Throne of Isis

I loved this book! One of those books you get lost.

I read this book about a year ago. Ever since then it has entraped me to Cleopatra. I have read many books since then about her. Many people know her for her love affairs with Marc Antony and Julius Cesar. But they do not know all of the good she did for Egypt. The libraries and colleges she built. She was an amazing woman in a world ruled by men. The only reason she was an enemy of Rome was because she was a WOMAN! Men condemed women that ruled because they ruled men! With that in mind they continued to hate her, due to the powerful men she was able to seduce. I don't know much about the author but I think it was an amazing book. And I believe Cleopatra was an amazing woman, a BEAUTIFUL woman, a buisness woman. In my eyes there will never be another, greater than, Cleopatra!

I differ strongly with the negative reviews I have read in this column. I have read numerous books on Cleopatra and believe her to have been one of the most interesting, enigmatic and mysterious women of all time. I believe Judith Tarr did a fabulous job of showing the clash between the elegant (if not treacherous) Hellenistic world with that of the less civilized and more militant Roman world. She shows how Antony was caught between the two worlds and how he tried to be a Roman when his Roman subordinates reviled him because of his love for Cleopatra.Cleopatra was not a beautiful woman, but she knew how to be glamorous and seductive using her charm, intelligence and wit. That to me is more stimulating than a super model with nothing interesting to say....at least in the long run.At any rate, this book is well worth reading and gives us just a glimpse at a fabulous world lost in a daring gamble for supreme dominance.

Tarr is a wonderful writer with a beautiful vocabulary. This book is no exception. My only complaint is that I think it is badly named. The title, Throne of Isis is fine, what I have trouble with is the sub-title, A Novel of Cleopatra. Although that title probably sells more books than the Throne of Isis title does, Cleopatra really is a minor character in this book. If you are looking for a book that gives life to Ancient Egypt under Cleopatra and Anthony, then you will like this book, but if you are looking for a historical novel about Cleopatra, you will probably be disappointed.