This played so fast and loose with history I'm not sure why the author didn't just write a fantasy novel while she was at it. Of course then she wouldn't have had the resonances of Alexander the Great, but... Alestria was so very ahistorical as the Amazonian warrior queen whose tribe descended from the Siberian steppe and who falls in love with Alexander and consents to become (as "Roxana" for political purposes and a brittle veneer of historicity) his trophy wife.

There were some interesting parallels, and alliteration very almost as theme; but the story doesn't serve history well. ( )

Trépident jusqu'au fin fond de l'Orient ( )

I read this book determined to understand where Shan Sa came from in her literary career. I think that this is less a work of historical fiction than it is a study of gender issues set within an historical, fantastical context. I believe that if you go into the book with the understanding that it is more about feminine and masculine forms of power and how those may have been used differently between the sexes throughout history, and if you keep an open mind, you will have a much better time with this book. ( )

I am a huge fan of Alexander the Great fiction. My wishlist on the subject is huge, and a whole bookshelf in my library is dedicated to the subject. Obsessed? Maybe. But the truth is that I find Alexander the Great fascinating, and I love reading about his travels, battles, discoveries, and friends. When I saw this at a bookstore, I had to have it.

And wow was it bad. The blurb says that Alexander's father, Philip of Macedon, abused him. I can believe that, and many of the stories out there depict such instances. But the weird part of this book was that Philip wants to have sex with Alexander. Very strange and off putting. If you can swallow that (as many books do feature a Philip who is willing to have sex with anything that moves), the main problem is Alexander himself. This Alexander wants to wear dresses and makeup, and basically be a girl. Alexander the Great had a feminine side? Okay author, make me believe it.

The problem with this, and perhaps the problem with much of the "historical fiction" out there in general, is that it isn't historical. Much of Alexander's history is still debated. What his final words actually meant, why he chose one route over another, why he married who he did, whether or not he was bisexual... but there is no evidence that he wanted to be a girl. And he was such a charismatic leader-- a brilliant strategist who conquered most of the known world-- that if he honestly wanted to be a girl, I think he WOULD HAVE made it happen. And if there was a story about it, I'd read it! But the way Alexander's life unfolded in this book... just didn't make me believe it.

I still remain a huge fan of Alexander the Great fiction, and I am encouraged to see more and more of it being written, but this story was not for me.

Try some of the other Alexander the Great fiction:
Mary Renault's "Fire from Heaven" and "The Persian Boy" and "Funeral Games," Melissa Scott's "A Choice of Destinies," Judith Tarr's "Lord of the Two Lands," Anna Apostolou's aka P.C. Doherty's "A Murder in Macedon" and "A Murder in Thebes," P.C. Doherty's "The House of Death" and "The Godless Man" and "The Gates of Hell." ( )