I've been enjoying Michelle Moran's career, and I've been happy to find that she's one of those authors that just keeps getting better. Her two previous novels were both a lot of fun, but this is definitely my favorite of her works.

The bulk of the story takes place during the time after Kleopatra and Marc Antony take their own lives to avoid being captured by Octavian, when their young twin children are taken to Rome. The story is told from Selene Kleopatra's perspective as she and her brother, Alexander, try to cope with the loss of their parents while living with Octavian's sister (and ex-wife of Marc Antony).

Selene is a wonderful protagonist, I think part of the reason I enjoyed this more than the others is just how intelligent and likable a character she is. There's definitely mourning for her losses here, but very little of the narrative is spent dwelling on the angst, which really helped with my enjoyment. The fact I knew absolutely nothing about her also helped, since this was both educational and entertaining for me. Overall, the cast of characters was solid, and despite some of the plot points being easy to predict (like the identity of the mysterious Red Eagle, which I was able to guess from the beginning) I really enjoyed watching the story unfold.

Definitely a fascinating novel that answers a lot of questions about what happened after Kleopatra's death, and happily Moran did spend a lot of time researching the subject so it's pretty accurate as to the truth. A very good read for fans of historical fiction, especially dealing with Egypt and Rome.