Category Archives: ancient Rome

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” »

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.

Lily of the Nile: or, when a Roman-era historical fantasy is done right

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If you’ve read my previous review of Phoenix Sullivan’s “Spoil of War”, you’ve probably got a good idea of what I don’t like in historical fiction. Stupid anachronisms, pompous prose, and a ridiculous Conan-the-Barbarian depiction of people way back when are probably three of my top ten peeves in this genre. Well, discerning readers, you have reason to rejoice, since I have found a book that has none of those things. It is actually good. It’s “Lily of the Nile” by Stephanie Dray (who kindly sent me of a copy of the galley), and it was the perfect chaser to the dreck that was “Spoil of War.”

There has been a whole rash of books lately about Cleopatra Selene, the daughter of the famous asp-wielding Cleopatra VII, but Dray’s book is the first one I’ve read. It’s also the first in a projected trilogy where Selene’s life is re-imagined as a historical fantasy. I admit I was a little leery at first– especially when Ms. Dray credits the 1963 “Cleopatra” with Liz Taylor as a major inspiration. I’m not crazy about that movie (this hilarious review by MonsterHunter sums up my feelings about it) , and I was hoping it wouldn’t be stilted, pretentious or unconvincing (like Liz Taylor’s acting). However, I ended up being pleasantly surprised– and I ended up tearing through this 368 page novel in a day and a half. Continue reading “Lily of the Nile: or, when a Roman-era historical fantasy is done right” »

Spoil of War: or, kiddie rape and a Komodo dragon in Arthurian Britain

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So I finally read “Spoil of War.”

Onward, faithful steed, to the underage slave girls!

Pedobear Rides a Komodo Dragon-- artwork courtesy of Christy Davies


Part of me was conflicted about writing a review of Phoenix Sullivan’s notoriously bad self-published historical romance. Several other brilliant and scathing reviews have been written about this book– first by DA_January on Dear Author, and then a dual review by Dhympna and Sunita. All of them address the many problems that this book possesses– the ethical problems, and the utter lack of historicity, which is especially glaring since the book is trumpeted as an authentic historical epic written by someone with a Master’s degree with a concentration in medieval studies. I was wondering if I had anything new to say; I also didn’t want to give the author, Ms. Sullivan, any more publicity than she already had.

However, given that I already wrote a blog entry about the initial furor on Dear Author about DA_January’s review– and since Dhympha lent me her copy via the Barnes & Noble Nook lending feature– I felt honor-bound to read it myself. And if I was going to read the whole damn thing, I might as well write a review about it.

Anyway, was this book as terrible as I had been led to believe? In a word: yes. It is pretty bad. Granted, it’s not the worst book I’ve ever read. For the most part, the prose style is okay and the plot flows from A to B. It was also not quite as porny and Gor-tastic as I had been led to believe. But this is not a good thing, as you shall see. Continue reading “Spoil of War: or, kiddie rape and a Komodo dragon in Arthurian Britain” »