Customer Reviews

The Cleopatra Curse (The Seven Fabulous Wonders)

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This is a gripping story about the struggle between two characters, one who is on a quest to take over the throne, and another who wants to be free from slavery.
Prince Ptolemy is ruthless, menacing and power-hungry. At the start of the novel, he plants his curses in the Hippodrome to sabotage the queen. He soon begins threatening Zeuxis, the slave lighthouse boy who witnesses this act, in an attempt to keep the secret of what he did and to gain control. Next he kidnaps Zeuxis' ally, Ahwere, in his continual pursuit of power. He is finally captured and killed by the very same Ka demon whom he summoned to kill Cleopatra in his efforts to take over the throne.
Zeuxis is a kind, intelligent, hard-working lighthouse boy. His passion for horses and his hope for freedom get him all mixed up in Ptolemy's affairs. When Zeuxis races in the Hippodrome for the Romans (the White team) and an Egyptian sorceress starts giving him spells to use so that he can achieve his dream of being a chariotier, his life takes a turn for the worse. Will he be able to count on the Romans' help to rescue Ahwere? Will he ever be free?
From the races in the Hippodrome, to the riots in the city, to battles between the prince and the Romans, the tension in this book never stops. The characters are believable, with the exception of the demon. As a reader who knows about Egyptian mythology but doesn't believe in it, the Ka demon is hard for me to take seriously. Overall, though, this story is very well-written.
The action-packed narrative describes the tales of Egyptian mythology in an exciting and riveting way. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves mythology and a good read.