This lushly detailed historical novel tells the story of the tenth-century Byzantine princess Theophano, who ruled as Empress during the last days of the Roman Empire. Her story is told through the eyes of her companion and advisor, Aspasia, a widow and a royal princess in her own right. At 18 years old, Theophano is sent to become the wife of Otto II, the Holy Roman Emperor, and must win the devotion of her new husband and people. Meanwhile, Aspasia begins a dangerous love affair with Otto the Great's Moorish physician. When Otto II is unexpectedly killed in battle, leaving the kingdom to his infant son, the Empress Theophano must fight one of the greatest wars of succession of the Dark Ages to protect her realm from the throne's rival, Henry of Burgandy.
"Fully realized...with telling and authentic detail....The complicated politics of the time are handled with lucidity and color."-Booklist
Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, was the most powerful woman of the ancient Mediterranean, and the only person standing between Rome and its dominion over the world. She was wife to Julius Caesar, and bore his only son. After his death, she took his greatest general, Mark Antony, as her lover and consort-and as her partner in a vast political enterprise. Together, they strove to unite Egypt and Rome under one throne.
Throne of Isis shows us an extraordinary woman wielding the power to which she was born. Here is the Cleopatra who took the throne of Egypt and held it, despite Rome, for nearly thirty years. Here is the woman who spoke twelve languages, studied philosophy and the arts, and could debate with the greatest scholars of the age. Here is the woman who fell in love with a man she meant to use. And here is historical fiction at its best.
"[A] marvelously entertaining tapestry....[Tarr] never loses sight of the human side of history....Such memorable characters, settings, and situations make this a welcome addition to general fiction collections."-Booklist
This monumental novel of ancient Egypt is set during the turbulent reigns of the Pharaoh Akhenaten and his successors. The story unfolds through the eyes of Nofret, a slave girl, who comes to know more of the king and of his city than most.
Egypt's long history has no more mysterious reign than that of Akhenaten, disciple of the One God, the Aten. Akhenaten abolished the worship of all other gods in Egypt and built a city devoted to the Aten, ruling for a decade of increasing civil unrest. Without a son of his own, he was forced to accept his brother, Smenkhkare, as co-pharaoh.
Akhenaten died mysteriously, and the young boy-king Tutankhaten became co-pharaoh with Smenkhkare. Within a few months, much of the royal family was dead of plague, and Tutankhaten took the name by which he is known to history: Tutankhamon.
"Anna Fields's narration is consistently fresh, bringing immediacy to the novel's events....the hours fly by."-AudioFile
