When We Were Gods tells the story of the queen of the Nile and her life. Chosen to rule by her father, Cleopatra watches and learns. When she ascends to the throne, she heeds her father's advice about the nest of vipers she rules. She navigates the pitfalls of family and Rome to secure her rule. Cleopatra dreams of creating an even bigger empire and forms a political and romantic alliance with Julius Caesar. Convinced he is her Orisis, she urges him to declare himself king of Rome and marry her. Her dreams are killed at the hands of Caesar's assassins. A new god soon comes calling on the Egyptian Isis. Marc Antony as the new Dionysus makes Cleopatra his divine consort. But the new Dionysus is no Julius Caesar. Cleopatra casts her die with the unpredictable and charming Antony. But their destiny lies with fate herself.
This wonderful novel begins with Cleopatra's rule and follows her story to the end. Falconer shows the queen for the cunning intelligent woman she was. But her intelligence was no match for her heart and passion. Even as a powerful woman, she was still at the mercy of the whims of unfaithful Roman men. Falconer's Caesar showed more humanity while Antony was simply a mess. The end of the queen of the Nile was simply heartbreaking.
If you like Margaret George's Memoirs of Cleopatra, you will love this book. After all, one can never get tired of Cleopatra.
I think I would like this book. It is hard to think of such epic figures (well the title calls them gods) as real people. So I think I would enjoy seeing why you describe Antony as a mess! :). I know how it ends though...she is a character I would not want to get too attached to because of that.
ReplyDeleteFalconer really did make them real. I hated to classify Antony as a mess, I really just wanted to hug him.
ReplyDeleteThe sad ending is always heartbreaking. I keep wanting to say, "Go on, you can do it." But it always ends the same.