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Liked It “Una novela histórica sobre el sobrexplotado Alejandro Magno. Fue de los primeros libros sobre el conquistador macedonio, y creo que el mejor. Escrito con un estilo suave y poético, sin necesidad de describir batallas y combates, te transmite perfectamente que un genio lo es por su personalidad y...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “It was well written and engaging, but I'm so biased, since the whole time I just wanted to punch bagoas in the face. |
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“It was well written and engaging, but I'm so biased, since the whole time I just wanted to punch bagoas in the face.
Maru-Anne wrote this review 4 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Heph x Alexander forevers. ”“Una novela histórica sobre el sobrexplotado Alejandro Magno. Fue de los primeros libros sobre el conquistador macedonio, y creo que el mejor. Escrito con un estilo suave y poético, sin necesidad de describir batallas y combates, te transmite perfectamente que un genio lo es por su personalidad y por la gente de la que se rodea. Siempre que me preguntan que recomiende una novela histórica, recomiendo esta triología.”
Juan B wrote this review Saturday, October 31 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Mary Renault show us the real face of humanity through the eyes of a lover. ”
psiquedelicous i wrote this review Thursday, September 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Excellent novel about Alexander the Great conquest of Persia, parts of India and his death written from his lover's point of view. Bagoas, a young eunuch in Darius court tells the story and I feel that's just what must of happened and who Alexander was. Brava Mary Renault”
JohnAlbanese wrote this review Thursday, August 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Mary Renault's novel of Alexander the Great. On the back cover of my paperback, the Saturday Review's quote says it best, "Mary Renault's is a special brand of historical fiction, at once imaginative, dramatic, seductive and scrupulous."”
fglass wrote this review Monday, June 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is the middle third of a trilogy of the life of Alexander the Great by Mary Renault, who never fails to impress. The first book is "The Fire from Heaven" about Alexander's childhood and youth, and the final book, one of the only one of her books I'd ever say is worth skipping--because I think she wrote it perhaps to fulfill a contract--is "Funeral Games" about the fight for power after Alexander's death at 33. This book, one of Renault's best, tells the story of Alexander's years of glory and conquest through the eyes of a slave boy, a eunuch, who is also his lover and beloved. The Persian boy, Bagoas, is actually based on a boy belonging to Alexander and who was believed to be beloved by him---something that would not have been a slur in the world of their time. This book was also Renault's big best seller when it came out, it was on the NY Times best seller list for multiple weeks as I recall. And worth being there.”
gilly 8 wrote this review Wednesday, April 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Sexy, sexy fun. Guilty pleasure for a semi-classics nerd. The views of the "Persian Boy" on Macedonian and Greek culture (i.e. smelly, egalitarian barbarians) is a pleasant reversal from standard Western discourse.”
Jasmine wrote this review Sunday, January 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Mary Renault casts a spell in "The Persian Boy", the pivot of her 2nd installment of her Alexander Great triad. “Fire From Heaven,” being the first, and “The Funeral Games,” being the third.
ctmock wrote this review Sunday, July 6 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The Persian Boy tells the story of Bagoas, who is born into an aristocratic family. In the first few pages Bagoas is subjected to the turmoil resulting from the death of King Ochos. His father, mother, and sisters, are killed and he himself is castrated and sold at the age of 10. Another tragedy follows in time: Bagoas is sold by his master to other men as a prostitute. Procured for King Darius, Bagoas's luck changes only slightly; instead of being sold to many men, he is kept by one man, a King he holds in awe for his station, and not out of personal admiration.
Darius has made the mistake of underestimating the young Macedonian King Alexander, who at 20 undertakes the conquest of Greek cities in Asia Minor. But Alexander closes in on the Persian Empire, and Darius suffers one defeat after another until his own warlords lose faith in him. When a coup sees Darius taken prisoner, Bagoas escapes with only his life. In time, he is rescued by one of those warlords, and as fate has it, he is to beg Alexander for clemency. Bagoas is used to sweeten the deal—as a gift.
Alexander is presented by Renault as a man capable of more than mortal feats who is still reassuringly human—more than that, he needs love desperately, from the hero-worship of the soldiers who follow him to the intimate devotion of his lover Hephaistion. Bagoas has never known love at all, only use. When Macedonian King and Persian courtesan meet, the inevitable happens—and this is where the enchantment begins.
Renault's mastery is impeccable. With a few well-chosen words, she conjures the images of the great Persian palaces—the ruins at Persepolis, Susa, Ekbatana, and Babylon; she recreates the travels of the Macedonian army so well that any reader who picks up her companion book "The Nature of Alexander" will look at the pictures and recognize the structures. Renault is a master characters builder. Bagoas is keenly intelligent, charming, courtly, sarcastic, prey to jealousy and possessiveness when it comes to his lover; his growing maturity merely adds to the pain he experiences as the affair and Alexander's conquests progress. And Alexander is much more accessible here than in "Fire From Heaven," which is a wonderful book but presents Alexander as all light and no fire. Here we get to see Alexander as preening boy, heroic warrior, pragmatic king, and devoted lover. It is a marvelous love story whether or not it actually happened.”
“Very well-written and not as dryly historical as I had expected.”
Megan R wrote this review Thursday, June 19 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Alexander the Great's main man tells his story of devotion and sacrifice. The main character suffers in order to serve and yet [somehow] comes through it all feeling as though it was all worth it...through his humility he triumphs.”
muque and shylock tomes wrote this review Sunday, May 18 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
