Title: The Road To Alexander (The Time for Alexander #1)
Author: Jennifer Macaire
Published on: 9th March 2017 (first published in 2006)
Genre: Science Fiction
Ashley wins an award and is selected to time travel to a place and year of her choice. After being wooed by stories of Alexander the Great, Ashley decides to go to circa 330BC and meet the great ruler of all times.
The participants of time-travel are prepped as per the year and venue they choose. Ashley’s head is shaven and she’s given a wig to wear, along with clothes that were worn in 330BC. She’s given 24 hours to meet her hero and return. Failing to do so, will leave her stranded on that place forever. And what is, even more, scarier is that, if she reveals to anyone that she’s from the future, then she’s erased from the timeline forever.
Ashley meets her hero – Alexander the great and introduces herself as an oracle reader. She falls in love with his charming looks but time passes by and before she knows, she has to leave or she will be stranded here forever. However, as she is about to enter the blue light that takes her back to 2900AD (that is the timeline that Ashely’s originally from), Alexander pulls her out as he mistakes her for Persephone, the goddess of death.
Ashley is now stranded in a place where she does not belong. And it’s not just that, the chip that was placed in her head to translate the language is no longer working. Since she’s familiar with Greek, she manages to talk to Alexander and his soldiers. Alexander falls in love with Ashley too, and before they know, Ashley is pregnant with Alexander’s child. But things take a turn when Ashley is kidnapped and taken to the temple of silence and her son is stolen from her soon after his birth. Ashley meets Alexander again and they decide to find their son. But that also means that Ashley is about to change the history forever.
I usually stick to reading mysteries and thrillers and this book came as a pleasant surprise. A science fiction with a big scoop of history, this book was worth a read!
What came as a slight shock (at least for me) was the nudity involved ( I am not a fan of GOT!). Slaves were almost always nude while only the higher admirals and kings wore a cloth around their body. Having said that, Barsine, Alexander’s first wife (and a giant!) wore nothing but a belt. I believe that clothing/dressing sense has changed a lot in the past two thousand years.
The other thing I noticed was open homosexuality between the soldiers. Having stayed away from towns and villages for a long time, the soldiers fell in love with each other and it was quite openly accepted too. Alexander was in love with his friend and his friend’s brother, as well as in love in Ashley and Barsine and many more! The soldiers loved Alexander. They worshipped him! I guess they were more advanced (in thoughts) than how humanity is right now, especially about LGBTQ and stuff. The transgenders were usually slaves and slept with the women, after being castrated. Not just that, their tongues were sliced off too! Gory, isn’t it?
Coming to the ‘technical’ details of the book, the writing was okay. Since the story was very good, I did not give a lot of attention to the writing style. I really liked the concept of time travel from 2900AD to 330BC. The culture and people of 330BC were well explained. Hats off to the author for the tremendous amount of research she had to do to write this story. The story is a bit gore, with descriptions of war and animal sacrifice. Nevertheless, I recommend this book to those who love the concoction of history and science fiction.
The story is unique and one-of-a-kind. Since this is the first book in the series, it ends with a cliffhanger. That means I have to read all the other books to know what happened in the end. Was Ashley erased from the timeline? Or, did she change the course of history forever? This is something that I will know only after reading the other books in the series. Hopefully, I will, once I read the other books in this series, sometime in the near future.
There’s a giveaway for this tour. If you like to win a $10 amazon gift card, then do participate in the giveaway.
Giveaway link here.
Thank You, Rachel, from Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity to be a part of this blog tour.
The Book Decoder 
Thank you so much for hosting my book, and for your time and energy spent on your wonderfully detailed review! I truly appreciate it, and hope you enjoy the rest of the series!
You’re welcome, Jennifer. Yes, I am going to read the rest of the series. I really loved the concept of time travel to the past. 🙂
Great review Rekha, sounds like a very interesting read. I do like books with time travel, so will check this one out.
Thanks, Marie.🙂
You’re welcome😊