Book Review: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
E-Book, 528 pages
William Morrow
June 6, 2017
★★★★★

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Personal Collection

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth ...no matter where it leads.

I have been a HUGE fan of Kate Quinn’s throughout her writing career having read almost all of her works (still trying to find time to finish Empress of the Seven Hills and start The Lion and the Rose). Her heroines always have this spunk and sass to them, that comes through when you meet the author as well, that instantly draws me to them. I’ve been a bigger fan of her novels set in the ancient world and had hesitantly taken interest in The Alice Network only because it is SO far removed from the era that I think Quinn excels in. The time period between and surrounding the World Wars hasn’t traditionally been my thing and I haven’t openly embraced it despite the shift in interest of the publishing houses to this arena lately. However, after hearing from successive bookish friends and bloggers just how much they loved The Alice Network, and finding myself with a big gaping hole in my reviewing schedule, I jumped at the opportunity to pick up a copy and get to it!

Each chapter alternates between the WWI period told from the perspective of Eve and the immediate post WWII period told from that of Charlie. There are parallels that can be drawn here between these ladies who are similarly aged but seemingly so different for so much of the book, however deep down, they are more alike than they realize. For awhile I was much more into the Charlie chapters. While I loved the behind-the-lines, spy storyline of Eve’s, I felt that Charlie’s internal narrative was more of a personal struggle and I loved watching her grow over the story. I also loved that Charlie’s narrative is where the pieces start to come together and resolve.

The characters were all fabulous. Eve is so unusual a heroine, but that would be why she was so effective a spy: she was easy to overlook, but she had so much going on under the hood and she was passionate and daring. She gave up so much of herself for something so much bigger than herself. Charlie is a girl in trouble, but also a girl on a mission. She is trying to redeem herself and escape from the shadow of her parents expectations and money. This makes her and Eve such a hilarious foil of each other. And throw Finn into the mix and they are one interesting road trippin’ trio. Really, I found Finn to be one of the only truly likable male characters, despite his background, and I LOVED his character development throughout the story and how he effected the other two ladies. And his relationship with his car is something else! This trio was phenomenal to read.

Kate’s writing is always fun to read and she throws in some humorous scenes throughout, even little moments that just take the edge off some of the deeper, more tension fraught scenes.

I very rarely read a book a second time (has only happened twice) or own a book in multiple formats, but simply based off my enjoyment of the book and the sample of the audio I have listened to, I am very interested in going through this one again as an audiobook (I also might need to get it in print because…deckle edge!!)

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Flashlight Commentary
• Literary Quicksand

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Kate Quinn:

Mistress of Rome (Empress of Rome Book 1)
[My Review]

Daughters of Rome (Empress of Rome Book 2)
[My Review]

Empress of the Seven Hills (Empress of Rome Book 3)

The Three Fates (Empress of Rome Book 3.5)

Lady of the Eternal City (Empress of Rome Book 4)
[My Review]

The Serpent and the Pearl (The Borgias #1)
[My Review]

The Lion and the Rose (The Borgias #2)

A Song of War (Short Story Collaboration)
[My Review]

A Day of Fire (Short Story Collaboration)
[My Review]

A Year of Ravens (Short Story Collaboration)
[My Review]

Find Kate Quinn: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Cover Crush: The Alice Network

 

We can all say that you should never judge a book by its cover, but I guarantee that we all have done so at least once! Cover Crush is designed to feature some of those covers that have caught the eye as a standout on the bookshelf.

You know what this cover says to me? The woman is thinking, “screw it, I don’t care if there’s a war, I’m off to [insert locale here]”.  She’s going anywhere else but where she is at.  I love the foggy, blurry nature of the cover – how you can tell where it is set but only just barely.  I can’t wait to actually read this one, love Kate Quinn and can’t wait to see where she goes with a more modern timeline.

What are your thoughts on this cover?

I wonder what my friends are crushing on this week? Let’s check it out: 2 Kids and Tired Books, A Bookaholic Swede, Layered Pages, A Literary Vacation, Of Quills and Vellum.   

 

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: A Song of War by Kate Quinn, Christian Cameron, Libbie Hawker, Vicky Alvear Shecter, Russell Whitfield, Stephanie Thornton, and S.J.A. Turney

A Song of War: A Novel of Troy
by Kate Quinn, Christian Cameron, Libbie Hawker, Vicky Alvear Shecter, Russell Whitfield, Stephanie Thornton, and S.J.A. Turney
ARC, e-book & paperback, 428 pages
Knight Media, LLC
October 18, 2016
★★★★ ½☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Short Stories

Source: Received for review with HF Virtual Book Tours

Troy: city of gold, gatekeeper of the east, haven of the god-born and the lucky, a city destined to last a thousand years. But the Fates have other plans—the Fates, and a woman named Helen. In the shadow of Troy's gates, all must be reborn in the greatest war of the ancient world: slaves and queens, heroes and cowards, seers and kings . . . and these are their stories.

A young princess and an embittered prince join forces to prevent a fatal elopement.

A tormented seeress challenges the gods themselves to save her city from the impending disaster.

A tragedy-haunted king battles private demons and envious rivals as the siege grinds on.

A captured slave girl seizes the reins of her future as two mighty heroes meet in an epic duel.

Grizzled archer and a desperate Amazon risk their lives to avenge their dead.

A trickster conceives the greatest trick of all.
A goddess' son battles to save the spirit of Troy even as the walls are breached in fire and blood.

Seven authors bring to life the epic tale of the Trojan War: its heroes, its villains, its survivors, its dead. Who will lie forgotten in the embers, and who will rise to shape the bloody dawn of a new age?

When I heard that the H Team was going to be coming out with a collection about the Trojan War as best known from The Illiad, I was ecstatic. The first two collections that they released, A Day of Fire and A Year of Ravens, were top reads for me in their respective years – so I knew this one would be good. Secondly, while I haven’t read The Illiad, I LOVE The Odyssey and looked forward to reading more related to this storyline. And finally, I loved seeing that Stephanie Thornton was taking part this time as I have enjoyed all of her novels set in the ancient world.

First I want to talk a little about each story before discussing the collection as a whole.

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The Apple by Kate Quinn

Kate Quinn had potentially one of the most difficult sections of this greater story arc; not only does her story set the scene and tone for the rest of the book, but there also isn’t a lot of action here as the whole thing is just beginning. For the most part, I think she did an admirable job. We meet the majority of the characters that will be fleshed out later in the book, particularly the significant sons of Priam, King of Troy. I quickly disliked Paris and found Hector to be among my favorite characters throughout. There was a complete story arc present here and there was a pretty great confrontation scene toward the end. I appreciated the dual narrators of Andromache and Hellenus because they gave us both the male and female insight into the wedding activities of Odysseus and Penelope and all of the behind the scenes drama that ensued. This story also takes place in the Achaean lands and we are introduced to the life in Sparta, which contrasts starkly with the life in Troy.

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The Prophecy by Stephanie Thornton

Stephanie Thornton brings us into the world of Troy, however from a somewhat limited perspective of Cassandra. Seeing as she has visions of the future, you might wonder why I say she is limited – this is due to the fact that no one listens to her and she leads a very lonely existence within the palace at Troy. Cassandra is often viewed as a mad-woman, but her presentation here really makes you question whether she is mad or the world around her is. Cassandra is dark and tormented and such a different character than the majority that we will see in this book. This chapter, even more than the first, made me really dislike Helen; she is not some woman who just sits around and lets things happen to her, she causes havoc on her own.

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The Sacrifice by Russell Whitfield

Russell Whitfield bounces the reader back to the Achaean camp and presents us with an Agamemnon that I felt a little sorry for. As we are seeing his life and this war through his own eyes it helps to humanize him a little bit as he makes sense of what he is doing. One of the things that helped me like him a little bit was how he was presented against Achilles. The two of them are very different people, present themselves in different ways, and approach war from entirely opposing perspectives. Whitfield makes us feel with Agamemnon for all the stress of being the high king in a war full of heroes. While I didn’t like him, I understood him better.

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The Duel by Christian Cameron

This was a section of the story that made me quite sad as it is the duel between Achilles and Hector. This is so full of passion and action. I disliked Achilles, he is so full of pride, but he has been hurt to the core during this war too. On the other hand, I loved Hector; he was even-keeled, disliked Helen and Paris for bringing all this destruction with them, but is a powerful warrior. The battle between these two iconic men of their respective sides was a scene I couldn’t tear my eyes from. Despite this being a vastly masculine story element, it is seen from the eyes of a female perspective of Briseis – someone who was once a Trojan but has come to love Achilles, which gives her an interesting perspective. A powerful, powerful story.

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The Bow by Libbie Hawker

This is another scene told from a dual perspective spanning the two camps: Penthesilea of the Amazons and Philoctetes. Philoctetes was another one of the characters that I loved in this novel, while Penthesilea was one that I wasn’t a huge fan of. With Penthesilea I didn’t feel like I really knew much about her at all. She wasn’t a character that I had been introduced to previously in this book and she just shows up full of grief. I think I would have liked to have known more about what her life was like prior to arriving at Troy; we see glimpses of it, but I felt a little cheated in getting to know her, unlike the other characters. I didn’t care about the choices she made or what would happen to her, but her battle with Achilles was powerful and a game changer for his character. Speaking of Achilles, Philoctetes influenced him in a different way and vice versa. He was a friend and fellow hero, and he loved Achilles even when it didn’t appear to have been reciprocated. He was extremely refreshing, especially contrasting with Penthesilea who I did not enjoy as much.

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The Horse by Vicky Alvear Shecter

I can’t even begin to describe how much I loved the character of Odysseus as written here by Vicky Alvear Shecter! He showed up in several of the chapters in just small doses and I enjoyed each of those moments for the wit of his character and his wiles in the face of the other heroes who were all about direct battle. In his own chapter I was treated to even more of the fun of this man. His manner of speech was oftentimes hilarious and I loved his interactions with Diomedes. Based on her writing of this character I would LOVE to see her take on an interpretation of The Odyssey as I think I would really enjoy her presentation of him taking on all of his epic struggles to get home. In this story, Odysseus brings us closer to the ultimate fall of Troy, and while I found myself identifying with the Trojans more, I couldn’t help but cheer every time Odysseus succeeded where many expected him to fail. Best story of the collection in my opinion, hands down.

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The Fall by S.J.A. Turney

As with the opener, Turney has one of the difficult sections in that everything needs to be tied together, and I think that was accomplished here. Aeneas is one of the last of the Trojans and he has been in and out of chapters since the first one so I was happy to have a face closing it out that I knew and actually liked. I think it had to be a truly likable character here because you needed to feel the pain of the fall of Troy. Aeneas exemplifies that not only in what he loses but also because he tries so hard to keep the inevitable from happening, even when he knows it will happen anyway. It leaves the reader with some hope, a slight positive note in a serious chapter. Many of the characters we have gotten to know throughout the novel (those still alive anyway) make some recurrences here and everything felt in place.

---

Overall

Most of these stories worked well and I loved seeing some fan favorites but also some characters that were new to me as well; it helped keep a very old story new and fresh. I had always identified with the Greeks in retellings of this story, but here I found myself favoring the Trojans – it’s amazing what a gifted writer can do with your emotions! I loved digging into some of the deeper history around this time too, much more than you get from Homer and I thought that leaning Troy more toward the way of the Near East was more realistic than toward the Greeks and it helped to create a little line of friction between the two sides. As I stated before, Odysseus in the hands of Shecter blew me away and I find it hard to believe that she struggled to write him as he appears flawless.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Unabridged Chick
• Flashlight Commentary

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by the H Team:

The H Team is a loose collection of historical fiction authors that unite to write short story collections. Some of the authors previously collaborated for the following books:

A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii
By Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, E. Knight, Sophie Perinot, Kate Quinn, and Vicky Alvear Shecter
[My Review]

A Year of Ravens: A Novel of Boudica’s Rebellion
By Ruth Downie, Stephanie Dray, E. Knight, Kate Quinn, Vicky Alvear Shecter, S.J.A. Turney, and Russell Whitfield
[My Review]

Find The H Team: Facebook

Follow the Tour!

HFVBT Website
On Twitter: # ASongofWarBlogTour #HTeam

Tour Wide Giveaway!

To win a paperback copy of A Song of War: A Novel of Troy by the H Team, please enter via the Gleam form below.  Please note, if you have questions to contact the HFVBT coordinator as I am not involved with this giveaway.

Rules

• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on November 12th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open to US & Canada residents only.
• Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

Good luck!

A Song of War

Copyright © 2016 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: A Year of Ravens: A Novel of Boudica’s Rebellion by Ruth Downie, Stephanie Dray, E. Knight, Kate Quinn, Vicky Alvear Shecter, S.J.A. Turney, and Russell Whitfield

A Year of Ravens: A Novel of Boudica’s Rebellion by
Ruth Downie, Stephanie Dray, E. Knight, Kate Quinn, Vicky Alvear Shecter, S.J.A. Turney, and Russell Whitfield
ARC, e-book, 440 pages
Knight Media, LLC
November 13, 2015
★★★★ ½☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Short Stories

Source: Received for review as part of HFVBT tour

Britannia: land of mist and magic clinging to the western edge of the Roman Empire. A red-haired queen named Boudica led her people in a desperate rebellion against the might of Rome, an epic struggle destined to consume heroes and cowards, young and old, Roman and Celt . . . and these are their stories.

A calculating queen sees the sparks of revolt in a king’s death.

A neglected slave girl seizes her own courage as Boudica calls for war.

An idealistic tribune finds manhood in a brutal baptism of blood and slaughter.

 A conflicted warrior hovers between loyalty to tribe and loyalty to Rome.

A death-haunted Druid challenges the gods themselves to ensure victory for his people.

An old champion struggles for everlasting glory in the final battle against the legions.

A fiery princess fights to salvage the pieces of her mother’s dream as the ravens circle.

A novel in seven parts, overlapping stories of warriors and peacemakers, queens and slaves, Romans and Celts who cross paths during Boudica’s epic rebellion. But who will survive to see the dawn of a new Britannia, and who will fall to feed the ravens?

Last year I read the two historical fiction collections that were released in this new style of anthology where each story interconnects with each other: Grand Central and A Day of Fire. I loved both of these collections for how each short story stood on its own and then how they tied together to comprise a greater novel as a whole. So when I heard that some of the authors from A Day of Fire were getting together to write a novel of Boudica’s rebellion, I knew I was definitely reading this one – and I am so glad that I did.

So I want to take a few minutes to say a couple things about each story before I cover the collection as a whole.

The Queen by Stephanie Dray

This first chapter starts off with some backstory provided by Queen Cartimandua. She is the queen of a rival tribe in Briton and she supports that Romans in their quest to bring Briton under control. Hers is also the first perspective that we see Boudica from and that is from a sort of inside/sort of outside view. Her style of rule serves as a foil for Boudica and serves to set up the perspective of the Romans toward the Britons and vice versa. I found myself really liking Cartimandua and wanting to know more about her life.

The Slave by Ruth Downie

Ria is a slave within Boudica’s tribe and she again stands to serve as a sort of inside/sort of outside perspective. Unlike Cartimandua she is a part of the Iceni tribe, but is just a slave.

The Tribune by Russell Whitfield

The first thing I can say of this chapter is, oh the language! It is quite foul language, however it serves to set you right within the mindset of a soldier’s life quickly. This is a chapter that serves to establish a view of idealism vs. reality within the Roman ranks. There were some well written battle scenes here that ease the reader into the battles to come.

The Druid by Vicky Alvear Shecter

This was a powerful chapter – very powerful. The chapter features as druid, Yorath, and a Roman soldier and the interplay between them is some of the more powerful of the book. I was sad throughout most of this chapter, for both parties involved.

The Son by S.J.A Turney

I think that Andecarus was my favorite character from the entire novel. He is similar to Cartimandua because he straddles the line between Roman and Briton, but his conscience is more torn. Cartimandua is doing what she believes is right for her people; but Andecarus is an Iceni who spent a significant portion of his life among the Romans and his loyalties will certainly come into question here.

The Warrior by Kate Quinn

Kate had the climactic scene in A Day of Fire and she has it again here too, and handles is magnificently might I add. Duro, right hand man to Queen Boudica leads the warriors into the battle against the Romans. But the best part of this chapter is that of the interplay between Duro and his newly acquired Roman slave. I found the reaction of his Roman slave toward her captor to be interesting because they are very human. The sides don’t exactly matter; it was refreshing to see the humanity here despite the circumstances.

The Daughters by E. Knight

This chapter serves to bring the story full circle and we see the results and aftermath of the rebellion. It is a gut-wrencher for sure. However as much as I felt for them, I didn’t love the chapter. While it was an appropriate choice of closing narrators – the daughters of Boudica, I think I would have liked their perspective a little bit earlier in the novel.

I think that the choices of narration characters were spot on. There were those that represented the Roman legions, supporters of Queen Boudica, Britons who are outside the rebellion, and then those who straddle the line of humanity. The chapters alternated almost every chapter between a Roman and Briton perspective which served to keep a balanced view of the rebellion. It was both a frustration and an excellent writing choice to not have Boudica narrate a chapter herself. It would have been easy to have her narrate the great battle scene – the pinnacle of her rebellion, but at the same time, it is more powerful to see the information from the outside because no matter how close to the queen they are, they will always be an outsider in some form. I loved the structure of this novel and the tale told of the little guy going up against the behemoth of Rome.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Flashlight Commentary
• Unabridged Chick
  

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | ITunes

 

Also from The H Team:

The H Team is a loose collection of historical fiction authors that unite to write short story collections. Some of the authors previously collaborated for the following book:

A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii
By Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, E. Knight, Sophie Perinot, Kate Quinn, and Vicky Alvear Shecter
[My Review]

 

Find The H Team: Facebook

Follow the Tour!

On Twitter: #AYearofRavensBlogTour   #HistoricalFiction   #Boudica

On the HFVBT Website

Giveaway!

During the Blog Tour we will be giving away a Celtic inspired set of silver tone metal and red Swarovski crystal beads, including a necklace, bracelet, and earrings inspired by the setting of A Year of Ravens! Please enter the giveaway via the GLEAM form that can be reached here.  Please note that this is a tour-wide giveaway and as such I have no control over the giveaway in and of itself.

Rules

• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on December 18th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open to residents in the US and UK.
• Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion
• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

 

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE!

 

 

Copyright © 2015 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Lady of the Eternal City by Kate Quinn

Lady of the Eternal City by Kate Quinn
Book 4 in The Empress of Rome series
Kindle e-book, 528 pages
Berkley
March 3, 2015
★★★½☆☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received from the publisher for review (also purchased my own copy because I didn’t like the formatting of the ARC)

National bestselling author Kate Quinn returns with the long-awaited fourth volume in the Empress of Rome series, an unforgettable new tale of the politics, power, and passion that defined ancient Rome.

Elegant, secretive Sabina may be Empress of Rome, but she still stands poised on a knife’s edge. She must keep the peace between two deadly enemies: her husband Hadrian, Rome’s brilliant and sinister Emperor; and battered warrior Vix, who is her first love. But Sabina is guardian of a deadly secret: Vix’s beautiful son Antinous has become the Emperor’s latest obsession.

Empress and Emperor, father and son will spin in a deadly dance of passion, betrayal, conspiracy, and war. As tragedy sends Hadrian spiraling into madness, Vix and Sabina form a last desperate pact to save the Empire. But ultimately, the fate of Rome lies with an untried girl, a spirited redhead who may just be the next Lady of the Eternal City…

I posted an “in progress” review of this book back in March just after it was published as part of a tour with HFVBT, however at that time (due to the date the book arrived and the date I was scheduled on the tour) I had only had a chance to read about 20% of the book. And it took some time to finally finish it, but I now have a final full review.

First, I want to talk about the series itself. I had only read books 1, 2, and a fraction of book 3 in the series before starting into Lady of the Eternal City - so I essentially jumped right in to the middle of Vix and Sabina’s story. This is one of those series where I highly advocate reading the volumes in order for best character development and to get a full feel of the series. If pressed, at least read books 1 and 3 (book 2 is slightly along a different, earlier, story line – comprised of an entirely different cast of characters, so it helps set the period, but doesn’t much contribute to the need to understand the characters). That being said, I still found that I was able to follow along with their stories as there is enough background information to fill in some of the gaps and a could infer character development events (although I get the feeling that reading book 3 now will be a little less exciting as I now know the resolutions to things that would have only been introduced in the prior book). There even is enough reference to remind me of what happened in the first book, Mistress of Rome, which I read quite a while ago.

One thing that I found interesting in comparing my early perceptions of this book with my final thoughts was how my perspective of the characters changed. Early on I noted that I preferred the chapters from the perspectives of the adults as I didn’t find the importance of the children’s chapters…however…overall I found that I enjoyed the chapters of the children better. The adults were always either sad, angry, or brooding, while the children were having all kinds of adventures, emotional development, and things happening to them.

One reason it took me so long to get through this novel is that I put it down due to some stuff going on in my life at the time and just couldn’t find the excitement to go back and pick it up. I found the first third and last third of the novel to be riveting, but the middle (where I happened to put it down) was somewhat dragging to me – which felt a little unlike the experience I have had with other books by this author where I have been riveted the whole time. The war in Judea and the sulking/anger/issues of Vix, Sabina, and Hadrian just dragged for me. Once they got back to Rome I found the pace picked back up and I was sucked back in. That being said, Kate Quinn’s signature writing style is here in full force here – the wit and charisma of the characters just shines through the pages and that is something I always enjoy and look forward to in her books. I was a little afraid of how the book would end the series, but found the ending to be rewarding and appropriate and not at all how I feared!

This is the fourth novel that I have read by the author and it probably is my least favorite of them. However, please note that I hold Quinn’s works in high esteem and she is one of my favorite historical fiction authors, so even though this one was a little off of the mark for me in terms of her works as a whole, I still hold it highly compared to many I have read in the genre as a whole. I will definitely be going back to read Empress of the Seven Hills to get the backstory I missed out on as well as reading any other works by this author.

If you would like a preview of the story, check out this sample.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Back Porchervations
• Ageless Pages Review

 

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Kate Quinn:

Mistress of Rome (Book 1 in Empress of Rome series)
[My Review]

Daughters of Rome (Book 2 in Empress of Rome series)
[My Review]

Empress of the Seven Hills (Book 3 in Empress of Rome series)

The Serpent and the Pearl (Book 1 in Borgia series)
[My Review]

The Lion and the Rose (Book 2 in Borgia series)

A Day of Fire
[My Review]

Find Kate Quinn: Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

Copyright © 2015 by The Maiden’s Court

In-Progress Book Review: Lady of the Eternal City by Kate Quinn

Lady of the Eternal City by Kate Quinn
Book 4 in The Empress of Rome series
ARC, e-book, 528 pages
Berkley
March 3, 2015

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received from the publisher for review with HFVBT

National bestselling author Kate Quinn returns with the long-awaited fourth volume in the Empress of Rome series, an unforgettable new tale of the politics, power, and passion that defined ancient Rome.

Elegant, secretive Sabina may be Empress of Rome, but she still stands poised on a knife’s edge. She must keep the peace between two deadly enemies: her husband Hadrian, Rome’s brilliant and sinister Emperor; and battered warrior Vix, who is her first love. But Sabina is guardian of a deadly secret: Vix’s beautiful son Antinous has become the Emperor’s latest obsession.

Empress and Emperor, father and son will spin in a deadly dance of passion, betrayal, conspiracy, and war. As tragedy sends Hadrian spiraling into madness, Vix and Sabina form a last desperate pact to save the Empire. But ultimately, the fate of Rome lies with an untried girl, a spirited redhead who may just be the next Lady of the Eternal City…

Please note, this review is an “in-progress” review as I only had 2 days between receiving the book and the date of my tour stop. I crammed in as much reading as I could over those two days, but at 528 pages, I have only made it 20% of the way through it (which I think is actually pretty darn good). A full and complete review will be forthcoming.

Additionally, I have only read a fraction of book 3 in the series, Empress of the Seven Hills, so I’m essentially jumping in to the middle of Vix and Sabina’s story. This is one of those series where I highly advocate reading the volumes in order – or at least books 1, 3, and 4 (as book 2 is slightly along a different story line – comprised of an entirely different cast of characters). That being said, I still find that I am able to follow along with their story as there is enough background information to fill in some of the gaps (although I get the feeling that reading book 3 now will be a little less exciting). There even is enough reference to remind me of what happened in the first book, Mistress of Rome, which I read quite a while ago.

So far I think there have been four characters who point of view we see the story from: Vix, Sabina, Antinous, and Annia. So far, I’m enjoying the Vix and Sabina perspectives most, by I feel that Antinous and Annia will grow into more important characters as the book progresses. Kate Quinn’s signature style is here in full force – the wit and charisma of the characters just shines through the pages. I can’t wait to have the opportunity to read more!

Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Kate Quinn:

Mistress of Rome series

Mistress of Rome [My Review]

Daughters of Rome [My Review]

Empress of the Seven Hills

 

The Borgia Chronicles series

The Serpent and the Pearl [My Review]

The Lion and the Rose

Find Kate Quinn: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

Follow along with the rest of the tour!

On Twitter: #LadyoftheEternalCityBlogTour
HFVBT Tour Webpage

 

Copyright © 2015 by The Maiden’s Court

Help an HF Author (Kate Quinn) in Need

Good morning everyone.  I write today to bring your attention to an author who could use whatever help we can provide.  The historical fiction community is such a tight knit community of authors/readers/bloggers that I know so many will want to know/share/do what they can.

Kate Quinn, author of several books, Mistress of Rome among my favorites, suffered a devastating house fire this past week.  She had a brief stint in the hospital, but otherwise everyone made it out safe (doggie included) - however, the house is a disaster.  I have met Kate several times and she is such a sweet, hilariously funny lady - my heart goes out to her. 

So here is how you can help (in whatever way you are able/wish to):

• Fellow author, Stephanie Dray (who has written a series on Cleopatra's Daughter, including Lily of the Nile) has set up a Go Fund Me page where all of the funds raised will go to Kate and her husband to help get them back on their feet.  Any amount you can give, no matter how small, is appreciated.
• Pre-order Kate's upcoming novel, to be released March 3, 2015 - Lady of the Eternal City (or buy any of her other books, links below)
• Spread the word - Twitter, Facebook, blog about it.  The more who know, the more who can help.

Kate, we wish you a speedy recovery and hope you can get back on your feet fast!

Kate's Novels:

Empress of Rome Series

Mistress of Rome (Book 1)

Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia | IndieBound

Daughters of Rome (Book 2)

Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia | IndieBound

Empress of the Seven Hills (Book 3)

Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia | IndieBound

Lady of the Eternal City (Book 4)

Where to Pre-Order (releases March 5, 2015): Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia | IndieBound

 

The Borgia Chronicles Series

The Serpent and the Pearl (Book 1)

Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia | IndieBound

The Lion and the Rose (Book 2)

Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia | IndieBound

 

Copyright © 2015 by The Maiden’s Court