The Other Alexander, Book I of The Bow of Heaven [Kindle Edition]

I love all things to do with Ancient Rome, having read both fiction and nonfiction on the subject. So I was eager to pick up Levkoff's "The Bow of Heaven." And I wasn't disappointed. Levkoff has a gift for characterization, bringing the people of this ancient world to life. Some readers find the abundance of similar names in novels of Ancient Rome limiting. Levkoff keeps the focus of the story on a small cast of characters who quickly become familiar.

Alexander is a Greek philosophy student who becomes caught up in the war between Rome and Athens. Captured, he is given as a gift to Crassus, for his role in the conquest. Alexander first fights against the indignities of being a slave. But his sharp mind and caring nature win out and he eventually comes to love his master and the others in his household. I was glad that Crassus was portrayed as a many-layered individual and not the cliched slave-owner. I found myself easily caught up with these characters.

I was intrigued by Alexander's point of view. Seeing the Roman republic through a Greek's perspective is a unique way to shine light on both its strengths and weaknesses. Levkoff does a great job of including bits of Roman life--like bathing or dining practices-- in an easy way that adds texture without feeling pedantic.

Set in the years leading up to Caesar's reign, Levkoff weaves romance, history and intrigue for a satisfying read. As the story progressed, I could feel the tension mounting and wasn't disappointed with the finale. Looking forward to the second installment.

Kim Chatel
Author

I thoroughly enjoyed The Other Alexander, and as a Roman historian, I can be hard to please. I've given the book four stars rather than five simply because I felt there were a couple of plot points where the author brushed aside the character of his protagonists that he'd been carefully building, in order to achieve a dramatic moment. This was disappointing to me, but other readers may not feel the same.

(Minor spoiler follows)

I also had to take issue that the main character, who displays loyalty and courage, moves into his thirties without manumission, even after he has saved the life of a citizen and his master. He is too valuable to be given his freedom, the writer tells the reader. This is convenient for the plot, but disappointed me given how careful the author has been in crafting other aspects of Roman society and explaining these to the reader within the narrative. Manumission was not only the end of captivity for the Roman slave, it was also the culmination of a process of social integration, a process whereby the slave who had already been partially incorporated into Roman society through the social institutions of household, family, and patron-client friendships became politically assimilated into the Roman state. (Patterson, 1982). Crassus' failure to at least discuss this possibility with Alexander was a major flaw in the novel to me.

This is an engrossing and often moving account of events during the latter days of the Roman Republic. The emotional center of the book is the narrator, Alexandros, a Greek slave trained in philosophy, who belongs to the Roman general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus. The focus shifts back and forth between key events in Roman history, in which Crassus participates, and the world of Crassus' household. The reader follows Alexandros' ongoing struggle to come to terms with his own enslavement, with all its implications, as gradually revealed both to the reader and to Alexandros himself.

Levkoff has vividly imagined the life of an intelligent man in a position of relative -- but not absolute -- powerlessness, always at risk of pain and degradation. He also examines how two men who might well have been friends in other circumstances interact when they find themselves in the position of master and slave. Crassus appreciates Alexandros' abilities and even, to some extent, his reluctance to be entirely servile, while exercising his prerogatives as Alexandros' master whenever it is in his interests. Alexandros develops some loyalty to and perhaps affection for Crassus, and is sometimes lulled into a sort of contentment, until events force him to confront the basic nature of their relationship.

Alexandros is given to lush, poetic, and often original descriptions of the world around him. These added to my pleasure as a reader, and while they were at times a mite obtrusive, they were still consistent with the narrator's character.

There's a short Preface relating how the narrative was supposedly discovered. This would be a good place for a bit more historical scene-setting. I know a little about the late Roman Republic, and still had some trouble getting my bearings; someone with no prior knowledge of the period could end up rather lost.

I downloaded the book quite a while before I read it, and in the intervening time forgot that it was a Book One. I hope Book Two will be out soon!