Sphinx's Queen

Sphinx's Queen Esther Friesner

This is the sequel to Sphinx's Princess and I didn't like it as much.

After being accused and found guilty of killing the crown prince's cat, Nefertiti is on the run with her freed slave Nava and Prince Amenophis. They have several harrowing escapes as they make their way down the Nile to the Pharaoh, hoping he'll listen to Nefertiti's case. But even if they reach Pharaoh, it may not be enough.

After everything that happened in the last book and everything that happens in this one, Nefertiti's naivete about court life and her aunt's political machinations starts to be... annoying. Yes, she shows great strength of character, but if she can't see what's going on in front of her, how will she ever be a great queen and keep her household under control, let alone the kingdom? Also, if she can't quickly learn such lessons after everything that's happened to her... dude.I also found the ending a little too tidy and neat.

Overall, I didn't think these two books were as strong as Nobody's Princess and Nobody's Prize, probably because with the Helen books, Friesner had more source material to work with.

It looks like these four books are now labeled as "Princesses of Myth" which makes me think we'll see some more in the coming years. I really enjoyed the Helen books and the Nefertiti ones were pleasant reads even if they didn't live up to the earlier ones. So, I'll be keeping an eye on what's coming next.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Ancient Girls Kicking Butt

Nobody's Prize Esther Friesner

Helen's back, and this time she's sailing with Jason and the Argonauts as they search for the fabled Golden Fleece. Not only does Helen have to hide herself from the brothers, but hiding her gender is becoming harder and harder as she has to start dealing with the joys of puberty.

I liked this one a smidge more than I like Nobody's Princess. I had hoped this one would cover Helen's life during the Trojan War but, alas, no. It's still a good adventure. I do wish Helen had been able to discover more about Medea and offer some more explanations to her erratice behavoir besides being crazy. I also like that, while, never explicitly discussed, hints in not-at-all subtle ways that some characters are homosexual. It would be weird (and inaccurate) to have an Ancient Greece without any gay characters.

Book Provided by... my local library

Sphinx's Princess Esther Friesner

Following in the same path as her Nobody's Princess and Nobody's Prize, Friesner this time looks at the early life of Nefertiti. Like Helen, Nefertiti is a strong female character. She cajoles a scribe to teach her how to read and write and comes to understand the horrors of slavery. But, when she is brought to the royal palace by her aunt, the queen, Nefertiti realizes that her strength is all she has to survive many court intrigues.

Nefertiti has a common problem of heroines of historical fiction in that she sounds and acts like a modern woman, but in a different time period. This may not be as large of a problem in this case because we know from history that Nefertiti was an uncommon woman. But, another one of my historical fiction pet peeves is there as well. Often, books about the early life of a famous person, the story starts when the narrator is very young, but the narrators observations of the world and voice don't change as the narrator ages. So, Nefertiti at age four sounds the same as Nefertiti at age fourteen and older. The ending was rather abrupt, so I was glad to see that there is a sequel, Sphinx's Queen coming next fall. All that said, while it might not be the greatest work of historical fiction, it was a very enjoyable read, with great intrigue and adventure and I did really like it. Fans of Friesner's stories about Helen of Troy shouldn't be disappointed by her take on Nefertiti.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Hour 1.5

Hours Read: 1.5
Books Read: .5
Pages Read: 153

I know MotherReader's only tracking time and not books and pages, but I'm still kicking it OLD SKOOL.

Anyway...

Nobody's Princess Esther Friesner

This is what we know about Helen of Troy-- she was the most beautiful woman in all of Ancient Greece and was stolen from her husband. The Trojan War happened to get her back and then she was returned to her husband.

Friesner wanted to know what happened before. So, this is Helen's story, growing up, longing to be more than a pretty face, longing for more from life than having a husband picked for her and being queen. So, Helen trains with her brothers, talks her way into the boar hunt of Calydon and befriends Atalanta AND the Oracle at Delphi.

A thoroughly enjoyable adventure tale, even though those versed in Greek Mythology will scoff at the premis. Friesner has an excellent authors note at the end, explaining where she got her details, as well as the possibility that maybe, just maybe, Helen could hande a sword. I very much want to read Nobody's Prize.

Here's another book that I read awhile ago and have the review written for that ties in well:

Quiver Stephanie Spinner

This is a novelization of the story of Atalanta. There are a few versions of the Atalanta myth, but Spinner pretty much follows the one that is outlined here. Told in first person from Atalanta's point of view, there are a occasional breaks that show conversations between various gods and goddesses to show how and why they are interfering in her story, and changing the course of events.

This is an excellent retelling of myth and a good author's note at the end. Y'all know how much I adore a good author's note.

The main difference (besides style) in these works is that Spinner has the hunt for the fleece happening before the hunt, so Atalanta and Jason are already friends (and, of course, Helen isn't there!) Friesner puts the fleece after the hunt.