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Synopsis
When his father dies, and he is reduced at a stroke from prosperity to penury, Euxenus decides to leave Athens and seek his fortune elsewhere. As a philosopher and intellectual of some note, he has no difficulty getting a job as tutor to a young prince in the wealthy but utterly provincial court of King Philip of Macedon. The young prince is called Alexander, and the rest is history. Or is it? Alexander conquered Greece, Egypt and the Persian Empire in the course of eight years, amassing a huge army along the way, and leaving behind him the foundations of countless new cities named after him. He proclaimed himself a deity, and died at the age of 33. In ALEXANDER AT THE WORLD'S END, Tom Holt tells the story of two remarkable men, one of whom conquered empires and one of whom struggled to overcome the drainage problems of a small village. It is a story of two men whose paths crossed only briefly, but whose encounter changed both their lives for ever. And it is a story which throws an extraordinary new light on the man who became Alexander the Great.
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Review
Tom Holt is famed for modern-day comic fantasies, but his pessimistic wit transferred well to historical fiction in The Walled Orchard (originally published 1989-90 in two volumes), set in ancient Greece. Euxenus, unheroic narrator of Alexander at the World's End, is the grandson of The Walled Orchard's playwright protagonist. He learns the art of fooling people from the wise fraud Diogenes, lives well in Athens as a false prophet with an imaginary demon in a bottle, becomes a popular philosopher-about-town ... and so gets picked for the diplomatic delegation to conquest-hungry King Philip of Macedonia, whose son will be Alexander the Great. Life changes course as Euxenus finds himself (with his loathed rival Aristotle) tutoring this already dangerous boy. History too may have been diverted, with one of Euxenus's dodgy classroom arguments inspiring Alexander's decision to live fast and die young like Achilles. By way of reward the King appoints our hero as founder of a new colony by the Black Sea, where he toils and skirmishes with unfriendly Scythian neighbours. Meanwhile, Philip and then his successor Alexander gobble up the known world. Again and again, Alexander's tactics ironically echo Euxenus's attempts at teaching. Holt's witty narrative and flair for piquant historical details steer us expertly through both grim and comic episodes. A thoroughly enjoyable novel. --David Langford
Review
Witty, ironic ... and achieves a deeply felt authenticity (NEW YORK TIMES)
A fascinating, gripping, moving story (THE TIMES)
Wry and droll, fascinating and funny, by bringing us Alexander's nether parts this novel gives momentous matters unforgettable life (ROSS LECKIE)
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- PublisherTime Life Education
- Publication date1982
- ISBN 10 0809425084
- ISBN 13 9780809425082
- BindingPaperback
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