating figure of history, and if any ancient historical person is asking for a trilogy of in depth fiction books to be written about them, it’s him. This book begins with Alexander laying dying. When asked who should follow him and take the ring of Macedonia, he replies, “to the strongest”.
Robert Fabbri has done an incredible job with his research and that is always the first key step to any historical work; make it realistic. The scenes are so vivid. Early on, there’s a description of a character eating an onion for his lunch (nothing else to be said, this is a spoiler free zone!) and it is all so clear, you can almost taste that onion yourself as you read them crunching their way through it.
It’s an intense work, and certainly not one to lunge into without taking a breath first, or you’ll end up winded. The book itself is very thick, which I know puts some people off, but there is something so very satisfying about a solid hardback containing a solid story when you sit reading it. I would say that this is very much for someone who is already familiar with a lot of history of the period or it may be overwhelming with just how much it is understandably assumed people may know. When you are so passionate about an era, it’s sometimes hard to remember that not everyone knows what you know, goodness knows I’ve had the same problem!
It is a beautifully written, creative novel, richly woven with accurate historical detail, and cleverly created; after all, what exactly does happen when a leader supreme dies without leaving any instructions? This is a question you really do want the answer to, and Robert Fabbri has done just that.
This is part one of a three part collection, and I’m already impatient for installment number two. Start your year the historical way!
Thank you to Readers First, Robert Fabbri and the publisher Corvus for this book.
And On She Reads 
This sounds great – I have a weakness for historical fiction. I will definitely be adding it to my TBR!
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