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Rating: 
Summary: Bleeecccch !
Review: Before buying consider your position on romance novels because my library has this appropriately categorized with other romance novels such as "kiss in the night". Awful, awful book.
Rating:
Summary: Such a waste of time!!
Review: If a new author had been trying to get this book published they would not have succeeded. It's only because Judith Tarr is firmly established in the biz that "Queen of the Amazons" made it to print. It's quite dreadful and tedious, and not up to her usual quality. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it never did. To fans of Alexander the Great, BEWARE! He is only a very minor character, and what Tarr does to his character just past mid-way is one of the silliest things I have read in fiction in many years. It had me rolling my eyes and groaning. I nearly didn't finish the book because of it, and I really wish I hadn't finished, as the ending was rushed and chopped off and not worth the journey there. I hate to think of all the talented new writers of Alexander fiction who just can't get a break from publishers because those publishers are content with churning out junk like this and unwilling to take a chance on someone untested.For much better Alexander the Great/historical fiction, check out Mary Renault's books. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Such a waste of time!!
Review: If a new author had been trying to get this book published they would not have succeeded. It's only because Judith Tarr is firmly established in the biz that "Queen of the Amazons" made it to print. It's quite dreadful and tedious, and not up to her usual quality. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it never did. To fans of Alexander the Great, BEWARE! He is only a very minor character, and what Tarr does to his character just past mid-way is one of the silliest things I have read in fiction in many years. It had me rolling my eyes and groaning. I nearly didn't finish the book because of it, and I really wish I hadn't finished, as the ending was rushed and chopped off and not worth the journey there. I hate to think of all the talented new writers of Alexander fiction who just can't get a break from publishers because those publishers are content with churning out junk like this and unwilling to take a chance on someone untested. For much better Alexander the Great/historical fiction, check out Mary Renault's books. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Judith Tarr never disappoints me. I appreciate her writing style more than anything in so much as she has the ability to completely draw you in, paint a picture in your mind and hold you there until you've turned the last page without being overly descriptive, too flowery and causing your eyes to glaze over. This is a wonderfully imaginative story the blends fantasy with historical fact. Nothing grabs my attention like tales of the Amazons and throwing Alexander the Great in there is a complete bonus in my estimation. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and loves to become mentally transported to a magical time when anything is possible. I look forward to any of her next works with great anticipation.
Rating:
Summary: engaging historical fantasy
Review: Queen Hippolyta rules over the Amazon tribes. Though she is quite young and healthy, she is concerned over the succession to the throne as that has always come down through matriarchal lines. Her female progeny is born soulless causing fear among the toughest of these female warriors. Unable to name a creature without a soul many of the tribeswomen led by the queen's cousin Phaedra believe "that thing" dubbed Etta must die as even animals are named. She must never sit on the throne. Hippolyta differs and proclaims Etta as her successor as she expects the infant to one day gain a soul. Years later Etta still remains within herself as a soulless person is apt to be. However, word has arrived that a great army led by Alexander is coming. Shockingly Etta reacts and flees into t he night towards the camp of the great Macedonian with Hippolyte following. Neither mother nor daughter knows what awaits them when they reach Alexander's camp, but the Queen prays to the Goddess that her child's sudden obsession means a soul awaits her. QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS is an engaging historical fantasy that hooks the reader the moment the seer informs Hippolyte that her daughter has no soul. The somewhat simplistic story line never slows down gripping the audience who will keep reading to learn what happens when two amazons encounter Alexander. Will Etta obtain a soul at last, and how will Phaedra avenge her exile? With a few neat twists to the tale to add spice, sub-genre fans will appreciate Judith Tarr's latest tale that takes the reader back to an already successful Alexander conquering the world. Harriet Klausner
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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