This is a solid, well-researched and engaging piece of historical fiction. It tells the story of Lydias, a general of the army of Alexander the Great who has to deal with the chaos of the aftermath of his death. I liked how the author dealt with the characters - they felt relatable, although I'd have liked more depth to some of them, and I don't necessarily agree with all the author's characterization choices. The story was captivating, at times fast and full of action, at others contemplative a...

Excellent Greek historical novel with just the right amount of fantasy.

Not only a human take on the rich history of the Ancient World, but one with a focus on outsiders, LGBTQ relationships, and those touched by the gods. Tickles the same part of my brain that loves fantasy, only set in the world that was. You can see the evolution in Graham's writing since Black Ships and I'm happy to keep on following her down this path.

First things first: I've read this book without having read the first one, so some details may have been lost to me. Nonetheless I think that it can totally stand on its own and the story is perfectly understandable anyway.I personally bought this book, because I buy every historical fiction book featuring Alexander the Great in a prominent role that looks appealing to me. I knew Alexander would be dead from the start, but also that there were going to be flashbacks.I also knew that the main cha...

This was an ok book but I couldn’t get into the characters. The protagonist, Lydias, was disappointingly passive in comparison to the strong female leads in the rest of the series.

Fuck, this one snuck up on me. Ahem. Dusty in here, innit?

I have yet to read the others in this series, but after this, I'm now eager to get my hands on them. This novel is classed as fantasy due to the presence of gods and goddesses interacting with mortals, but the author never plays fast and loose with the historical content. I'm no expert on the period, but there was nothing that jarred for me.Jo Graham's prose is deceptively simple - she keeps description to a minimum but brings her characters and landscapes evocatively to life. I had vivid images...

This was really good but I prefer more Alex in my Alexander the Great books. Lydias was a super great protagonist for what this is.Recommended for fans of:- Ptolemy - Hephaestion - Thais (!!!!)- BagoasNot recommended for fans of:- Perdiccas-Kraterus - Olympias

I wanted to just love this as much as Graham's first two books - as it was, I just liked it well enough. I think a good part of that is due to my utter inability to follow battle scenes, and this book does have a lot of that sort of action. I liked the characters (Lydias, Hephaistion, Bagoas), but didn't fall in love with them quite the way I did with Charmian and Gull and Xandros and some of her earlier characters. In short, a good book that didn't speak to me as strongly as I'd hoped - but I a...

Stealing Fire showed somewhat unexpectedly in the mail and when I opened it, I just got hooked from the first page and I stayed way too late that night to finish it, though I reread it the following day to both savor it at leisure and get its finer points I may have missed on my first "need to find out what happens even if my eyes are closing" read.The main strength of the novel is the first person narration of Lydias. He is a character you cannot help but root for and both his actions in the pr...

well…fully knew this was no mary renault but i thought i’d take my chances anyway. started promising enough, though i admit to gradually be impartial to lydios for the majority of the read which doesn’t bode well as he was literally narrator. my search for a book that even begins to match the standard renault’s alexander series set for me resumes

Ever had a meal that was absolutely exquisite, but the portion was so small that your stomach was still rumbling afterward? My experience with Stealing Fire was much like that.Jo Graham’s Numinous World series is best described as “historical fantasy” and revolves around a core group of characters who are reincarnated at various points in history. The protagonist of Stealing Fire, Lydias of Miletus, lived previously as Gull in Black Ships, and will later live as Charmian in Hand of Isis.Alexande...

This series just gets better and better and I'm totally reading it out of order...it doesn't matter!If you like...historical fictionhistorical fantasy involving the actions of gods, and reincarnationwell-developed characters a touch of romance that isn't always entirely straight...You will really love this series. Gillian Bradshaw fans would probably like it too. Recommend!

I enjoyed the depiction of the time period and the respectful handling of the historical characters, particularly since these are people I know and love. I didn't think the fantasy aspects fit here as well as they did in Black Ships, but they were ok. I could have used a fuller historical note at the end. Overall well done.

When I first heard about this book, I felt like it was written for me, and pretty much as soon as I started reading I knew I was going to love it. First and foremost, I loved the characters and their relationships so, so much! For such a short book, the characters are fleshed out and believable. The many different relationships, both platonic and romantic, were so compelling, even when given only a very small place in the story. The friendships between Lydias and Ptolemy and Artashir respectivel...

I found this book quite slow, and not much exciting happened. It was just interesting enough that I was able to read it in a few days, but it read more like a history book than a novel. It was neat that it it covered the time after Alexander, not during like most books.

I really loved this story, especially the contrasting present against past scenes. There are a few little minor detail errors, but overall, I appreciated the obvious familiarity with the ancient sources, not just in details, but in how the people think, which, to me, is extremely important. I know this is not her first foray into historical fiction, and that her Black Ships received a fair bit of praise, so her deftness with the ancient world is perhaps to be expected, although I’ve been disappo...

I liked Graham's first novel, BLACK SHIPS--overall there I was impressed with how Graham drew from recent archeological and historic scholarship to bring to life the Late Bronze Age world--but I'm afraid I find STEALING FIRE less successful. With historical fiction, I want to enter that other world, feel and think for a while as an Ancient Greek or Egyptian would. With fantasy, I want magic and world-building that places us in another world entirely, even if there's a historical basis. But STEAL...

I have some mixed feelings about the second book in Jo Graham’s so far awesome Numinous World series. I mean, I’ve already read Black Ships and Hand of Isis, which were both great. But I’m just not feeling this one.Lydias was a great, well developed character. He had a fascinating past that made his chosen path feel a little more believable and his actions throughout the novel are fairly consistent. I like how we learn his tragic backstory little by little and it really does bring some depth to

Stealing Fire by Jo Graham is the story of a fictional soldier who served with Alexander the Great, in Hephaistion’s Ile, as a member of the Companion Cavalry, on his sweep through Persia and beyond.It follows Lydias, who was sold into slavery by his father and became a groom, as he escapes from his master when Hephaistion buys his favorite horse.The story starts with the day of Alexander’s death and alternates between present and past, as we learn about the chaos that ensued after the death of