Nemesis of the Gods
Catherine Cavendish
Weird
House Press, 2022
668 ppg.
Love makes us do stupid things. Obsession makes us do idiotic things. With obsession, there is no reality, science, reasoning, morals or common sense. There is only the obsession. And, too often, just as with love, obsession can make us blind. For Emeryk Quintillus, his love – or, should I say, obsession – drives him on a neverending quest to be with his queen. In this case, Cleopatra. Yes, that Cleopatra, the most powerful queen in Egyptian history.
So
powerful, in fact, that Emeryk fails to realize the futility of his quest to be
with her. He may love her, but she does not love him. Her heart belongs to Mark
Antony.
And you would think that would be the end of it.
Except, it’s not. Emeryk is determined to be with the dead woman he loves. He believes it is his destiny to be with her, even though Cleopatra has the misfortune of being dead. Still, he stops at nothing on his quest. But he is not alone in dealing with Cleopatra. Someone else from that point in time is participating, here, too. Someone just as deadly, and formidable.
Someone with the gods on their side, making this saga a quest for revenge and redemption.
And that’s the gist of Nemesis of the Gods by Catherine Cavendish. If you’re a fan of Cleopatra, Egyptian history or enjoy a good ghost story (I qualify for all three!), then this is definitely a novel you won’t want to pass on. The gripping, powerful ending had me furiously turning the pages and refusing to stop reading until I learned what happened next. At first, you might think that there is no way this story could work. No way that Emeryk will achieve the impossible task of bringing Cleopatra to life. But his quest opens the floodgates of impossibilities and a whole lot of strange and unusual things happen in this three-book series.
When I started reading this book, I thought it was three separate stories that were not related. But it turned out they are ALL related. It’s one VERY LONG story told through a trilogy. A lot of what happens in the stories have a lot of background. At some point in the trilogy, the telling of the story goes back to the very beginning, which was a little off-putting. But I had to get used to this, as there were many leaps between time periods in the telling of the stories. I was impressed that the author was able to handle this so well.
Before reading the first story, I had previously written an article about Cleopatra. That was pretty much what drew me to deciding to review this book. I did a lot of research about Cleopatra for that article and I am still interested in her story. I had researched Cleopatra’s life as well as her death and when I came across a name at one point in the story, it struck me as familiar. Sure enough, it took me back to my research – which made the story all the more interesting!
The first story is interesting, but so is the one with the little girl, Heidi. It is sometimes peculiar how in-touch children can be with the spirit world. It is as though children have a very strong connection with spirits on the other side. While this makes for a creepy story in how Heidi is able to communicate with the spirit of Dr. Quintillus in the story, it is very spooky as well, especially how the communication method seems to affect the child’s eye color, as though she becomes momentarily possessed. I really got into this story!
Although this is mostly a ghost story, with some elements of horror, I would be so bold as to call it historical horror or historical paranormal. There is so much history in this tome! Yes, they are all works of fiction, but in order to bring an historical story to life, the writer must capture some remnants of the historical period the story is set in. Cavendish does this brilliantly, either by having a character mention an historical movement or by describing important aspects of history in the story itself. I love history, which is part of the reason why I was drawn to reading this book, and so it was a delight to get the occasional snippets of history here and there in the book.
As I read through the book, I often wondered why Quintillus was so obsessed with Cleopatra. I mean, his obsession is more than a normal obsession. It’s a very strong fixation. But I kept wondering, why Cleopatra? What was it in his past or in his life that made him so obsessed with her? Well, that answer is given towards the end of the story. It was an answer I found hard to accept, though, because of what I learned from my research of Cleopatra and what I knew of her life. I read that part of the book and thought, “No way!” But, it would seem, the dead never rest.
The ending had me on the edge of my seat and that story stayed with me for a VERY long time after I finished reading it. It is such a well-written and well-told story. Yes, the time changes did take some getting used to, but I was able to stay in the story with each time period change. Cavendish manages to cover all the bases in this story and I liked how she told it in a way that had this reader jumping from one point in time to another.
Reading this book had me wondering, how can we writers portray historical figures in our work? It must have been a daunting task to try to portray Cleopatra, her sister and even the Egyptian gods accurately. For the most part, we can only go on what we know about them and how they interacted with people. I think Cavendish did a stellar job in portraying these historical and mythological figures. It’s all part of what makes this book stand out as an amazing story to read.
If you enjoy reading ghost stories, historical horror or anything about Egyptian history, pick up a copy of Nemesis of the Gods by Catherine Cavendish. You won’t be disappointed.
Five stars
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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