Customer Reviews

Lily of the Nile

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First of all, I have to tell you, I was unbelievably THRILLED to win this in the Goodreads.com Giveaway. I never win things. And it was a book. About Egypt. I was psyched.

The book was AWESOME. I adored it. I've recommended it to the school librarian, spread the word through school about the author's writing competition, The Cleopatra Literary Contest for Young Women, and basically told everyone they should read it.

I loved the book. I found it to be extremely well written and well researched. The characters, even those who did not appear often had depth and a history all their own. Small details, like the decorations for the Saturnalia festival and the Roman wedding ceremony dress and preparations had obviously been researched and added life to the story. For me, who has always had a fondness for ancient cultures, especially Egypt, it made the story that much better.

Over the course of the story, the reader watches as Seleste grows from a royal child into a strong, independent woman. She fights to protect her family, her people, her goddess, and herself. But it isn't just about family, loyalty, faith or empowerment, though it is about those things. Its about learning who you are and what you are willing to do to achieve your dreams and protect those you love. And what you are willing to give up. In this, the author has done an excellent job. She could easily have made Seleste the perfect historical figure - kind, loving, determined and without any qualms about the things she had to do to survive, or the darker sides of her personality. Instead Mrs. Dray has given us the whole person: she worries about what she's doing, she lies, she has a temper, has a crisis of faith, and makes mistakes.

Mrs. Dray's novel kept me reading, captured me with beautiful detail and emotion and a plot rife with political intrique and self-discovery. I recieved the book on Monday, intending to read the first chapter and then put it aside until Christmas Break. Instead I couldn't put the book down.

The book is excellent, although if the reader doesn't share a love of ancient Egypt or Rome, they may find it boring in parts. The political intrigue in the book is easier to understand if you know the history involved. But that's the only fault I can give it. I would recommend it to anyone. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Stephanie Dray's next book.

Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray is a novel that weaves fact with fiction and gives us some insight into the life of Cleopatra's daughter Selene and I found it fascinating. I was first introduced to Cleopatra and her daughter in the wonderful Michelle Moran's Cleopatra's Daughter which I loved! So when I first saw Lily of the Nile I knew I would want to read it and see what Stephanie Dray would do with the character of Selene and luckily I was not disappointed.

I think what I liked the most about Stephanie Dray's portrayal of Selene's story was the element of magic that she weaved throughout the story. I've always believed in the magic that must have surrounded Ancient Egypt so to see it woven into the story of Selene so artfully was really wonderful. It made the novel that much more enjoyable for me.

The novel begins with what most people already know of the story of Cleopatra - when both she and Mark Antony kill themselves and Selene and her brothers are captured and taken to Rome to live under the very watchful eye of Octavian - the ruler of Rome. This is a different life for the children as they are of Egyptian royalty and are most certainly not treated as royalty in Rome. As time passes though, Selene realizes she carries magic she believes was passed on to her from her mother and Isis. It also becomes apparent that her younger brother also has some magical ability and her older brother is strong, much stronger than what would be normal. People, especially Octavian begin to look at Selene differently with her obvious intelligence and the swirl of magic that surrounds her.

Selene grows into quite the young lady. She carefully watches what is going on around her and uses it when she needs to. I really liked the spunkiness of her character and that she wasn't afraid to stand up for what she thought or to discreetly fight for what she wanted. She was a strong personality from a child and it only grew with her into adulthood. There were many characters in this novel but it wasn't hard to follow along with them at all. Of course I was already familiar with the story so that may have helped but some of the others I really liked were Julia and Octavia and would have loved to see their stories expanded on a bit too.

I loved all the pieces of history I learned throughout Lily of the Nile and I was really impressed with the vivid detail that Stephanie Dray used in describing the Rome of the past. While Michelle Moran's novel was much more historical in it's telling, Stephanie Dray's novel adds the elements of fantasy and magic. So, if you enjoy that type of thing you will really like her telling of the story of Selene. I know I did! The best thing is that this is just the beginning of a trilogy by Stephanie Dray and I simply can't wait for the next one!

As one review previously stated, it took awhile to get into the "magic" aspect of this book - but once I did, I really found it fun and it added an element to Selene that heightened her importance within her new Roman circle. This was my first novel of anyone from the Egyptian family, but being familiar with historical Rome, I love how it entwined both. I will look forward to the next book!

"Where Egypt fed the world, Rome tamed it. Where Egypt fostered, Rome disciplined. Egypt was as seductive as a temptress, nurturing as a mother, and wise as a crone. To me, Rome's spirit was all male." So speaks Selene Ptolemy, daughter of Anthony and Cleopatra, from her gilded cage in the house of Octavia in Rome. So speaks the author as to the essence of her opening novel, of what will become a trilogy, where the fading light of Isis wars with the conquering darkness of Jupiter. A novel that seeks to drive home the understanding that "without Isis, people forget female divinity".
Opening with the death of Cleopatra, the narration of her daughter Selene takes her twin Helios and younger brother Philadelphus back as a prize for Octavian's Triumph. The Resurrection, as Selene names herself, is granted clemency as she begs life at Octavian's knees just as blade splashes the bright blood of the Prince of Emesa in her defence. So ends her life as the Ptolemaic daughter of Egypt and begins her chafing servitude under Octavian's cold tutelage for his own political advancement. As his sister Octavia explains: "Love causes pain, but good marriages benefit the state. It's your central purpose and duty."
We follow the intrigues of Rome's new princeps as he seeks to establish, like all despots, a lineage and an image that will ensure his immortality. Octavian (or Augustus as he becomes in the novel and history) is portrayed - as Suetonius would have us believe - by Stephanie Bray as cold, unemotional, direct, calculating, and brutal. He, and the sketch of Agrippa who is seen as a drunken boor doing his marital "duty" by Marcella, is the primary foil of male darkness against the enlightened, mystical truth of female light given breath in Selene. We are told nothing of Rome, nothing of the political scene of empire building. Helios' escape and subsequent lead in the riots in Rome, the unrest in Alexandria, the declaration of Thebes to have him as their King at the end of the novel all take place away from the strangely safe world of Octavia's cage for her daughter Julia, Iullus and Marcellus and the world of Octavian's wife Livia and the handsome Juba who Octavian demands marry Selene. It is this very artificiality that allows the author to have our narrator develop her warring mind as Chosen of Isis, of a child taken from her homeland, from her murdered parents, and struggle to become a queen and a totemic leader of the persecuted Isiacs. With Cleopatra's ghost taunting Octavian by cutting bleeding hieroglyphics into her daughter's arms we follow Selene as she displays a political maturity beyond her years in the light of her brother's barely contained rage against his fetters and the constant whisper of the Priest of Isis and one-time tutor, Euphronius. Meetings with Virgil, uncertainty over the friendship of the slave Chryssa, and the constant play with Livia, Octavia and Juba eventually lead to Selene manipulating Octavian as, "one of my brothers lay dying of fever and the other would soon be crushed by the might of Rome's legions."
Selene whirls out in a magicks of winds to a dénouement in the Temple of Venus Genetrix that has Octavian demand she marry Juba, denounce Helios; all of which she agrees to in return for being named Queen of Mauretania, consort in Numidia. It is with this small victory of sorts, this rebalancing of power, this asserting of her birthright that Dray leaves us for her second novel.
The novel will be well received by those who like Margaret George or Philippa Gregory. The style is very much focused on relationships within a tight circle of no more than ten. Everything else around pales into a muffled background. Whilst this means the reader comes to intimately sympathize with the fates of the caged children, the context of Rome becomes no more than ventures into popular Hollywood. Images of Elizabeth Burton come unbidden, gladiatorial combat painted in by Russell Crowe or Charlton Heston fill the roaring gaps so desperately needed when the reader needs action rather than conversation to accelerate the pulse. The author chooses to tell her story through the melody of relationships rather than the cadences of action. Yet, strangely, it is Octavian who perhaps cuts through the incessant need to opine and discuss, to unravel relationships and indulge in the strange world of the super powerful that so dominate this novel when he simply explains that: "We fight for the world. A war to determine all - which ideologies dominate and which gods survive." It is this that lies at the heart of the novel. Not the marriages and shenanigans of those who crave power; nor even the indignant sense of justice and superiority of a fourteen year old princess...rather the reality of ideology that snares the millions of citizens, be they of Rome or Egypt, whose lives are given no thought by those who would control them yet feel they must be given absolute respect. Whilst this novel sets male against female on several ideological levels, it is the understanding that we must all work together for the good of all that slowly begins to seep into the consciousness of narrator and results, perhaps, in a softening of our strictly drawn opinions of the major characters. I started this novel slowly, struggling to find the page turning quality that we so demand today; yet, by the end, I appreciated the quality of prose, the creeping curiosity of how Selene struggles to change, to adapt, whilst her brother gives into the power of his emotions and beliefs. As twins they are similar, yet utterly unalike in their understanding of how to gain what they most desire, most believe. It will be interesting to see how the author takes us forward with Selene and Helios as they struggle for recognition in the shadow of Octavian's Rome.

Loved this book, historical fiction never looked so good. I believe Stephanie is one of those authors that one day we'll look back and realize we read the first works of one of the greatest out there.

A good look at what Cleopatra and Marc Anthony's children endured after their parents deaths and their lives as they were taken to Rome. Very interesting.

When Stephanie Dray came to lecture at our writers' group, I was more interested in the Mythica dark romance series she writes as Stephanie Draven, than in her historicals. When she mentioned that there were magical aspects in her Cleopatra Selene series, I decided to check them out. I'm so glad I bought them. I've always been more into urban fantasy than historicals, but the quality of her writing hooked me from the start. I could feel I was actually there, in the nexus of Ancient Egypt and the Roman empire, understanding the beliefs and motivations of the characters.

After a dramatic opening which detailed Selene's role in the suicide of her mother, Cleopatra, there was a lot of interesting action, but I wondered where the "magical aspect" was. Let me tell you, tt was worth waiting for. The magical communications from Isis represent a unique, exotic magic that fits perfectly in the mythology of Egypt. I have never read such a compelling account of pagan mysteries.

I came to care deeply about Cleopatra Selene, her twin Alexander Helios, and little brother Philadelphus, so much so that I couldn't wait to read "Song of the Nile", the next book in the series.

It's difficult to read this book and not draw comparisons to Michelle Moran's 'Cleopatra's Daughter', which I read back in March. Not only do they cover the same subject matter, they do so for almost exactly the same timeframe -- from the death of the famous Cleopatra to just before her daughter's wedding. Cleopatra Selene is taken to Rome, paraded in Augustus's triumph, and forcibly adopted into the imperial family. She has to deal with adjusting to her new life and status, with her rebelliously inclined brother, with political threats and personal trials, and with the dubious legacy left to her by her parents. The story has the same basic shape in both books.

Dray definitely gives the story a new angle, though; she positions the life of Cleopatra Selene in relationship to the Cult of Isis. For most of the book, this is fascinating. It gives Selene a wonderful sense of mystery, something that marks her out from her surroundings and from the Roman attitudes she's pressured to adopt, and I like that it's a little bit brutal. Isis's messages to Selene appear as bloody hieroglyphs, literally carved into Selene's skin in moments of emotional distress. Faith isn't easy or painless, and that's definitely part of the message behind what Selene has to learn. The connection also has political implications, as Augustus accuses the Isiacs of plotting sedition against him, intending to make Selene and her less-compliant twin Helios the figureheads of a new rebellion. Selene learns how to plot and how to negotiate, striking deals with the loathed emperor in order to keep her people safe, even if it means personal sacrifice. The magic in the book is tangibly real, in a very religious way, and treated as such, which keeps the book from wandering into fantasy territory, and it definitely adds a new and exciting element to the story.

On the other hand, there are times when it definitely wanders into preachy territory. When Selene starts educating anyone else about the Isiac cult and sacred femininity, it sort of grinds the story to a halt, because the reader is then, too, getting lectured. It feels, at times, a lot like Marion Zimmer Bradley's 'Mists of Avalon', only not quite as deftly handled (and MoA is itself far from flawless in that regard). The explications often stick out awkwardly from the rest of the story, and it hindered my enjoyment.

'Lily of the Nile' is an inventive tale, and Dray fills out the gaps in Selene's story admirably, expanding her life past the scraps that history hands down to us. She also makes some different choices regarding interpreting the historical record. The twins' younger brother, Philadelphus, lives long past when most historians seem to think he probably died. One of Antony's other sons, Iullus, gets a bit of stage time, and Antyllus gets a mention. Julia starts her love affairs early, and Octavia and Agrippa suffer unfulfilled passion for each other (and I have to wonder if HBO's 'Rome' inspired that bit of invention). I'm glad that Dray felt the freedom to play around with some of the historical question marks and ellipses. And yet, there was something that didn't quite grab me as strongly as I'd hoped it would. I think it was that so many characters felt glanced at, rather than fully fleshed out. The imperial household had so many great personalities in it, but quite a few of them get rather short shrift, hardly mentioned at all, or downgraded to pretty two-dimensional characters. This is often a trouble in first person narratives, and it's why I'll take a good strong shifting-third any day of the week -- but that's down to personal preference. Since we only see what Selene sees and know what she knows, there's a lot left missing from the rest of the story.

I did enjoy the read, despite some mixed feelings, and I'll definitely be picking up the sequel, which will actually follow Selene through her adult life as Queen of Mauretania. I've felt cheated out of that before, so it's nice to know we'll be getting the rest of the story from Dray.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a gripping page-turner bringing history to life. I never knew about the daughter of Cleopatra and her brother until recently. Stephanie Dray brings their story to life, as they are taken in bondage to Rome and raised in the household Caesar Augustus. I can't wait to read the sequel.

I love the lore of Cleopatra without actually knowing a lot about the history of her and her people, or about the time period in which she lived. This book, a fantastic telling of a tale I'd never heard, drew me in and enthralled me from start to finish. Far from a dry retelling of history, the addition of magic to legend and history was a welcome component of this novel.

I haven't had a lot of time to read as of late due to crazy schedules, but this book was well worth my time. I just picked up the sequel - can't wait to dig into it!