The Hellenistic world is a great background for historical novels. Not only is the sudden and unsolved death of Alexander the Great a good source for suspense, the larger than life struggles of successors, their intrigues and romances are also a fertile ground to base an epic adventure on. The Hellenistic world up to and including the period of the tragic death of Cleopatra VII of Egypt, still excites many novelists and readers. Let's review a few of books set in this era.

Many novels have been written about Alexander the Great. So many in fact, that it is impossible to mention them all. We can try to mention some. There is the subtle trilogy of Mary Renault (Fire from heaven (1969), the Persian boy (1972) and Funeral Games (1982)) which does not shun the homosexual freedom of the time. The splendid Virtues of War (2004) and The Afghan Campaign (2006) by Steven Pressfield present the reader with exciting descriptions of the battles and campaigns of Alexander. Then there are the 1998 novels (Child of a Dream, Sands of Ammon, and Ends of the Earth) by the celebrated Italian historian and writer Valerio Massimo Manfredi. Or the very mythical - or mystical if you prefer - novels Lion of Macedon (1990) and Dark Prince (1991) by the acclaimed fantasy writer David Gemmell. Or you might like the dark view of Alexander in Nicholas Nicastro's Empire in Ashes (2004). Scott Oden wrote Memnon (2006), telling the story from the point of Alexander's opponent Memnon of Rhodos during the early stages of the conquest of Persia. Also interesting is the crime novel The House of Death (2001) by Paul Doherty. In it, the author narrates the adventures of a fictional friend of Alexander helping him to find a murderer in his camp. This novel was followed by The Godless Man (2002) and Gates of Hell (2003).

The dominant character of Alexander the Great might cast a shadow on novels taking place in the Hellenistic world, much like the results of his conquest of Persia influenced the Greek and Persian world for decades after his death, if not for centuries... But there are (and were) very interesting stories set in that period too, of which I'd like to present some...

Let's start with the eventful period just after the unexpected death of Alexander the Great. The terrible wars for the ultimate prize, the empire of Alexander the Great, fought by his Macedonian generals is described in the novel Funeral Games (1982) by Mary Renault. It gives an inside view of these events  up until about 286 BC and includes the death of the family of Alexander (Olympias his Epirote mother, Roxanne his wife and Alexander IV his son) and the main players of the early successor wars (Polyperchon, Eumenes, Craterus, but also Ptolemy, Cassander, Seleucus, Antigonos Monophthalmos and Demetrius Poliorcetes). Marie Renault has also written a biography of Alexander called The Nature of Alexander the Great, which shows much psychological depth.

Als interesting is the novel Elephants and Castles (1963) by Alfred Duggan, which tells the story of Demetrius Poliorcetes, son of Antigonos Monophthalmos and father Antigonos Gonatas, first ruler of the Antigonid dynasty which ruled Macedon until 168 BC. Though a bit old-fashioned in its style (the book is also out of print now), it can still be found and gives a good insight into the treacherous and selfish 'new world' that the generals of Alexander created. Set in a later Hellenistic era is Duggan's He died old (1958) that deals with the life of Mithridates.