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Blood of Akhilles
King Philip lies dead in the theatre, struck down like a sacrificial bull on his day of triumph in front of all the subject nations of Hellas.
Twenty-year-old Alexander, son of Philip, must seize his father’s throne and, harder still, he must hold it against his many rivals, who are Philip’s veteran generals and noblemen, a royal cousin who was once crowned king in his infancy, and the secret conspirators who moved the assassin’s hand, even as all the conquered cities of Hellas rise from under Philip’s dead heel to reclaim their independence from the despised Makedones.
The task is overwhelming, but Alexander has complete faith in his own destiny and he quite literally changes the face of Hellas.
Born in the Dog Star’s heat, on the sixth of the month of Loios, the very day that a wonder of the world, the great temple of Artemis at Ephesos, burned to the ground, Alexander was destined for immortality.
When such events collide, of gods and kings, such things are never coincidence.
Alexander is blood of Akhilles.
Twenty-year-old Alexander, son of Philip, must seize his father’s throne and, harder still, he must hold it against his many rivals, who are Philip’s veteran generals and noblemen, a royal cousin who was once crowned king in his infancy, and the secret conspirators who moved the assassin’s hand, even as all the conquered cities of Hellas rise from under Philip’s dead heel to reclaim their independence from the despised Makedones.
The task is overwhelming, but Alexander has complete faith in his own destiny and he quite literally changes the face of Hellas.
Born in the Dog Star’s heat, on the sixth of the month of Loios, the very day that a wonder of the world, the great temple of Artemis at Ephesos, burned to the ground, Alexander was destined for immortality.
When such events collide, of gods and kings, such things are never coincidence.
Alexander is blood of Akhilles.
469 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 15, 2017
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25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 26, 2017
I snapped Blood of Akhilles up without looking at the subject. Rebecca Meluch wrote it, so I had to read it. Period. The subject of Alexander the Great's rise to power--or any historical fiction, for that matter--wasn't among my top ten list of things to read, and it wasn't about the crew of the Merrimack, but I jumped into it anyway.
Like a hot bath, this book required some patience and effort to get into, but once I adjusted to the prose and the setting, I sank into the deep waters and soaked in the history as told through the eyes of at least a dozen characters, including one magnificent horse. The subtext behind each scene showed an amazing amount of research. I turned pale thinking about how much research was required to bring dusty history to such vivid life.
Meluch's characters live and breathe. She has an incredible knack for layering her story-telling with emotion, both seen and hidden. At times you suspect a character's agenda, but don't know. At other times, you think you know, but you don't. And at still other times, you just hold on to a black stallion's mane and try to keep up.
A rich book, well told. And, though I resisted at first, I even learned a thing or two.
Like a hot bath, this book required some patience and effort to get into, but once I adjusted to the prose and the setting, I sank into the deep waters and soaked in the history as told through the eyes of at least a dozen characters, including one magnificent horse. The subtext behind each scene showed an amazing amount of research. I turned pale thinking about how much research was required to bring dusty history to such vivid life.
Meluch's characters live and breathe. She has an incredible knack for layering her story-telling with emotion, both seen and hidden. At times you suspect a character's agenda, but don't know. At other times, you think you know, but you don't. And at still other times, you just hold on to a black stallion's mane and try to keep up.
A rich book, well told. And, though I resisted at first, I even learned a thing or two.
April 27, 2021
3.5 Stars. The author is apparently known for her military history and SF, but this novel isn’t any of that. It covers Alexander’s youth, just before the death of Philip, and immediately after, but a good portion takes place in Athens where (some of) Alexander’s friends have been living since Philip exiled them. In fact, and although it opens in Pella with Hephaistion and Alexander, the real main character is Ptolemy and much of the novel concerns his adventures in Athens and on his return to Macedonia.
This is a weird-ass book in some ways, but not at all bad. Meluch mostly knows her Greek history; her Macedonian history is shakier. Her choice of spellings sometimes are either peculiar or simply wrong. What the hell is “Aegai”? It's Aigai, or Aegae. Also, “Akhilles” in the title (and elsewhere) just looks strange. If she wanted to make it Greek, then make it Greek: Akhilleus. But aside from nitpicks like that, her history setting is actually pretty good, especially for south Greece/Athens. (Certainly better the Lyon’s.)
Another problem is figuring out the book’s genre. Apparently, she likes to blend genres. It has elements of a thriller, a Romance, and a fantasy. There’s less military than I expected, given her prior oeuvre. Historical fantasy is probably closest. Boukephalas has a POV (which totally didn’t work for me), but otherwise it lacks magic or similar elements I associate with historical fantasy. A romance is embedded with quite a few sex scenes, but it lacks the focus on the relationship Romance demands, and it also has thriller/mystery elements. So I couldn’t get a handle on it. That lack of genre home isn’t necessarily a fault, but readers should be aware it’s not just a horse of a different color, but a horse of several colors.
While ostensibly about Alexander, he comes across as too romanticized and too vague. That may have been Meluch’s intent, to hold him at a distance compared to Ptolemy and Thais, who are much more layered and interesting. The novel lives and breathes when she’s following Ptolemy’s story. It goes to sleep again when following Alexander’s. I never got much sense of who he was. Again, maybe that was her goal, but if so, don’t give him point-of-view scenes?
I have to say, I was put off by the multiple sex scenes between Ptolmy and Lais, some of which (the one in public on a statue) I found more weird than necessary for plot or characterization. I don’t mind graphic sex described in a book (I prefer it gay, but don’t care really). But unless the story or novel is meant to be erotica (which I do read a fair bit of), I want sex scenes to have a point. These felt more like sex tossed in to keep readers happy. There’s a certain type of military historicals (SF and otherwise), often marketed to straight white dudes, that needs its obligatory fuck scenes here and there to earn a Red-Blooded Male Pin. It’s like Meluch forgot that’s not necessarily her audience here.
The number of sex scenes between Ptolemy and Thais is made weirder by the fact Alexander is virtually sexless until a vague (maybe?) sex scene with Hephaistion late in the novel. It was so allusive, I couldn’t even be sure they actually had sex. I’m not sure why Meluch pussy-footed around that, unless she assumed readers would be turned off by a graphic male-male scene. But this book was published in 2017, not 1997, or even 2007.
So on the one hand, I sorta liked this book. I’d read another by her if she continues the series. On the other, there were enough annoying aspects for me to knock it down in stars. If Meluch plans to go forward, first, she needs to fix her Greek, and second, gay marriage is legal now. Have Ptolemy and Thais hump like bunnies, but if you want to make Alexander and Hephaistion lovers, don't tippy-toe around it. Make them lovers, and with the same level of description given the straight couple. Otherwise, it’s vaguely homophobic.
Also please...give Hephaistion a personality? He’s even more vague than Alexander.
This is a weird-ass book in some ways, but not at all bad. Meluch mostly knows her Greek history; her Macedonian history is shakier. Her choice of spellings sometimes are either peculiar or simply wrong. What the hell is “Aegai”? It's Aigai, or Aegae. Also, “Akhilles” in the title (and elsewhere) just looks strange. If she wanted to make it Greek, then make it Greek: Akhilleus. But aside from nitpicks like that, her history setting is actually pretty good, especially for south Greece/Athens. (Certainly better the Lyon’s.)
Another problem is figuring out the book’s genre. Apparently, she likes to blend genres. It has elements of a thriller, a Romance, and a fantasy. There’s less military than I expected, given her prior oeuvre. Historical fantasy is probably closest. Boukephalas has a POV (which totally didn’t work for me), but otherwise it lacks magic or similar elements I associate with historical fantasy. A romance is embedded with quite a few sex scenes, but it lacks the focus on the relationship Romance demands, and it also has thriller/mystery elements. So I couldn’t get a handle on it. That lack of genre home isn’t necessarily a fault, but readers should be aware it’s not just a horse of a different color, but a horse of several colors.
While ostensibly about Alexander, he comes across as too romanticized and too vague. That may have been Meluch’s intent, to hold him at a distance compared to Ptolemy and Thais, who are much more layered and interesting. The novel lives and breathes when she’s following Ptolemy’s story. It goes to sleep again when following Alexander’s. I never got much sense of who he was. Again, maybe that was her goal, but if so, don’t give him point-of-view scenes?
I have to say, I was put off by the multiple sex scenes between Ptolmy and Lais, some of which (the one in public on a statue) I found more weird than necessary for plot or characterization. I don’t mind graphic sex described in a book (I prefer it gay, but don’t care really). But unless the story or novel is meant to be erotica (which I do read a fair bit of), I want sex scenes to have a point. These felt more like sex tossed in to keep readers happy. There’s a certain type of military historicals (SF and otherwise), often marketed to straight white dudes, that needs its obligatory fuck scenes here and there to earn a Red-Blooded Male Pin. It’s like Meluch forgot that’s not necessarily her audience here.
The number of sex scenes between Ptolemy and Thais is made weirder by the fact Alexander is virtually sexless until a vague (maybe?) sex scene with Hephaistion late in the novel. It was so allusive, I couldn’t even be sure they actually had sex. I’m not sure why Meluch pussy-footed around that, unless she assumed readers would be turned off by a graphic male-male scene. But this book was published in 2017, not 1997, or even 2007.
So on the one hand, I sorta liked this book. I’d read another by her if she continues the series. On the other, there were enough annoying aspects for me to knock it down in stars. If Meluch plans to go forward, first, she needs to fix her Greek, and second, gay marriage is legal now. Have Ptolemy and Thais hump like bunnies, but if you want to make Alexander and Hephaistion lovers, don't tippy-toe around it. Make them lovers, and with the same level of description given the straight couple. Otherwise, it’s vaguely homophobic.
Also please...give Hephaistion a personality? He’s even more vague than Alexander.
April 24, 2020
Blood's focus is on Alexander's consolidation of power after Philip's death. Meluch does historical fiction very well.
August 15, 2021
Consolidate The Crown
Philip of Macedonia is dead and his son Alexander struggles to grasp and hold the crown. Plans to attack Persia must go on the back burner for a bit. Ptolemy, A close friend, has been exiled by Philip and is living in Athens. He meets Thais and is infatuated with her. Will she return his feelings? Will they be able to be together? I like the action, humor, historical aspect and romance. I could feel the emotions of the characters as I read.
Philip of Macedonia is dead and his son Alexander struggles to grasp and hold the crown. Plans to attack Persia must go on the back burner for a bit. Ptolemy, A close friend, has been exiled by Philip and is living in Athens. He meets Thais and is infatuated with her. Will she return his feelings? Will they be able to be together? I like the action, humor, historical aspect and romance. I could feel the emotions of the characters as I read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews