September 2008: The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

diamondlil · Post by **diamondlil** » Mon September 1st, 2008, 10:22 am

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Mon September 1st, 2008, 11:00 pm

Speaking of heresy - I've never been much interested in reading about ancient Egypt. And yet I love good HF. Anyone have the same reluctance, but read it anyway? Comments?

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Mon September 1st, 2008, 11:23 pm

[quote=""Ash""]Speaking of heresy - I've never been much interested in reading about ancient Egypt. And yet I love good HF. Anyone have the same reluctance, but read it anyway? Comments?[/quote]

Ash yes, me definitely. I have a strange fascination/aversion to Ancient Egypt. It both attracts and scares me - past life experience probably <g>!
I don't 'naturally' read about that period and it's one I have avoided in the past. However, I have read Heretic Queen and it's great. Don't be put off. Michelle has a great feel for that time in history coupled with a writing style that makes it as immediate as now.
I really enjoyed travelling with Nefertari. I would have liked a bit more of Rameses - but that's from a selfish viewpoint as I have a 'thing' for heroes!

It's an excellent read.

Judith · Post by **Judith** » Mon September 1st, 2008, 11:49 pm

I am so looking forward to the release of this book!! Two more weeks!!

michellemoran · Post by **michellemoran** » Tue September 2nd, 2008, 5:59 pm

Thank you so much EC, for such a beautiful recommendation!

And Ash, believe it or not, I never read a single his fic set in Ancient Egypt before I wrote Nefertiti. Of course, I had read many, many nonfiction books, but historical fiction set in Egypt just didn't interest me until I came across Nefertiti's story. For some reason, HF set in the ancient world often alienates me with too many strange names, stilted dialogue, and dry descriptions. So I tried my best to make Nefertiti (and The Heretic Queen) into "beach reads".

Of course, I couldn't do anything about the names (although I did shorten some of them, like Mutnodjmet to Mutny), but I really tried my best to make the dialogue more modern and snappy without using metaphors/similes that would take the reader out of ancient Egypt (for example, you can't use similes like strong as iron until iron was invented!).

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Tue September 2nd, 2008, 9:15 pm

OMG Loved the book and finished it in two days.

I really like how Ms. Moran put in a lot of detail without making the story seem like a history book. I thought it was just enough.

And I really enjoyed the Historical note at the end where you said why you did certain things. I thought that was neat.

LCW · Post by **LCW** » Wed September 3rd, 2008, 12:58 am

[quote=""Ash""]Speaking of heresy - I've never been much interested in reading about ancient Egypt. And yet I love good HF. Anyone have the same reluctance, but read it anyway? Comments?[/quote]

Egypt was never really interesting to me either. I bought a few other HF books on Egypt but haven't gotten around to reading them. But I read Nefertiti by Michelle Moran and loved it so I'm anxious to read this one.

michellemoran · Post by **michellemoran** » Wed September 3rd, 2008, 5:56 pm

Thank you, Divia. And Lila, I hope you enjoy it (talk about feeling the pressure!)!

Kailana · Post by **Kailana** » Sun September 7th, 2008, 8:29 am

Howdy folks,

Michelle Moran will be appearing on Historical Tapestry for a week later in September, and I thought people here would be interested! There is a give-away for a chance to win a copy of The Heretic Queen, as well as an interview and Michelle is writing an article of sorts. To see all the details, head on over to Historical Tapestry!

Hope to see you there!

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Sun September 7th, 2008, 11:32 am

Michelle, I hope you weren't offended by my post. Its always tricky when you suddenly realize the author is here! I think my reluctance to read much about Egypt (as well as Rome or Greece) is that its all we got at school in terms of ancient world history. There are so many other places I'd like to visit in stories. But, seeing that you also never read any HF on Egypt before makes me want to take a peek. Stay tuned, you may have a convert