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The Drowning King: A Fall of Egypt Novel

Review

The Drowning King: A Fall of Egypt Novel

In CLEOPATRA’S SHADOWS, author Emily Holleman recreated the fall of ancient Egypt and the life of its final queen, Cleopatra VII, through the eyes of Cleopatra’s sister, Arsinoe. Arsinoe carved out a unique niche for herself as a slightly immature but engaging and prophetic princess in the first Fall of Egypt novel. But it’s in this second book that she comes into her own as a woman and embraces her royal heritage --- and all the deadly consequences that has to offer.

As our story opens, Arsinoe’s capricious drunkard of a father, Ptolemy XII Auletes (“the Piper”), is on his deathbed. Arsinoe has little love for the man who abandoned and ignored her in favor of his beloved elder daughter, but, despite her reservations, she maintains a girlish loyalty to Cleopatra’s cause. However, waking nightmares still haunt the dreams of the youngest Ptolemaic princess.

"THE DROWNING KING contains everything that a real-life 'Game of Thrones' would: sibling incest, backstabbing court politics, invasions and treachery at every turn."

As she fears she’ll become as ruthless as her father and late half-sister, Berenice, Arsinoe does her best to maintain her fealty to Cleopatra as her sister ascends to the throne alongside their younger brother --- also named Ptolemy. But twin vultures of relentless ambition and Roman greed threaten all Arsinoe holds dear.

As she did in CLEOPATRA’S SHADOWS, Holleman deftly balances two perspectives: Arsinoe and, this time around, Ptolemy. The young prince-turned-king is a compelling character as he matures from a vain boy surrounded by sycophantic advisors into a puppet monarch left to his own devices, desperately trying to find his footing in a treacherous political environment.

Arsinoe, too, is engaging; Holleman has scaled back the focus on the prophetic dreams and concentrated on Arsinoe’s own ambitions, which make her that much more interesting. While her perspective --- Rome equals evil --- might seem too straightforward, the way Holleman threads Arsinoe’s traumatic experiences and familial betrayals into her narrative turns what might otherwise be an average 16-year-old’s simplistic point of view into a formidable political opinion.

THE DROWNING KING contains everything that a real-life “Game of Thrones” would: sibling incest, backstabbing court politics, invasions and treachery at every turn. Don’t miss this enthralling installment in the Fall of Egypt saga, and be sure to pick up the remaining two volumes when they hit shelves.

Reviewed by Carly Silver on April 7, 2017

The Drowning King: A Fall of Egypt Novel
by Emily Holleman

  • Publication Date: April 4, 2017
  • Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction
  • Hardcover: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
  • ISBN-10: 0316383031
  • ISBN-13: 9780316383035