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jkkb332's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this primarily for the setting. Ancient Egypt fascinates me and I enjoyed the glance into the daily lives under Roman rule, although I wish the city had been described in richer detail. The characters were interesting (none were more intriguing than the capable and mysterious Agog) and the plot was easy to follow but not predictable. I'll definitely be reading the next book.
didactylos's review against another edition
1.0
Dreadful scanning gives significant page breaks making the book, in this version very difficult to read.
brookepalmer796's review against another edition
1.0
Had potential plot. Needed better editing. And by the way, Romans didn't use ha'pennies.
krisrid's review against another edition
2.0
This is the sort of book I would expect to really enjoy. It has many of the things I normally like - a famous library, a strong female main character, historical context - but it just dragged for me.
I think my main problem with this book was the pace. The story starts very slowly with a great deal of set up information being given. While I understand that SOME set up is necessary to get the reader clear on what is happening and why, it felt like the book gave way more details than I needed.
The story also moves quite slowly without a whole lot happening that seems to move the plot forward. I stopped reading at the end of chapter 14 and it felt like nothing of real import had taken place to that point. Given that this there were a lot of chapters to go, and that I was having trouble staying focused without any real things happening in terms of the plot I just couldn't stick with it any longer.
For me this was a well-written book, and probably if you stick it out the plot actually does move forward and things happen, but I guess I am just too impatient for action to wait for that result. This one fell flat for me.
I think my main problem with this book was the pace. The story starts very slowly with a great deal of set up information being given. While I understand that SOME set up is necessary to get the reader clear on what is happening and why, it felt like the book gave way more details than I needed.
The story also moves quite slowly without a whole lot happening that seems to move the plot forward. I stopped reading at the end of chapter 14 and it felt like nothing of real import had taken place to that point. Given that this there were a lot of chapters to go, and that I was having trouble staying focused without any real things happening in terms of the plot I just couldn't stick with it any longer.
For me this was a well-written book, and probably if you stick it out the plot actually does move forward and things happen, but I guess I am just too impatient for action to wait for that result. This one fell flat for me.
chuckri's review
1.0
I actually couldn't finish this book. I got a little over halfway thinking it might get better, but it was just too absurd. Some people said previously that it was alternate history. I found it preposterous. The whole premise of this inventor (a woman disguised as a man) inventing steam powered tools at this time in history was more than i could handle. If you like historical fiction that reveals the past, look elsewhere.
kiwimrsmac's review
4.0
4.5 stars: Well I certainly learnt a lot! This time period is not one I am overly familiar with and whilst I've been to Alexandria, I didn't have any idea of the fractious relationship they had with the Romans. I was delighted to read the authors note explaining about Heron and our knowledge of his inventions.
The only thing stopping me from rating it five stars was my confusion in the first half of the book over Heron's gender. I'm not going to say anything more, as I don't want it to be a spoiler, but maybe it was just my interpretation which was off?
The story kept me turning the pages. I love all the nods to history throughout the book, and this is certainly my favourite type of historical fiction. Now I want to revisit Alexandria with even just the small glimpse of its history I got from reading this book.
I've already bought book #2 in the series and am loving the reintroduction to the characters I came to care about.
The only thing stopping me from rating it five stars was my confusion in the first half of the book over Heron's gender. I'm not going to say anything more, as I don't want it to be a spoiler, but maybe it was just my interpretation which was off?
The story kept me turning the pages. I love all the nods to history throughout the book, and this is certainly my favourite type of historical fiction. Now I want to revisit Alexandria with even just the small glimpse of its history I got from reading this book.
I've already bought book #2 in the series and am loving the reintroduction to the characters I came to care about.
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