MEH at it finest.

At this point, I'm convinced that the author hate Augustus so much, she make him as a whiny, paranoid but also perverted man. Far cry from the man that managed to turn Rome into Empire from Republic. I think maybe Headley want to show that deep inside Augustus (aka Octavian) regret his deeds against Cleopatra and Mark Antony, therefore result in their demise and Egypt become part of Rome, but it feel short. To make matter worse, Octavian desire Cleopatra, because at this point, who doesn't? Maybe only his general and also close friend, Marcus Agrippa that didn't.

Queen of Kings feels like a fanfic rather than imaginative retelling, feature Cleopatra as a vampire after she summoned Sekhmet in order to win the war. At first, the story feel unique, but its slowly become a slog to continue reading and I find myself skimming some part. Almost all men characters (exclude Agrippa and the Psylii named Esum) desire Cleopatra, including the lowly soldier, although only Antony that loved her. But even Antony was recoiled to see how Cleopatra had become although he kinda amend that in the latest story. But, was Antony die in the early part of the story? Nah, you will find it later, if you manage to read until the end. I did.

Two stars because I manage to read this mess until the end and actually I appreciated the way Headley woven some mythology into this book and not only Egypt and Greek, but also some Norse myth and Psylii lore too. I just, didn't care enough for the story and also the characters. A pity, because this book have so many potentials and I read in the author's acknowledgment that she plan to make Cleopatra's vampire story into trilogy. But, well, there's no trilogy in the future so Cleopatra's ending in this book is left open.