Child of a Dream (Alexander) - Softcover

Usually, it's the cinema that draws endless inspiration from the novel, but the phenomenal success of the film Gladiator appears to have spawned a renewed interest in the historical epic and readers are being treated to a host of new novels set in the ancient world - some splendid, some meretricious. This first in a trilogy set in ancient Greece is thankfully among the former. The shade of Robert Graves haunts the pages, with the elegant sleight-of-hand he practised in I, Claudius (modern, idiomatic dialogue in the mouths of ancient protagonists) handled with similar assurance. Manfredi's book has already sold 500,000 copies in Italy alone, and enjoyed similar success throughout Europe. But England is more resistant to this kind of blockbuster and will it do as well here? The auguries are good. Alexander the Great is shown in the early stages of his development. Born to Philip of Macedonia and the imposing Queen Olympias, Alexander's hectic progress to manhood includes friendships with Aristotle and Ptolemy. The novel draws to a close as Alexander sets sail to conquer the civilised world. Despite the odd purple passage, this is writing of tremendous gusto and invention, and there is likely to be a ready market for the successive volumes.

The first title in an international blockbuster trilogy of brutal passion and grand adventure in ancient Greece.This is the story of a boy, born to a great king - Philip of Macedon - and his sensuous queen, Olympias. It tells of the stern discipline of Philip and the wild passions of Olympias, and how, together, they formed Alexander, a young man of immense, unfathomable potential, capable of subjugating the known world to his power, and thought of by his contemporaries as a god. Alexander's swift ascent to manhood, as a protege of Aristotle and close friend of Ptolemy and Hephiaston, and the start of his great adventure to conquer the civilised world is recounted in this awe-inspiring novel. This is a wonderful evocation of the far-off and fascinating civilisation of ancient Greece, revealed in vibrant tones and scholarly detail.