New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Recommend, or otherwise, books on Alexander (fiction or non-fiction). Promote your novel here!

Moderator: pothos moderators

sikander
Somatophylax
Posts: 309
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2002 8:17 pm

New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by sikander »

Greetings,
This is Book 1 of a trilogy following Alexander and friends from start to finish. First book is childhood to Thebes.
In The Company of Friends by Argent Wood
Available on Amazon and other booksellers as well as some digital sites.
Author says second book should be out this year and third MAYBE by end of year or start of 2024.
Regards,
Sikander
Alexias
Strategos (general)
Posts: 1099
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:16 am

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by Alexias »

This appears to be self-published, and has only just come out so there aren't any reviews of it yet.
sikander
Somatophylax
Posts: 309
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2002 8:17 pm

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by sikander »

Greetings,

Yes.
Wasn't sure where to notify members of a new book, thought this would work.

Regards,
Sikander
Alexias
Strategos (general)
Posts: 1099
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:16 am

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by Alexias »

Thanks for the recommendation. I think I would prefer to see some reviews or extracts before I commit to it. I can't find anything else by this author to give any indication what the writing is like, and it looks like a pseudonym.
Alexias
Strategos (general)
Posts: 1099
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:16 am

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by Alexias »

ok, I managed to find a preview here https://www.kobo.com/in/en/ebook/in-the ... -friends-4. My heart sank as it isn't about Alexander but some fictitious characters. The writing isn't bad, but a whole chapter has been wasted.
sikander
Somatophylax
Posts: 309
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2002 8:17 pm

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by sikander »

Greetings Alexias,
Interesting.
I just finished it and my reaction was quite different. Aside from the servants and minor characters, the people of importance are historical. Any story is going to have some "made-up" characters.
The relationships are complex but intriguing. It's obviously covering the people surrounding Alexander, and that's expected from the title.
Regards,
Sikander
Sweetmemory41
Pezhetairos (foot soldier)
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2022 9:07 pm

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by Sweetmemory41 »

I liked the book enough to buy the hard copy for my library after reading the Kindle version. The young Alexander and the people as well as events that shaped him are portrayed in an interesting way in the book. Loved the author’s Hephaestion. The author has remained true to what we know about Alexander from the historical sources until after the destruction of Thebes. The rest, including some minor characters, was made up. Beware of the unnecessarily harsh portrayals of Philip II and Olympias. Overall, it is a well-written book that is engaging and entertaining. (Fine print - I am not a historian or a writer, just a quant who reads history and historical fiction for fun.)
Alexias
Strategos (general)
Posts: 1099
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:16 am

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by Alexias »

Thanks Sikander and Sweetmemory for your replies. Perhaps I will give it a go! I just have this thing about about using historical characters as a hook to hang your own story on, but if it isn't that, that's good.
sikander
Somatophylax
Posts: 309
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2002 8:17 pm

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by sikander »

Greetings Alexias,
Understood. I suppose all fiction has to have a large element of "made up" because we can't know the thoughts, conversations of people long dead.
All fiction is supposition and conjecture. I felt the author did a fair job of bringing in characters and giving them individual personalities. Of course, they were basically children, then teens, then young adults at the end of the story, so certain aspects of personality still have to "grow".
Regards,
Sikander
rar
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2003 3:01 pm

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by rar »

hello all
A little note to say that I absolutely loved Argent Wood's wonderful historical fiction, 'In The Company of Friends" book 1. He is an amazing writer. His Alexander and Hephaestion, the Companions and all the other major and minor characters are so well drawn; they come alive for us. In Argent's book, it is great fun to read of them outside the historical sources, although nothing will ever replace those, nor should they. Indeed, if not for them preserved in our extant ancient texts, there would be no "In The Company of Friends," or anything else. (thank you to 'all' Alexander and Hephaestion's ancient preservers!)
It is great fun to see them-Alexander and Hephaestion and all-living, interacting with each other, caring for and protective of each other, growing and learning together. Argent has made us want the best for them, especially Alexander's 'beyond beautiful' Hephaestion.
I believe if you love Alexander and especially if you love 'Alexander and Hephaestion' and their lifetime of a strikingly powerful intense and enduring love, you will treasure this book. Argent is in the process of finalizing his second in the trilogy. You can purchase it on Amazon. I do highly recommend it.
stay well, peaceful,
rar
system1988
Hetairos (companion)
Posts: 739
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 11:20 am
Location: Athens, Greece

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by system1988 »

What had not been written so far in the various fiction stories about Alexander ? But of course ( thought the author) no one had ever written that the King Phillip had sexual thoughts about his son , which he acted on ! Brilliant ! Brilliant !
Πάντες άνθρωποι του ειδέναι ορέγονται φύσει
Alexias
Strategos (general)
Posts: 1099
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:16 am

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by Alexias »

Incest? Please do elaborate!
system1988
Hetairos (companion)
Posts: 739
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 11:20 am
Location: Athens, Greece

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by system1988 »

Chapter 17. I can t elaborate , i am a poor old woman a little disgusted to be honest ,but i will over it ! :D :shock: :D
Πάντες άνθρωποι του ειδέναι ορέγονται φύσει
Alexias
Strategos (general)
Posts: 1099
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:16 am

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by Alexias »

Oh dear! I still haven't bought this book yet. Now I am not sure I will bother.
sikander
Somatophylax
Posts: 309
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2002 8:17 pm

Re: New historical fiction on Alexander and friends

Post by sikander »

Greetings,

Just to reassure people about the book... Phillip did not have sexual feelings for his son. That was not the story plot. It was a different scenario, a play of power to drive a different reaction from his son. It was manipulation but not attraction. The theme, so to speak, is power, politics and what people do to get it, keep it and find a way to use it to their advantage. There's no graphic sex, but there are disturbing emotional scenes to a reader perhaps unused to what life is like for many people.

The whole story is a tale of a world in which power is all, threats to that power must be stopped and people were usually expendable if they threatened your position. It even makes sense in the context of the times. We're talking about people who were prepared to wipe out entire cities to get what they wanted. A different moral compass than some like to think, I suppose. And the foundation under the tale is a love story. Some love is destructive. Some creates powerful friendships. But one is the story of a love many hope for and few find, with all its trials and final triumphs.

I recognize for others the events in question would probably be a jarring chapter but I didn't find it shocking or even "disgusting". Maybe the real world of today has made me immune to shock. And I believe the author indicated it was not a book for everyone.

Outside of that, I liked the interplay between, and the development of, the personalities of the characters, the often stark realism in the portrayal of the nature of politics and the people involved in it, and how the author moved us through events without it becoming a history lesson. It is a different kind of story than what we've read before, the author examines possible answers to the gaps in the story we know, and doesn't repeat the stories found in almost every other fiction that looks at Alexander, Hephaestion and the other players in that game. I also appreciated the author's attempts to explore the human emotions and impact of living in such a world, for men and women alike.

However, it is NOT a children's book, and it does have dark and perhaps one or two "triggering" scenes, and scenes of the tragedy of war that are somewhat graphic, but I found it well-written and rational, including the mysticism of the times.

Just my opinion.
Regards,
Sikander
Post Reply