Empire of Ashes

A rousing tale that narrates the significant events of Alexander the Great's life through one of his closest friends who is put on trial for the murder of Alexander the Great. The book is written in English but the structure of how people talk is very similar to that of an ancient society. This gives the book a realistic feel but it takes a little bit of effort to get used to. Overall a great read with plenty of action!

I think the structure of this novel contributed to me feeling utterly bored with it. Essentially, it's two first-person accounts and takes at the life and times of Alexander at a court case in Athens, so what we get is one reasonably interesting version, and one rambling and overly long. In his afterword the author was saying he isn't really interested at getting at Alexander himself, but this novel didn't do much to make anyone else around Alexander seem interesting or the gaps and inconsistencies in the historical record worth exploring. And why frame the whole thing with the Athenian court case when it doesn't really seem to add anything to the story, just provides a convenient (and very dull) way to let someone ramble on in the show more first person. show less