When We Were Gods : A Novel of Cleopatra

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: ... especially when compared with "The Memoirs of Cleopatra," as so many people are doing. This book has some characterizations I did like -- namely, Caesarion as a spoiled palace brat and Antyllus as an insecure, awkward teen -- but the rest of it seems pretty lacking. Half the book seems to be sex scenes that might as well have come from some trashy teen romance novel, and Antony and Cleopatra are just too one-dimensional to be enjoyable. Check this one out from the library first, or borrow it from somebody, before you spend money on it.

Rating:
Summary: Read this one AND Margaret George
Review: Although The Memoirs of Cleopatra is my ALL time favorite book of the Queen of Egypt, I have to admit that this is a very good book.
My advice would be to spread these reads apart. Whichever one you read first you will take as GOSPEL for a very long time so read one, read a lot of books in between, and then read the other.

Rating:
Summary: Read this one AND Margaret George
Review: Although The Memoirs of Cleopatra is my ALL time favorite book of the Queen of Egypt, I have to admit that this is a very good book.
My advice would be to spread these reads apart. Whichever one you read first you will take as GOSPEL for a very long time so read one, read a lot of books in between, and then read the other.

Rating:
Summary: a blatant margaret george [copy]
Review: How to describe this...?

The words stilted, one-dimensional, ... come to mind. Oh, make no mistake -his prose is pretty interesting, but it ultimately falls out in character development. His characters come off as caricatures (Cleopatra as a sexette, Caesar as a barbaric sugardaddy, Mark Anthony as a buffoon, etc) speaking in soap-opera dialogue, and the better descriptions are heavily borrowed from Margaret George's "Memoirs of Cleopatra". The latter is a MUCH better book -longer, but more interesting. If you're in a limbo over which to read, pick the second.

Rating:
Summary: Curiously Cold
Review: I would think it difficult to take a book about one of the splashiest romances in world history and render it as emotionless as the paper it was written on, but Colin Falconer unfortunately does that here.

Contrary to what other reviewers have said, the research was fairly good in this book. There are going to be inadvertent anachronisms and such, but there's quite a bit of scholarship that shows through. I think it was brave of the author to explore some controversial historical ambiguities, like the idea that Octavian may have wanted Cleopatra to commit suicide. I enjoyed, even if I didn't agree with, some of his interpretations of events. It was a well-considered book.

But it also seemed to borrow heavily from Margaret George's _Memoirs of Cleopatra_, without ever capturing the heart and soul she puts into the characters. Colin Falconer's Cleopatra is cold and distant, from her lovers, and from her readers. We never know her, we never understand her, and we never really like her.

The same can be said for Caesar and Antony, whose portrayals are repellant. If this had been a book from Octavian's perspective, one might understand the emotional evisceration, but it's a book meant to humanize Cleopatra--in that, I think it fails.

Rating:
Summary: Smart, sexy and incredibly entertaining!
Review: I've read several fictional works about Cleopatra so I wasn't sure I really wanted to read another. But the beautiful jacket pulled me in and the writing didn't disappoint either! Colin Falconer writes with a modern flair that doesn't detract from the rich historical setting (his detail, by the way, is well-researched and beautifully rendered). I actually found the characters to be marvellously believable and touching, which is not easy for a male writer writing about a female character.

I read a lot of historical fiction and this is one of the best new retellings of the ancient Egypt and Rome saga to come along in many years. I will recommend it to my friends.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest romances the world has ever known
Review: Keeping in mind that "When We Were Gods" is a fictional account of the life of Cleopatra, I found Falconer's story utterly fascinating. He mixes in just the right amount of historical fact to keep the story line plausible, but also adds enough drama and action to keep it moving along as well. In another light, this book could be considered the tale of one of the greatest romances the world has ever known. If you enjoy reading about strong women, I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Read Margaret George!!!
Review: Mr. Falconer's work had some imaginative dialogue, but overall, I was very disappointed with this novel. As a student of Roman history, I found his Julius Caesar and Octavian to be the most accurate and his Octavia to be the most uplifting. However, I felt that many of the other characters had major flaws. Cleopatra was just TOO cold and unappealing. Such a woman would not have captivated the two most powerful men of her day. I can perhaps percieve Fulvia as a shrew....but Calpurnia? It was almost as though Falconer had something AGAINST a few of the characters in his book. As for Caesarion's character, Falconer had me CHEERING for Octavian by the end! But the WORST was poor Antony! Granted, the man was probably an alcoholic (many people were back then), but great day! Did Falconer forget that most of what we know about him was written by his ENEMIES?! Also, Antony could not have been the wine-soaked fool his book portrayed him as. He was a man who had elevated himself under Caesar's "tight-ship" command, and went on to be a fine general in his own right. Lastly, I found the sex scenes unappealing and unnecessary, lowering the story-line to the level Octavian would have always wanted. Granted....sex WAS involved, but adults have imaginations! And, for those of us who read Margaret George's EXCELLENTLY researched novel, "The Memoirs of Cleopatra", I sensed Falconer mirroring too many of her ideas in particular scenes: ex. the feast at Caesar's, and the party in Rome mocking her country. Readers, for a much better attempt at constructing the world of Cleopatra, turn to Margaret George!

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat Disappointing
Review: This looked fairly interesting when picked up. Before I started, I spotted that the back of the novel contained a Q&A with the author which claimed that the aim of the novel was to produce a story based on fact rather than myth or fiction set against the Roman Empire - ignore the fact that this is incorrect. The Roman Empire began after Cleopatra's death.
It disappointed on so many levels. The characterisation of the main protagonists - Caesar, Octavian, Anthony, Cleopatra - and the supporting Roman and Alexandrian characters was as far removed from historical fact of any Cleopatra novel I have read.
Caesar comes across as a monarchy-obsessed philanderer, Anthony as permanently drunk yet with a Herculean disposition and Cleopatra herself as a naive girl trying to manipulate the greatest politicans of the time. The depiction of Rome was also somewhat startling.
There seemed to be an application of twenty-first century morality to this ancient society which was equally unrealistic and the author made several historically inaccurate mistakes.
The novel reads well and you can get through it at a fair pace and it possesses that 'gripping' edge to ensure you keep going.
But it is not historically accurate at all and on that level it comes somewhere at the bottom of any recommended list of the genre. It is actually a good historical fantasy.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific historical novel
Review: This novel has been overlooked, and that’s too bad. Colin Falconer recreated ancient Egypt and Rome with a vibrancy that cannot be attained in a biography. Most of what we know about Cleopatra was written by her enemies, and so has to be read with skepticism. Falconer fanaticizes about her as a woman. This tale treats her with a respect lacking in the "histories" and most other historic novels about Cleopatra. What a remarkable women. So young, with so many enemies and no one to trust!

I am somewhat startled by the Book Description ...but then I realized that most of it was taken from the back of the book. So much of this hype does not represent the wonderful novel inside the covers. Cleopatra did not inherit “ the richest empire in the world”; she inherited a contested claim to share the throne of Egypt with her younger brother Ptolemy. Her father was deeply in debt to Rome for his throne. Cleopatra did not “brazenly” seek “a partnership with the only man who could secure Egypt’s safety.” She was smuggled into Alexandria to meet Julius Caesar in the hope of staying alive and on the throne, and maintaining some semblance of an independent Egypt.

This is a wonderful historical novel that combines the best of historic fact with the imagination needed to reconstruct ancient characters. I highly recommend “When We Were Gods”.