Cleopatra’s Daughter

Overall: C+

Summary (courtesy GoodReads)

The death of Cleopatra was only the beginning…

Follows the incredible life of Cleopatra’s surviving children with Marc Antony — twins, named Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, and a younger son named Ptolemy. All three were taken to Rome and paraded through the streets, then sent off to be raised by Octavia (the wife whom Marc Antony left for Cleopatra). Raised in one of the most fascinating courts of all time, Cleopatra’s children would have met Ovid, Seneca, Vitruvius (who inspired the Vitruvian man), Agrippa (who built the Pantheon), Herod, his sister Salome, the poets Virgil, Horace, Maecenas and so many others!

Thoughts

This is the third book by Michelle Moran that I’ve read in fairly quick succession and I had high hopes considering how impressive Michelle Moran’s vivid imagery and storytelling skills were in her previous books.   I thought the book was only partially successful.

The book was geared toward a young adult audience but the topics were almost entirely adult-oriented.  The book was not graphic, per se but the subjects of infanticide, marriage, atheism, international politics, and the ethics of slavery seemed a little heavy for a young adult books.  Furthermore, none of the really thought provoking issues the book mentions in passing were explored in any substantial way by the characters.

What is left?  A vaguely confusing love story that entangles most of the characters in the book.  I don’t want to reveal any spoilers but it was reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice on a somewhat larger scale.  However, while Pride and Prejudice developed the relationships over the course of the book, Cleopatra Selene (the Daughter of Cleopatra and the main character of the book) proclaims herself in love with little foreshadowing.

The pacing was also frustrating.  It felt as though half the book had passed by the time Selene and Alexander make it to Rome while the ending seemed incredibly rushed.

All in all, this certainly wasn’t my favorite Michelle Moran book and it isn’t one I would rush to recommend to someone since it seems to miss both of its potential audiences: too shallow and slow for adult historical fiction fans and too irrelevant for a young adult.

As a side note, what is up with that cover art? Selene is supposed to be 12 when she arrives in Rome.

Audiobook Details

The audiobook was well produced though the reader, Wanda McCaddon had what I can only describe as an odd voice.  Husky? Throaty?  I didn’t mind it but I would certainly recommend you listen to a sample before you purchase the audio version.

Run time: 11 hours, 56 minutes

Available here via Amazon and Audible: Cleopatra’s Daughter: A Novel

I hope you all had a nice holiday break!  My reading time was diminished significantly while my husband was home for a few weeks but I’m back and ready to tackle my challenges for the year!

I’ve already started on a few: Cleopatra’s Daughter and The Year of the Bomb–both are excellent so far and full reviews are on their way.

The Mists of Avalon (Part 1) by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Rating: C+

This is my first introduction to Arthurian legend and, while all the TH White books have been on my TBR list for quite some time, I decided to start this one first after re-stumbling upon it at Goodreads.

Unless you want the abridged version (and I loathe abridgments), the Mists of Avalon is broken in to four parts.  The first part, titled “Mistress of Magic” follows Morgaine from birth through her training as a priestess in Avalon under her Aunt Vivian’s hand.

I love the grandeur of the book–but perhaps I am more in love with the idea of being swept away by an excellent book rather than the grandeur of this specific book.

The plot seems bifurcated since the first portion of the book follows Igraine’s life through to her marriage to Uther Pendragon then abruptly shifts to the perspective of her daughter and little else is heard of Igraine.  I’m of two minds on this:  I liked the depth of background it gave for Morgaine’s life and the unfolding of the legend.  However, it was a little long….if the point of this portion of the book is to give Morgaine’s history depth, then she was featured far too little.

While I originally found the discussion of religion interesting, it has already become stale since there are only a few characters who seem to have the same discussion repeatedly.  There is little depth to the discussions other than “I hate Christianity,” “Druids are heathens,” and “The Goddess is awesome.”  I’d like something with a little more depth.

I was hoping for strong female characters with powerful influence in the courts (I am greatly missing strong Nefertari from The Heretic Queen) but the women present seem to have little power–even the women supposedly in positions of power (the Queen, a High Priestess, etc) value marriage, male children and weaving above all (and this coming from an avid spinner and knitter).

Had I been able to purchase the entire audiobook for a reasonable price or even two credits on audible, I would probably finish the book.  However, I am forced with the prospects of having to shell out another 60 bucks, I doubt I’ll continue.

Audiobook Details

As I said, this is only the first quarter of the original Mists of Avalon.  It is frustrating to have it divided since it increases the cost drastically–each quarter of the book boasts a $20 or so price tag on Audible.  I would be more persuaded with the “its so long” argument had I not already purchased the unabridged production of Gone With the Wind (49 hours) for a single credit.

The reader, Davina Porter, is enjoyable to listen to though I would have preferred to have someone with a hint of a British accent since the setting is of importance to the story.

Run time: 13 hours, 55 minutes.

I always try to give a book the benefit of the doubt; I don’t mind a plot that is a little slower to start or characters that take a major plot even to really develop.  However, there are books that I never finish.  I know I’m not alone on this but I’m curious what makes you give up?  Is it a page limit?  Time invested?

I just hit a string of two books in a row that I gave up on–both I made it more than a third of the way through before stopping.  I feel as though I wrestle back and forth on this issue: one voice wants me to give a book a real effort and I continually believe I may be just pages away from a surprising twist or major development but the other voice is reminding me that my reading time is precious and I shouldn’t waste it on a book I’m not enjoying.  I have yet to decide which voice is the devil and which is the angel…

What do you think?  Do you finish most of the books you start?  When or how do you decide its time to give up and move on?

I had to laugh when I saw this feature over on All About {n}. Why? Because I TOTALLY stole the idea in the banner picture when I came across it last year on flickr.

Here are my bookshelves…

I arranged them this way in May 2008 and they’ve been like that since. I completely adore them and everyone who comes to the house always comments on how fun it is. My husband was worried it would make things hard to find but it really hasn’t been bad at all since all of our books are on these shelves (they were scattered throughout the house before.)

The baskets on the bottom row of shelves serve as toy storage for the kids.  I cannot even tell you how ready I am for the kids to outgrow this need so we can suck that book storage space back up!  Until then, there is just a tiny amount of room to add another layer to the center shelf….

About the shelves…  They are the Billy Bookcases from Ikea with two height extensions on the center three shelves and one on each of the side shelves.