A review by julis
Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Easily my least favorite of the series–and not just because it lacks Caesar. More than any other book, it makes very little effort to create a sense of time passing, which is crucial if you’re going to cover 14 years of action-packed history. Cleopatra and Antony are highly unlikable, Octavian borders on villainy. It becomes clear by ~36 that the legions have fundamentally changed from 45, but what McCullough makes no attempt to answer is why. For all that there are interesting and challenging interpretations in the other books, here she goes by boilerplate impressions of people and doesn’t delve into the massive sociological changes in Roman society in this time. Antony is an alcoholic, Cleopatra is incompetent and abusive, Octavian is conniving.

It could be better.