The Secret History by Stephanie Thornton

The Secret History by Stephanie Thornton(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Where Theodora went, trouble followed…

In sixth century Constantinople, one woman, Theodora, defied every convention and all the odds, and rose from being a common theater tart to become empress of a great kingdom, the most powerful woman the Roman Empire would ever know. But the woman whose image was later immortalized in glittering mosaic was, in fact, a scrappy, clever, conniving, flesh-and-blood woman full of sensuality and spirit whose real story is as surprising as any ever told…

When her father dies suddenly, Theodora and her sisters face starvation on the streets. Determined to survive, Theodora makes a living any way she can—first on her back with every man who will have her, then on the stage of the city’s infamous amphitheater in a scandalous dramatization of her own invention. When her daring performance grants her a back-door entry into the halls of power, she seizes the chance to win a wealthy protector—only to face heartbreak and betrayal.

Ever resilient, Theodora rises above such trials and by a twist of fate, meets her most passionate admirer yet: the Emperor’s nephew. She will thrive as his confidant and courtesan, but many challenges lie ahead. For one day, this man will hand her a crown. And all the empire will wonder—is she bold enough, shrewd enough, and strong enough to keep it?

Having read The Tiger Queens and Daughter of the Gods by Stephanie Thornton, I was so excited when I finally got my hands on her first book, The Secret History.  I know pretty much nothing about the Byzantine empire (my specialty being ancient Rome, its precursor) so I was very eager to start on the book.  Whatever I expected going into the book, I sure was surprised at the actual story.

Theodora’s rise from the slums to the theaters of Constantinople all the way to the side of the Emperor is not glorious.  She spends a lot of time in the slums and the lowly theater servicing men of every kind for money just to make ends meet.  Not only that, she’s not deemed pretty enough for the main parts on the stage like her sister so even her acting career is going nowhere.  But Theodora is one of these characters that will just not give up.  She finagles her way into giving a very risqué performance at the theater and thus catapults herself into the upper echelons of power as a courtesan.  When she thinks she finally finds a wealthy protector, one that she might actually like, everything turns out terribly.  Yet Theodora goes on, powered by a driving love for her children and her life.  She has so many setbacks and tragedies in her life until finally, she meets Justin, the Emperor’s nephew.  Justin was really quite a surprising figure because I knew a little about him but his relationship with Theodora was just as fascinating as his politics.

Stephanie Thornton in her debut novel (as with all of her later novels) brings the ancient world to life.  The Byzantine empire comes to life in all of its glamorous and conversely gritty, horrific splendor.  There’s a very sharp contrast from the streets of the slums where Theodora lives as a teenager to the opulence of the imperial palace.  The world of the poor is far from glorious, that’s for sure, and again Thornton brings to life the hardships these people faced every single day without beating you over the head with the obvious stick.  As for historical accuracy, as with all of her novels Thornton does really well with the details while filling in some of the blank spots in the historical record with fairly plausible events.  It doesn’t help that our main source for the time, the one who wrote the original Secret History, hated Theodora with a passion.  I guess that just further demonstrates the ancient attitudes toward women as well as the attitudes of the rich toward the poor.

The plot is not fast-paced by any means, but it doesn’t exactly drag on and on like some novels.  We get enough of Theodora to enjoy the novel and enough background information to understand the times she lived in and appreciate just how incredible a woman she was to become Empress.  She isn’t perfect and sometimes makes some bad decisions in regards to her family and her relationships, but I honestly can’t fault her for that.  We all screw up sometimes and do things we regret.  Through it all—the intrigue, the family strife, the political and social upheavals—Theodora shines through as a woman utterly devoted to those she loves, even if she doesn’t always do the seemingly ‘right’ thing.  You can’t help but love a character like that.

Basically, I am so glad that I finally got my hands on a copy of The Secret History.  Theodora is one of my new favourite characters and I learned so much about the Byzantine Empire.  What more can you ask for in historical fiction?

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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Wars of the Roses: Stormbird by Conn Iggulden

Wars of the Roses Stormbird by Conn Iggulden(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Wars of the Roses: the brand new historical series from Conn Iggulden – internationally best-selling author of the Emperor and Conqueror series.

King Henry V – the great Lion of England – is long dead.

In 1437, after years of regency, the pious and gentle Henry VI, the Lamb, comes of age and accedes to the English throne. His poor health and frailty of mind render him a weakling king -Henry depends on his closest men, Spymaster Derry Brewer and William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, to run his kingdom.

Yet there are those, such as the Plantagenet Richard, Duke of York, who believe England must be led by a strong king if she is to survive. With England’s territories in France under threat, and rumours of revolt at home, fears grow that Henry and his advisers will see the country slide into ruin. With a secret deal struck for Henry to marry a young French noblewoman, Margaret of Anjou, those fears become all too real.

As storm clouds gather over England, King Henry and his supporters find themselves besieged abroad and at home. Who, or what can save the kingdom before it is too late?

I have to say that Stormbird really takes place in the civil unrest that leads up to the official War of the Roses.  It’s all about the weak rule of Henry VI sowing the seeds for discontent with the current regime and the rise of the Yorks as the sort of official opposition to the throne.  So it really sets up the war and we see the beginning of it, but we haven’t really gotten into the period that’s the most famous yet.

With that little preamble out of the way, I have to say that I really did enjoy pretty much all of the characters in this book.  They were all different in their own ways and they all had believable motivations and character arcs that made you want to know what happened to them.  Margaret of Anjou, typically the scheming evil queen in most stories about the period, came off as a devoted wife who tried to do the best she could for her country.  Henry VI is a pious, weak fool of course but he’s far more sympathetic than he’s usually portrayed, particularly during his descent into madness.  Yet I’d have to say my favourite character was Derry Brewer, the Machiavellian spymaster who tries his best to find and thwart any plots against the regime.  He’s a fascinating character and in some ways, I wish I had learned way more about him.

Oddly enough for Conn Iggulden, he manages to tell a good story (like with his Conqueror and Emperor series) but at the same time maintains a reasonable level of historical accuracy (unlike the two aforementioned series).  I’ve never really taken his books seriously because although I enjoyed them, they were quite inaccurate, but at the end of Stormbird I actually felt like I had learned something.  Lots of things in fact.  I don’t know all that much about English history but I know the main War of the Roses period quite well.  Except that Conn Iggulden brought to life the relatively obscure (in fiction at least) beginning of the war.  He definitely deserves praise for that.

One of the strengths and conversely the downsides of Stormbird is the fact that it encompasses so many different events.  You see things from Margaret of Anjou’s point of view as her marriage to Henry VI is being negotiated, you see the English rebellion against the French as their lands are being ceded, you’re at the forefront of the Jake Cade rebellion, etc.  He gives us such a sweeping view of the period and really brings home the point that ordinary people at the time were affected adversely by the machinations of their lords.  But in doing so, in trying to encompass such a wide range of events and times, Conn Iggulden also drops the ball occasionally.  What I mean by that is he drags the plot on in some places (Margaret’s marriage negotiations) while neglecting some very interesting events.  This tends to make the plot sag in the middle and even though it was a fascinating historical period, I had a really hard time slogging through it.  That’s unfortunate because Stormbird is otherwise a pretty decent book.

So here we have a reasonably historically accurate take on an obscure period with fascinating character portrayals that are far from the mainstream portrayals.  Conn Iggulden is an excellent storyteller and although the book does drag in the middle, overall the plot was fairly well paced.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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Novella: Hero, Cursed by Diantha Jones

Hero, Cursed by Diantha Jones(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Before he knew the Oracle.
Before he knew the Quad.
Before the Great Unknown threatened his world.
He was a hero, cursed forever.

Shunned by a family that doesn’t understand him, demigod Lenka Tahile aka “Swindle” is a complete loner and he likes it that way. Then he meets the hero, Ace Remedy, the brother of an infamous demigod Prince, and his life goes from bad to worse. Ace is loud, rude, and disruptive to his peaceful existence in every way. He’s also hilarious and daring, and Swindle ends up finding a friend just when he thought he’d never have another.

But little does he know, becoming friends with Ace was all part of the Fates’ plan. Now his past is slowly coming back to haunt him and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. Nothing but try not to bring to light the lost love, the failed hopes, and the cursed existence that he would kill to keep in the dark.

[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]

Just as a side note, this is book #3.5 in the Oracle of Delphi series so you do have to read Prophecy of Solstice’s End first unless you want to be disappointed by massive spoilers.

One of the characters that has always intrigued me the most in the Oracle of Delphi series (other than Chloe and Strafford) has been Swindle.  He’s the son of Hermes but was cursed because of Hermes’ decisions.  Lots of awful things that have happened to him are not his fault, but in Hero, Cursed we learn some about some awful things that were his fault and see how he carries the guilt around.

I loved not only getting to see how Swindle got involved in the Quad prior to the main series, but also some of his other lives, including as a member of the Argonauts with legends like Jason, Caster, Pollux and Atalanta.  His adventures with them were fascinating and when you compare how he was then to how he is in the modern era, you can definitely see that he is not the same every time he’s reincarnated.  He’s a totally different person but he retains some of his memories from his past lives, just enough to torture him.  I particularly liked seeing how he initially reacted to the curse; he took things far better than I would, that’s for sure.

Not only did we get to see Swindle fleshed out way more than he is in the main series, we get to learn a lot more about Apollo’s nefarious plans and how Swindle actually got involved in Chloe’s bodyguard.  I don’t want to give too terribly much away but needless to say that he’s not necessarily the most willing participant in Apollo’s schemes.  It will be interesting taking that knowledge into the fourth book Prophecy of the Betrayed Heir if only to see whether or not Swindle will defy Apollo and ignore his threats or keep his secrets and potentially harm his friends.

The plot was fast-paced and although the time frames jumped because of Swindle’s different lives, it was a very logical and clear flow.  We didn’t suddenly jump from Jason and the Argonauts to Swindle’s fateful dream as Inis.  No, the different time frames were clearly marked and the order they were put in was logical.  (I know I keep emphasizing that but logical flow is something that seems to be lacking from a lot of POV-swapping books.)  The plot advanced quickly but we were given information in little chunks throughout the novella so as not to slow it down.  There was no sudden info-dump anywhere, thankfully, and the cliffhanger at the ending was very intriguing.

Basically, Hero, Cursed is a great addition to the main Oracle of Delphi series and it has whetted my appetite for book four.  I can’t wait!

I give this novella 5/5 stars.

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Dreams of the Queen by Jacqueline Patricks

Dreams of the Queen by Jacqueline Patricks(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Dr. Cass Baros is haunted by dreams of an alien world…

…and will do anything to find it.

Relentlessly, she works her science team–along with her co-project leader and fiancé, Dr. Julian Saunders–in order to create the first lab-contained wormhole. Their boss, Dr. Janson, has a secret agenda. He adds a military contingent, which expands their six person team to twelve and increases tensions between the members. Egos will clash, agendas will cross, and their worlds will be undone as they travel through the wormhole.

The team, unable to return home and facing numerous dangers–conflicting desires, burning suns, cannibalistic monsters–is plunged into an adventure beyond their control. They struggle to unravel millennia old secrets in an alien world where nothing is what it seems. While Captain Lewis’ leadership strengthens, Cass deals with her destiny as the Brajj queen, and the Brajj, Jeamon, questions his lifelong beliefs and loyalties.

Cass and her team wrestle with her royal status to the Brajj, while being tossed between love and betrayal, genius and madness, and a jealousy frightening enough to cause the destruction of worlds.

*Rated Mature 18+* Science Fiction/Romance/Adventure/Aliens, zombies, romance, some time slipping and a wormhole all wrapped up in a mystery! (Serious sci-fi with a mature romance, violence, language, and some gore–this is not a fluffy bunny)

[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]

Dreams of the Queen is one of those books that you intend to sit down and read a few chapters but then you realize it’s three in the morning and you’ve just finished it.  It really sucks you in and doesn’t let you go.  I have to say that in my nearly three years of reviewing I have never read a book as unique as this one by Jacqueline Patricks.

Sure, on the surface it seems like Patricks has cooked up a pretty conventional “follow the wormhole to an alien world” story but it’s really anything but that.  The alien world is far from what it initially seems and there’s intrigue lurking around every corner.  No one (and I mean no one!) is as they seem in this story and everyone is hiding something: from Cass hiding her dreams from Julian, from Julian hiding the fact that he has a much darker side and all the way up to the Brajj king and his trusted lieutenant Jeamon.  When you compare it to lots of other stories, the characters aren’t the most sympathetic but in Jacqueline Patricks’ dark imagined world they are.  More importantly than being sympathetic, they are all very interesting characters.  You may not like all of them, but you do want to find out what happens so Dreams of the Queen ends up being a psychological thriller as much as it is an action/adventure novel.

As for the world-building, wow.  I really can’t describe things too much without giving away some of the plot twists, but the alien world Cass and the others land on seems to be a pretty stereotypical medieval-esque fantasy world.  When you get down to the guts of it, that’s far from true however.  The alien world hides it secrets well, even from its supposed queen.  One of the more fascinating features of the world was the zombie-ish creatures that attack the living out in the forest while the Brajj contingent brings Cass and the others back to the city.  They act like zombies, they look and smell like zombies, but they’re not the zombies that we really know from conventional stories.  They really do have a much more fascinating background; they’re not just there for the scare factor.

The characters and the world-building had a pretty high wow factor, so how was the plot?  Well, it was spectacular.  There’s really no other way to describe it.  Just when you think you know something is going to happen, it doesn’t.  You may be able to correctly predict a couple of the twists, but you won’t be able to predict the big, horrifying reveal at the end.  And that’s not really me being dramatic—it is horrific.  Jacqueline Patricks isn’t kidding in her blurb when she says it’s for 18+; trust me on this one.  This is a very dark science fiction/psychological thriller that will leave you breathless.  There’s never horror for horror’s sake, but many of the scenes in the book are nevertheless shocking.  It really fits in with the darker tone the story takes as it winds on, drawing you into it until there’s no hope of getting out until you finish it.

Like I said, I can’t really tell you much about Dreams of the Queen without giving away some of the amazing twists and turns that you’ll want to discover for yourself.  All I really can say is that the plot is not all that it seems, the characters are highly unique and believable and the world-building will wow you.  If you get a chance, go pick up this book.  It’s not for everyone, but if the blurb or my review has intrigued you I highly recommend it.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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First Daughter by Susan Kaye Quinn

First Daughter by Susan Kaye Quinn(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Skyships, saber duels, and lots of royal intrigue…

With the war begun, Aniri, Third Daughter of the Queen, has to battle not only a prince with a deadly skyship, but her own sister, the First Daughter, who finally sees her chance to become Queen. With their mother gravely ill and the Second Daughter kidnapped along with Aniri’s husband-to-be, Aniri embarks on a desperate mission to save the people she loves from a war that will tear all three countries apart.

First Daughter is the third book in the The Dharian Affairs Trilogy (Third Daughter, Second Daughter, First Daughter). This steampunk-goes-to-Bollywood (Bollypunk!) romance that takes place in an east-Indian-flavored alternate world filled with skyships, saber duels, and lots of royal intrigue. And, of course, kissing.

[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.]

For a series that I initially thought sounded kind of dumb, by the last book I was quite emotionally invested in all of the characters, particularly Aniri.  Susan Kaye Quinn has a real talent for bringing her steampunk (Bollypunk?) world to life and making us care about her characters.  That’s not common in any genre.

Of course I’ll start with the characters: I loved them.  Aniri really came into her own in First Daughter, what with her mother’s injury and her falling out with her own sister over their battle strategies and politics.  Nahali really didn’t come off as a good character at first, but when you realize that she’s only doing what all of us try to do, our best, it’s easier to sympathize with her.  She’s not perfect, but then again no one is, particularly when they’re in a leadership position and everyone feels free to criticize them but to not actually do anything about the problem.  I loved how Aniri matured and eventually realized that she had to try to see things from Nahali’s point of view as well, not just immediately dismiss her older sister.  Being able to compromise and understand someone is an important part of growing up and Aniri does a lot of that in this book.  It was really satisfying to see her huge transition, especially when you consider how she was in the first book.  She was never stupidly immature, but she lacked confidence in herself and in Ash, who also underwent some pretty awesome changes throughout the story.

The world-building in The Dharian Affairs Trilogy really is just amazing.  Susan Kaye Quinn did such a good job creating a society in the middle of an industrial revolution while still retaining much of its dependence on the old ways.  That’s why Dharia is so rich and is the most important of the three kingdoms: they’re not the most advanced, but they’re the breadbasket of the area.  Their farming allows them to grow rich, even though they don’t produce the amazing industrial advances that they do in Samir.  It was really interesting to see how that tension between the agrarian but rich Dharia and the industrial but relatively poor Samir play out.  The author really knows her politics because the tension plays out in a believable way and even though the book ends, you still get the feeling that maybe not all of the world’s problems were solved by out protagonist.  Shocking, I know!

This tension also contributed quite a bit to the plot, particularly the parts about the Samir rebellion.  Dharia is richer than Samir, but they don’t have the airship fleet of their smaller neighbour.  Can Aniri avert a deadly war, launched either by Samir’s second son or her own sister?  That’s pretty much the whole conflict of the book, but there are some interesting subplots that tie up loose ends we were introduced to in Third Daughter and Second Daughter.  And of course we get a little bit of romance between Aniri and Ash, although that’s far from the main focus of the story when they’re both trying to avert a potentially catastrophic war.  The plot also has so much political intrigue that it never really slows down and you’re left guessing what will happen next.  That was one of the really strong points of the book: you have to actually pay attention to the details because if you don’t, you’re going to miss out on so many good things.

Essentially, First Daughter was a good conclusion to the Dharian Affairs trilogy.  It tied up most of the loose ends without it seeming forced and therefore it left me feeling satisfied, which is something rare in a trilogy ending.  The characters were great, undergoing amazing changes; the plot was fast-paced and complex and the world-building was as good as ever.  You really can’t ask for more in a final book.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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