Book Review: Hand of Isis by Jo Graham
May. 18th, 2009 03:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: Hand of Isis
Author: Jo Graham
Published: New York: Orbit, 2009
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 491
Total Page Count: 75,967
Text Number: 223
Read For: fan of the author after reading Black Ships, borrowed from the library
Short Review: Charmian is Cleopatra's half-sister; together, she and her sisters pledge to serve the goddess Isis and to make Cleopatra the queen and savior of bankrupted Egypt. Unfortunately, Hand of Isis has a slow start and some heavy-handed religious aspects, so it's not as successful as Graham's first novel, Black Ships. Still, it's a success: a balance of private story and public history, all of it touched by religion and magic, Hand of Isis is a brave historical fantasy retelling which often achieves its lofty goals. It's not my favorite of Graham's novels, but I throughly enjoyed and recommend it.
I found Hand of Isis a somewhat slower start than Black Ships—perhaps because I am less familiar with its history, perhaps because the story takes some time to come into itself. Cleopatra is such a famous and controversial figure that the reader waits on tenderhooks to see how Graham will portray her, and it's a long wait. The story begins in childhood and Cleopatra is not the protagonist, and so it takes almost 100 pages to figure out where Graham plans to take her story. The turning point is the girls's pledge to Isis, which becomes the heart and soul of the book—but is too easily achieved. Isis's in-the-flesh appearance is too simple and sudden; it feels unbelievable, and so weakens the connection between the characters and the gods. This connection is further muddled by past life recollections which, though they're often subtle and effective, sometimes feel tacked on (especially since they connect Hand of Isis to Black Ships, yet never appear in the latter). Over the rest of the book, however, these religious aspects are built the hard way, slowly but believably and to much greater effect.
500 pages isn't too much longer than the average novel, but Hand of Isis feels long—but once it gets going, that's a good thing. Graham builds her story around both day-to-day activity and grand historical events, a balance which makes her story personal yet purposeful. In the vein of Black Ships or Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Cleopatra's story is retold as a true story touched by magic: the historical figures are real people and historical events are well researched, and all of it is touched by religious events which give the story delightful magic and great importance. The book has a slow start, the level of detail sometimes slows the pacing, and the religious apsects can be heavy-handed, and so Hand of Isis is not a sweeping success (as Black Ships was)—it begs a little more editing and polishing. Nonetheless, it's brilliant. From private romance to public politicking, from realistic individuals to handmaidens to the gods, Hand of Isis spans history and religion but never loses sight of the characters that drive it. That's a lot to juggle in one book, but Graham knows what she's doing and does it well. I prefer Black Ships, but those looking for more from Graham will do well to seek out Hand of Isis. It's a similar style in a whole new setting, and lives up to its predecessor. I recommend it.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Jo Graham
Published: New York: Orbit, 2009
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 491
Total Page Count: 75,967
Text Number: 223
Read For: fan of the author after reading Black Ships, borrowed from the library
Short Review: Charmian is Cleopatra's half-sister; together, she and her sisters pledge to serve the goddess Isis and to make Cleopatra the queen and savior of bankrupted Egypt. Unfortunately, Hand of Isis has a slow start and some heavy-handed religious aspects, so it's not as successful as Graham's first novel, Black Ships. Still, it's a success: a balance of private story and public history, all of it touched by religion and magic, Hand of Isis is a brave historical fantasy retelling which often achieves its lofty goals. It's not my favorite of Graham's novels, but I throughly enjoyed and recommend it.
I found Hand of Isis a somewhat slower start than Black Ships—perhaps because I am less familiar with its history, perhaps because the story takes some time to come into itself. Cleopatra is such a famous and controversial figure that the reader waits on tenderhooks to see how Graham will portray her, and it's a long wait. The story begins in childhood and Cleopatra is not the protagonist, and so it takes almost 100 pages to figure out where Graham plans to take her story. The turning point is the girls's pledge to Isis, which becomes the heart and soul of the book—but is too easily achieved. Isis's in-the-flesh appearance is too simple and sudden; it feels unbelievable, and so weakens the connection between the characters and the gods. This connection is further muddled by past life recollections which, though they're often subtle and effective, sometimes feel tacked on (especially since they connect Hand of Isis to Black Ships, yet never appear in the latter). Over the rest of the book, however, these religious aspects are built the hard way, slowly but believably and to much greater effect.
500 pages isn't too much longer than the average novel, but Hand of Isis feels long—but once it gets going, that's a good thing. Graham builds her story around both day-to-day activity and grand historical events, a balance which makes her story personal yet purposeful. In the vein of Black Ships or Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Cleopatra's story is retold as a true story touched by magic: the historical figures are real people and historical events are well researched, and all of it is touched by religious events which give the story delightful magic and great importance. The book has a slow start, the level of detail sometimes slows the pacing, and the religious apsects can be heavy-handed, and so Hand of Isis is not a sweeping success (as Black Ships was)—it begs a little more editing and polishing. Nonetheless, it's brilliant. From private romance to public politicking, from realistic individuals to handmaidens to the gods, Hand of Isis spans history and religion but never loses sight of the characters that drive it. That's a lot to juggle in one book, but Graham knows what she's doing and does it well. I prefer Black Ships, but those looking for more from Graham will do well to seek out Hand of Isis. It's a similar style in a whole new setting, and lives up to its predecessor. I recommend it.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
