Rating: 
Summary: Epic Mythology
Review: Queen of the Amazons is an incredible mythological journey that captures you and doesn't let go for 320 pages. The Amazons of legend are reborn here as a tribe of women in the time of Alexander the Great. These women live a nomadic, female dominated society. Queen Hippolyta, the current ruler has just given birth to a child. The story is told through the eyes of Selene, an Amazonian warrior and seer. Selene is bound to the current Queen's daughter called Etta. Etta is a soulless child. She does not have a spark of life in her. Her actions are instinctive and animal like. One morning, Etta slips away from the encampment on a journey. Selene, Queen Hippolyta, and a group of Amazons follow Etta on what they believe is a Goddess guided journey. Etta is drawn by an unseen force and eventually leads to Alexander the Great, the King of Asia. Selene, Queen Hippolyta, and Etta are forever changed by their exposure to Alexander and his male dominated world. This epic story has all the lyrical elements of a classic. Love, karma, fate, and political upheaval all come together in a climactic ending sure to be a surprise to the reader. The story transcends the male/female clash and instead focuses on the idea that our souls are genderless. Judith Tarr is the author of numerous historical fantasies. Lord of the Two Lands is her first book chronicling Alexander.
Rating: 
Summary: Seek out a copy of "Lord Of The Two Lands" instead!
Review: When I heard that Judith Tarr was writing another book involving Alexander the Great, I eagerly awaited its publication. Instead I found it a huge disappointment!! I enjoyed much of her first book about Alexander, "Lord Of The Two Lands", but her latest book is a sorry conclusion to her Alexander story. Her writing style comes across as forced and awkward, and the surprise twist that occurs two/thirds of the way through just made me groan and want to throw the book to the side. (Even though I saw that 'surprise' coming after the first few chapters, I had hoped I would be wrong and it would turn out to be a TRUE surprise, but no such luck!). I found this to be a ridiculous attempt at Alexander fiction, and such a great historical figure deserves better than to be such an insignificant character and no more than a goofy plot device. Skip this one and seek out her first Alexander novel for a much better read.
Rating:
Summary: Seek out a copy of "Lord Of The Two Lands" instead!
Review: When I heard that Judith Tarr was writing another book involving Alexander the Great, I eagerly awaited its publication. Instead I found it a huge disappointment!! I enjoyed much of her first book about Alexander, "Lord Of The Two Lands", but her latest book is a sorry conclusion to her Alexander story. Her writing style comes across as forced and awkward, and the surprise twist that occurs two/thirds of the way through just made me groan and want to throw the book to the side. (Even though I saw that 'surprise' coming after the first few chapters, I had hoped I would be wrong and it would turn out to be a TRUE surprise, but no such luck!). I found this to be a ridiculous attempt at Alexander fiction, and such a great historical figure deserves better than to be such an insignificant character and no more than a goofy plot device. Skip this one and seek out her first Alexander novel for a much better read.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written with effective Alexander the Great
Review: When the Amazon Queen's daughter is born without a soul, the Amazon tribes are torn. Some want to kill the child, but the Queen swears that, soul or not, her daughter will become queen. And Selene, a seer haunted by unwanted visions, volunteers to head the princess's bodyguards. Since the soulless child seems to soak off the effect of Selene's visions, it isn't a bad bargain--at first. Although the princess is soulless and cannot talk, she has a way with animals and weapons. When she takes off one day, Selene, the Queen, and the Queen's military leader follow--as the princess leads them to Alexander the Great. Alexander is in the midst of his world conquest. Unlike the soulless princess, his soul overflows his body and the princess is attracted to him to the point where the Macedonian warriors call her his dog. The princess seems happy but Selene's visions return and she sees Alexander dying young. What will happen then, expecially when the Queen also dies, is anyone's guess. Author Judith Tarr brings Alexander, his Macedonian soldiers and his Persian allies to life. Alexander's unquenchable appitite for more--more conquest, more wine, more fame--drives the story. In the hands of a writer as capable as Tarr, this verve and historical detail makes the story worth reading. For me, the book is weakened, however, by Selene's basic lack of a story goal and by the question of why the Goddess felt it necessary to create the soulless princess in the first place. I kept expecting some great deed that could only be accomplished by a princess without a soul--or a princess who had found a soul. But the resolution of the story, although exciting, didn't differ much from what could have been accomplished if the princess had been born with a soul and we'd never gone to visit Alexander in the first place.
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