Friday, February 17, 2012

The Princess of Egypt

Song of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
Last year I read Dray's first book about Cleopatra's daughter, Lily of the Nile and absolutely loved it, so much that I picked up this sequel almost as soon as it came out. So it's almost ridiculous that I've waited so long to read this, especially since I love this one just as much if not more.

Since it had been so long since I read the first I was a little worried that I would be confused since I couldn't remember all the details. But Dray manages to subtly recap all the details of the first book without resorting to a Baby-Sitter's Club-esque chapter long recap. It didn't feel like I as hit over the head with the prior events, but I still felt more than adequately caught up.

Before reading this books I knew little about Cleopatra and had barely heard of her daughter, Cleopatra Selene, and afterwards I feel like I've learned so much. Granted these books take place in the 20BC, and we don't have a lot of details from that time. In the afterwards Dray mentions what details she used to base the story on, and those details seem to be few are far between. Which does mean that I can credit a lot of the world building to Dray herself, which I absolutely fell in love with.

Reading this I didn't want to put it down, and couldn't wait to find out the ending. Except I didn't want the story to end and would have gone on reading about Selene and her kingdom forever. I believe this is only Dray's second book, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

5/5

Today I'm linking up with Blonde Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday!

6 comments:

  1. I love when you can pick up a sequel without having to refer back to the first book. I'm glad you linked up!!

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  2. I knew Cleopatra had kids, but didn't know she had a daughter. Sounds like an interesting read!

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  3. Sound's like a great read. I love anything to do with ancient Egypt, Cleopatra being my favourite pharoah of all. If your interested in her I would really give Margaret George's Memoirs of Cleopatra a go. It is a very long book, but its written in a first person narrative like a biography and there is so much to learn in it. It is one of my favourite historical fiction books.

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  5. I've seen this book and added it to my to-read list. When I was little I loved anything having to do with Egypt...I'm sure that I'd love this series!

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