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luna545's review
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
rebzreads100's review against another edition
2.0
I really liked the prose and the story to start out with but after a while it seemed almost too poetic and I found myself getting confused at some points where more straight forward language would have helped. In the end I didn't end up finishing this book.
bookshy's review against another edition
1.0
I made it about a third of the way through this book. The author doesn't do much to humanize Alexander. It's more like reading a history book filled with facts and bits of dialogue every few pages.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
3.0
I actually read this book in French. The English version was translated by the same translator responsible for the English version of Impératrice, Adriana Hunter, whose name doesn't show up for some reason.
jordantaylor's review against another edition
2.0
This book attempts to show the reader what Alexander the Great's life was like as a child, teenager, and young man, and the road that led him to "greatness." It also draws attention to Queen Alestria, the woman he married, and the complex, unusual relationship that they shared.
I was very excited about checking this book out from my library, but only a few chapters in, my anticipation was no more.
This is a book that is not worth your time.
It is clumsily written, as if the author threw together a last minute draft and left it at that.
The characters are horrible, lifeless little sketches that make no sense. I often got the feeling that Shan Sa was trying to impress upon the reader that Alexander and Alestria were not like us. They were gods, beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. No attempt was made to create likable, relateable characters.
The text was dry, and somehow, nothing much ever seemed to happen. The author went on about the events of Alexander's life in an uninspired manner, and I imagined more than once listening to this book on audio and hearing a droning, monotone robot voice reading it to me.
Also, the sexual side of the story seemed strange to me. Alexander has sex with his own mother, and she asks him to? This was not completely clear - but it is certainly very heavily hinted at. However, far more than hinted were the scenes with Alexander's father. His father desires him sexually, and Alexander actually feels the same. What?
Although of course there could be deep, but plausible, psychological explanations for this (the abused forces himself to believe that it's what he wants, still common in victims today), the author has no intention of exploring them. As a result, Alexander comes across as a twisted, perverted man.
Misunderstood? Probably. But not in the author's eyes.
I was hoping for an intricate, well woven love triangle as Alexander struggles between his love for both a man and a woman. That story told from Alestria's side as well would have surely been a heartbreaking one.
However, please do not expect to share in any sort of emotion or feeling from the characters here. Disappointingly, this book is not worth a read.
I was very excited about checking this book out from my library, but only a few chapters in, my anticipation was no more.
This is a book that is not worth your time.
It is clumsily written, as if the author threw together a last minute draft and left it at that.
The characters are horrible, lifeless little sketches that make no sense. I often got the feeling that Shan Sa was trying to impress upon the reader that Alexander and Alestria were not like us. They were gods, beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. No attempt was made to create likable, relateable characters.
The text was dry, and somehow, nothing much ever seemed to happen. The author went on about the events of Alexander's life in an uninspired manner, and I imagined more than once listening to this book on audio and hearing a droning, monotone robot voice reading it to me.
Also, the sexual side of the story seemed strange to me. Alexander has sex with his own mother, and she asks him to? This was not completely clear - but it is certainly very heavily hinted at. However, far more than hinted were the scenes with Alexander's father. His father desires him sexually, and Alexander actually feels the same. What?
Although of course there could be deep, but plausible, psychological explanations for this (the abused forces himself to believe that it's what he wants, still common in victims today), the author has no intention of exploring them. As a result, Alexander comes across as a twisted, perverted man.
Misunderstood? Probably. But not in the author's eyes.
I was hoping for an intricate, well woven love triangle as Alexander struggles between his love for both a man and a woman. That story told from Alestria's side as well would have surely been a heartbreaking one.
However, please do not expect to share in any sort of emotion or feeling from the characters here. Disappointingly, this book is not worth a read.
larabobara's review against another edition
1.0
I tried to like this one, I really did - but...ugh. In all fairness to the book, it isn't a genre I usually gravitate towards. I think it's entirely possible that the author's use of flowery, overdone prose is an accurate reflection of the way these characters would have spoken in that time period, but it was nauseating almost to the point of intolerability to me. On top of that, I found the plot to be sincerely lacking. I had a hard time staying awake when reading this, even after a good previous night's sleep and a giant diet coke.
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