The Crook and Flail The SheKing (Audible Audio Edition) L M Ironside Amanda C Miller Libbie M Grant Books
Download As PDF : The Crook and Flail The SheKing (Audible Audio Edition) L M Ironside Amanda C Miller Libbie M Grant Books
The son of the god must take her rightful place on Egypt's throne.
Hatshepsut longs for power, but she is constrained by her commitment to maat - the sacred order of righteousness, the way things must be. Her mother claims Hatshepsut is destined for Egypt's throne - not as the king's chief wife, but as the king herself, despite her female body. But a woman on the throne defies maat, and even Hatshepsut is not so bold as to risk the safety of the Two Lands for her own ends.
As God's Wife of Amun, she believes she has found the perfect balance of power and maat, and has reconciled herself to contentment with her station. But even that peace is threatened when the powerful men of Egypt plot to replace her. They see her as nothing but a young woman, easily used for their own ends and discarded. But she is the son of the god Amun, and neither her strength nor her will can be so easily discounted.
As the machinations of politics drive her into the hands of enemies and the arms of lovers, onto the battlefield and into the childbed, she comes face to face with maat itself - and must decide at last whether to surrender her birthright to a man, or to take up the crook and flail of the Pharaoh, and claim for herself the throne of the king.
The Crook and Flail The SheKing (Audible Audio Edition) L M Ironside Amanda C Miller Libbie M Grant Books
I'm going to be honest: When I judged this book by its cover (yeah yeah...), I thought it was going to be garbage. I figured it was going to be either over the top romance bordering on porn, like many disappointing historical novels I've read, or it was going to be some editor's nightmare full of errors like other independently published books I've attempted to read.No, this is not bland ancient Egyptian erotica, and it is very well written and edited. I love historical fiction, and this book hit the spot. I was completely immersed in the story and wanted to continue living in the fantasy world created by the author, so logically bought the sequel.
This book changed my perception of independently published novels, and was a completely enjoyable read that I couldn't put down.
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The Crook and Flail The SheKing (Audible Audio Edition) L M Ironside Amanda C Miller Libbie M Grant Books Reviews
To me, Hatshepsut is one of the most fascinating women in history. She ruled Ancient Egypt at the height of its power. First alone, then as co-ruler with her step-son (possibly nephew) Thutmose III. There's growing evidence that shows she may have ruled the country in her brother/husband Thutmose II's name.
This volume is The She-King saga covers the reign of Thutmose II. Again, sibling rivalry is at the forefront of the story, but it pits Hatshepsut against those who would use Thutmose II for their own poilitcal agenda. Ironside not only brings in the old speculation that Hatshepsut's vizier Senemut was also her lover (I'm in that camp; for a man of Senemut's standing not to be married insinuates a lot), but suggests she is bisexual. The scenes between Hatshepsut and Iset are sweet and tender as the queen tries to protect the girl from the machinations of her own family.
Ironside's detailed research shows as well. The worship of Aten existed long before Ahkenaten's time, and the writer uses the political battle between one of Egypt's governors, a follower of Aten, and Hatshepsut, a follower of Amun, to foreshadow the purge during the Amarna Period.
All-in-all a terrific story that I highly recommend.
Hatshepsut is 13 years old, the only living child of Pharaoh Thutmose and his consort the regent and God's Wife, Ahmose. Although she is young, it is time for her to assume her throne...but the rest of Egypt is resistant to a female child becoming Pharaoh despite what Ahmose insists about Hatshepsut having 9 kas, 8 male and 1 female. So to keep ma'at, Hatshepsut agrees to marry Thutmose II, the son of Thutmose and his concubine, Mutnofret (her half brother). But Hatshepsut is unhappy, and there's trouble a brewin' in Waset.
A thing I've been harping on lately is what makes a story, be in movie, TV show, comic or book, effective. To quote from my recent review from "Company of Liars"
"Lately, I keep talking about what makes successful stories. Hint it's not a particular character or storyline or setting. It's much, much simpler than that it's an author who brings to life a character with hopes, dreams, strengths and weaknesses and sets him or her loose in a well realized world. Such simple words, but really when you break down some of the most successful, engaging stories at least I've come across, the reasons they are so good can be boiled in that one sentence. And stories that fail do so because they break that rule the characters are half realized, the setting is weak, the plot dictates the story to the extent that characters have to break their own morality and rules in order to make the plot work."
"The Crook and Flail" is an example of what could have been a good story that is marred by wafer-thin characters, overly simplistic storylines, and a lack of atmosphere.
On one hand, "The Crook and Flail" improves on the setting and writing, spending several passages in the early portions of the novel creating the palace and setting the mood. However, the rest of the novel feels like a merry-go-round on steroids - flying round and round with little attention to anything outside the scant few characters who are absolutely necessary for the next plot element.
The whole thing feels incredibly manufactured. Characters don't behave in ways that feel genuine to their personality; on the whole, no one has personality because there's not enough time to gain personality beyond the couple of words and phrases. Who is Hatshepsut? Who is Senenmut? Who is Iset and Thutmose and Ankkhor and Ahmose? I don't really know - Hatshepsut is brash, Senenmut is nuts for Hatshepsut (even when he is 24 and she is 13 - here we go again with the romanticizing the grooming of an underage woman!), Thutmose II is spoiled, Iset likes to sing, Ankkhor is a bad man...but that's merely an adjective, that's not a descriptor of a person. What does Hatshepsut want in life? (Well beyond the lovers she takes or the general desire for ma'at.) What does Senenmut? I don't feel connected to any of those names; the characters could have been called Jane, Michael, Mary and Stanley for all the connection they had.
So instead of an author creating these vivid characters and setting them loose in this beautiful world, the story ends up being things just happen in the book and the various ways the author plugs the holes. The Head Priest doesn't like Hatshepsut? Oh don't worry, the priestesses like her, so she's safe. Ankkhor is planning something nasty? Oh don't worry, Hatshpesut and her guard can storm his home and keep him in line for a few years. Hatshepsut is pregnant with someone else's baby? Oh don't worry, Hatshepsut can skip to Thutmose II and convince him and his harem (a fact that STILL confounds me) that she slept with him, even though she didn't.
This sort of thing happens every time there's a plot thread dropped - as soon as we learn about it, it's neatly tied up. Hatshepsut likes Iset - no biggie, Iset will become Hatshepsut's fanbearer and no one will be the wiser that the two are doing the dirty on the side. What? Where are the stakes? If a plot thread will be wrapped up in green paper and cinched with a gold bow within a page of it appearing, why would a reader care what happens? We know Hatshepsut's position is safe because the priestesses told us. Hatshepsut freaking out seems pointless and over the top. There's no drama in Hatshepsut taking a lover because apparently, fanbearers regularly pleasure their mistresses and no one cares.
This is what made this book a disappointment to read and a chore. It didn't matter what new event happened next; the names (because calling these people characters is a stretch) would find whatever Plot Hole Tape they needed to patch the problem, and we are off to the next problem lickety-split. There's not enough time to build excitement or tension or intrigue; we have plots to drop in.
Which is another key point the length. This book is about 277 pages, which feels both too long and too short. Given what the author tried to cover, this could have easily been doubled. And yet, when I was reading it, I was constantly thinking, "Are we there yet?"
Oddly enough, although this is the sequel, I think this book is not as good as "The Sekhmet Bed" for the key fact that we got to know Ahmose pretty thoroughly and understood her feelings. I felt more connection to Ahmose and her story than I ever did to Hatshepsut and her story. I was intrigued to know what would happen next to Ahmose; I never felt that way to Hatshepsut.
For that reason, I am going to part ways with this particular series, even though there is a third and fourth book detailing Hatshepsut's life. I sincerely hate to do this to an indie author; I have absolutely no ill will to Libby Hawker at all and hope she is successful and continues to write more books (people who keep buying Laurell K Hamilton redirect your funds to Libby Hawker!). Perhaps people will read my review and go, "Crystal, you are a mean harpy; stfu and just enjoy something". Fine; that's why I will leave this series alone. I tried two of the four books and didn't care for them; I'll find something else to enjoy, as life is too short to waste it on books you are not enjoying. I would be interested in checking out Hawker's later books, to see if some of the problems I had were remedied or not; my one regret is that I didn't like this more than I did as I sincerely wanted to.
This is the second of L.M. Ironside's novels about the women of Ancient Egypt. This one tells the story of the great Egyptian Pharaoh Hapshetsut, a powerful woman who seized the throne and held it for decades, leaving a remarkable legacy of peace and order, as well as a Renaissance of Egyptian Art and Architecture. On her death, the powers that hated having to endure female rule effaced her memory, by literally destroying all images and words referring to her. Ironside's previous novel The Sekhmet Bed told an imaginative history of how Hapshetsut came to be positioned for the crown, following the lives of her mother Ahmose and Aunt Mutofret. Though that novel is mostly fantasy, both books pay such meticulous attention to the details of daily life, and are so well rendered, that the reader feels as if she's had a total immersion experience. It's hard to believe Ironside couldn't find a publisher for these excellent books. Thank goodness we now have the internet to give us a direct line to good literature instead of having to content ourselves with the vapid trash that makes it through the publishing process these days.
I'm going to be honest When I judged this book by its cover (yeah yeah...), I thought it was going to be garbage. I figured it was going to be either over the top romance bordering on porn, like many disappointing historical novels I've read, or it was going to be some editor's nightmare full of errors like other independently published books I've attempted to read.
No, this is not bland ancient Egyptian erotica, and it is very well written and edited. I love historical fiction, and this book hit the spot. I was completely immersed in the story and wanted to continue living in the fantasy world created by the author, so logically bought the sequel.
This book changed my perception of independently published novels, and was a completely enjoyable read that I couldn't put down.
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