Spun with threads of Gold- History turned fairytale

Jai Sen's lovely 'The Golden Vine' , another Alexander story- this time a graphic novel. I was slightly startled and somewhat impressed that an Indian-origin guy had come up with this - then I was reminded of Amar Chitra Katha and went... "Oh wait..." Still, on the side of art, its simply gorgeous. The story deviates from history at many points - the most important result being that Alexander Lives (!) and discovers the Americas(!). That may sound a bit far-fetched, but I wonder if the whole discovering the America's wouldn't have happened sooner if the Dark Ages hadn't been there? And Alexander was definitely an explorer type person... But the important message in the book is an eternal question - as important in his era as it is today- the role of religion in the state.

Another AU- memorable mainly for being another Alexander book- was Judith Tarr's 'Lord of the Two Lands'. Certainly Alexander seems to have had an easy time of it there, and of course there's the mystery of his meeting with the oracle there, and Alexandria where he was immortalized... a good deal of magic and mystery and egyptian gods woven in. The story follows Meriammon - daughter of the late Pharoah- who wants the conquering Persians thrown out, and invites Alexander in as a liberator. There's a bit of the romance angle there with Meriammon and a brother of Ptolemy- who would later become pharoah.

One thing I was struck by, was how much Alexander used religion and the gods to make his claims- he followed all the ceremonies, celebrated all the gods wherever he went- and the other thing that struck me was how little politics has changed in that sense- through the years- the Holy Wars of course, Henry VIII,  but even in the democracies of  today- with all the talk of Obama's church - in some ways we haven't come very far in 2000 years.

 Then came with 'Stealing Fire' by Jo Graham, which is not so much about Alexander, as the events after his death- the stealing of his body from Persia to Egypt by Ptolemy- both books make much of the Egyptian connection.