The Nature of Things

The King Must Die by Mary Renault My rating: 3 of 5 stars Theseus is well-known to us from Greek myth as the slayer of the child-devouring Minotaur of Crete and the betrayer of Ariadne. In The King Must Die , Mary Renault imagined what might have been the reality behind that myth. Renault, an English writer of historical novels, almost reached the status of myth in her own life. She was perhaps best known for her excellent trilogy on the life of Alexander the Great: Fire From Heaven , The Persian Boy , and Funeral Games . I read those books many years ago in my Alexander period, a time when I was fascinated with the life of the Macedonian general who conquered much of the known world. They were beautifully written and I've always intended to read more of Renault's work. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with The King Must Die . It didn't quite live up to the standard that I remembered from the three Alexander books. Perhaps my memory is faulty or perhaps I just w...