Queen of Kings
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
What if Cleopatra didn't die in 30 BC alongside her beloved Mark Antony? What if she couldn't die? What if she became immortal? Queen of Kings is the first instalment in an epic, epoch-spanning story of one woman's clash with the Roman Empire and the gods of Egypt in a quest to save everything she holds dear.
As Octavian Caesar (later Augustus) and his legions march into Alexandria, Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, summons Sekhmet, the goddess of Death and Destruction, in a desperate attempt to resurrect her husband, who has died by his own hand, and save her kingdom. But this deity demands something in return: Cleopatra's soul. Against her will, Egypt's queen becomes a blood-craving, shape-shifting immortal: a not-quite-human manifestation of a goddess who seeks to destroy the world. Battling to preserve something of her humanity, Cleopatra pursues Octavian back to Rome - she desires revenge, she yearns for her children - and she craves blood...
It is a dangerous journey she must make. She will confront witches, mythic monsters, the gods of ancient Greece and Rome, and her own, warring nature. She will kill but she will also find mercy. She will raise an extraordinary army to fight her enemies, and she will see her beloved Antony again. But to save him from the endless torment of Hades, she must make a devastating sacrifice.
Brutally authentic historical fiction meets the darkest of fantasy in Maria Dahvana Headley's extraordinary debut novel about the most famous woman in history: Cleopatra, Queen of Kings.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The blurbs compare Headley's Cleopatra-gone-bad fantasia to Diana Gabaldon and Neil Gaiman, but it's likely that the Anne Rice fans will find more to like here. Though there are some lovely romantic scenes at the outset, this is no romance. The Egyptian capital of Alexandria is under siege by the vengeful Octavian, out to punish Marc Antony for choosing loyalty to Cleopatra over Rome, and over Octavian's sister, whom Antony has divorced. Antony dies within the first few pages, and Cleopatra seeks to strike a bargain with the ancient lion-headed goddess, Sekhmet, to bring him back. The deal goes bad, as all such bargains must, and the question becomes not whether Antony will live again, but what price will Sekhmet extract from Cleopatra for the queen's audacity? Part horror, part history, and all tragedy, the story is not likely to please romance fans. But for those who enjoy the eroticized violence and stylish nightmares of the Rice tradition, Headley delivers a vivid dose.
Customer Reviews
Good interesting read
I love fictional history books, I love vampire- esque books and I love cleopatra so this was a great read with a really interesting plot based on historical occurrences. Only reason I’m giving a 4 star is that the writing style was quite distant and didn’t seem to fully connect with the storyline at times.