Alexander: Amazon.ca: Valerio Massimo Manfredi: Books

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First Sentence
Olympias's decision to visit the Sanctuary of Dodona was the result of a strange premonition that had come to her as she slept alongside her husband, Philip II, King of the Macedonians, who lay that night in a wine- and food-sated slumber. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

23 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

3.5 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad...for a translation., April 15 2004

By	Elemental Warp "Elemental Warp" (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alexander: Child of a Dream (Paperback)

There are a couple things you must know when you read this book. First of all, the author had to take a few creative liberties with the details of Alexander's life. This is, more or less, historical fiction. Entertaining fiction, but fiction none the less.
Second, keep in mind that this is a translation from the Italian. No translation is ever going to be as good as the original.
Those things aside, this book is a very quick read, and very entertaining. It will not inspire anyone to go out and take over the world, but it's a good rainy day book. The license Manfredi took with the facts is easily overlooked if you're not a keen historian. For those who know (almost) nothing about Alexander, this is a good start for your education. Unlike non-fiction books, this holds a degree of suspense and intrigue.
If you are a die-hard history buff, you don't like embellishments, or you need intricate and multi-faceted characters, maybe you should consider getting the book from a library first.
If not, enjoy this book, because it is a great start to the trilogy.

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3.0 out of 5 stars disappointing..., Sep 29 2003

By	"i_luv_historical_fiction" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alexander: Child of a Dream (Paperback)

Althought the plot was good, the characters very one-sided. The author tried too hard to make Alexander look like the heroic but human king. A good book will read itself, but when I was reading this one, I felt like I was being given a history lesson in which I had to remember lots of details and information. I hope the movie which they are making based on this book will not be so disappointing.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Flat as all hell, July 22 2003

By	"tera03" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alexander: Child of a Dream (Paperback)

While this trilogy is entertaining enough if you have no expectations, it far from impressed me. The characterisations were about as flat as I have read in any book; when Hepaestion died in the third book I didn't care in the slightest, even though it would have been the most devastating event of Alexander's life. Alexander himself was dull and overly obsessed with bedding any female he came across. I struggled to get through the mediocrity of the trilogy, which is really saying something considering I read pretty much any Alexander book I come across.

The trilogy is really the equivalent of a shallow action movie. The writing was entirely lacking in any sort of poeticism or complexity, especially when compared to the Alexander Trilogy by Mary Renault. Whether this is the fault of Manfredi or the translator I do not know, but it results in readable but unimpressive novels. Why this trilogy is a worldwide best-seller is completely beyond me. Pick it up if you want a bit of mindless entertainment but otherwise head straight for the books by Renault if you want compelling and well-written fiction about Alexander's life.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars an insightful and brilliant novel
The book retells Alexander's childhood and adolescence, growing up in the Macedonian city of Pella and moving to the town of Mieza, where he commences his studies with Aristotle... Read more

Published on Jun 23 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars Alexander before becoming the Great
This a wonderful account of Alexander's childhood and adolescence. It was a wonderful account of his father (King Philip)struggling to build the Macedon kingdom which sets up... Read more

Published on Feb 14 2003 by azmi21

3.0 out of 5 stars It's okay
It is said that there aren't much record left on Alexander's childhood, except for a few episodes here and there. Read more

Published on Dec 25 2002 by PuppyTalk