Alternate history of the invention set in ancient Alexandria. Uses a few historical people & locations to set the scene but is mostly a fun "what if?" fiction surrounding invention. Not meant to be a true to history of tell any significant detail about ancient life. Intrigue & a bit of action. Fun to read.

Don't get caught up in questioning the validity of the story, roll with it and enjoy; this isn't a true to life set tale. The characters are meant to provide you with a POV that isn't Roman and maybe a little bit of a flash of wishful thinking/imagination on the part of the author.

**All thoughts and opinions are my own.** ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this mixture of history and fantasy with a dose of technology. There are a few memorable characters that have been etched very well by the author. The story, set in the historical megacity of Alexandria roughly two thousand years ago commanded my attention and kept it till the end.
The only problems I had were the bunch of errors that have crept in due to shoddy editing and the use of words that don't belong in the timeframe of the story, metre & ha'penny, to name a couple.
In all, this was an interesting work which has made me look forward to reading more of this author's creations. ( )

Sorry my review will probably not be much help. I read this book back in 2014 and while "cleaning up" my book shelves here on Goodreads I noticed it was still on my currently reading shelf. I have read the series so it must've been good or I never would have continued. Kind of excited I can read the series again since I can only recall bits and pieces since I read sooo many books. ( )

Having a woman taking on the role of main inventor is interesting, but otherwise this alternate history of Roman Empire Alexandria is just a bit all over the place. ( )

I actually couldn't finish this book. I got a little over halfway thinking it might get better, but it was just too absurd. Some people said previously that it was alternate history. I found it preposterous. The whole premise of this inventor (a woman disguised as a man) inventing steam powered tools at this time in history was more than i could handle. If you like historical fiction that reveals the past, look elsewhere. ( )