Song of the Nile (Cleopatra's Daughter) (edition 2011)

Cleopatra Selene marries Juba II, King of Numidia, and joins him as Queen of Mauretania, but they have a country to build. But Selene has unfinished business with two other men, the Emperor Augustus and her twin brother Alexander Helios. One represents her past and passionate love, one represents her future and domesticity, and one represents her attempts to re-create the past in the present and political power. Which will she choose?

Another thrilling adventure in the life of Cleopatra Selene. I still have my doubts about the magical elements but I can't wait for the final volume. ( )

Anytime you have a Caesar in the picture, you know it's going to be epic. I came into this reading, not having read the first in the series (I was fortunate enough to win this copy in a Goodreads giveaway), even so, I didn't feel that I'd missed anything. Perhaps this is because one of my favorite periods of time is Ancient Rome & Egypt, so I didn't feel like I was walking in on complete strangers.

Selene is obsessively & singularly focused on the resumption of the rule of Egypt to her family with herself at the helm. When we come into the story, she's being married off to Juba of Mauritania & also has the fates of her brothers to be concerned about. And then there's the creepy matter of the ever dangerous Augustus. I think it's safe to say that other women have had better wedding days. Honestly, & I'm not giving anything away here, considering where this story goes, this may actually have been one of Selene's better days. The author did a very good job of giving a sense of place & when things turned toward harrowing, I honestly felt unnerved. I stressed about Selene a lot & that's a good thing. She has to make some unenviable decisions & sometimes I found that I was annoyed with her because I wanted to her decide differently. I wanted her to give up her quest for Egypt more than once (Helios, dude I'm on your side!) & clearly Selene had more fortitude for the journey that I could conjure. I would have been her weary companion hedging & wondering if each step would be the one to finally hasten us to our end.

As one who reads a fair bit of historical fiction, I was not expecting a happy ending or nice neat currently palatable situations & found this to be deeply satisfying. I very much liked the magical bits with Selene (& Helios). Also, I enjoyed her reverence for her mother & father because it so drove her. I quite liked Julia & must admit I often felt a bit badly for Juba. By the end, I can't say that I was happy but I was satisfied with where Selene was in herself. She realized the toll her obsession had taken & that she was as much a spinner of the wed as she was a prisoner. She is of course, still at the whim & mercy of Augustus but she did see that she can choose joy, happiness & freedom in the interim. It is a victory in and of itself.

I quite enjoyed this & am inclined to go back & read the first book. I'm glad to have found another writer of historical fiction to add to my "must reads". ( )

Brilliant book and well-researched. ( )

This book was excellent. I was disappointed in the fact that the relationship between Selene and Juba wasn't more fiery and was equally disappointed in how Selene easily submitted to Augustus. That, however, isn't worth docking stars as it is Ms. Dray's story to tell. I lot of this story focused on the political veracity of Rome and its conquered states, of which I wasn't particularly enraptured. I did enjoy the little details of Selene's love for her daughter and her country, even though she was not in Egypt. Though Selene is a grown woman in this book, she goes through enormous changes in maturity. She starts off whining about Egypt still and longing to be in Alexandria, but by the end of the book she begins to see that she is loved where she is in Mauritania. I also loved that Helios was brought back into the story as I adore his character. I just have to ignore the fact that he is Selene's twin. That has a bit of a creep factor for me!

Honestly, I'm not sure why this book took me so long to complete as I'm normally a fast reader, but I think a lot of the political pomps seemed to get in my way of enjoying the more frivolous adventures. This is just my reading style as I am more into the fantasy concept than the "historical fiction" stylings. I would definitely recommend this book to those looking for a historical fiction novel with a bit of magic and fantasy rather than the other way around. You'll certainly enjoy this book either way.

I received this book from Goodreads in exchange for my honest review. I was not compensated monetarily to penn my review and all opinions expressed are my own. ( )

It's always such a joy when I come across books like Song of the Nile, books that bring together my two favorite genres which are fantasy and historical fiction. I'd looked forward to this novel ever since I finished reading its predecessor Lily of the Nile, and it did not disappoint.

Song of the Nile continues the story of Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. When we last left her, she was growing up as a ward/hostage in the household of the Roman emperor Augustus. This book focuses on the next chapter of her life -- her marriage to King Juba II and her journey to become queen of Mauretania. All the while, however, Selene cannot leave behind the memories of the loved ones she has lost, and continues to fight for her beloved Egypt and to claim her birthright to her mother's throne.

In this sequel I felt a shift in style from the first book. While Lily of the Nile was very subtle in its themes and symbols, Song of the Nile takes a more head-on approach at tackling the story. This might have something to do with the fact that the subject matters in this book are a lot darker. Selene has grown from a child to an adult so it makes sense that the themes in this novel would be more mature, but I was surprised to see that they were also more controversial. This and other factors made this book feel very different and Selene is no longer the Selene we knew from Lily of the Nile, but all this is good in a way. The character shows depth and growth, and the author makes the reader feel that we are with Selene every step of the way

As Selene becomes a woman, her quest for her own identity continues. At times her narrative makes her seem like she is confused with who she is, or that she is everywhere at once. For example, one moment she would identify with her mother, and in another she would identify with Augustus, or she would think highly of her own abilities in one paragraph, then despair of her helplessness in the next. There was also her single-minded goal to become Queen of Egypt, and the disturbing lengths she would be willing to go to in order to achieve it. This made the book frustrating to read at times, but also hard not to sympathize when I knew this was simply Selene struggling to find herself and come out from under the emperor's thumb as well as her mother's shadow. She's not perfect, and that's okay.

After reading both books, I think I still like Lily of the Nile more, which is why I rated this book the way I did, but by no means does this indicate I think that the second book fails to live up to the standards of the first. On the contrary, I thought this was an excellent follow up, but the first time you meet a character is just always so much more powerful.

As before, I am impressed with the amount of work that must have gone into the researching for this novel. Ms. Dray covered much of what is known about Selene's life, but also added her own flair to the story to fill in the many gaps we don't know. What makes this series even more unique is that there is also a heavy dose of fantastical elements, such as Selene's and her siblings' abilities to work magic. I know some people don't like fantasy in their historical fiction, but I'm personally okay with it as long as it's done well and done tastefully, and I feel the author strikes a good balance in these novels. This is why I love reading historical fiction, for the creative elements that fuel our imaginations and make what we know more alive and interesting. ( )