Cleopatra's Daughter

Very disappointing read for me.It was badly written. I did not understand what is the point of inventing the Red Eagle since he didn't achieve anything (adding a twist of mystery? why? the story has enough intrigue without it). Also, Selene is supposed to have helped design the Pantheon? I know there is such a thing as fictional licence but seriously!There were certain sections which annoyed me and I wish the author would try to understand the Romans or at least Augustus better before providing her take on situations. For example, she attributed the fact that Princess Selene and Prince Alexander were not made slaves because they were children of a queen and not barbarians like the Gauls. Actually, they were not made slaves for the simple reason that they were ROMAN. Their father was Mark Antony; legitimate children of a Roman would not be made slaves in Rome! Augustus would not have set a bad example by making them slaves.Also, the overwhelming sympathy for slaves from Selene was not very realistic. Selene would have been brought up in Egypt, where slaves were treated a lot worse than Rome. They couldn't even buy back their freedom and making eunuchs of slaves was common practice (something considered barbaric in Rome!) So I am not sure that Selene was this ultra evolved sympathetic modernist portrayed here. I think the author is trying to see too much in Rome through modern eyes.Finally, I wish she would have written more on Selene's life in Mauretania rather than Rome. She accomplished so much there.Overall, very disappointing. I wish the author would stick to fiction and keep history out of her work!!citychiclifestyle.blogspot.com

I was hoping that I could give this story five stars but I have come to the conclusion that this is the weakest of the three books. I did not like the use of Latin nouns - either use modern prose or go totally Latin but don't mix them. A Thalamegos was probably a river vessel, not a sea going one. The voyage from Alexandria to Rome was going to take two months but a couple of pages later it had taken three weeks. Just one example of poor proof reading/editing. American spelling had also crept back in. I have not heard of ' Gannymede' being used as a slang term for a homosexual.Ms Moran's description of a crucifixion is totally incorrect. If she felt unable to write about this truly horrific method of killing someone, then perhaps it should not have been included.Again history has been altered to fit in with the story. Surely it should be the other way round. The final straw, for me, was the death by eel. I know that in the notes at end of the book, it states that this is based on contemporary cases but it was far too Monty Python for me.

I have always been interested in Cleopatra's life-extraordinary woman encapsulating so many contradictory female social roles. Her daughter, Selena, however, is living so much different. She manages to earn trust in Rome and remain resilience in spite of series of tragedies darkening her youth. She manages to control her romantic urges and finally finds real love in unfriendly environment. Michelle Moran manages again to keep me entertained, producing so much of juice in one book! Absolutely brilliant !

I liked this book and it was what I expected from Michelle Moran. Her books are written in colour! You can feel the quality of materials written about, feel the shiny, jewel colours of the silk , see the dusty streets of Rome, the houses, the Nile and the freshness of getting away from the hot City to the cool Island. She blends History with her take on characters of the time and it works. You may not like some of the Characters but you cannot help getting involved. It is quite emotional in places - life was extremely hard for the general population at that time - so perhaps not a Novel to escape to if you are feeling a bit low yourself!Over all an interesting Historical novel giving an insight into how they lived in Ancient Rome, the worries of their day and how some Monuments, which are still here, came into being. There are also many areas of life then that is surprisingly modern!I found the story of Cleopatra's daughter a complete surprise as I did not even know she had one. Her relationships were interesting and woven into the story are those we grew up knowing about but here we see them from a different angle. Historically interesting with believable characters. I would recommend this book to all who enjoy Historical Novels, to those fascinated by Roman/Egyptian Culture, Adventure, Foreign Parts and Romance. One feels that Michelle Morgan does not write for Serous Scholars but for the rest of us, who enjoy " a bit of Culture" in our reading - and to that end she succeeds very well!

My dog enjoyed the original book, it made good eating.!!!The book was a library book that he ate. On explaining the situation to the librarian, she was not amused at the chewed pages and required me to pay for a new book at the original cost.I purchased this book on-line and it was in better condition than the borrowed book.Changed over the computer stickers from inside the library book to the Amazon purchase, and returned the book back to the library. Librarian was happy, and I was happy at purchasing the book for a fraction of the original cost.THANKS AGAIN AMAZON. WELL DONE.

I found this very enjoyable. I have now read the series. I read until I had to put them down. Very hard to put them down.