In Fire from Heaven [Mary Renault] continues to work in the vein that has brought her so much success—justifiably, since she has reconstructed her historic period with all the care of an archaeologist…. [Where] she excels is in her close eye for detail. Apart from rather ordinary set-pieces connected with Alexander's childhood—the snake that he keeps in his bed, his relationship with his mother, Olympias, his antagonism towards his father, King Philip, all of which could mutatis ...