Fires of Alexandria (Audible Audio Edition) Thomas K Carpenter Elizabeth Klett Books
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The greatest mystery of the ancient world remains the identity of whoever set fire to the Great Library in Alexandria.
One hundred years later, Heron of Alexandria - the city's most renowned inventor and creator of Temple miracles - receives coin from a mysterious patron to investigate the crime. Desperate to be free of the debts incurred by her twin brother, she accepts and sets in motion a chain of events that will shake the Roman Empire and change the course of history forever.
Fires of Alexandria (Audible Audio Edition) Thomas K Carpenter Elizabeth Klett Books
First, I mention that the review that cited lots of editing problems is old, and the author must have done some corrective work, because I only noticed 5 or 6 typo-type errors (and believe me: lots of bad editing drives me crazy!). So don’t let that old comment put you off; I’m confident this is a revised edition.Second, I confess, I’m not usually a historical reader, so my perceptions may be slanted by my lack a familiarity with the genre. Not being an ancient history buff, my reading wasn’t diminished comparing the story with facts, either. But I appreciated that there were notes at the end of the book indicating what was fact and what was fiction, and I was surprised how much truth was woven into the storyline.
That said, I’m sure historical facts back up the horrible treatment of people in the book, but I found the squalor and abuse so off-putting that I had to take breaks during my reading to distance myself from its realistically historic picture. So I’d say the characters and story drew me in effectively, though I was disturbed by the violence and constant threat overhanging the inventor and her niece. I’m sure bad things happen these days, but it seemed so societally pervasive that I’m very glad that era is past.
I most enjoyed the idea that the great inventor was actually a disguised woman. Her clever creativity and imaginative inventions are among the most absorbing parts of the story.
Fires of Alexandria graphically portrays a slice of ancient life; if that is the sort of historic read you prefer, this one is worth your while. I think I’d rather gloss over the deplorable abusive conditions and stick with sanitized history texts.
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Fires of Alexandria (Audible Audio Edition) Thomas K Carpenter Elizabeth Klett Books Reviews
I nearly died of boredom.
I liked the time period very much. I'm encouraged to learn more about both Heron and Philo and their inventions. Making Heron a proto-feminist is a creative idea.
I felt this book was maybe a series of short stories rather than a coherent book. It is really divided into two related but different plot flows. I felt it jerked along rather than smoothly told a story. There were some areas where Heron's gender and the use of male pronouns confused me. In some places where Heron was alone or in first person-mode, "he" was used and I wasn't sure who that was.
I started wondering where the fact (and historical fiction) left and the non-historic fantasy fiction began. I liked the evolutionary deviation that steam technology took, but got confused wondering if an army took Alexandria from the Romans.
I seem to remember some typos that made me think this book wasn't edited well. I was surprised to discover that it is actually "in print" in addition to being an e-book.
Overall a good book. I will try to read more by Thomas Carpenter.
4.5 stars Well I certainly learnt a lot! This time period is not one I am overly familiar with and whilst I've been to Alexandria, I didn't have any idea of the fractious relationship they had with the Romans. I was delighted to read the authors note explaining about Heron and our knowledge of his inventions.
The only thing stopping me from rating it five stars was my confusion in the first half of the book over Heron's gender. I'm not going to say anything more, as I don't want it to be a spoiler, but maybe it was just my interpretation which was off?
The story kept me turning the pages. I love all the nods to history throughout the book, and this is certainly my favourite type of historical fiction. Now I want to revisit Alexandria with even just the small glimpse of its history I got from reading this book.
I've already bought book #2 in the series and am loving the reintroduction to the characters I came to care about.
This is is a fine detective story about one of the great crime mysteries of ancient times, the Great Library of Alexandria fire. It' also a What-if story, because if the library hadn't been totally destroyed and if the great inventor Heron of Alexandria had followed through with some of his ideas ... well who knows .
The plot develops nicely and the cultural setting is also well done. The author saw fit to throw in some plot zingers, which both complicate the story and illustrate the culture of the times. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it heartily
I love alternate history. Unfortunately this book was not one of the better ones. The period is very interesting and Alexandria was the greatest city of antiquity. It was possible but unlikely that an early Industrial revolution would have started there. Classical culture did not think that way.
The main problems are the pedestrian style and the uninteresting characters. The characters do not come to life. It was a chore to finish the book.
This story is set in Alexandria about 100 years after the fire which destroyed part of the great library. A part of the plot is an attempt to determine who was responsible. The answer did not really make much difference to the rest of the plot in this first volume of the series. Perhaps it will in future volumes.
SPOILERS
The more important part of the plot concerns Heron, the master artificer of Alexandria and the mechanical war machines Heron designs and manufacturers for a barbarian king from a region north of the Roman Empire. A little twist is that Heron is impersonating her dead twin brother as the laws and customs of Alexandria and Rome do not allow women to own businesses and perform men's work. The penalty if found out is death. As one can gather from the construction of the mechanical war machines and soldiers, the plot diverges from actual history.
The novel is fairly well written but there are some grammatical and editing errors. The story flowed well enough for me that I found the errors to be small nuisances rather than major distractions. A nice and useful touch is the afterword explaining some of the actual history.
First, I mention that the review that cited lots of editing problems is old, and the author must have done some corrective work, because I only noticed 5 or 6 typo-type errors (and believe me lots of bad editing drives me crazy!). So don’t let that old comment put you off; I’m confident this is a revised edition.
Second, I confess, I’m not usually a historical reader, so my perceptions may be slanted by my lack a familiarity with the genre. Not being an ancient history buff, my reading wasn’t diminished comparing the story with facts, either. But I appreciated that there were notes at the end of the book indicating what was fact and what was fiction, and I was surprised how much truth was woven into the storyline.
That said, I’m sure historical facts back up the horrible treatment of people in the book, but I found the squalor and abuse so off-putting that I had to take breaks during my reading to distance myself from its realistically historic picture. So I’d say the characters and story drew me in effectively, though I was disturbed by the violence and constant threat overhanging the inventor and her niece. I’m sure bad things happen these days, but it seemed so societally pervasive that I’m very glad that era is past.
I most enjoyed the idea that the great inventor was actually a disguised woman. Her clever creativity and imaginative inventions are among the most absorbing parts of the story.
Fires of Alexandria graphically portrays a slice of ancient life; if that is the sort of historic read you prefer, this one is worth your while. I think I’d rather gloss over the deplorable abusive conditions and stick with sanitized history texts.
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