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Queen of Kings
There’s more than one path to immortality…
A thrilling, chilling reimagining of the story of the most famous woman in history.
Once there was a queen of Egypt…a queen who became through magic something else…
The year is 30 BC. Octavian Caesar and his massed legions are poised to enter Alexandria. A messenger informs Egypt’s queen, Cleopatra, that her beloved Mark Antony has died by his own hand. Desperate to save her kingdom, resurrect her husband and protect all she holds dear, Cleopatra turns to the gods for help. Ignoring the warnings of those around her, she summons Sekhmet, goddess of death and destruction, and strikes a mortal bargain. And not even the wisest of Egypt’s scholars could have predicted what would follow…
For, in return for Antony’s soul, Sekhmet demands something in return: Cleopatra herself. And so Egypt’s queen is possessed. She becomes an immortal, shape-shifting, not-quite-human manifestation of a deity who seeks to destroy the world. Fighting to preserve something of her humanity, Cleopatra pursues Octavian back to Rome: she desires revenge, she yearns for her children…and she craves human blood.
It is a journey that will take her from the tombs of the Pharaohs to the great amphitheatres of imperial Rome and on, to Hell itself where, it seems, the fate of the world will finally be decided.
Blending authentic historical fiction and the darkest of fantasy, Queen of Kings is a spectacular and spellbinding feat of the imagination that fans of Neil Gaiman, Diana Gabaldon, George R.R. Martin, Patricia Briggs, Philippa Gregory, and Ridley Scott's Gladiator won’t want to miss.
A thrilling, chilling reimagining of the story of the most famous woman in history.
Once there was a queen of Egypt…a queen who became through magic something else…
The year is 30 BC. Octavian Caesar and his massed legions are poised to enter Alexandria. A messenger informs Egypt’s queen, Cleopatra, that her beloved Mark Antony has died by his own hand. Desperate to save her kingdom, resurrect her husband and protect all she holds dear, Cleopatra turns to the gods for help. Ignoring the warnings of those around her, she summons Sekhmet, goddess of death and destruction, and strikes a mortal bargain. And not even the wisest of Egypt’s scholars could have predicted what would follow…
For, in return for Antony’s soul, Sekhmet demands something in return: Cleopatra herself. And so Egypt’s queen is possessed. She becomes an immortal, shape-shifting, not-quite-human manifestation of a deity who seeks to destroy the world. Fighting to preserve something of her humanity, Cleopatra pursues Octavian back to Rome: she desires revenge, she yearns for her children…and she craves human blood.
It is a journey that will take her from the tombs of the Pharaohs to the great amphitheatres of imperial Rome and on, to Hell itself where, it seems, the fate of the world will finally be decided.
Blending authentic historical fiction and the darkest of fantasy, Queen of Kings is a spectacular and spellbinding feat of the imagination that fans of Neil Gaiman, Diana Gabaldon, George R.R. Martin, Patricia Briggs, Philippa Gregory, and Ridley Scott's Gladiator won’t want to miss.
401 pages, Hardcover
First published May 12, 2011
62 people are currently reading
2996 people want to read
About the author
Maria Dahvana Headley
76 books1,612 followersMaria Dahvana Headley is the New York Times-bestselling author of, most recently, THE MERE WIFE (out July 17, 2018 from MCD/FSG). Upcoming in 2019 is a new translation of BEOWULF, also from FSG. As well, she is the author of the young adult skyship novels MAGONIA and AERIE from HarperCollins, the dark fantasy/alt-history novel QUEEN OF KINGS, the internationally bestselling memoir THE YEAR OF YES, and THE END OF THE SENTENCE, a novella co-written with Kat Howard, from Subterranean. With Neil Gaiman, she is the New York Times-bestselling co-editor of the monster anthology UNNATURAL CREATURES, benefitting 826DC.
Her Nebula,Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy award-nominated short fiction has appeared on Tor.com, and in The Toast, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Apex, The Journal of Unlikely Entomology, Subterranean Online, Glitter & Mayhem and Jurassic London's The Lowest Heaven and The Book of the Dead, Uncanny, Shimmer, and more. It's anthologized in Best American Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as the 2013 and 2014 editions of Rich Horton's The Year's Best Fantasy & Science Fiction, & Paula Guran's 2013 The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, in The Year's Best Weird Volume 1, ed. Laird Barron, and in Wastelands, Vol 2, among others. She's also a playwright and essayist.
She grew up in rural Idaho on a sled-dog ranch, spent part of her 20's as a pirate negotiator and ship marketer in the maritime industry, and now lives in Brooklyn in an apartment shared with a seven-foot-long stuffed crocodile.
Her Nebula,Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy award-nominated short fiction has appeared on Tor.com, and in The Toast, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Apex, The Journal of Unlikely Entomology, Subterranean Online, Glitter & Mayhem and Jurassic London's The Lowest Heaven and The Book of the Dead, Uncanny, Shimmer, and more. It's anthologized in Best American Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as the 2013 and 2014 editions of Rich Horton's The Year's Best Fantasy & Science Fiction, & Paula Guran's 2013 The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, in The Year's Best Weird Volume 1, ed. Laird Barron, and in Wastelands, Vol 2, among others. She's also a playwright and essayist.
She grew up in rural Idaho on a sled-dog ranch, spent part of her 20's as a pirate negotiator and ship marketer in the maritime industry, and now lives in Brooklyn in an apartment shared with a seven-foot-long stuffed crocodile.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 241 reviews
April 22, 2013
Despite the fact that it combines two of my favorite obsessions--vampires and Ancient Rome/Egypt circa the lifetime of Cleopatra--I almost didn't read this book. I was leery that it was going to be a bodice-ripper in disguise (nothing triggers my gag reflex like the words "paranormal romance") or, worse yet, a poorly written, poorly researched historical novel with just a dash of fantasy so it could jump on the increasingly burdened Twilight bandwagon. After weeks of circling it like a vulture over highway road kill, what finally caused me to click the "Add to Cart" button on Amazon was seeing that it had Neil Gaiman's seal of approval. I live by the "WWNGR" code (What Would Neil Gaiman Read?) and so it was done. I'm pleased to say that the book exceeded my expectations and avoided all of the pitfalls I feared.
In Queen of Kings, Headley has taken a unique approach to reimagining the death of Cleopatra and I was surprised to find that this isn't exactly a vampire novel and it certainly isn't a rip-off of Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned. After losing the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra becomes desperate to stop Octavius' impending conquest of Egypt. She commands her scholars to search for a solution in the form of divine intervention. What they bring her is an incomplete spell that will allow the pharaoh to call upon the gods of Ancient Egypt. As the forces of Octavius invade Egypt and a dying Mark Antony is brought to Cleopatra, she uses the spell to call upon Sekhmet, a vengeful goddess of warfare also known as the Lady of Slaughter. Sekhmet, angry over Egypt's worship of new deities as well as Ra's banishment of her, takes over the body of Cleopatra in return for bringing Mark Antony back to life. Things go awry, Mark Antony still ends up dead, and Cleopatra is now a servant to Sekhmet's bloodlust. Now immortal and possessing the powers of a goddess, Cleopatra has all of the weapons needed to wreak havoc on Rome and punish Octavius. However, she struggles to maintain her humanity as the goddess within her begins to crowd out the woman she was.
The first part of the novel skillfully weaves together historical detail with parts of the vampire mythos (the reasons for why Cleopatra craves blood, can't withstand the light of the sun, is pained by exposure to silver are all cleverly tied to Egyptian mythology). After that point, the novel becomes increasingly fantasy based but still manages to bring events back to historical correctness. As Octavius begins to fear Cleopatra's vengeance, he surrounds himself with sorcerers: an African tribesman with a gift for controlling serpents and the wind, a Norse seer with the ability to reweave fate, and a high priestess of Hecate who plans to harness the power of Cleopatra/Sekhmet to free Hecate from her imprisonment in Hades. All of these characters bring a fascinating array of possibilities to the story and, through them, Mark Antony's ghost is resurrected, gods and goddesses are called upon, and we are taken through Hades.
There are flaws in the novel. Another reviewer said that there's not enough violence given the elements at play here and I agree; Cleopatra often talks a lot of smack about punishing her enemies in cruel and horrible ways consistent with Sekhmet, but, to quote Shakespeare's Antony, she never truly cries "Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war that this foul deed shall smell above the earth with carrion men, groaning for burial." There is violence, but it's watered down and certainly not of the kind one would expect as being the right of ancient gods and goddesses, emperors and pharaohs. Also, it seems as though Headley doesn't want Cleopatra to come across as a villain or a monster, highlighting her true love for Antony, her children, and her country. While I respect the attempt to show Cleopatra's humanity, there's little in this character to suggest the kind of ruthless intelligence she was capable of or her hubris as a goddess on earth. It would have been nice to see Cleopatra given more of an edge--she and Sekhmet probably had more in common than is shown here.
In the end, the novel is a fun take on historical events that are as likely fictionalized as the novel itself. The first part of a planned trilogy, I'm definitely looking forward to the next novel. I hope I'm not wrong when I say it seems as though perhaps Headley has set the novel up to move out of the ancient period and into more modern times--perhaps a vampiric Cleopatra causing mayhem in 2011? I'm definitely game for that.
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder
In Queen of Kings, Headley has taken a unique approach to reimagining the death of Cleopatra and I was surprised to find that this isn't exactly a vampire novel and it certainly isn't a rip-off of Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned. After losing the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra becomes desperate to stop Octavius' impending conquest of Egypt. She commands her scholars to search for a solution in the form of divine intervention. What they bring her is an incomplete spell that will allow the pharaoh to call upon the gods of Ancient Egypt. As the forces of Octavius invade Egypt and a dying Mark Antony is brought to Cleopatra, she uses the spell to call upon Sekhmet, a vengeful goddess of warfare also known as the Lady of Slaughter. Sekhmet, angry over Egypt's worship of new deities as well as Ra's banishment of her, takes over the body of Cleopatra in return for bringing Mark Antony back to life. Things go awry, Mark Antony still ends up dead, and Cleopatra is now a servant to Sekhmet's bloodlust. Now immortal and possessing the powers of a goddess, Cleopatra has all of the weapons needed to wreak havoc on Rome and punish Octavius. However, she struggles to maintain her humanity as the goddess within her begins to crowd out the woman she was.
The first part of the novel skillfully weaves together historical detail with parts of the vampire mythos (the reasons for why Cleopatra craves blood, can't withstand the light of the sun, is pained by exposure to silver are all cleverly tied to Egyptian mythology). After that point, the novel becomes increasingly fantasy based but still manages to bring events back to historical correctness. As Octavius begins to fear Cleopatra's vengeance, he surrounds himself with sorcerers: an African tribesman with a gift for controlling serpents and the wind, a Norse seer with the ability to reweave fate, and a high priestess of Hecate who plans to harness the power of Cleopatra/Sekhmet to free Hecate from her imprisonment in Hades. All of these characters bring a fascinating array of possibilities to the story and, through them, Mark Antony's ghost is resurrected, gods and goddesses are called upon, and we are taken through Hades.
There are flaws in the novel. Another reviewer said that there's not enough violence given the elements at play here and I agree; Cleopatra often talks a lot of smack about punishing her enemies in cruel and horrible ways consistent with Sekhmet, but, to quote Shakespeare's Antony, she never truly cries "Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war that this foul deed shall smell above the earth with carrion men, groaning for burial." There is violence, but it's watered down and certainly not of the kind one would expect as being the right of ancient gods and goddesses, emperors and pharaohs. Also, it seems as though Headley doesn't want Cleopatra to come across as a villain or a monster, highlighting her true love for Antony, her children, and her country. While I respect the attempt to show Cleopatra's humanity, there's little in this character to suggest the kind of ruthless intelligence she was capable of or her hubris as a goddess on earth. It would have been nice to see Cleopatra given more of an edge--she and Sekhmet probably had more in common than is shown here.
In the end, the novel is a fun take on historical events that are as likely fictionalized as the novel itself. The first part of a planned trilogy, I'm definitely looking forward to the next novel. I hope I'm not wrong when I say it seems as though perhaps Headley has set the novel up to move out of the ancient period and into more modern times--perhaps a vampiric Cleopatra causing mayhem in 2011? I'm definitely game for that.
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder
July 19, 2022
Part historical novel set in Rome at the time of Cleopatra and Augustus, part Egyptian mythogy with Cleopatra becoming a shapeshifting vampire after selling her soul to the goddess Sekhmet, part Greek mythology with Hades and Persephone and a priestess of Hecate, throw in a touch of Norse mythology with a fate spinner and then a North African snake sorcerer married to the daughter of the West Wind! There are so many great elements in this book that should have made it a fantastic read. It was still fun, but perhaps if it was a bit shorter and didn’t try and cram so many different mythologies together it would’ve been brilliant. My favourite parts were the story the sorcerer told of how he wed the daughter of the wind; and Hades itself, with Antony and Cleopatra crossing the rivers and walking through the souls of the dead (the souls of abandoned babies most of them female just past the entrance was a horrifying image in my mind). So this was an enjoyable read for me, totally silly but I do like mythology and retellings, so I just wish it had been better!
abandoned
December 22, 2024This sounded such a great premise. A reimagining of Cleopatra, with a supernatural element. Plus the cover boasts Neil Gaiman’s comment “so magical, so dark”. But then perhaps four short words mean little without the context.
I’m not rating Queen of Kings by the American author Maria Dahvana Headley, because I gave up after less than 4 chapters. The novel lurched into melodrama right from the start, in the prologue. That is a mistake, because we were not engaged with any of the characters. It just felt hysterical. Then the first three chapters were very overwritten.
And what’s with the heavy sex scene in chapter 2? Again, we do not know these characters. There is no emotional involvement on the part of the reader, and zero tension. It merely feels manipulative.
The introduction says that: “meticulously researched historical fiction and the darkest of fantasy collide in this spectacular reimagining”. Presumably this aggrandising tosh was written by the publishers. It continues: “She yearns for her children and she craves human blood”. But surely the author did not have to take such exaggerated prose as her template.
No, not for me.
I’m not rating Queen of Kings by the American author Maria Dahvana Headley, because I gave up after less than 4 chapters. The novel lurched into melodrama right from the start, in the prologue. That is a mistake, because we were not engaged with any of the characters. It just felt hysterical. Then the first three chapters were very overwritten.
And what’s with the heavy sex scene in chapter 2? Again, we do not know these characters. There is no emotional involvement on the part of the reader, and zero tension. It merely feels manipulative.
The introduction says that: “meticulously researched historical fiction and the darkest of fantasy collide in this spectacular reimagining”. Presumably this aggrandising tosh was written by the publishers. It continues: “She yearns for her children and she craves human blood”. But surely the author did not have to take such exaggerated prose as her template.
No, not for me.
June 4, 2019
Time of Death: 6:39 PM, Tuesday, June 4th, 2019.
DNF. This isn’t bad. I just don’t want to read it anymore.
In defense of the book: I was just expecting something different. Cleopatra turned out kind of whiny, and for that matter so did Augustus, which is the opposite of everything I loved about The Mere Wife. Maybe I’ll revisit this in the future, but for now I just have no desire to pick it back up, and it’s due back at the library soon.
DNF. This isn’t bad. I just don’t want to read it anymore.
In defense of the book: I was just expecting something different. Cleopatra turned out kind of whiny, and for that matter so did Augustus, which is the opposite of everything I loved about The Mere Wife. Maybe I’ll revisit this in the future, but for now I just have no desire to pick it back up, and it’s due back at the library soon.
July 24, 2022
Look, guys, I'm a simple woman. You say 'vampire Cleopatra' and I'm sold, you don't need to say anything else. So here was me, excited to read Queen of Kings, knowing that a vampiric twist in this context would be difficult to pull off but who cares, it's vampire Cleopatra and that's cool? Right? Right? Nope, wrong. It was so bad that I cared.
This was not good.
I did not mind the writing. It was simple and good enough for me to picture what was going on. But it all felt, somehow, like a combination of flat and over the top. A lot happened but nothing had an actual impact on the characters. And I just did not care about anybody.
Cool premise for dorks like yours truly who are into vampires and The Mummy... but poor execution (in my opinion). I have no clue what Headley could have done to improve this. It felt like a movie with a lame plot and a terrible cast (sort of like The Mummy 3 with Tom Cruise, yes).
This was not good.
I did not mind the writing. It was simple and good enough for me to picture what was going on. But it all felt, somehow, like a combination of flat and over the top. A lot happened but nothing had an actual impact on the characters. And I just did not care about anybody.
Cool premise for dorks like yours truly who are into vampires and The Mummy... but poor execution (in my opinion). I have no clue what Headley could have done to improve this. It felt like a movie with a lame plot and a terrible cast (sort of like The Mummy 3 with Tom Cruise, yes).
June 27, 2011
I really wanted to like this book; I really truly did. Maybe it's me. Yes, that's it. I'm sure it's me for I never, ever saw Cleopatra as such a weak willed victim. And stupid. I don't see her as stupid.
Either Neil Gaiman has very different tastes than me or something.
Either Neil Gaiman has very different tastes than me or something.
August 17, 2011
http://www.rantingdragon.com/queen-of...
Next to my keyboard lies the book I just finished: Queen of Kings, the debut novel from Maria Dahvana Headley, author of The Year of Yes (a memoir of the year she spent saying yes to anyone who asked her out). Staring at me from the cover is a striking image of the Queen of Kings, Cleopatra, ruler of ancient Egypt.
All of you have likely heard of Cleopatra, and many of you will probably love her like I do. Hers is a story that speaks to our imagination. It is the story of a queen and Pharaoh of Egypt, loved by her people. First the mistress of Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, Cleopatra later married Mark Antony, indirectly leading to a war with Rome. When Octavian—who later became Emperor Augustus—invaded Egypt and Antony’s armies deserted, Cleopatra killed herself by inducing an asp to bite her.
A different Cleopatra
But what if the story didn’t end there? What if there were more to the asp bite than history has recorded? After all, rumors say the asp was never found…
These are the questions explored in Queen of Kings. And let me tell you, the research behind the answers is absolutely extraordinary. While this is a work of alternate history, every part of the amazing story told in Queen of Kings fits within the known history of Cleopatra. This time, she wasn’t bitten by an asp. Instead, in a desperate attempt to stop Egypt’s inevitable defeat at the hands of the Roman Empire, Cleopatra resorts to the ancient gods of Egypt. But meddling with gods is not to be done lightly. In an ultimate gamble, Cleopatra sacrifices herself to Sekhmet and is transformed into a shape-shifting vessel of a deity bent on the destruction of the world, craving the blood of mortals. And then there is Cleopatra’s own desire for revenge against Rome and its emperor.
Subtly-wrought characters
While the idea of a shape-shifting and divine vampire might sound a bit blunt, one of Headley’s greatest talents is her subtlety. Queen of Kings isn’t your regular alternative vampire story. Sure, Cleopatra—or rather the goddess in her—has a particular craving for blood, but this is hardly the defining feat of this new and immortal Cleopatra. Instead, the attention is on her struggles with the evil deity within her. Cleopatra isn’t a killer. All she wanted was to be with Mark Antony. All she still wants is to die and join him in the afterlife, but she isn’t herself anymore. This conflict has been perfectly captured by the prose of Headley, who at times seems like a poet of old, writing a legendary tragedy the likes of which the world has never read before.
The characters beyond our beloved Cleopatra have been carefully crafted, too. Headley’s masterful subtlety shows in all her characters. It shows in Augustus, Emperor of Rome, who, in mortal terror of the undead queen haunting him, meddles with powers he knows nothing about. It shows in Selene, the daughter of Cleopatra and Antony, who struggles with both feelings of betrayal and loyalty towards her parents, and is left to fend for herself in a hostile world. And then we have Agrippa, loyal general of Augustus, who believes his emperor and friend is going mad, but feels obligated to stand by him nonetheless.
Alternating eyes
All of these characters and many more are thoroughly explored in a variety of viewpoints. In accordance with Headley’s prose—which seems at times very broad compared to that of other genre works—these viewpoints are explored in a way I haven’t encountered before. Firstly, a multitude of major and minor points of view, each with their own small chapter, enhances the perspective of the story, giving it a very epic feel for a book in the paranormal and alternate history genres. Secondly, the viewpoints in the more monumental scenes, like battles, tend to switch continuously. On one page, you might see a scene through three different sets of eyes. For me, this peculiar style took some getting used to, but I definitely appreciated it in the end. The multiple small chapters and varying viewpoints therein, however, reduced the pacing of Queen of Kings significantly, especially in the middle part of the story.
Mythology, folklore, paganism, legend
I have already mentioned that Queen of Kings fits nicely into the paranormal and alternate history genres. More than those, however, this is a mythological fantasy. Headley has managed to weave many different cultures together in a book that contains elements from Greek legend, Egyptian and Roman mythology, Norse paganism, and North African folklore. Egyptian and Roman gods are seemingly effortlessly combined and lend the basis for some very interesting magic abilities. In this, Queen of Kings has left me with a bit of a philosophical feeling—I found myself contemplating how different mythologies would have coexisted in the world at the time of Cleopatra.
Why should you read this book?
After being thoroughly and unexpectedly—hey, don’t blame me for staying for away from anything with vampires!—blown away by Queen of Kings, I know one thing: Headley is a master storyteller. Queen of Kings is a legend and a tragedy. It is a sexy read and a comprehensively researched book. It is at once a paranormal love story, an epic, and a fast-paced thriller. I recommend Queen of Kings to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy and loves the many myths of our past. A truly wonderful debut from an author worth keeping an eye on. Good thing this is just the first in a trilogy, too!
Next to my keyboard lies the book I just finished: Queen of Kings, the debut novel from Maria Dahvana Headley, author of The Year of Yes (a memoir of the year she spent saying yes to anyone who asked her out). Staring at me from the cover is a striking image of the Queen of Kings, Cleopatra, ruler of ancient Egypt.
All of you have likely heard of Cleopatra, and many of you will probably love her like I do. Hers is a story that speaks to our imagination. It is the story of a queen and Pharaoh of Egypt, loved by her people. First the mistress of Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, Cleopatra later married Mark Antony, indirectly leading to a war with Rome. When Octavian—who later became Emperor Augustus—invaded Egypt and Antony’s armies deserted, Cleopatra killed herself by inducing an asp to bite her.
A different Cleopatra
But what if the story didn’t end there? What if there were more to the asp bite than history has recorded? After all, rumors say the asp was never found…
These are the questions explored in Queen of Kings. And let me tell you, the research behind the answers is absolutely extraordinary. While this is a work of alternate history, every part of the amazing story told in Queen of Kings fits within the known history of Cleopatra. This time, she wasn’t bitten by an asp. Instead, in a desperate attempt to stop Egypt’s inevitable defeat at the hands of the Roman Empire, Cleopatra resorts to the ancient gods of Egypt. But meddling with gods is not to be done lightly. In an ultimate gamble, Cleopatra sacrifices herself to Sekhmet and is transformed into a shape-shifting vessel of a deity bent on the destruction of the world, craving the blood of mortals. And then there is Cleopatra’s own desire for revenge against Rome and its emperor.
Subtly-wrought characters
While the idea of a shape-shifting and divine vampire might sound a bit blunt, one of Headley’s greatest talents is her subtlety. Queen of Kings isn’t your regular alternative vampire story. Sure, Cleopatra—or rather the goddess in her—has a particular craving for blood, but this is hardly the defining feat of this new and immortal Cleopatra. Instead, the attention is on her struggles with the evil deity within her. Cleopatra isn’t a killer. All she wanted was to be with Mark Antony. All she still wants is to die and join him in the afterlife, but she isn’t herself anymore. This conflict has been perfectly captured by the prose of Headley, who at times seems like a poet of old, writing a legendary tragedy the likes of which the world has never read before.
The characters beyond our beloved Cleopatra have been carefully crafted, too. Headley’s masterful subtlety shows in all her characters. It shows in Augustus, Emperor of Rome, who, in mortal terror of the undead queen haunting him, meddles with powers he knows nothing about. It shows in Selene, the daughter of Cleopatra and Antony, who struggles with both feelings of betrayal and loyalty towards her parents, and is left to fend for herself in a hostile world. And then we have Agrippa, loyal general of Augustus, who believes his emperor and friend is going mad, but feels obligated to stand by him nonetheless.
Alternating eyes
All of these characters and many more are thoroughly explored in a variety of viewpoints. In accordance with Headley’s prose—which seems at times very broad compared to that of other genre works—these viewpoints are explored in a way I haven’t encountered before. Firstly, a multitude of major and minor points of view, each with their own small chapter, enhances the perspective of the story, giving it a very epic feel for a book in the paranormal and alternate history genres. Secondly, the viewpoints in the more monumental scenes, like battles, tend to switch continuously. On one page, you might see a scene through three different sets of eyes. For me, this peculiar style took some getting used to, but I definitely appreciated it in the end. The multiple small chapters and varying viewpoints therein, however, reduced the pacing of Queen of Kings significantly, especially in the middle part of the story.
Mythology, folklore, paganism, legend
I have already mentioned that Queen of Kings fits nicely into the paranormal and alternate history genres. More than those, however, this is a mythological fantasy. Headley has managed to weave many different cultures together in a book that contains elements from Greek legend, Egyptian and Roman mythology, Norse paganism, and North African folklore. Egyptian and Roman gods are seemingly effortlessly combined and lend the basis for some very interesting magic abilities. In this, Queen of Kings has left me with a bit of a philosophical feeling—I found myself contemplating how different mythologies would have coexisted in the world at the time of Cleopatra.
Why should you read this book?
After being thoroughly and unexpectedly—hey, don’t blame me for staying for away from anything with vampires!—blown away by Queen of Kings, I know one thing: Headley is a master storyteller. Queen of Kings is a legend and a tragedy. It is a sexy read and a comprehensively researched book. It is at once a paranormal love story, an epic, and a fast-paced thriller. I recommend Queen of Kings to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy and loves the many myths of our past. A truly wonderful debut from an author worth keeping an eye on. Good thing this is just the first in a trilogy, too!
July 16, 2022
1.5 rounded up (which I consider generous here)
Boring story, flat characters, poor writing... (and grating narration in the audiobook which only served to further emphasize the quality of the writing)
Not for me. Will not pick up anything else by the author. Knock yourselves out though.
Boring story, flat characters, poor writing... (and grating narration in the audiobook which only served to further emphasize the quality of the writing)
Not for me. Will not pick up anything else by the author. Knock yourselves out though.
December 17, 2015
Неожиданно интересная история. Неожиданно - потому что, прочитав о Клеопатре-вампире, я приготовилась фейспалмить на тему, мол, не минула чаша тренда упыриного и этого автора тоже. Однако в итоге прочла всю историю на одном дыхании.
Вампиризм здесь не смакуется и не утрируется. Есть характерные признаки: непереносимость солнца и серебра, жажда крови, сверхслух, -зрение и -сила, превращения в змею/тигрицу. Однако акцент делается именно на одержимости Клеопатры богиней-разрушительницей Сехмет. И история воспринимается уже совершенно по-иному. Хэдли отлично представила свою версию поражения Клеопатры и Антония (все дело в интригах и предательстве), изобразила одержимость Октавиана царицей и совершенно шикарно прописала все эмоции героев. Вот серьезно, невзирая на фантастичность истории, ей веришь. Было всерьез жаль что Клеопатру, по иронии судьбы пожертвовавшей душу впустую, что Антония, чья любовь вполне может посоперничать с каноническими героями жанра. Вообще их путешествие в загробный мир напомнило историю Орфея и Эвридики. С одной стороны вроде все наоборот, Клеопатра жива, а он призрак, но именно он спасает ее, идя на все мыслимые и немыслимые жертвы.
Интересно прописаны трое колдунов, у каждого свой характер и цели. Совершенно умопомрачительная в своей красоте история про дочь ветра. Просто сказка в сказке.
Грани сумасшествия Октавиана, непоколебимая верность долгу его военачальника, образ ученого, записавшего всю историю для потомков, отсылки к современности (эпидемии чумы, намеки на Мировые войны) - все органично вписано и хорошо подано.
Единственное, что мне слегка подпортило картину - образы детей Клеопатры. Лучше всех прописана Селена. Она - дочь своей матери, лучше всего умеющая выживать. А вот Александру и Птолемею так не повезло. Оба получились немного картонными, словно автор сделала акцент на девочке, а мальчики шли довеском и выполняли роли статистов.
Однако общее впечатление это не испортило. Спасибо автору за неординарное прочтение казалось бы заюзанного всеми сюжета.
Вампиризм здесь не смакуется и не утрируется. Есть характерные признаки: непереносимость солнца и серебра, жажда крови, сверхслух, -зрение и -сила, превращения в змею/тигрицу. Однако акцент делается именно на одержимости Клеопатры богиней-разрушительницей Сехмет. И история воспринимается уже совершенно по-иному. Хэдли отлично представила свою версию поражения Клеопатры и Антония (все дело в интригах и предательстве), изобразила одержимость Октавиана царицей и совершенно шикарно прописала все эмоции героев. Вот серьезно, невзирая на фантастичность истории, ей веришь. Было всерьез жаль что Клеопатру, по иронии судьбы пожертвовавшей душу впустую, что Антония, чья любовь вполне может посоперничать с каноническими героями жанра. Вообще их путешествие в загробный мир напомнило историю Орфея и Эвридики. С одной стороны вроде все наоборот, Клеопатра жива, а он призрак, но именно он спасает ее, идя на все мыслимые и немыслимые жертвы.
Интересно прописаны трое колдунов, у каждого свой характер и цели. Совершенно умопомрачительная в своей красоте история про дочь ветра. Просто сказка в сказке.
Грани сумасшествия Октавиана, непоколебимая верность долгу его военачальника, образ ученого, записавшего всю историю для потомков, отсылки к современности (эпидемии чумы, намеки на Мировые войны) - все органично вписано и хорошо подано.
Единственное, что мне слегка подпортило картину - образы детей Клеопатры. Лучше всех прописана Селена. Она - дочь своей матери, лучше всего умеющая выживать. А вот Александру и Птолемею так не повезло. Оба получились немного картонными, словно автор сделала акцент на девочке, а мальчики шли довеском и выполняли роли статистов.
Однако общее впечатление это не испортило. Спасибо автору за неординарное прочтение казалось бы заюзанного всеми сюжета.
May 10, 2011
Maria Dahvana Headley’s book is something of a puzzle. When I first read the description of a historical novel in which a shape-shifting, vampire Cleopatra takes her revenge on Rome and Augustus, I was intrigued. The novel is divided up into three parts, and throughout the first portion in particular Headley does a good job of integrating fantasy with the actual history of the relationship between Rome and Egypt and Cleopatra, Antony, and Augustus (there is an appendix at the end of the book where more of the history is explained). I had hoped that the plot that was developed in the first part of the book would be continued throughout, but I found that the further I got into the novel, the fantasy elements almost became too much and overwhelmed the main story. This was especially noticeable in the third section of the book, where the plot seemed to divide into too many divergent lines and never really came back together cohesively at the end. To me, it seemed as if the author was trying to do too many things in one novel and the book would have been better served with a tighter focus on the main story and only a few of the numerous subplots.
July 2, 2011
Complete this brief survey to determine if "Queen of Kings" is the book for you:
Mark any of the following that you are into.
• Cleopatra
• Marc Antony
• Rome
• Egypt
• Gods that fuck with human lives
• Blood-sucking shapeshifters
• Ghosts arising from various underworlds
• Fate-spinning sorcerers from Oceanus
• Priestesses from Thessaly who serve Hecate
• African sorcerers who control the wind
• Secret missions to steal an ancient weapon from a well-guarded temple of Apollo
• Thunderous finales
If you marked more than a couple of the above items, you should really give "Queen of Kings" a read.
Mark any of the following that you are into.
• Cleopatra
• Marc Antony
• Rome
• Egypt
• Gods that fuck with human lives
• Blood-sucking shapeshifters
• Ghosts arising from various underworlds
• Fate-spinning sorcerers from Oceanus
• Priestesses from Thessaly who serve Hecate
• African sorcerers who control the wind
• Secret missions to steal an ancient weapon from a well-guarded temple of Apollo
• Thunderous finales
If you marked more than a couple of the above items, you should really give "Queen of Kings" a read.
November 7, 2012
In 30 BC, Rome's Emperor Octavian lays seige on Egypt's famous city of Alexandria, evoking rage from the beautiful Queen Cleopatra. When Octavian tricks her into believing her husband Marc Antony comitted suicide, the depth of her pain and wrath causes her to summon Rome's historian Nicholaus the Damascene. She asks him for a spell, one to summon up the Egyptian Goddess of Death and Destruction, Sekhmet. Upon her success, Cleopatra stands before Sekhmet willing to do anything to bring Marc Antony back to the living world, and then and there sells her soul. Not quite understanding what she will sacrifice or loose in the bargain, Cleopatra gets a rude awakening when Sekhmet turns her into an immortal. Shapeshifter, vampire, creature, a demon to be wreckoned with. Marc Antony returns to his living body, only to be tricked again and a second time killed. Losing her lover once more, Cleopatra now rages war with Rome and Octavian, hell bent on revenge for the loss of her country and her husband. Losing control of herself, Cleopatra commences to now follow the path of a ravenous killer, rage penetrating her every passing minute, deeply suffering from her loss of Antony, her children, and her home.
When at first it appears that Cleopatra had become a bloodthirsty vampire, I was excited to find a new author with an inventive twist on the love story of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, as well as a clever new twist on the ever popular vampire theme. But for this reader, the story soon fell short of my expectations, and although I managed to finish the story, I was greatly disappointed.
Maria Dahvana Headley writes well. There is no doubt in my mind that she has great potential to be a remarkable storyteller, and author for the future if she continues to write. I have given the book two stars. One star for writing ability and style, and the other star for creativity. I am a reader who loves creativity in all of areas of the arts, but especially within books for it is difficult to come up with a new idea that has not been tackled before by thousands upon thousands of authors in the past. Headley has great depth and a grand command of the language, vocabulary, and has the ability to provide a literary achievement with her talented writing style. The clever idea of making Cleopatra a paranormal being and with that, pulling in many mythical gods and goddesses from Roman, Egyptian and Greek Mythology, was also very inventive. Two stars well earned.
However, in my opinion, the book falls short on character development, plot, and focus. The story is told and seen through the eyes of way too many characters leaving the reader never getting close to any one of them. These many characters tend to pop in and pop out at random times with no rhyme or reason and never stay long enough to offer any value. In fact, Cleopatra herself, shows up very little through most of the novel until the grand finale. I can say that I felt the same with the players pulled from Mythology. Too many of them, not enough individual attention to give them worth to the story or as important key players to the novel. This melee becomes a big pot of stew that is stirred way too much creating a story without focus and one that tends to ramble on going nowhere to the point of often spiraling out of control. The author continually brought characters in and out with no purpose; neither for the current scene or as an important key to linking of the story as a whole as it unraveled. Poor Marc Antony was brought back from the dead so many times only to be returned again and again to the underworld that it just made no sense. Everytime I thought he was going to be kept alive he got tossed over the edge again. Each time he was resurrected I rooted for him and his love for Cleopatra only to be disappointed repeatedly and left with an ending that led to pure frustration.
The story felt to me like it had no redeeming life to it. Chaos, pain, suffering, lost love, violence, revenge, hatred, and death. 397 pages of it. There were no happy moments to combat the sadness. No love was brought to light after much darkness and loss. No life renewed after many violent deaths. The story needed balance, some good to battle evil, and angel or two to beat the devils of the underworld. The final showdown that finally ends this long and drawn out war of the gods, is a bloody battle I found over the top and unecessary. Truthfully I found the ending predictable and unredeeming after such a long haul of despair. What the author decided to do with the fate of Cleopatra and Marc Antony's two sons, was the last kicker for me. Was their fate truly necessary? Did it add value or make this story more likeable? Did it make any sense or give the story more purpose? Not in this reader's eyes. What was the point of the destiny she chose for them?
Because of the two strong stars I give the author for creativity and writing ability I would be very willing to try Headley's next attempt to see if there is improvement in other areas, but for me Queen of Kings just didn't happen. I felt she had a great idea but was not able to follow through with it in order to make the novel make sense, or to turn it into a winner. The beginning was intriguing, but I felt it went downhill very rapidly only to end in a very sad heap.
When at first it appears that Cleopatra had become a bloodthirsty vampire, I was excited to find a new author with an inventive twist on the love story of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, as well as a clever new twist on the ever popular vampire theme. But for this reader, the story soon fell short of my expectations, and although I managed to finish the story, I was greatly disappointed.
Maria Dahvana Headley writes well. There is no doubt in my mind that she has great potential to be a remarkable storyteller, and author for the future if she continues to write. I have given the book two stars. One star for writing ability and style, and the other star for creativity. I am a reader who loves creativity in all of areas of the arts, but especially within books for it is difficult to come up with a new idea that has not been tackled before by thousands upon thousands of authors in the past. Headley has great depth and a grand command of the language, vocabulary, and has the ability to provide a literary achievement with her talented writing style. The clever idea of making Cleopatra a paranormal being and with that, pulling in many mythical gods and goddesses from Roman, Egyptian and Greek Mythology, was also very inventive. Two stars well earned.
However, in my opinion, the book falls short on character development, plot, and focus. The story is told and seen through the eyes of way too many characters leaving the reader never getting close to any one of them. These many characters tend to pop in and pop out at random times with no rhyme or reason and never stay long enough to offer any value. In fact, Cleopatra herself, shows up very little through most of the novel until the grand finale. I can say that I felt the same with the players pulled from Mythology. Too many of them, not enough individual attention to give them worth to the story or as important key players to the novel. This melee becomes a big pot of stew that is stirred way too much creating a story without focus and one that tends to ramble on going nowhere to the point of often spiraling out of control. The author continually brought characters in and out with no purpose; neither for the current scene or as an important key to linking of the story as a whole as it unraveled. Poor Marc Antony was brought back from the dead so many times only to be returned again and again to the underworld that it just made no sense. Everytime I thought he was going to be kept alive he got tossed over the edge again. Each time he was resurrected I rooted for him and his love for Cleopatra only to be disappointed repeatedly and left with an ending that led to pure frustration.
The story felt to me like it had no redeeming life to it. Chaos, pain, suffering, lost love, violence, revenge, hatred, and death. 397 pages of it. There were no happy moments to combat the sadness. No love was brought to light after much darkness and loss. No life renewed after many violent deaths. The story needed balance, some good to battle evil, and angel or two to beat the devils of the underworld. The final showdown that finally ends this long and drawn out war of the gods, is a bloody battle I found over the top and unecessary. Truthfully I found the ending predictable and unredeeming after such a long haul of despair. What the author decided to do with the fate of Cleopatra and Marc Antony's two sons, was the last kicker for me. Was their fate truly necessary? Did it add value or make this story more likeable? Did it make any sense or give the story more purpose? Not in this reader's eyes. What was the point of the destiny she chose for them?
Because of the two strong stars I give the author for creativity and writing ability I would be very willing to try Headley's next attempt to see if there is improvement in other areas, but for me Queen of Kings just didn't happen. I felt she had a great idea but was not able to follow through with it in order to make the novel make sense, or to turn it into a winner. The beginning was intriguing, but I felt it went downhill very rapidly only to end in a very sad heap.
June 27, 2011
Very disappointing!! This could've been really great! Didn't enjoy this considering what a huge fan of Cleopatra, all things Egypt and Rome, and of vampires I am! Boring, and a bit cheesy. I had to stop reading towards the end. Could not get into it! Sorry, didn't do it for me :( very disappointed!
October 2, 2011
Queen of Kings, by Maria Dahvana Headley, should have been a book that I adored. It has a fantastic premise; it involves one of the strongest female characters from history; it has both Egyptian and Roman flavour (some of my favourite periods of history); and it includes a cover quote from Neil Gaiman. I should have been proclaiming my love of this book from the rooftops - and yet...
I liked it, but didn't love it. Headley's prose is dark and elegant, and her imagination is vivid. The tale comes across very much as an historical epic such as The Odyssey or The Iliad. It is fantastical and gripping in many ways, but at times I found myself turning the pages only because I had read so far and ought to at least finish, which is not what I envisaged when I started Queen of Kings.
Despite the fact that Queen of Kings is deemed to be meticulously researched, I found that Headley didn't imbue her writing with a true feeling of the time period. Egypt could be exchanged wholesale for Rome, with no issues. I didn't see any of the colour and attitude of the Egyptian people. Certain historical facts seemed to be thrown in just because Headley had discovered it, not because it fit that particular scene. I especially disliked a couple of situations where characters told other characters myths and legends that were incredibly dry and felt as though they'd been taken from Mythology 101.
Added to this, I completely failed to engage with Cleopatra as a character. Now, this is a Queen who ruled at a time when women were deemed only fit for childbearing. She seduced famous generals of the time. She was romantically associated with two of THE most famous Roman personalities: Mark Antony and Julius Caesar. This is a woman who doesn't need any real dressing up to be fabulous and interesting and someone who should leap from the page. Unfortunately, Cleopatra in Queen of Kings is relatively lifeless (and I don't intend any pun there...) I couldn't understand her motivations at all - at one point she seems entirely focused on Mark Antony, then suddenly her children are what she is concerned about.
Like I say, Headley's writing is very skillful and hence I'm sure there are others who will adore this dark fantasy about Cleopatra - in fact, this review details many of the plus points from another reviewer's point of view. For me, the characterisation of this famous queen was lacklustre and I didn't "feel" the historical aspect. If you have any interest in Ancient Egypt, then do yourself a favour - pick up River God by Wilbur Smith and avoid Queen of Kings.
I liked it, but didn't love it. Headley's prose is dark and elegant, and her imagination is vivid. The tale comes across very much as an historical epic such as The Odyssey or The Iliad. It is fantastical and gripping in many ways, but at times I found myself turning the pages only because I had read so far and ought to at least finish, which is not what I envisaged when I started Queen of Kings.
Despite the fact that Queen of Kings is deemed to be meticulously researched, I found that Headley didn't imbue her writing with a true feeling of the time period. Egypt could be exchanged wholesale for Rome, with no issues. I didn't see any of the colour and attitude of the Egyptian people. Certain historical facts seemed to be thrown in just because Headley had discovered it, not because it fit that particular scene. I especially disliked a couple of situations where characters told other characters myths and legends that were incredibly dry and felt as though they'd been taken from Mythology 101.
Added to this, I completely failed to engage with Cleopatra as a character. Now, this is a Queen who ruled at a time when women were deemed only fit for childbearing. She seduced famous generals of the time. She was romantically associated with two of THE most famous Roman personalities: Mark Antony and Julius Caesar. This is a woman who doesn't need any real dressing up to be fabulous and interesting and someone who should leap from the page. Unfortunately, Cleopatra in Queen of Kings is relatively lifeless (and I don't intend any pun there...) I couldn't understand her motivations at all - at one point she seems entirely focused on Mark Antony, then suddenly her children are what she is concerned about.
Like I say, Headley's writing is very skillful and hence I'm sure there are others who will adore this dark fantasy about Cleopatra - in fact, this review details many of the plus points from another reviewer's point of view. For me, the characterisation of this famous queen was lacklustre and I didn't "feel" the historical aspect. If you have any interest in Ancient Egypt, then do yourself a favour - pick up River God by Wilbur Smith and avoid Queen of Kings.
June 15, 2011
You know those movies that are so bad due to silly stories, bad casting and hideous special effects that they end up being unintentionally epic? This book was exactly like that. I honestly have no clue how to rate it, because it was thoroughly hideous on every level, but in such completely awesome ways. There are things done with this plot that defy history, sanity, and good common sense, yet I kept turning the pages to see what kind of madness the author would unleash upon us next. I was never disappointed.
May 28, 2011
Not worth reading for either historical fiction fans or vampire novel fans. Odd, strangely boring mish-mash that still didn't seem to have any real action 20% of the way in. Didn't bother finishing.
February 18, 2022
actual rating: 2.5
I think this was more just a case of me expecting something different from this than what I actually got. I was *hoping* for a more 'coherent' [and, let's be real, less misogynistic] version of Queen of the Damned and while it was definitely less misogynistic I don't think it was that much more coherent [or maybe the characterization was just so bland that I kept zoning out only to realize I had no idea what I'd been reading for the past several minutes]. It was also a lot less vampire-focused and more mythology-based than I was expecting as well. Overall a really cool idea and I did like a lot of things about it but I think the characters could have been a lot more compelling personality-wise and it really lost me in the second half plot-wise.
I think this was more just a case of me expecting something different from this than what I actually got. I was *hoping* for a more 'coherent' [and, let's be real, less misogynistic] version of Queen of the Damned and while it was definitely less misogynistic I don't think it was that much more coherent [or maybe the characterization was just so bland that I kept zoning out only to realize I had no idea what I'd been reading for the past several minutes]. It was also a lot less vampire-focused and more mythology-based than I was expecting as well. Overall a really cool idea and I did like a lot of things about it but I think the characters could have been a lot more compelling personality-wise and it really lost me in the second half plot-wise.
July 20, 2011
The enduring love story of Anthony and Cleopatra has been retold many times throughout history. In Queen of Kings, Headley has given this famous tale a darker and more mythological twist.
We join the lovers at the point in history when Octavian Caesar, great nephew of the late Julius, is camped outside the city of Alexandria. Octavian sends a false message to Cleopatra's beloved Anthony and he kills himself believing his queen has betrayed him. On discovering the deceit, Cleopatra is driven to making an impossible deal, and uses dark magic to summon one of the old gods, the goddess Sekhmet, and strikes a bargain – her soul for her husband’s life. Sadly, through an unfortunate accident, the resurrected Anthony dies again. One could say, to lose your husband once is unfortunate; to lose him again is careless.
As is often the case when humans make deals with deities, the consequences of the bargain are never fully realised until it is too late. The last pharaoh of Egypt becomes a creature driven mad by anger and revenge.
Despite Cleopatra committing atrocities with her new powers, one can’t help empathising with her. Desperate to keep her country out of the hands of Rome and distraught at the idea of a future without Anthony, the love of her life, you can understand why she made such a hasty bargain. Her anguish, and frustration, along with the lives she takes fuel the goddess’s need for blood, while Cleopatra is left to suffer the emotional consequences.
The characters of Octavian and Agrippa are written extremely well. Agrippa's stoic scepticism of all things mythical only serves to highlight the increasing psychosis of his Emperor, Octavian as he unsuccessfully tries to combat magic with magic.
Headley’s writing is extremely evocative. This is a period of history most people are somewhat familiar with, but it is one that we don’t have a great deal of factual evidence about. This ambiguity has allowed the author just enough freedom to weave in antastical elements of mythology from many pantheons.
The 'V' word is never actually used, but early in the novel, Cleopatra is found dead with two puncture wounds in her neck. She then rises from the dead and maintains her after life by surviving on the blood of her victims. The reader could be forgiven in thinking this book is another run of the mill vampire novel. But it isn’t.
The book falls squarely into what I would say is the increasingly popular Historical Fantasy genre. At times, it seemed in danger of slipping into Dark Romance territory, but it doesn’t. Cleopatra’s love for Anthony transcends death, but fortunately for us, nobody sparkles.
The narrative speaks of terrible times, a hell on earth; as the vengeful queen possessed by the goddess of death and destruction, rampages across Rome seeking retribution against her enemies. However, I was personally disappointed at the surprising lack of violence. It is often alluded to, or the reader comes in to the narrative to discover it is all over bar the shouting. I was hoping for something more visceral, but the book seems to not want to alienate a possible young female demographic with too much violence. I am surmising the reason for this, as it certainly isn’t due to laziness on the author’s part. The amount of detail given to describing Cleopatra's anguish for instance, or the increasing madness and paranoia of Octavian clearly displays excellent descriptive abilities.
I have to applaud Headley for her ability to seamlessly blend historical fact and mythology, it is immensely enjoyable and certainly the key selling point for the book. It raises Queen of Kings above the glut of the average vampire or 'dark romance' novel that seem to be filling our bookshops at the moment, as everyone tries to jump on the (bafflingly) successful Twilight band wagon.
Inevitably, this book will get compared to Queen of The Damned, and while it is true that if you are a fan of Anne Rice, you will love this; this is something with a little more class.
Queen Of Kings is published by Bantam Press and released 21st July
We join the lovers at the point in history when Octavian Caesar, great nephew of the late Julius, is camped outside the city of Alexandria. Octavian sends a false message to Cleopatra's beloved Anthony and he kills himself believing his queen has betrayed him. On discovering the deceit, Cleopatra is driven to making an impossible deal, and uses dark magic to summon one of the old gods, the goddess Sekhmet, and strikes a bargain – her soul for her husband’s life. Sadly, through an unfortunate accident, the resurrected Anthony dies again. One could say, to lose your husband once is unfortunate; to lose him again is careless.
As is often the case when humans make deals with deities, the consequences of the bargain are never fully realised until it is too late. The last pharaoh of Egypt becomes a creature driven mad by anger and revenge.
Despite Cleopatra committing atrocities with her new powers, one can’t help empathising with her. Desperate to keep her country out of the hands of Rome and distraught at the idea of a future without Anthony, the love of her life, you can understand why she made such a hasty bargain. Her anguish, and frustration, along with the lives she takes fuel the goddess’s need for blood, while Cleopatra is left to suffer the emotional consequences.
The characters of Octavian and Agrippa are written extremely well. Agrippa's stoic scepticism of all things mythical only serves to highlight the increasing psychosis of his Emperor, Octavian as he unsuccessfully tries to combat magic with magic.
Headley’s writing is extremely evocative. This is a period of history most people are somewhat familiar with, but it is one that we don’t have a great deal of factual evidence about. This ambiguity has allowed the author just enough freedom to weave in antastical elements of mythology from many pantheons.
The 'V' word is never actually used, but early in the novel, Cleopatra is found dead with two puncture wounds in her neck. She then rises from the dead and maintains her after life by surviving on the blood of her victims. The reader could be forgiven in thinking this book is another run of the mill vampire novel. But it isn’t.
The book falls squarely into what I would say is the increasingly popular Historical Fantasy genre. At times, it seemed in danger of slipping into Dark Romance territory, but it doesn’t. Cleopatra’s love for Anthony transcends death, but fortunately for us, nobody sparkles.
The narrative speaks of terrible times, a hell on earth; as the vengeful queen possessed by the goddess of death and destruction, rampages across Rome seeking retribution against her enemies. However, I was personally disappointed at the surprising lack of violence. It is often alluded to, or the reader comes in to the narrative to discover it is all over bar the shouting. I was hoping for something more visceral, but the book seems to not want to alienate a possible young female demographic with too much violence. I am surmising the reason for this, as it certainly isn’t due to laziness on the author’s part. The amount of detail given to describing Cleopatra's anguish for instance, or the increasing madness and paranoia of Octavian clearly displays excellent descriptive abilities.
I have to applaud Headley for her ability to seamlessly blend historical fact and mythology, it is immensely enjoyable and certainly the key selling point for the book. It raises Queen of Kings above the glut of the average vampire or 'dark romance' novel that seem to be filling our bookshops at the moment, as everyone tries to jump on the (bafflingly) successful Twilight band wagon.
Inevitably, this book will get compared to Queen of The Damned, and while it is true that if you are a fan of Anne Rice, you will love this; this is something with a little more class.
Queen Of Kings is published by Bantam Press and released 21st July
May 7, 2011
We've all heard the stories about the great love of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Well, that story is getting a whole new twist here. Queen of Kings opens with the Egyptian queen and her husband on the cusp of war with the Roman emperor Octavian and his legion. They are outnumbered. But Cleopatra has one last idea on how they can defeat Rome. She summons an ancient Goddess to suffuse her with power. But things go terribly wrong.
Octavian finds a way to trick Mark Antony into suicide, which sets off a rage in Cleopatra which is unequaled. Her summoning spell has left her bound to the blood-thirsty goddess Sekhmet. She is now immortal; more beast than woman; and without her great love. Now, Cleopatra is hellbent on destroying Octavian, rescuing her children he has taken, and finding a way to reunite with Mark Antony in the afterlife.
It took me awhile to get into this book. Things were very slow-moving in the first hundred or so pages. I didn't feel like much was happening beyond Cleopatra and Mark Antony's deaths and honestly, I had no idea where the story was going. The book was set up in a prologue that indicates 50 years later, Cleopatra lives on; the monster lives on. The narrator is warning the future. So I kept thinking maybe we'd see Cleopatra live on beyond ancient times or that the storyline would progress beyond the scope of her lost love. But that was a misconception on my part. Everything Cleopatra does, everything she is, centers on Mark Antony.
Things do pick up maybe about 175 pages-in. I finally saw a chance for things to move in a direction I could root for. (Up until that point, I feared we were destined for an entire book about how miserable Cleopatra's eternity would be without her soul-mate. ) And the story moves to encompass pivotal new characters that will help shape the battles between the Cleopatra and Octavian, as well as Cleopatra and the goddess who holds her soul.
This book is chock-full of Roman and Egyptian mythology. And it doesn't scrimp on paranormal elements. But we're not talking typical sexy-vampire stuff. Everything paranormal here is very dark. Cleopatra is barely a woman anymore after her transformation. She is a beast, save for the shreds of her being that hold on to the love she has for her husband and children. This is a rich and complicated story, especially once you get into the meat of it.
Personally, I don't mind the dark. But there were many points I felt like we moved beyond dark, into abject misery and hopelessness. And even that I could have forgiven, if the book had ended just one page sooner. After all we endured at Cleopatra's side, I needed a different ending than we got. I understand why it ended this way; but I didn't like it. 3 1/2 stars.
*ARC Provided by Dutton
Octavian finds a way to trick Mark Antony into suicide, which sets off a rage in Cleopatra which is unequaled. Her summoning spell has left her bound to the blood-thirsty goddess Sekhmet. She is now immortal; more beast than woman; and without her great love. Now, Cleopatra is hellbent on destroying Octavian, rescuing her children he has taken, and finding a way to reunite with Mark Antony in the afterlife.
It took me awhile to get into this book. Things were very slow-moving in the first hundred or so pages. I didn't feel like much was happening beyond Cleopatra and Mark Antony's deaths and honestly, I had no idea where the story was going. The book was set up in a prologue that indicates 50 years later, Cleopatra lives on; the monster lives on. The narrator is warning the future. So I kept thinking maybe we'd see Cleopatra live on beyond ancient times or that the storyline would progress beyond the scope of her lost love. But that was a misconception on my part. Everything Cleopatra does, everything she is, centers on Mark Antony.
Things do pick up maybe about 175 pages-in. I finally saw a chance for things to move in a direction I could root for. (Up until that point, I feared we were destined for an entire book about how miserable Cleopatra's eternity would be without her soul-mate. ) And the story moves to encompass pivotal new characters that will help shape the battles between the Cleopatra and Octavian, as well as Cleopatra and the goddess who holds her soul.
This book is chock-full of Roman and Egyptian mythology. And it doesn't scrimp on paranormal elements. But we're not talking typical sexy-vampire stuff. Everything paranormal here is very dark. Cleopatra is barely a woman anymore after her transformation. She is a beast, save for the shreds of her being that hold on to the love she has for her husband and children. This is a rich and complicated story, especially once you get into the meat of it.
Personally, I don't mind the dark. But there were many points I felt like we moved beyond dark, into abject misery and hopelessness. And even that I could have forgiven, if the book had ended just one page sooner. After all we endured at Cleopatra's side, I needed a different ending than we got. I understand why it ended this way; but I didn't like it. 3 1/2 stars.
*ARC Provided by Dutton
January 25, 2016
I haven't read Historical Fiction since 2013, and it used to be my favourite genre.
I saw Queen of Kings sitting there for $8, and I just HAD to buy it after reading the synopsis. There was this nagging thought at the back of my head that I'd heard of Maria Dahvana Headley, and I later realised it was because I'd seen copies of Magonia everywhere.
That day, I read the prologue. The next day, I continued and read chapter 1, 2, 3 and ta-da, I was hooked. I had to read it in parts, but it was a brilliant read that I really enjoyed.
I've also read My Story: Cleopatra, which was Cleopatra's fictional diary, and I thought Queen of Kings would be similar. But guess what? I. THOUGHT. WRONG.
The My Story books were my all time favourite in 2013, but I gave them up in 2014 and moved on to YA. In 2014 and 2015 I never, ever thought I'd pick up a historical fiction again. But, I did.
Queen of Kings was so much better than the My Story's! It wasn't boring at all, and I found that it was more like a novel as well as a history lesson in one, while with the My Story's it felt like I was reading a droning fictional history diary because I needed a history lesson.
I really recommend Queen of Kings to anyone who's read YA or enjoys Historical Fiction. I hadn't read Historical Fiction in so long, and Queen of Kings really brought me back into the genre. I can't wait to read Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley as well!
I saw Queen of Kings sitting there for $8, and I just HAD to buy it after reading the synopsis. There was this nagging thought at the back of my head that I'd heard of Maria Dahvana Headley, and I later realised it was because I'd seen copies of Magonia everywhere.
That day, I read the prologue. The next day, I continued and read chapter 1, 2, 3 and ta-da, I was hooked. I had to read it in parts, but it was a brilliant read that I really enjoyed.
I've also read My Story: Cleopatra, which was Cleopatra's fictional diary, and I thought Queen of Kings would be similar. But guess what? I. THOUGHT. WRONG.
The My Story books were my all time favourite in 2013, but I gave them up in 2014 and moved on to YA. In 2014 and 2015 I never, ever thought I'd pick up a historical fiction again. But, I did.
Queen of Kings was so much better than the My Story's! It wasn't boring at all, and I found that it was more like a novel as well as a history lesson in one, while with the My Story's it felt like I was reading a droning fictional history diary because I needed a history lesson.
I really recommend Queen of Kings to anyone who's read YA or enjoys Historical Fiction. I hadn't read Historical Fiction in so long, and Queen of Kings really brought me back into the genre. I can't wait to read Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley as well!
January 17, 2019
Headley wrote THE MERE WIFE, one of my favorite reads from last year, and this book gives her a very real shot at being on the list for 2019, t00. It's an absolutely fantastic blend of history and fantasy. The vampire angle comes off feeling newer and fresher than I expected.
September 24, 2015
Reading challenge 2015: A book you own but have never read
OH. MY. GOD.
If you like ancient history and mythology revolving around Egypt, Rome and Greece, this is definitely the book for you. A brilliant supernatural take on Cleopatra's "death" by a snakebite - because what does a snake's fang look like but not a pair of vampire teeth?
Alright, she's not bit by a vampire, but... yeah, you'll find out if you read this, and I highly recommend that you do! The characters are brilliantly written and you don't really know if you cheer for this or that side because they both seem equally good. And as stated in reading statuses about this book I did start to ship Emperor Augustus (Octavian) and Marcus Agrippa somewhere midway, which I doubt was the intention of the writer but it gave me a "romance" on that side of the fighting line as well.
Anyway, as stated in the beginning; if you like ancient history and mythology revolving around Egypt, Rome and Greece, plus some supernatural/vampire-like events, this book is a MUST READ!
OH. MY. GOD.
If you like ancient history and mythology revolving around Egypt, Rome and Greece, this is definitely the book for you. A brilliant supernatural take on Cleopatra's "death" by a snakebite - because what does a snake's fang look like but not a pair of vampire teeth?
Alright, she's not bit by a vampire, but... yeah, you'll find out if you read this, and I highly recommend that you do! The characters are brilliantly written and you don't really know if you cheer for this or that side because they both seem equally good. And as stated in reading statuses about this book I did start to ship Emperor Augustus (Octavian) and Marcus Agrippa somewhere midway, which I doubt was the intention of the writer but it gave me a "romance" on that side of the fighting line as well.
Anyway, as stated in the beginning; if you like ancient history and mythology revolving around Egypt, Rome and Greece, plus some supernatural/vampire-like events, this book is a MUST READ!
May 30, 2021
Ok, I love you, Maria Dahvana Headley. But I did not love this book. The character of Cleopatra deserved better than what we got in this story. The plot lines are convoluted, some of them unfinished, and we spend way too much time in perspectives that don’t matter. Conversely, there is not enough time in those that do. I wish there had been fewer, but more fleshed out POVs. I wish Cleopatra had a stronger personality and clearer, more understandable motivations beyond just wanting really badly to be with Marc Antony. Also, how much time should we REALLY spend on how sexy she is? It felt like too much. There’s more I could say but I am just happy that Headley’s writing has evolved from this point. The Mere Wife remains one of my favorite books of all time, and I can see the beginnings of that writing style in this book.
May 10, 2019
I really wanted to like this,but hard as I tried I just couldn't push my way through it
May 30, 2017
What do you get when you cross Ancient Egypt, The Roman Empire, Plutarch and Bram Stoker?
The answer is this wonderful book.
"The death of Cleopatra is portrayed in Plutarch as a locked room mystery, the queen and her maids discovered dead, with the only mark visible on Cleopatra a couple of pinpricks. No suicide assisting asp was ever discovered, and Plutarch himself seems suspicious that this was what happened. As time passed, death by asp became the accepted version. It was a small leap of imagination to imagine a different prelude to Cleopatra's "death", and a different explanation for the fang marks on her body."
I didn't expect much from this... boy was I wrong.
Bloody and dealing with ancient sorcery, religion, augury and mythology this story mixes fact with a degree of imagination rarely seen.
This is one of the few books I would willingly give 10 stars to and recommend that anyone who likes history and mythology to read.
Mark Anthony, Augustus, Marcus Agrippa and of course Cleopatra herself feature heavily as well as a supporting cast of Egyptian and Roman gods, Norse seiokona, witches, oracles, historians and snakes.
So many of the characters really existed and the author has done her research well, admittedly intersecting a little extra to make the timeline fit.
In short this joins the very select list of books that I would class as amongst the best I've ever read.
The answer is this wonderful book.
"The death of Cleopatra is portrayed in Plutarch as a locked room mystery, the queen and her maids discovered dead, with the only mark visible on Cleopatra a couple of pinpricks. No suicide assisting asp was ever discovered, and Plutarch himself seems suspicious that this was what happened. As time passed, death by asp became the accepted version. It was a small leap of imagination to imagine a different prelude to Cleopatra's "death", and a different explanation for the fang marks on her body."
I didn't expect much from this... boy was I wrong.
Bloody and dealing with ancient sorcery, religion, augury and mythology this story mixes fact with a degree of imagination rarely seen.
This is one of the few books I would willingly give 10 stars to and recommend that anyone who likes history and mythology to read.
Mark Anthony, Augustus, Marcus Agrippa and of course Cleopatra herself feature heavily as well as a supporting cast of Egyptian and Roman gods, Norse seiokona, witches, oracles, historians and snakes.
So many of the characters really existed and the author has done her research well, admittedly intersecting a little extra to make the timeline fit.
In short this joins the very select list of books that I would class as amongst the best I've ever read.
September 21, 2024
"Everything is true. Once a story is told it becomes true. Every unlikely tale, every tale or wonders has something real at its core."
Headley reimagines the death of Cleopatra, in which the queen of Egypt becomes a vampiric vessel of Sekhmet, an Egyptian goddess of death and destruction in her quest to be reunited with Mark Antony. Not particularly violent, nor scary, it's more a tale of the bonds of love that last beyond the grave.
A skilful weaving together of Greek, Egyptian and Norse mythologies that is fun to read, but lacks the exotic flavor needed to elevate this tale. I wanted more from the story than I got, especially when imagining a world in where more than one pantheon of Gods (and, thusly, more than one underworld) exists. I felt the story exceeded the grasp of the author. It's fine as it is but could have been more. The story of the Psylli warrior Usem's courtship of the daughter of the West Wind is delightful.
I found the "Historical Note" and "Acknowledgements" sections of the book as enjoyable as the story.
Headley reimagines the death of Cleopatra, in which the queen of Egypt becomes a vampiric vessel of Sekhmet, an Egyptian goddess of death and destruction in her quest to be reunited with Mark Antony. Not particularly violent, nor scary, it's more a tale of the bonds of love that last beyond the grave.
A skilful weaving together of Greek, Egyptian and Norse mythologies that is fun to read, but lacks the exotic flavor needed to elevate this tale. I wanted more from the story than I got, especially when imagining a world in where more than one pantheon of Gods (and, thusly, more than one underworld) exists. I felt the story exceeded the grasp of the author. It's fine as it is but could have been more. The story of the Psylli warrior Usem's courtship of the daughter of the West Wind is delightful.
I found the "Historical Note" and "Acknowledgements" sections of the book as enjoyable as the story.
February 9, 2020
This is a book in which Cleopatra (a vampire) morphs into a lion and attacks Augustus at the coliseum and I kind of feel like that’s what you need to know in terms of whether you want to read it or not
September 7, 2022
Well, that was a slog.
Some great ideas all mixed up with too much waffle.
Some great ideas all mixed up with too much waffle.
June 1, 2011
This was an interesting mix of historical facts and fantasy/fiction. I enjoyed the story because I'm a huge fan of Egyptian mythology and the whole vampire-thing-plot was really interesting. I liked what the author did with it.
The only thing I have to complain about is that it was a little bit boring. There was no real excitement. I kept on reading because the story was interesting enough for me to last till the end.
I'm looking forward for more books by this author.
*** German Review ***
Kleopatra von Ägypten hat alles verloren: ihr Land, ihren Mann, ihre Kinder. Alles was bleibt, ist Schmerz und Hass. Hass auf den Mann, der ihr alles genommen hat: Octavian - Augustus. Die Königin beschwört die uralte Göttin Sachmet herauf und geht mit ihr einen tödlichen Handel ein: Kleopatra wird zu einer Kreatur der Dunkelheit, angetrieben von der Zerstörungslust Sachmets. Einerseits strebt sie nach Rache, andererseits versucht sie eine Möglichkeit zu finden, um den Handel rückgängig zu machen...
Meine Meinung: Alles in allem ist "Die Königin der Unsterblichen" ein recht ordentlicher Debütroman.
Die Autorin verwebt Historie und Fantasy miteinander. Viele der Figuren sind historisch belegt, einige, sowie auch Teile der Geschichte, sind natürlich frei erfunden. Die Autorin hat gute Arbeit geleistet, vor allem für Fans der ägyptischen, römischen, griechischen und skandinavischen Mythen. Aus all diesen Mythen finden sich Figuren in der Handlung des Romans wieder.
Die Geschichte spielt zur Zeit Kleopatras und erzählt eine etwas andere Version ihres und Marcus Antonius' Todes. Die Autorin versucht eine Innensicht in die unterschiedlichen historischen Charaktere zu geben, in Verbindung mit ihrer eigenen, fantastischen Vampirgeschichte.
Auch das Thema "Vampir" wird hier etwas anders behandelt als in den meisten Vampir-Romanen: durch die Göttin wird Kleopatra verwandelt, und durch den Verkauf ihrer Seele.
Zum Verlauf der Geschichte und dem generellen Inhalt möchte ich nicht zu viel vorweg nehmen. Lest es selbst, wenn ihr Fans ägyptischer Geschichte und Vampire seid. :) Indirekt gibt es natürlich auch eine Liebesgeschichte, eine, die über den Tod hinaus reicht, nämlich die von Kleopatra und Marcus Antonius.
Das Einzige, was ich etwas bemängeln möchte - was auch der Grund ist, weshalb das Buch von mir nur 3 Sterne erhält - ist der Spannungsbogen der Geschichte. Die Geschichte verläuft recht gleichmäßig und erst am Ende kommt es zu einer Art Showdown. Mich hat die Geschichte und mein Interesse daran am Lesen gehalten, doch stellenweise kam mir die Geschichte etwas langatmig und langweilig vor. Etwas mehr Spannung hätte nicht geschadet.
3 Sterne für einen soliden Debütroman. Die Autorin hat definitiv Potential zu einer Steigerung und ich werde ihre weitere Schriftstellerkarriere sicher verfolgen!
The only thing I have to complain about is that it was a little bit boring. There was no real excitement. I kept on reading because the story was interesting enough for me to last till the end.
I'm looking forward for more books by this author.
*** German Review ***
Kleopatra von Ägypten hat alles verloren: ihr Land, ihren Mann, ihre Kinder. Alles was bleibt, ist Schmerz und Hass. Hass auf den Mann, der ihr alles genommen hat: Octavian - Augustus. Die Königin beschwört die uralte Göttin Sachmet herauf und geht mit ihr einen tödlichen Handel ein: Kleopatra wird zu einer Kreatur der Dunkelheit, angetrieben von der Zerstörungslust Sachmets. Einerseits strebt sie nach Rache, andererseits versucht sie eine Möglichkeit zu finden, um den Handel rückgängig zu machen...
Meine Meinung: Alles in allem ist "Die Königin der Unsterblichen" ein recht ordentlicher Debütroman.
Die Autorin verwebt Historie und Fantasy miteinander. Viele der Figuren sind historisch belegt, einige, sowie auch Teile der Geschichte, sind natürlich frei erfunden. Die Autorin hat gute Arbeit geleistet, vor allem für Fans der ägyptischen, römischen, griechischen und skandinavischen Mythen. Aus all diesen Mythen finden sich Figuren in der Handlung des Romans wieder.
Die Geschichte spielt zur Zeit Kleopatras und erzählt eine etwas andere Version ihres und Marcus Antonius' Todes. Die Autorin versucht eine Innensicht in die unterschiedlichen historischen Charaktere zu geben, in Verbindung mit ihrer eigenen, fantastischen Vampirgeschichte.
Auch das Thema "Vampir" wird hier etwas anders behandelt als in den meisten Vampir-Romanen: durch die Göttin wird Kleopatra verwandelt, und durch den Verkauf ihrer Seele.
Zum Verlauf der Geschichte und dem generellen Inhalt möchte ich nicht zu viel vorweg nehmen. Lest es selbst, wenn ihr Fans ägyptischer Geschichte und Vampire seid. :) Indirekt gibt es natürlich auch eine Liebesgeschichte, eine, die über den Tod hinaus reicht, nämlich die von Kleopatra und Marcus Antonius.
Das Einzige, was ich etwas bemängeln möchte - was auch der Grund ist, weshalb das Buch von mir nur 3 Sterne erhält - ist der Spannungsbogen der Geschichte. Die Geschichte verläuft recht gleichmäßig und erst am Ende kommt es zu einer Art Showdown. Mich hat die Geschichte und mein Interesse daran am Lesen gehalten, doch stellenweise kam mir die Geschichte etwas langatmig und langweilig vor. Etwas mehr Spannung hätte nicht geschadet.
3 Sterne für einen soliden Debütroman. Die Autorin hat definitiv Potential zu einer Steigerung und ich werde ihre weitere Schriftstellerkarriere sicher verfolgen!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2013
History merged with magic is an intriguing idea, and that’s what Maria Headley sets out to do in Queen of Kings. The trick to this sort of story is how well you pull it off: is it realistic, despite the magic? Do the characters stand up? Is the narrative clear? Here’s what I thought of Headley’s execution:
It’s 30BC, and Octavian Caeser and his legions are determined to take Alexandria. Having always wanted Cleopatra for his own, Octavian devises a ruse that leads Cleopatra to believe her beloved Mark Antony has taken his own life. Driven to the brink of madness by Octavian’s deception, Cleopatra calls upon the god Sekhmet, seeking his aid in reclaiming her Kingdom, and returning Mark Antony.
Calling upon Gods is never free, however, as Cleopatra quickly discovers. Sekhment agrees to return Mark Antony: in exchange for Cleopatra’s own soul. Under Sekhmet’s influence, Cleopatra is transformed into a shape-shifting, blood-sucking immortal being with only one driving force: vengeance. Completely devoid of anything human or good, she will settle for nothing less than the complete destruction of Octavian, and the world he has taken for himself.
But Octavian has magic, too. Calling upon three sorcerers - a Psylli snake warrior, a Seiokona, who can weave together the threads of fate, and a priestess of Hecate whose agenda is her own - he prepares to battle the being that was once Cleopatra. Can he destroy this monster and save Rome?
I’m in two minds about this novel. On one hand I found it really intriguing, because I liked the idea of taking history and morphing it into something magical. I wasn’t a fan of how Maria Headley did this, however. A fair few times throughout the novel I found myself lost and unable to properly follow the events taking place. The main problem was that there were so many things going on at once. On top of that, including a lot of detailed descriptions in your writing is a wonderful skill, but in Headley’s Queen of Kings this was done at the expense of the story, leaving the narrative floundering.
Having said that, I thought Cleopatra’s character was well-handled: her transformation from woman wronged to beast with the ability to seek her revenge was fascinating. Octavian also had a cool spiral from courageous, conquering General to frightened and cowardly man.
So overall, this novel gets an average rating. T’was okay. But only okay.
It’s 30BC, and Octavian Caeser and his legions are determined to take Alexandria. Having always wanted Cleopatra for his own, Octavian devises a ruse that leads Cleopatra to believe her beloved Mark Antony has taken his own life. Driven to the brink of madness by Octavian’s deception, Cleopatra calls upon the god Sekhmet, seeking his aid in reclaiming her Kingdom, and returning Mark Antony.
Calling upon Gods is never free, however, as Cleopatra quickly discovers. Sekhment agrees to return Mark Antony: in exchange for Cleopatra’s own soul. Under Sekhmet’s influence, Cleopatra is transformed into a shape-shifting, blood-sucking immortal being with only one driving force: vengeance. Completely devoid of anything human or good, she will settle for nothing less than the complete destruction of Octavian, and the world he has taken for himself.
But Octavian has magic, too. Calling upon three sorcerers - a Psylli snake warrior, a Seiokona, who can weave together the threads of fate, and a priestess of Hecate whose agenda is her own - he prepares to battle the being that was once Cleopatra. Can he destroy this monster and save Rome?
I’m in two minds about this novel. On one hand I found it really intriguing, because I liked the idea of taking history and morphing it into something magical. I wasn’t a fan of how Maria Headley did this, however. A fair few times throughout the novel I found myself lost and unable to properly follow the events taking place. The main problem was that there were so many things going on at once. On top of that, including a lot of detailed descriptions in your writing is a wonderful skill, but in Headley’s Queen of Kings this was done at the expense of the story, leaving the narrative floundering.
Having said that, I thought Cleopatra’s character was well-handled: her transformation from woman wronged to beast with the ability to seek her revenge was fascinating. Octavian also had a cool spiral from courageous, conquering General to frightened and cowardly man.
So overall, this novel gets an average rating. T’was okay. But only okay.
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