Second writing assignment
Dozens of fictional novels about Alexander have been written over the course of the last century — some of them scholarly historical novels, some romances, some fantasy-novels, some muder-mysteries or detective novels. Many of them are appallingly bad. Most of them are reasonably accurate from the perspective of historical veracity. Click on the icon below for a list of Alexander-novels (and related sources) of which I am aware. I'm sure there are many more out there. There are also, of course, plenty of reviews of these novels to be found by the diligent web-searcher.
Your second writing assignment is to choose any of these novels and, after reading it, write a book review of about 4 or 5 pages. This review is due to me by November 3. We will share them by posting them to your individual wiki pages.
I have not checked individual titles, but I doubt that the Rockefeller Library holds many of these titles. I advise you to check the availability of any novel that looks appealing and, if necessary, order it on-line (e.g., from Amazon.com) — most of these novels are available as inexpensive paperbacks.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN (ENGLISH-LANGUAGE) FICTION
- 1918: Jakob Wassermann, Alexander in Babylon [reprinted translation 1949]
- 1928: Konrad Bercovici. Alexander: a Romantic Biography
- 1930: Klaus Mann. Alexander: a Novel of Utopia [trans. Alexander: Roman der Utopie, 1929]
- 1933 [repr. USA 1994]: Mary Butts. The Macedonian
- 1941: Nikos Kazantzakis. Alexander the Great: A Novel (juvenile fiction)
- 1946: Harold Lamb. Alexander of Macedon (fictionalized biography)
- 1949: Jakob Wasserman, Alexander in Babylon
- 1954: Robert Payne, Alexander the God
- 1957: Karl V. Eiker, Star of Macedon
- 1959: Alfred Powers, Alexander's Horses
- 1960: Maurice Druon (Maurice Kessel), Alexander the God
- 1962: Edison Marshall, The Conqueror
- 1965: Noel B. Gerson, The Golden Lyre (Romance)
- 1965: Helga Moray, I, Roxana (Romance)
- 1968: L. Sprague de Camp, An Elephant for Aristotle
- 1969: Mary Renault (Mary Challans). Fire From Heaven
- 1971: Helga Moray, Roxana and Alexander (Romance)
- 1971: Helga Moray, A Son for Roxana (Romance)
- 1972: Mary Renault, The Persian Boy
- 1981: Mary Renault, Funeral Games
- 1984: Susan Spitzer, In the Shadow of a God
- 1986: Melissa Scott, A Choice of Destinies (SF, alternate history)
- 1990: David Gemmell, Lion of Macedon (Fantasy)
- 1991: David Gemmell, Dark Prince (Fantasy)
- 1993: Judith Tarr, Lord of the Two Lands (mainstrean/historical fantasy)
- 1993: Michael A. Dimitri, The Daughter of Neoptolemus
- 1994: Ben Bova, Orion and the Conqueror (SF)
- 1996: Merline Lovelace, Lady of the Upper Kingdom (Romance)
- 1997: Anna Apostolou (P.C. Doherty), A Murder in Macedon (Mystery)
- 1998: Anna Apostolou (P.C. Doherty), A Murder in Thebes (Mystery)
- 1998: Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Alexander: Child of a Dream [trans. from Italian, 2001]
- 1998: Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Alexander: The Sands of Ammon [trans., 2001]
- 1998: Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Alexander: The Ends of the Earth [trans., 2001]
- 1999: Tom Holt, Alexander at the World's End
- 2001: Thomas Sundell, A Bloodline of Kings: A Novel of Philip of Macedon
- 2001: P.C. Doherty, The House of Death: A Mystery of Alexander the Great
- 2002: P.C. Doherty, The Godless Man: A Mystery of Alexander the Great
- 2003: P.C. Doherty, The Gates of Hell: A Mystery of Alexander the Great
- 2004: Judith Tarr, Queen of the Amazons (mainstrean/historical fantasy)
- 2004: S. Pressfield, The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
- 2004: S.E. Stylianos, The Last Chronicles of Alexander the Great
- 2004: N. Nicastro, Empire of Ashes: A Novel of Alexander the Great
- 2004: A.S. Spiropoulos, The Lost Story of Alexander the Great
- 2004: J.L. Taylor, Bull-headed Black Remembers Alexander
- 2005: J. Dedet, Roxana: The Last Lover of Alexander the Great [trans. from Spanish]
- 2005: F.R. Stockton, The Vizier of the Two-Horned Ammon
- 2005: F. Turner, Before the Dawn of Alexander the Great [Son of the Bracelet series]
- 2006: F. Turner, Traces: Birth of Alexander the Great [Son of the Bracelet series]
Click here to download this list of novels
AlexGt in fiction:2006.doc
Of Related Interest:
1994: D. M. Kratz, Alexander the Great in Literature and Legend. [An academic exploration of fictional Alexander throughout history. Begins with antiquity and follows through to the present.]
1998-2000: Jeanne Reames-Zimmerman, Beyond Renault: Alexander the Great in Fiction, 1920-present. [A very comprehensive website, with listings and reviews, at: http://home.earthlink.net/~mathetria/Beyond_Renault/beyondrenault.html#!&!! (Appears to be temporarily unavailable.)
1993, David Sweetman, Mary Renault: A Biography (London 1993), and his chapter "Mary Renault's Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy, and Funeral Games," pp. 58-78 in Neil McEwan, Perspectives in British Historical Fiction Today (London 1987).
You will discover yet other titles if you check the library catalog under the subject heading "s=Alexander the Great, 356-323 B.C. --Fiction". This also includes plays and long-forgotten 17th- and 18th-century operas about Alexander.
Many other links to Alexander-fiction resources can be found on the Alexanderama website at http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/alexander/17.html
*NEW* Why are so many novelists in the modern age drawn to write about the ancient world, especially Rome but also, to a lesser extent, Greece? Allan Massie, author of six novels set in ancient Rome, offers some answers in a short article in the Dec. 2006 issue of Prospect magazine. Go to http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7889 or download this file:
