Daughter of the Gods: A Novel of Ancient Egypt in Around the World in 80 Books

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Nov 21, 2013 Kimberly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, egypt, ancient-historical-fiction, 2014-bookshelf, library-books-read-2014

Last year I read Stephanie Thornton's debut novel The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora and it was so good that I read it in a single sitting so when my hold of this one came in I settled in for the long haul and polished it off in one sitting as well.

Hatshepsut's story was just as well written as Theodora's and made me appreciate the real gift I think that Stephanie Thornton has for bringing history's most powerful women back to life in the pages of her books.

I really loved her take Last year I read Stephanie Thornton's debut novel The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora and it was so good that I read it in a single sitting so when my hold of this one came in I settled in for the long haul and polished it off in one sitting as well.

Hatshepsut's story was just as well written as Theodora's and made me appreciate the real gift I think that Stephanie Thornton has for bringing history's most powerful women back to life in the pages of her books.

I really loved her take on Hatshepsut in this novel and how real she made her. She was not always a self assured woman, she struggled with her life both publicly and privately and had to deal with more than her fair share of heartache and betrayal. She had many obstacles to over come and I really felt for her. She could come across as being a bit spoiled sometimes, yet others she was so informal it seem like it was so easy for her to turn off her public face and it was nice to see her age in the novel, and I enjoyed the breaks in the story where it would go forward several years to a different period to her life.

Her brother/husband though, him and I didn't see eye to eye. I'm not sorry about his death one bit even though it put a ridiculous amount of stress on Hatshepsut, I just couldn't handle his cruelty, even though his strings were being pulled by someone else. He was just one of those characters that I never liked which is why I'm such a fan of how the author creates her characters. They make you feel, whether you love them, hate them or just plain tolerate them all of them have a purpose and are wonderfully humane for better or for worse.

The whole cast of characters really brought this novel of ancient Egypt to life. There were the royals and the other elitists along side slaves and servants and foreigners. I appreciated that I got more of a glimpse into this ancient world because there was more than one type of character to round things out.

The overall telling of the story was written beautifully. Like The Secret History, Stephanie Thronton created a rich, captivating tale of the first noted woman of power. There was action, adventure, political intrigue, murder, mystery and romance all in this 448 page novel. It took me from the royal palace, to the blood soaked sands where battles raged to tender moments with those she held dear. I thoroughly enjoyed being transported back in time and thought this was the perfect story for me. There was a little something for everyone in this one and was wonderfully descriptive without being over done and had fantastic characters.

I loved reading this fictional account of Hatshepsut's life and can't wait to read Stephanie's next novel. She's gone on my auto-read list and I'd say she's on her way to being a powerhouse of historical fiction but she's already arrived.

I would recommend this to all fans of historical fiction especially those who want strong characters, especially women, an excellent plot, and a fantastic setting that offers a refreshing glimpse into the ancient world. ...more

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Dec 18, 2014 Soelo marked it as to-read

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Around the World in 80 Books