Mary Renault

Mary Renault (4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983) born Eileen Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece. In addition to vivid fictional portrayals of Theseus, Socrates, Plato and Alexander the Great, she wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander.

Mary Renault in Supervolcano
Bryce Miller found and read a secondhand copy of Mary Renault's The Persian Boy while he was in high school. He became curious about how much of the novel was real and how much was made up. Reasearching this led to his interest in the Hellenistic age of Ancient Greece which led to his academic studies and attempt to make a living as a PhD in the era.

Literary Note
Harry Turtledove has indicated that at around the age of fifteen, he picked up a secondhand copy of L. Sprague de Camp's Lest Darkness Fall which led to his interest in the Byzantine Empire. After he flunked out of Caltech, this led to his studying Byzantine history and earning a PhD in it at UCLA.