Caramel reviews Cleopatra in Space: Fallen Empires by Mike Maihack

Last year Caramel had reviewed the first four books from the Cleopatra in Space graphic novel series by Mike Maihack. (You might find it useful to check out his reviews of the first book Target Practice, the second book The Thief and the Sword, the third book Secret of the Time Tablets, and the fourth book The Golden Lion, before continuing on.) Today, in his first review for 2022, he revisits this series and talks about the fifth book in the series: Fallen Empires. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So it has been a while Caramel.

Caramel: Yes it has, hasn’t it?

S: But you have kept reading. Haven’t you?

C: Yup.

S: So what are you going to talk about today?

C: Cleopatra in Space: Fallen Empires. It’s the fifth book in the series.

S: So should readers read the first four to understand this book?

C: Yup. I think they’d not get much out of it otherwise.

S: Okay, you already reviewed those first four books. So I’ll just suggest we can assume the readers have read those. What should we know about Cleo when we are getting ready to dive into this?

C: Cleo is the real Cleopatra from Ancient Egypt, who somehow got transported in time to 30,000 years later. She is a kid in these books, and she is fighting evil people. In this book she is trying to destroy an evil superweapon of Octavian.

S: And Octavian is her nemesis?

C: Well, he turns out to be Cleo’s friend from 30,000 years ago.

S: Wait, was that a spoiler?

C: No, not really. We learned it in the fourth book.

S: Oh, okay then. I hope readers have already read that one. Alright, why does Cleo’s friend have an evil superweapon?

C: Well, he became evil, because Cleo left and never came back.

S: Hmm, that is kind of sad.

C: Yes, I think he has a good reason to be annoyed.

S: So what is the title referring to? What are the fallen empires?

C: Octavian has been in multiple empires. They all got destroyed. In the beginning of the book we learn about Gozi, who was Cleo’s friend, and all his family died, and he goes through a lot. Kind of sad. And then he eventually becomes Xius Octavian.

S: Hmm, so it is related to his backstory then. Tell me did you find this volume just as fun as the earlier ones?

C: Yup. I read it really fast again. And twice in one day. I like these books!

S: I can see that! So what three words would you use to describe it?

C: Serious, colorful, and …. captivating!

S: Those are interesting word choices Caramel. “Captivating” is a big word! But given how you already read and reread it several times, I think it is a good word to describe the book. But I would not have expected you to say “serious”. You thought the other books in the series were funny.

C: This was not that funny. It was more serious. Gozi’s story is a bit sad. He had a wife and kids and they all died.

S: Yes, that is indeed sad. But you don’t like sad books. I remember you said that when you were reviewing Charlotte’s Web.

C: No I really don’t like sad books. But I was curious about what was going to happen. And it somehow works, without making you too sad.

S: I see. I can also see that you want to continue reading, so maybe this is a good time to end this first review of the year. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!