Zenobia

Warrior Queen #4

by Haley Elizabeth Garwood

The fourth book in Haley Elizabeth Garwood's Warrior Queen Series, Zenobia, is the story of a 3rd century Syrian queen who fights the Romans. After the Romans assassinate Zenobia's husband, she pulls herself from the depths of despair and does what she does best -- marches her army against an ally turned enemy.

Genres: Historical Fiction

347 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Haley Elizabeth Garwood (born 25 April 1940) is an American historical novelist. She has worked as an airline stewardess and as a teacher of special education students. After her retirement as a high school principal in West Virginia, she began to write full time.

At present she has four completed novels in her Warrior Queen Series about women warriors. She also teaches literature at university. After Rani of Jhansi, she will be searching for an "African Queen" series.

Reviews

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a country called Palmyria in the 260s A.D, there was a queen named Zenobia. And what a queen!! She can out fight, outdrink, outride, and outwit any man. When the Romans kill her husband, she lives for revenge and fights to keep the throne for her sons. She answers Egypt's call for aide. She ensures that traveling merchants are protected from raiders. She increases trade and brings prosperity to her people. Meanwhile, in Rome, a man named Aurelian is killing one emperor after another in hopes of attaining the title of emperor for himself. He also has Zenobia in his deadly sights. They will have to meet in battle.

Zenobia is not the only strong woman in the story. There is also a Jewish woman named Rebekeh that many female readers will like and relate to. Miriam is another female character that exhibits strong traits. Both of these women play major roles in Zenobia's life and kingdom.

Can Zenobia keep control of Palmyria for her sons? Can she keep her sons safe until they are grown and able to rule? It is obvious that Aurelian is going to be a formidable foe.

I loved this book and the strong women in it. It is not just war tho. There is love and romance between Zenobia and her husband and later, her general. There is drama, a love triangle, a crazy grieving mother, and Zenobia's love for her sons as she watches them grow. A fine novel. I will be reading more of Haley Elizabeth Garwood.

[Aria Ligi · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I used this as the primary means for writing my own book on Zenobia, it has some major flaws. Yes, thankfully, it is ABOUT Zenobia, unlike the previously noted The Chronicles of Zenobia the Rebel Queen, which is an utter waste of time, but that being said, the writing is rather choppy. This needed a good edit. Almost every sentence begins with 'Zenobia' even when the pronoun 'she' would have felt more natural on the tongue. More than once, the word 'dais' is written 'dias', a person's last name NOT a platform in which a Queen sits on her throne. Then, she inserts many characters who did not exist, such as a second son, Arraum, Rebekeh, Miriam, Tarab, and Ezechiel. I am certain she did this for literary effect, and since much about Zenobia is not known, still, it lessens the value of the story. Now, it should be noted, that even though this book is about Zenobia, there are about eight chapters that are NOT. Instead, the author switches gears to Aurelian, completely taking you out of the narrative. This was very disconcerting and unnecessary.
Then how Aurelian is assassinated is not accurate at all, and one has to assume that she does this with the sole purpose of giving Zenobia credit for something she did not do. Moreover, Longinus, warns her repeatedly about not letting thoughts of revenge or bitterness rule her, and that will be her downfall, however, when she successfully plots and executes Aurelian's death, and worse her son's and she laughs about it at the end, this completely contradicts his warning and sends the exact opposite message to her readers. The ending is strange too, since the last chapter does not feel like an end, and the epilogue does not either. One imagines that there must have been more that occurred after she was no longer Queen, yet the way this is written leaves one with a sour taste in their mouth, for the glee at killing, expressed by her sons and the fact that Longinus's admonition seems to be forgotten entirely. I have yet to find a book on Zenobia that I can wholeheartedly recommend, but this one does come the closest even with all its flaws.