Just as I was wondering what we should discuss in the Reading group for August three books landed on my doormat: Fire From Heaven, The Persian Boy and Funeral Games, Mary Renault's celebrated Alexander the Great trilogy.
My first thoughts were that they would be ideal. They're superb books, there's huge scope for discussion in Renault's presentation of the politics and personalities around her famous hero, there's much to say about her interweaving of myth and history and, just as interestingly, there's much to wonder at in the way she fills in the large dark spaces where we know next to nothing about the times she describes. I also thought her hot and sultry evocation of Greece and Asia Minor would suit the dog days of August, and selfishly I rather fancied reading something about the ancient world since I'm about to go on holiday to Greece …
But the main thing is that this is an important and wonderful writer. Mary Renault seems as relevant 30 years after her death as she ever has. She was not only a brave pioneer of gay writing, she set a course into serious-minded, psychologically intense historical fiction that today seems more important then ever. Most obviously her Greek epics have influenced the acclaimed and bestselling Madeline Miller - but just as significantly, the cover of my new copies of the Alexander The Great Trilogy also carry quotes from Hilary Mantel ("Mary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers") and Sarah Waters (who calls The Persian Boy "one of the greatest historical novels ever written"). Based on those two quotes alone, it could be argued that Renault has changed the face of modern literary fiction (and most definitely of the Booker prize).
Of course, the real excitement comes inside the books, rather than on the covers. It's Renault's own words that most effectively show how much she matters. As soon as you start to read her you'll see. Equally importantly, you'll also see how splendidly entertaining she can be. I hope you'll join me – and to bolster that hope, I'm happy to say that we've got five sets of the trilogy to give away to the first five readers who post "I want a copy please", along with a nice constructive comment relevant to the book. And if you're lucky enough to get your request in quick enough, don't forget to email laura.kemp@theguardian.com as we can't track you down ourselves. Be nice to her too.
(Finally – don't fear – we'll return to democracy in September. In fact, we're going to base the month around a plebiscite: Scotland and independence.)
