Monthly Archives: October 2011

Mistress of Rome: or, Praise Aloujanou and pass the knife

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Praise Aloujanou! Artwork courtesy of Christy Davies

Dear readers, you probably have been wondering if I would ever write a negative review again. Interestingly enough I had a winning streak of reading three books I really liked… where the virtues of each book outweighed whatever faults it had.

This is not the case for “Mistress of Rome” by Kate Quinn. I wanted to like this book, but it was a struggle to finish. It is arguably even worse than “Spoil of War.” At least “Spoil,” as dumb and pretentious as it was, had one POV and a clear-cut plot that carried things out to a semi-logical conclusion. It was also marginally entertaining in a “so bad it’s good” kind of way.

This isn’t the case in “Mistress.”

If you know Roman historical fiction tropes, “Mistress” has a familiar plot. Thea, the Jewish slave girl of the slutty mean girl Lady Lepida, falls in love with the studly British Celtic barbarian gladiator Arius. When finding out that the gladiator is more interested in her slave than her, Lepida sells Thea to a whorehouse; but Thea, after bearing Arius’s son, becomes a popular singer and finds her way into the bed of the insane emperor Domitian, and ends up becoming part of the plot to kill him. But familiar does not mean bad– this could have been as sexy and exciting as Jeanne Duval’s “The Ravishers”, which I loved. But “Mistress” failed to deliver the goods. The action scenes were laughable, and the sex scenes were almost non-existent. It wasn’t toga porn; it was more like… well, I’m not sure what it was. It felt a bit like a PG-13 version of “Gladiator,” as directed by Ken Russell and written by a second-rate YA author overly fond of sentence fragments. Continue reading “Mistress of Rome: or, Praise Aloujanou and pass the knife” »

Author of the Month: an interview (and giveaway) with Stephanie Dray

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For October’s Author of the Month, I’m proud to present Stephanie Dray, the supremely talented author of the Cleopatra’s Daughter trilogy– I have recently reviewed both “Lily of the Nile” and its sequel “Song of the Nile.” Stephanie is both a scholar and an author of ripping good yarns about sexy, powerful, magic-wielding queens in exotic far-flung lands; today, she’ll be chatting with us about Cleopatra, ancient Rome, RPGs, Orientalism and time travel (among other things).

We’re also going to be having a giveaway of one beautiful copy of “Song of the Nile,” courtesy of Berkley Books. All you have to do is subscribe to Stephanie’s newsletter, follow her on Twitter or Facebook, and leave a comment below!

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Hi Stephanie! Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from? How long have you wanted to be a writer? What was your day job?

I grew up in a little town called Greece N.Y. I went to Athena High School. Our school mascot was the Trojan. I might have been influenced a little bit by that. Just a little! I think I always knew that I wanted to be a writer–it just didn’t seem very practical as a career choice, so I became a lawyer instead. I only practiced law for about ten minutes–just long enough to know that if I was going to lie for a living I’d rather be writing fiction. Continue reading “Author of the Month: an interview (and giveaway) with Stephanie Dray” »

Song of the Nile: or, Flowers in the Attic meets The Empire Strikes Back

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If “Lily of the Nile” was “Star Wars”– an exciting YA-oriented adventure story– then “Song of the Nile” is meant to be “The Empire Strikes Back” of Stephanie Dray’s Cleopatra’s Daughter trilogy. It’s dark, angsty, and tumultuous, and although it lacks some of the excitement of the first book, it’s a pretty cool story in its own right. It could be described as “Flowers in the Attic” meets “The Empire Strikes Back.” (Or The Flowers Strike Back? Or the Empire in the Attic?)

“Song” also strongly reminds me of Jane Gaskell’s Atlan saga, in both its weaknesses and its strengths. As in Atlan, a girl who thinks she’s a goddess is taken to a foreign land to become queen, and in the process learns her own dark destiny. Along the way, she finds multiple lovers, suffers many setbacks and has exotic, picaresque adventures. Although there’s no prehistoric birds or snake-men, a la Atlan, but Dray’s heroine Selene has her own unique run-ins with barbarian tribesmen, sirocco winds, and magic. There’s a lot of really dark things going on (in Gaskell’s “The Serpent,” as in “Song of the Nile,” rape and brother-sister incest are two major themes) but– like Gaskell– there’s a certain lightness of touch in the prose; for all the sturm und drang, it’s written in a way that’s not leaden or heavy-handed. The writing is polished and beautiful as an amethyst. Continue reading “Song of the Nile: or, Flowers in the Attic meets The Empire Strikes Back” »

Presenting Gary Corby: Romance and love in a classical world

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Today I’d like to present Gary Corby, the author of the “A dead man fell from the sky…” historical mystery series, set in ancient Athens, and starring Nicolaos, Socrates’ older brother. I recently reviewed the second book in the series, The Ionia Sanction, which is being released November 8th. Gary is guest blogging today about romance in the classical world.

Thanks to Joanne for inviting me to write a little something on her blog!

I thought I’d take the opportunity to do something I’ve never tried before: write about romance, a subject on which I am highly unqualified. I write murder mysteries set in the world of classical Greece, you see. Dead bodies, and exotic ways to create them, are more my thing.

Nevertheless my hero Nicolaos does have a small problem in the romance department. Here’s my usual description of the series; see if you can spot his issue:

Nicolaos, the ambitious son of a minor sculptor, walks the mean streets of Classical Athens as an agent for the promising young politician Pericles. Murder and mayhem don’t faze Nico; what’s really on his mind is how to get closer (much closer) to Diotima, the intelligent and annoyingly virgin priestess of Artemis, and how to shake off his irritating 12 year old brother Socrates. Continue reading “Presenting Gary Corby: Romance and love in a classical world” »

The Ionia Sanction: Burn Notice comes to Ancient Greece

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There is a new addictive historical mystery series in town, and it’s the “A dead man fell from the sky…” series by Gary Corby. It’s set in classical Athens, in the early 5th cent. BC, and it follows the adventures of Nicolaos, sometimes political agent and investigator to Pericles. (He’s also Socrates’ older brother, which is used for some great comic moments.)

I have read more ancient Roman mystery series than I can count, but ancient Greece doesn’t really seem to come up on the radar that often. Sometimes I wonder if the historical mystery genre is played out, but then I read something like “The Ionia Sanction” and change my mind. “The Ionia Sanction” is the second book in the Nicolaos series– “The Pericles Commission” was the first– and it bounces from incident to incident with an almost effervescent glee. Continue reading “The Ionia Sanction: Burn Notice comes to Ancient Greece” »

Artist of the Month: an interview with Joumana Medlej

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Malaak 4 Cover: Marked by Fire, by Joumana Medlej

Happy Ancient History Month! This month’s artist is the amazingly talented Joumana Medlej, world traveler, feminist, and trailblazing creator of Malaak, the first Lebanese superhero comic. It’s an exciting comic, with a story filled with adventures, monsters, ancient myths, and a truly memorable heroine. It’s free to read online, but I recommend buying a copy if you have the chance just to appreciate her beautiful artwork (and it’s printed on nice heavy paper too). She also has created a series of children’s educational books about Lebanese history, which delves into the life and times of the ancient Phoenicians in a way that’s both fun and insightful.

Hi Joumana! Where are you from? What was it like, growing up for you?  Where did you go to school?

I’m from Beirut, Lebanon where I have lived all my life. Though it’s a lovely vibrant place now, I grew up in war and what that was like would take a whole book to tell. It was a constant juggling between “normal” life and dodging mortars and landmines, going to school when it was possible and trying not to go mad the rest of the time. I’d like to say it was never dull, but it was actually the indescribable boredom of sitting out the shelling day after day that got me into drawing and other activities I could exercise alone and without supplies (in daytime at least – sunset meant bringing out the candles.)

I went to a French-oriented school up in the mountains, and later to the American University of Beirut for my graphic design major. Continue reading “Artist of the Month: an interview with Joumana Medlej” »

Guest Review: Alice Hoffman’s The Dovekeepers

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This guest post today comes from Katherine Tomlinson, who reviews Alice Hoffman’s new historical novel “The Dovekeepers.”

“Be as cunning as a serpent and as innocent as a dove.”

Yael dreams of lions.

We first meet Yael as a girl in 70 A.D. when she barters her most precious possession to buy a protective charm for her beloved brother Aram.

Like their father, Aram is one of the Sicarii, an assassin sworn to end the Roman occupation of Jerusalem. When the Tenth Legion destroys the city’s temple, Aram goes into exile, and Yael flees with her father, Yosef Bar Elhanen, along with another Sicarius and his family.

That flight begins a journey that takes Yael into the desert, to the shores of the Salt Sea, and finally to a mountain fortress once inhabited by King Herod. There she takes her place in the community of zealots commanded by Eleazar Ben Ya’ir and becomes one of the “Dovekeepers” of the title. At that point, roughly 100 pages in, Alice Hoffman’s latest book finally begins to work its magic. Continue reading “Guest Review: Alice Hoffman’s The Dovekeepers” »

Presenting Cassandra Dean, author of Enslaved, plus my first giveaway!

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For Ancient History month’s first guest blog post and giveaway, I’m proud to present Cassandra Dean, author of Enslaved, a fun and sexy gladiator romance which I reviewed earlier in the week. She has some fascinating things to share about how her book came to be– and be sure to leave a comment, since one lucky commenter will win a prize pack which includes an ebook of Enslaved, plus swag and a signed postcard.

Hi peeps! I’m Cassandra Dean and I’m so chuffed to be featured on Joanne’s blog. My very first novel, Enslaved, was released by Decadent Publishing earlier this year and I would love to tell you all a little bit about it.

“Enslaved” came about as I was watching “Spartacus: Blood and Sand.” Initially I thought this show would be a waste of space, a place to park my brain and watch as the pretty boys ran about wearing not much at all. It’s reminiscent of the movie 300 with its visual style and sensibilities but what was really odd at the time, for me anyway, was that most of the lead actors are from either Australia or New Zealand. Now, I’m Australian. We don’t hear our accent a lot in shows produced by American networks, and certainly not in historical epics. The first time I heard a big speech, with swearing and everything, I almost fainted in shock at the Oz twang coming from the actor. Continue reading “Presenting Cassandra Dean, author of Enslaved, plus my first giveaway!” »

Cassandra Dean’s Enslaved: a fun and unpredictable gladiator romance

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I’m so tired of cliched historical romances that seem to be written by Publishing Company Autobot 3000. Regency bluestocking spinster who’s beautiful even though she doesn’t think so? Check. Wicked but kind-hearted rake with friends or relatives ready-made for sequels? Check. One reason I love romances that come out from smaller e-presses is that they’re quirkier and more interesting. If you’re like me and bored with the same old romances, I highly recommend that you check out Cassandra Dean’s “Enslaved.” It’s a cool, fun novella set in ancient Rome, a time period you don’t often see in this genre. Continue reading “Cassandra Dean’s Enslaved: a fun and unpredictable gladiator romance” »

It’s Ancient History month!

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Well, guys, I have an exciting (and ambitious) month planned ahead. In honor of Stephanie Dray, tremendously awesome author of “Lily of the Nile,” I’ve decided to hold an ancient history themed month. Joumana Medlej, comic artist and creator of the Lebanese superhero comic, “Malaak,” will be my Artist of the Month; she works with ancient Phoenician myth and legend in fascinating and unexpected ways. My Author of the Month is Stephanie Dray. Not only will I be reviewing “Song of the Nile,” the second book in her historical fantasy trilogy about Cleopatra’s daughter, on the 27th, when I post her interview, I will also be holding a giveaway of “Song of the Nile.” You may be able to win your very own print copy!

Other highlights will include guests posts from Carol Burrell, creator of the SPQR Blues webcomic, Gary Corby, author of a great new mystery series set in ancient Athens starring Socrates’ older brother, and last but not least, Cassandra Dean, author of the sexy Roman-era romance “Enslaved.” She will also be giving away a copy of “Enslaved,” so check back here for details.