After reading Moran's book, "Nefertiti", I was anxious to read her book "The Heretic Queen". When I started reading Moran's second book, I found I could not put it down. I can't wait to read her third book. ( )

I was excited to read this book since it has a plot line I’m familiar with and that I always enjoy. It’s got historical fiction, different cultures, a love story, and lots of drama and court intrigue. It’s very similar to The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan. In fact, the only real difference is that it takes place in ancient Egypt and not Mughal India. There’s royalty, romance, harem drama, and a power struggle between women to become top queen in both books.

I loved that the author touched on the topic of monotheism in Egypt. Akhenaten and Nefertiti banished the other gods in favor of one god - the sun god Aten. I’ve heard some historians say that this was one of the earliest examples of monotheism. Ahmoses (Moses) even makes an appearance, though he isn’t exactly the Biblical Moses. The Historical Note section after the book is pretty interesting, and the author says that besides the Old Testament, there are no records of Moses existing in Egypt. The only thing historians do know is that a slave people called the Habiru existed in Egypt at the time, and in The Heretic Queen, Ahmoses wants them released so they can travel to Canaan and be free to practice their monotheistic religion.

All in all, I think it’s a great book and I’m really looking forward to reading the book that came before this, Nefertiti. ( )

The Heretic Queen continues the story began in Moran’s novel Nefertiti, but it is not a sequel. The two books are written so that you needn’t read one in order to understand the other. However, if you are not previously familiar with the reigns of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, I would highly recommend reading Nefertiti first so that you can have clearer sense of just how and why these two became so reviled that subsequent rulers sought to blot them from Egypt’s history. Truthfully, I would encourage you just to read Nefertiti anyway, because it was FANTASTIC. But moving on…
I read this book in a single evening. It was amazing. One minute I was sitting on my bed in California, the next I was caught in a time vortex and thrust back nearly four millennia to the land of the Nile. In the sparkling gleam of the palace, nothing is as it seems, and few can be trusted. Nefertari has to constantly fight for her position – which goes against her gentle and compassionate nature – and the intrigues entwine every member of the court. Everybody wants something, and with the stakes so high the competition is intense. The Heretic Queen’s pages are heavy with drama (and I don’t mean the high school variety) and there’s truly something for everyone. You like action? How would a battle with pirates suit you? Romance is more to your taste? The love of Ramesses and Neferari is the stuff of legends.
Michelle Moran did choose to address the story of Moses, the events of which are commonly attributed to the reign of Ramesses II. However, it’s not the same account you find in the Bible. Due to the absence of evidence supporting the events of Exodus outside of the Bible, Moran chose to create a similar figure that could mesh more easily into what archeology has revealed about the political climate of Ramesses’ kingdom.

The Heretic Queen is Michelle Moran’s follow-up novel to Nefertiti. Fifteen years after Nefertiti leaves off, Nefertari, daughter to Mutnodjmet, has a hard legacy to live down: she’s the neice of Nefertiti and Akhenaten, and her reputation is tarnished by association. Thirteen-year-old Nerfertari nevertheless becomes the wife of Ramesses the Great, sometimes at odd with his other wife, Iset.

I thought the story was good; very good, in fact. But I felt that something was missing; the tension in this novel is sadly not as great as that which is in Nefertiti. There’s no real conflict here. Also, I had a bit of a problem with timeline issues: Nefertiti was actually set eighty years before The Heretic Queen, not fifteen or twenty.

Still, I was fascinated by Nefertari’s story—she and Ramesses had a very long, happy life together (and Ramesses lived into his nineties, almost unheard-of back then). I’d love to see sequel novel featuring the two of them. The Heretic Queen is a quick, easy read, and I was entertained overall by the story. ( )

It's not often I give a five-star rating to a novel, but Michelle Moran has done it again and written another absolutely riveting novel set in ancient Egypt.

This is the epic story of the rise of Nefertari from tainted origins (she was the niece of Nefertiti) to the chief wife of Ramses the Great. The court intrigues are riveting and the author weaves historical events together to create an epic love story between Nefertari and Ramses. This love story, incidentally, is greatly supported by historical evidence, and discussed in a wonderfully written author's note at the end of the novel.

Even if you don't normally find an interest in ancient Egyptian history, I urge you to read this novel if you enjoy well-written historical fiction.

And while this is a stand-alone novel, events from the author's previous book, Nefertiti, are alluded to and reading that novel first only enhances the enjoyment.

Happy reading! ( )