Recensione in italiano: QUI.
Quotes: HERE.
Good day everyone, thank you for being on Alessandro III di Macedonia- your resource about Alexander the Great! I started the new year with a very good reading just published by Corvus (Atlantic Books) which I thank very much for sending it to me to review it! But let’s immediately talk about this book!
“Alexander’s Legacy: To The Strongest”
by Robert Fabbri
Published by Corvus (Atlantic Books)
Pages: 416
ISBN Hardback: 9781786497963
ISBN Ebook: 9781786497994
Let the battles begin…
‘I foresee great struggles at my funeral games.’
Babylon, 323 BC: Alexander the Great is dead, leaving behind him the largest, and most fearsome, empire the world has ever seen. As his final breaths fade in a room of seven bodyguards, Alexander refuses to name a successor. But without a natural heir, who will take the reins?
As the news of the king’s sudden and unexpected death ripples across the land, leaving all in disbelief, the ruthless battle for the throne begins. What follows is a devious, tangled web of scheming and plotting, with alliances quickly made and easily broken, each rival with their own agenda.
But who will emerge victorious: the half-chosen; the one-eyed; the wildcat; the general; the bastard; the regent? In the end, only one man, or indeed woman, will be left standing…
Robert Fabbri read Drama and Theatre at London University and worked in film and TV for twenty-five years. He has a life-long passion for ancient history, which inspired him to write the bestselling Vespasian series and the Alexander’s Legacy series. He lives in London and Berlin.
4 and a half stars!
Reading time: from 27th December 2019 to 8th January 2020.
First of all I’d like to thank Corvus for sending me the book! Robert Fabbri has already written many books, all historical novels and many of which are dedicated to Vespasian. I had never read anything about this author although fortunately his books are also translated into Italian by Newton Compton Editori and I’m very happy with this reading which I hope will arrive soon also translated into Italian because it will surely appeal to many of you!
The book begins with the narration from Alexander’s point of view on his deathbed: he sees all his companions who, more than being sorry for his imminent death, are eager to know who will inherit his immense kingdom and so he decides to make their things not easy. He will say “to the strongest” without specifying a name, without choosing who will be able to match him and perhaps do even more than he did. Alexander is aware that in this way his empire could shatter or perhaps not, but he still decides to test his generals one last time, perhaps knowing them so well that he predicted what would happen next.
From the second chapter the points of view become all those shown in the map below: in fact, we will follow all the people who were closest to Alexander in their struggle for their ambitions: who will want to try to keep the empire united by exploiting the little Alexander IV and Philip III; who will think only of the area that interests them; who will claim to decide everything for everyone. The novel is faithful to the story, of course there are small things deliberately modified by the author to make the plot more emphatic, but Fabbri enters the characters’ mind and gives voice to their personal motivations and aspirations. If it can scare the narrative point of view of so many characters, actually going forward in the reading we discover that the protagonists are actually two or three: Perdiccas, Antipater and Eumenes. The second chapter is narrated by Perdiccas, “the half-chosen” and the book will end with his death in 321 BC.
Even Alexander’s women, Olympias and Roxane, are narrative parts in this book and I liked how they were made: with a strong character, determined and resolute in getting what they want. Cleopatra is also a strong woman who, although not a first-person narrative character, stands out for her determined character. The dialogues between Roxane and Alexander’s generals were beautiful: everyone despised her and considered her a barbarous whore, in fact she is called “the wild-cat”.
The characters reflect the definition given to them and all, even the secondary ones, are well characterized because the narration remains fluid and connected. Fabbri also inserts invented characters and in the list at the end of the book we know who really existed and who was invented.
While reading the book it’s difficult to stop because at the end of each chapter you always want to know how it will go on! In the book there are wars, battles on the ground and even naval; there are betrayals, plots, alliances; in short, the ingredients are all there to make this series beautiful. Yes, because To the Strongest is only the first book and the series will continue in The Three Paradises!
The character I liked the most is Ptolemy: he seemed the most genuine in his feelings towards Alexander, in his pain towards the premature death of the conqueror. He too did his interests to govern Egypt undisturbed, but Ptolemy says some sentences that I liked very much, indeed I would say that the best sentences in the book are his own.
You can find this book in any online store and in my opinion it’s a very good reading that you mustn’t miss!
For 2020 I’m hoping two things:
- to can to read the sequel The Three Paradises;
- that this book will also be published in Italian because it’s really beautiful! So Newton Compton Editori keep this book in mind because you would make a mistake not to publish it 🙂
The Diadochi wars have just begun, you just have to continue reading this beautiful and interesting saga!
I give you some links:
I’d like to thank again the publisher Corvus for the free copy: thank you for this wonderful reading!
Thanks everyone for reading my review,
#copiaomaggio #prodottooffertoda Corvus – Atlantic Books
Alessandro III di Macedonia 
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