“Queen of Kings: The Immortal Story of Cleopatra”, by Maria Dahvana Headley

 

416 pages, Dutton, ISBN-13: 978-0525952176

In Queen of Kings: The Immortal Story of Cleopatra by Maria Dahvana Headley, you will read about Cleopatra VII: Queen of Egypt, wife and mother who loses her kingdom, family and her one true love and will do anything to get him back and avenge herself on the Roman interlopers who wronged her so – up to and including sacrificing herself and, in the end, even her humanity, for this novel is about how the historic Cleopatra transformed herself into a vampire in order to wreak her immortal vengeance. While she becomes inhuman after the ritual, she still manages to hold onto enough of herself to try and save her children and send Mark Antony to the afterlife all Egyptians dreamed of, even as she dooms herself.

When I first found this book at Borders (ah, Borders; how I miss ya) I didn't know what to make of it but, obviously, I found it intriguing enough to fork over the $5 they were asking for it. A fictional tale of Cleopatra-as-Vampire was…well, cool. I mean, it was kinda weird but, for five bucks, what the hell. So, Headley relies heavily on the factual historical perspective for the first part of her book and relates the Roman invasion of Alexandria as seen from Cleopatra’s perspective. But from then on it is all fiction, as Cleopatra embraces her new unlife and counters the Roman threat to her kingdom. Historical fact is never far from Headley’s work, and it would appear that she has done her homework here; as a wanna-be historian myself, I found her blending of fiction and reality to be interesting as I searched my memory to corroborate what was written with what really happened.

So, then, how is it? To begin with, I was in Cleopatra’s corner the whole way, as I thought she really deserved her vengeance for what was done to her and her kingdom. However, as the story progressed, I found myself increasingly indifferent as to the outcome of this epic supernatural struggle; for instance, at one stage there is a graphically described confrontation in the Circus Maximus in Rome and there is interest as to the events and the outcome, but there is no real feeling as to the “right outcome” or the “triumph of good over evil” because it is not at all clear which side is good and which side is evil. Also, I found I couldn't really empathize with any of the main characters to a significant degree, perhaps because the story is told from multiple perspectives and, occasionally, there is more of a general description of events rather than a narration from any particular viewpoint.

Cleopatra herself is stripped down to very basic driving emotions and does not come across as multi-dimensional, so while she is always fascinating, she is rarely appealing. Her main protagonist, Octavian, seems weak, scheming and addictive, and so is also hard to relate to. But as a lark of a read, I wasn’t disappointed and don't regret spending that five bucks.