“The poets say that men are made for glory, but gods want glory for themselves. So, to make men vulnerable, they gave them the gift of love.”

Another mythological banger from Costanza Casati.

Babylonia tells the tale of Assyria’s only female ruler, Semiramis. Orphaned and adopted by a commoner, Semiramis uses her ambition, cunning, and genuine kindness to rise to positions no one would have expected. The characters are all so complex and I loved all the different viewpoints. The story is dramatic and entertaining and I had such a good time with it.

I read and loved Clytemnestra last year and was so excited to see a new novel from this author who is quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me. While this one didn’t have quite as much of an impact on me that Clytemnestra had, I still really adored it and highly recommend to those that love mythology retellings.

Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for an ALC!

This book had me hooked from the start. It follows the story of Semiramis, an orphan adopted by an abusive shepherd. Desperate to escape her bleak life, Semiramis catches the eye of a visiting governor, Onnes, who sees himself in her and takes her back to his kingdom.

Semiramis goes on to become the first ancient queen to rule Assyria. While she remains humble throughout her rise to power, I felt she could have been more strategic at times. I enjoyed getting the perspectives of other complex characters like Ninus, Onnes, and Ribat, even though their relationships were pretty toxic.

Overall, I loved being immersed in the world of ancient Assyria, though the pacing dragged at points. The author did a great job bringing this historical figure to life in an engaging way. The audiobook was also very well done, with a fantastic narrator.

Thank you Netgalley and RBmedia for the audiobook ARC of Babylonia.

i am so honored to have gotten this ALC. first off the narrator did such an incredible job bringing us to this time period and truly immersing the listener! secondly i am a HUGE fan of costanza, i hope in the future i am accepted for ever ARC she releases bc her stories truly speak to my soul.
this is so much more than i thought and i know this story of revenge, love, feminine rage will liinger for such a long time.
A MUST PICK!

Wow this is a lot. It is beautiful! The narration is perfection. I love the political intrigue and all the characters. There is a lot to this story. Toxic romance and murder and deception and I love all of it. I have to sit and feel this book for a while.

This is one of the best books I've ever read.

Babylonia follows the life of Semiramis and journey through love and power - through whatever means necessary. This sliding scale of brutality to
humanity was so well depicted by both the barbaric system of ancient politics and Semiramis herself. Her character in this book is so real and raw that I felt like I could reach out and touch it. Her ascent to the throne from a orphaned commoner was truly a immersive and emotional tale. The way that love, heartbreak, tenderness, betrayal, and intimacy was written in this book was so beautiful. I felt like I was going through the same trials and tribulations. I felt hope, joy, loss, and power alongside Semiramis.

I cried for Onnes. I cried for Ninus. For the lives that they could have lived. For the mistakes that were never forgiven. For the happiness they both deserved. For the peace that I hope they found. I'm honestly crying now writing this.

I originally picked this book because of its ties to greek mythology but who would have thought that a ancient historical fiction book would bring me to this? It made me feel in a way that I haven't in a while. It made me look at life differently. I have struggled with other greek inspired authors like Madeline Miller but now I know that I must read every book that Casati releases. I truly believe that I will think about this book everyday for the rest of my life.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and RB Media for this audiobook arc.

* “She is a woman who allows herself to dream, the world will always try to crush her.”

* “I do not want to live in the service to men, I do not want my fate to depend on anyone but myself.”

I absolutely loved this reimagining of the story of Semiramis, the only woman to rule the Assyrian empire.

I love that Casati gives depth to her story that isn’t centered around her being a seductress. So much of women’s stories in mythology and history are focused on women’s sexuality or “duty” to their husbands, this was a refreshing take!!

I am excited to see what books she has in the works ❤️

The narrator of the audiobook was amazing!

Thank you NetGalley, RB Media and Constanza Casati for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I'm so glad I got this on audio because I know I would have pronounced all the names wrong. This was a fun story that I wanted to keep listening to.

Babylonia by Costanza Casati is an enthralling journey into a richly imagined ancient world filled with passion, power, and peril. Through evocative prose, Casati brings her protagonist’s struggles and triumphs to life, weaving a story of resilience and defiance against a backdrop of myth, politics, and betrayal. With its atmospheric setting and emotionally charged narrative, Babylonia is a compelling read for fans of historical fiction and epic tales of survival and strength.

With Babylonia, Costanza Casati has once again conjured to life an ancient queen and the empire she ruled, Assyria. She’s taken the bare bones of history and myth and fleshed them out. Semiramis was an orphan living in an outpost of the kingdom, raised by a shepherd. She attracts the attention of Onnes, a general and half-brother to the king and marries him. Through sheer force of will, intelligence and bravery, she rises to the ultimate seat of power.
Casati excels at world making. I felt I got a real sense of historical Assyria in 9th Century BC. It’s a graphic story, and not just the battle scenes. The story focuses on Semiramis, Onnes and the king, Ninus. All three main characters are fascinating. Complex, by turns ruthless and caring. Their relationships to each other kept shape shifting, which kept me engrossed. Even the secondary characters were well defined and I liked how Casati mixes historical figures with fictional ones.
I listened to this and Ayesha Antoine’s voice had the perfect tone, almost majestic in her telling.
My thanks to Netgalley and RBMedia for an advance copy of this audiobook.

"Do not fall in love. A woman is a pitfall, a hole, a ditch, a woman is a sharp iron dagger that slashes a man’s throat."

<i>In the ninth century BC, one woman ruled an empire stretching from the Mediterranean coast in Syria to present-day western Iran. Her name was Sammuramat, meaning ‘high heaven’. The Greeks called her Semiramis</i> and this is her story beautifully written by Costanza Casati with inspiration from Epic of Gilgamesh.

I liked to mention a part of the author's note regarding her main character from a historical point of view:<i>Semiramis as a lustful, sinful figure prevailed for centuries in the literary tradition, from Petrarch and Boccaccio to Rossini and Voltaire. In his Inferno, Dante puts Semiramis in the Circle of Lust, next to Helen, Dido and Cleopatra.</i>

Semiramis, a common girl or daughter of a river goddess (based on where you will look at), is the story of a girl who built everything from nothing for herself and took the costs...
If you don’t run fast enough, the past will come and grab you. But now she has left too many behind, and they all reach out to her with desperate hands.

Poor men, not everyone can endure their choices as easily as Semiramis!
‘Regret is etched onto my skin. It flows in my blood with my anger and my weakness.’

I appreciate the writing style, and the character development was great. However, discussing the story too much would spoil it because it beautifully and slowly reveals itself in a very steep and interesting way, making it captivating.

The poets say that men are made for glory, but gods want glory for themselves. So, to make men vulnerable, they gave them the gift of love.
*****
What is love? Now, years later, he understands.
Love is the willingness to lose oneself, to enter a dark room without knowing what dangers lie inside, to be held by someone even if she could slit your throat.

Many thanks to RBmedia and NetGalley for ARC. I have given my honest review.

ALC review of Babylonia by Costanza Casati.

“When kings fall, queens rise.”

Babylonia is an epic tale of the rise and rise of Semiramis, the only attested female ruler of ancient Assyria. Born to lowly standing, through her cunning, courage, and adaptability, she rises through society to the highest of heights.

In a world where ghosts and magic are but a breath away, and power and control are as tenuous as the wind, everyone must claw to keep their place. Exploring the violent realities of the time (c800 BCE), Casati does not shy away from realism, tackling the impact of bloodlusting warfare head on. I admit, the detail was too shocking for me at times, but so too was it for characters accustomed to this society. The exploration of the impact of vicious brutality on the psyche of soldiers was a fascinating way of drawing parallels between the ancient and modern worlds. In showing the mental challenges of trauma and PTSD, Casati makes her characters real.

I knew little to nothing about ancient Assyria before coming to this book so I thoroughly appreciated the peppering of source material from The Epic of Gilgamesh and other Assyrian texts throughout. I listened to this book in audio form and found myself pausing to research place names and people for greater context, and so, Babylonia felt like an excellent primer on ancient Mesopotamia.

Narrator Ayesha Antoine does an excellent job of conveying the story in an engaging way with good pacing throughout.

Highly recommend to fans of ancient history, mythology, and strong female characters.

Big thanks to NetGalley and RBmedia for this ALC. Babylonia is available everywhere now!

Loved the historical fiction in this book it really made Babylon and the Assyrians came to life. I just wish there was more fantasy elements in this than there was. Otherwise a fantastic book

I really enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought. I love the narrator's voice and how she was able to make me feel all the character's feels. I highly recommend this one to everyone. Also I won't lie I was drawn into wanting to read this by the cover. I am a sucker for an awesome cover.

I enjoyed this story. It gave me Greek Game of Thrones vibes but sadly the ending felt slow and drawn out. It left me expecting and wanting more from such a build up.

Thank you, Netgalley for the copy!

4.5
I have read so many Greek myths that this time period and setting are not unfamiliar to me. So, when I picked this up, I was ready for a story that would show me some things from the other side. There were some familiar aspects here but this story remained solely in our MCs sphere. Not much in ways of crossover. At first I was a little bummed by this but as the story went on, I was just as captivated by our MCs journey as I am with mythology that I've grown familiar with over the years. I will say the middle of this book drags a bit, which is what holds me back from a full five star rating. However, the characters were great, the story was engrossing and the setting, while familiar felt new to me.
Highly recommend!

I heard so many good things about Costanza Castati's first book Clytemnestra but I did not read that one. I am generally not a big fan of retellings or historical fiction. All of the rave reviews as well as Babylonia being chosen as a BOTM book for January, led me to choose this book. I absolutely loved the tale of Semiramis coming into power. I did not know before reading this story that Assyria ever had a female ruler. The narration was great, and I liked how she told the tale. Now, I will go back to read Clytemnestra and anything else Casati writes.

The first half of Babylonia was very slow to get through, I typically don't enjoy historical fiction but it sounded really good so I thought I would give it a go. The second half however picked up pace and was fantastic!

Like Clytemnestra, I also really enjoyed this book by this author. I hope she writes more stories based on ancient history. The author definitely has a knack for it. I’ve never heard of this Queen of Assyria before but now I’m very curious about her. I like how the author selects more obscure ancient historical figures to write about.

I love a book with a strong female lead like this one. The main character was such a fascinating woman. However, I don’t think she was as clever as the queen mother. I think the main character was just more likable and lucky. The relationships between the characters were so complicated to say the least. It’s hard to tell if the characters actually had feelings for the other characters or if the characters were just trying to use the other characters or both.

This book focused on her rise to power but not what she did once she achieved that power. I now want to know more about this queen’s time ruling Assyria. I would definitely read a sequel to this book if it was ever written and published.

This is the story of Semiramis’s unlikely rise to power in Assyria. The fighting may be brutal, but when the characters are this complex and beautifully written, you thoroughly enjoy the entire journey. You can tell the history and mythology of the regions were well researched, which really bring the world to life. I cannot wait to read whatever else Costanza Casati writes!

What a masterpiece! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC for this. Babylonia is a vivid look into the Assyrian Empire through the eyes of some of the most compelling characters I've read in a long long while. Casati did a brilliant job of taking Queen Shamurammat, or Semiramis, and weaving together the myth and the facts to bring us a fully-realized, beloved protagonist. I was completely under her thrall throughout the entire book and never wanted the story to end. What a thrilling and emotionally engaging novel.