Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault - REVIEW

Fire from Heaven is a 1969 historical Bildungsroman written by English-born South African novelist Mary Renault. The novel depicts the boyhood of the Macedonian prince, who grows to become the man known to posterity as Alexander the Great. The book details Alexander’s youth in Macedon under the rule of his father, Philip, and his mother, Olympias. Our young prince must navigate the treacherous world into which he is born and upon which he is destined to leave his mark. We see first hand his formative experiences with the Companions, his tutelage under the philosopher Aristotle, and the awe-inspiring fire that will one day drive him to conquer the world.

I have mentioned Mary Renault a couple of times previously on this blog, and thought it high time that I review one of her books here. To me, Renault is the absolute gold standard by which to measure historical fiction, and one of my all-time favourite writers. Her novels of Ancient Greece cast a shadow out of which very few authors can emerge. Fire from Heaven is the first in Renault’s trilogy of novels surrounding the life and conquests of Alexander the Great. As Renault’s “magnum opus”, the Alexander trilogy serves as an excellent starting point for the rest of her bibliography.

So, what is it about Fire from Heaven that makes it so great? Why do I consider Mary Renault to be the queen of historical fiction? The answer is the indefectible way in which the ancient world is presented to the reader. The characters that populate Fire from Heaven have voices so authentic, so evocative of their time and place, that the reader is instantly transported to the world of ancient Macedon. The thoughts, motivations, and behaviours of Renault’s characters feel incredibly alien to our modern sensibilities, yet are written with such depth and power that they seem to ring truer than any 21st century conviction. Not in all the historical fiction, fantasy, or in sci-fi I’ve read have I encountered such radically different yet intimately human ways of thinking as present in Fire from Heaven and Renault’s other novels. Upon finishing Fire from Heaven, the reader will look up from their pages and see that their surroundings look a little more dull – a little more lifeless – than they remember. Her world is so real that it makes our own seem flat and vapid in comparison! I am convinced that Renault must have been some kind of sorceress, for I question how else she could inhabit such minds as are present in this tome.

If the book contains a single flaw that prevents it from ascending to the upper echelons in my chamber of favourite novels, it is that Renault lionises Alexander a little overmuch. Her portrayal of the Macedonian prince contains not a modicum of criticism or cause for detraction. Alexander is golden – he can scarce do wrong in the eyes of either men or the gods and whosoever resists him, for any reason, is branded a blackguard or villain. Renault’s aggrandisement of her subject robs him of the nuance that he no doubt must have possessed as a great man of history. Such hagiographic treatment of Alexander serves to make him a slightly less compelling character than he otherwise may have been. This is the only reason that I have docked a mark from an otherwise spotless novel.

Fire from Heaven is amongst the very best historical fiction one can pick up. It is by turns dramatic, picaresque, heartfelt, and foreboding. There is so much emotion and action in this volume that it leaves one’s head spinning. Trust me, by the time you finish this book, you too will be simping for Mary Renault.

Rating – 9/10