It's the most bizarre thing. Full of historical details, a sweet romance, and unique characters, Daughter of the Gods should be a knock-out success. In spite of those attractions, the book just falls flat. With each new chapter, you pick it up, you start to become engrossed, and the next thing you know, you're counting down until it ends. This book isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. It's just a bit boring.

As one of Egypt's most well-known female pharaohs, Hatshepsut is an intriguing and complex character. In Thornton's novel, you glimpse some of that complexity, but it's mostly buried underneath pages and pages of hugs and kisses between her and her commoner lover Senenmut. It's hard to root for a character when they are always happy and when everything always goes their way. Just when you think the witch's prophecy of Hatshepsut ruining everyone's lives with her ambition is about to come true, everything works out. It was that prophecy that kept me going, kept me hoping that Hatshepsut's greed would eventually get in the way of things, but it never does. I have never wanted a powerful woman to screw up so badly.

Let me just say that I love romance and I love reading about royal women. However, Thornton's novel is sorely lacking in conflict. Every time an issue pops up (the Nubians revolt, the expedition fails, there's a coup, her lover might be cheating on her), Hatshepsut is confident she can overcome it, and she does. She's never concerned. She's never afraid, and it just becomes repetitive and boring. I want to read about a woman struggling to hold onto her throne because that is never easy regardless of who you are. Instead, any of her real struggles are relegated to a paragraph of off-page action, at most. As a result, when things finally fell apart, I felt more relieved than anything.

If you're looking for historical fiction lite and are inclined towards Ancient Egypt, then this is the book for you. Otherwise, if you want a story you connect with, read one of Michelle Moran's novels. Her ability to get inside her heroines' minds is more gripping than Thornton's big, long love story. ( )

“faithful, resolute, alive, You and the Two Lands that has no enemies; This life is no more than a dream, so seize the day before it passes!”
― Stephanie Thornton, Daughter of the Gods: A Novel of Ancient Egypt

Anyone who knows me knows I adore Historical Fiction and love Historical fiction about EGYPT.

It was my first book about Hatshepsut so I went in knowing little about her. I knew some of her story because I have read so many books about Cleopatra and those books made so many references to Hatshepsut that I did pick up some information.

This book was good. Very good. But it also left me strangely a little let down, despite my love of Historical Fiction especially when it comes to royalty.

I did read it to the end and I did enjoy reading it. I would actually give this 3.5 stars if I could.

But what was missing for me was the furious page turning that I get when reading certain books, the strong need to get to the end, the electrifying atmosphere and tension. I did not feel any of that. At the end of the day I was glad I read it as it was well researched and interesting but it did not have that "wow" factor for me although I think I am in the minority on this one regarding that.

I am not sure why. Maybe because I did not feel transported there. My favorite books in this genre are ones where I feel I am there. And I can feel the beauty and strong atmosphere all around me. That did not happen her e and it was also a book that took me some time to finish. ,My favorite books are ones that become all night page turners for me and that really did not happen here.

It is a great book to read if one is a fan of Historical Fiction. I would say this one's in the middle for me. I did enjoy it but I did not feel love it. Still recommended though as it was an obviously very well researched book. ( )

This is Stephanie's second book about mostly forgotten historical women who made history. Her first work, which I loved, followed the captivating Theodora. This book follows the equally captivating Hatshepsut, a princess who became Pharaoh.

Theodora left me thirsting for more and researching .... did this really happen? Hatshepsut left me wondering what she actually accomplished. The book mentioned many times how the people loved her and the granaries were full. What were actually her big accomplishments? I'm wondering that her biggest accomplishment was building monuments that expounded her many accomplishments.

I did love the little details (e.g. food) throughout the book and I'm entertaining the idea of growing myrrh trees myself (I live in a place apparently weather wise similar to the legendary Punt)

Stephanie raised the bar with Theodora so much that this second novel just had too many expectations. I look forward to her next adventure when we ride with Genghis Khan. ( )

My fascination with ancient Egypt began when I was eleven years old. While browsing at the library one day, I came across some books on the discovery of and what was found in King Tut's tomb. I was hooked. My obsession continued into my high school years when I wrote my tenth grade term paper on ancient Egyptian burial customs (on which I received an A, I might add). However, despite my great interest in the culture and time period, I have not read many fiction books set in Ancient Egypt. I have read River God by Wilbur Smith, which I really enjoyed and, of course, my beloved Anne Rice set the origins of her vampires in ancient Egypt, but my repertoire of ancient Egyptian historical fiction reads is severely lacking. And now, along comes this fantastic novel of Ancient Egypt, Daughter of the Gods, about the life of Hatshepsut, an historical figure I greatly admire.

As she did with her first novel, The Secret History, Thornton has once again created a heroine to root for. Although completely different from The Secret History's Theodora and her origins, Hatshepsut is still an endearing and inspiring character. In a time when the Great Royal Wife of the pharaoh is destined to live out her days in the Hall of Women, Hatshepsut seizes the opportunity to rule when misfortune befalls her pharaoh husband. She brought success and great temples to Egypt and yet her reign was obliterated from history. I guess the dominant male culture of ancient Egypt didn't want it to be known that it was once ruled by a great and powerful female pharaoh.

Thornton is an historical fiction author that really engages a person who is truly interested in history. As much as I know and have read on ancient Egypt, I did not know that the women were bare breasted even when dressed. Very interesting. As I was reading Daughter of the Gods, I kept thinking to myself, "I really must read more in depth about ancient Egyptian culture." And so, this leads me to state something that I have said many times before. Great historical fiction leads us to history. It leads us to learn more, above and beyond, what's in the book we're reading. This is an accomplishment that any author should keep in their back pocket.

If you have not read Stephanie Thornton yet, I urge you to do so...sooner rather than later. She is a new and exciting voice to the historical fiction genre. I can't wait for her next one, which just happens to be The Tiger Queens: The Women of Genghis Khan, coming this November. ( )

A novel telling the story of Hatshepsut, Egypt's most effective female Pharaoh.

Although there were a few things in the early part of the book that felt a bit anachronistic to me, I enjoyed the story, and learned a few things I hadn't known before about Hatshepsut from the author's note at the end. ( )