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irenetrexqueen's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
Before I get into the review, please have a bit of background:
My grandfather’s favorite movie was Cleopatra, not the one many know from 1963, but the 1934 black and white piece starring Claudette Colbert. After he passed, I clutched onto that film as a small piece of him that I could say we had in common. Throughout the years I found Cleopatra a bit of a hero, and yes, I am well aware I am not unique in this. I speak of this more to show how I have way too much knowledge about the subject and partially explains why I found this book not to my taste.
I have said it many times, I am not a huge fan of romances. I would rather watch a movie than read about it in a book. I think no less of those who like romance, it is just not a genre I find excitement in.
Review:
Have you ever watched the 1963 Cleopatra and thought this is great but what if it was in space, Anthony was a female, and there were more politics? If so, this is the book for you.
There was so much promise in this with the use of space and sci-fi technology, but it really is rarely used—so much potential lost.
My knowledge around the subject is honestly too much and with this book going ALMOST beat for beat like that of historic events, but again in space it makes it only a repeat of what I already know. Even at 2x speed, I was so bored and waiting for something to happen, but so little did. After the first events of the queen fighting for her throne is over be ready for an EPIC section around of politics with a few scenes fading to black or distant spice.
What truly got me about this is the fact it was full of so much *filler* yet leaves on a “cliffhanger” to make those liking it have to come back for the second half of this tale.
I understand the appeal of this book, truly but it is not for me.
eemilycolleen's review
3.5
reminded me of the queen of attolia in the best ways. oh to be a haughty princess liar in space!! i think i was pretty unprepared for how dense this felt to parse; i felt VERY at arms length for the first 100 pages, but gracia’s unreliable narration was so precisely my shit that i got sucked in anyway. it turns out i probably need to up my cleopatra education tho
dreareads_'s review
4.0
It was a bit slow but it was brilliant. A longer review and trigger warnings will come soon
kaedau's review
not invested in the characters, and honestly way too much politics
book_goblin22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
eve_kaarina's review
adventurous
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
theaurochs's review
2.0
Competent but tediously written. Yes this is a retelling of the story of Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra but in space. Retelling or original, I just prefer my books to be interesting. The space elements are massively downplayed, and even the most interesting sci-fi conceits (an AI reconstruction of a dead King’s personality) is pushed so far to the sidelines that you wonder why its included at all. The bulk of the book focuses on the romance (loosely termed) between our two main characters, which seems to have no grounding in anything other than physical attraction; these are people who fundamentally do not understand each other. At over two-thirds of the way through the book we still get lines like “She smiled at me, and I didn’t know what the smile meant” or “I couldn’t see past the veiled expression on his face” and so on. This is not an uninteresting dynamic to set up on its own, but the fact that it remains static like this for the entire novel really starts to drag. They appear to be in exactly the same emotional place at the end of the novel as when they first meet; so what was the point of it all?
There’s also so much telling and not showing. Whenever there’s the threat of something interesting happening, we get our narrators telling us “something interesting happened” and how they reacted to it, and how they perceived the reactions of others to the situation. Again; not in itself a negative but this is the only way that any progress in the novel is really described, and combined with all the other aspects and the book’s not inconsiderable length it becomes an incredible drag.
A very slow book; ostensibly political but, after a somewhat more active start with the takeover of a government, lacking in any real political interest. None of the conflicts set up really seem to have any weight behind them. For a book that takes its time on every aspect of daily life, we seem to skimp in the areas that might actually have provided some interest; scheming senators and religious disputes.
Might work best as a slice-of-life novel, but even by those standards it feels somewhat tedious. Deeply lacking in the space opera department, and ditto for political intrigue.
There’s also so much telling and not showing. Whenever there’s the threat of something interesting happening, we get our narrators telling us “something interesting happened” and how they reacted to it, and how they perceived the reactions of others to the situation. Again; not in itself a negative but this is the only way that any progress in the novel is really described, and combined with all the other aspects and the book’s not inconsiderable length it becomes an incredible drag.
A very slow book; ostensibly political but, after a somewhat more active start with the takeover of a government, lacking in any real political interest. None of the conflicts set up really seem to have any weight behind them. For a book that takes its time on every aspect of daily life, we seem to skimp in the areas that might actually have provided some interest; scheming senators and religious disputes.
Might work best as a slice-of-life novel, but even by those standards it feels somewhat tedious. Deeply lacking in the space opera department, and ditto for political intrigue.
forroan's review
3.0
Good enough that I finished it but I would have enjoyed a bit more depth to the book. There was potential for more strategy/politics to be employed which would have kept me engaged and intrigued better. Oftentimes characters would make decisions and I would wonder WHY they’re making that decision, what led them there, etc. Some of the why was hinted at or lightly touched on but I’ve read books (a memory called empire) that do it much better and leave this one feeling lacking.
lila_still_reads's review
It’s Cleopatra, Caesar, and Marc Antony but in space.
The thing that I thought would make me love this book instead made it difficult to get through. I took seven years of Latin during school. I’ve read Caesar (unfortunately, he’s so full of himself!) and had to study the events that inspired this book. I had trouble getting through this book because the way information is delivered, knowledge of Ptolemaic Egypt is super helpful to wade through the deluge of information, but I was unable to then switch off the part of my brain constantly making those connections. It was taking me a while and I decided to DNF when I realized I’d rather be reading either a different SF novel or a non-fiction history of the events which inspired it.
Some (most?) of this is on me, but I do think better information sharing early in the story and a deeper emphasis on the ways this story deviates from its inspiration would be helpful. The more unique elements- eg the soul of Alexander the Great being in a tiny super computer pearl- don’t interact with the narrative in interesting ways in the early story.
I don’t strongly dislike this book, I just wasn’t enjoying it and life’s too short to never DNF. Ending here to avoid starting a reading slump.
Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The thing that I thought would make me love this book instead made it difficult to get through. I took seven years of Latin during school. I’ve read Caesar (unfortunately, he’s so full of himself!) and had to study the events that inspired this book. I had trouble getting through this book because the way information is delivered, knowledge of Ptolemaic Egypt is super helpful to wade through the deluge of information, but I was unable to then switch off the part of my brain constantly making those connections. It was taking me a while and I decided to DNF when I realized I’d rather be reading either a different SF novel or a non-fiction history of the events which inspired it.
Some (most?) of this is on me, but I do think better information sharing early in the story and a deeper emphasis on the ways this story deviates from its inspiration would be helpful. The more unique elements- eg the soul of Alexander the Great being in a tiny super computer pearl- don’t interact with the narrative in interesting ways in the early story.
I don’t strongly dislike this book, I just wasn’t enjoying it and life’s too short to never DNF. Ending here to avoid starting a reading slump.
Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.