This historically based graphic novel set in ancient Egypt and Babylonia attempts to humanize history with the plight of 2 obscure royal siblings rebelling against their fate, shown parallel with the larger political fate of these ancient cultures. It’s obviously well researched, but the historical factoids keep the story dry using excessive dialogue that could have been better served with periodical, brief scene narratives introducing each plot twist. So instead the fabulous illustration in beautiful earthy toned watercolor is wasted on people conversing instead of the sweeping grandeur & flowing action that this story premise begs for and which the artist is obviously capable of. I ultimately enjoyed the art and historical context, but kept thinking this story could have had real wow factor if designed more engagingly.

Thank you to Isabelle Dethan and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this fine graphic novel.

My primary complaint is that the story is split into two books, so I have only completed half of the story. The art is colorful and visually appealing. There is some violence and minor sexual content, but nothing so severe as to cause me concern to showing this comic to a teenager. The violence and sexual content of this comic are rather subdued when compared to many other similar titles.

The book begins by focusing on two primary characters, a half-brother and half-sister, both children of a Pharaoh. After the half-sister feels she has attracted unwanted sexual interest from their father, she flees with her half-brother, who wants to travel, against the wishes of Pharaoh. They are subsequently kidnapped and sold as slaves to an enemy kingdom, where he is to be sacrificed and she is to be a concubine in service of the prince. The bulk of the book focuses on their time in captivity, planning and performing the escape. The action did not seem that compelling, and the initial kidnapping took place entirely off panel.

It seems that this could have been done in one volume if this first half was shorted a little, and I think some of the panels could have been deleted to make this fit into one volume. I was able to finish the book and enjoyed what I read, but it felt like I was making slow progress. I do not mean to denigrate the fine artwork provided by the book, and it is possible I would have been satisfied if I was able to finish the story in one read, instead of having to wait for the release of the second half of the story.

Beautiful graphics! The story was exciting, and the history it offered was very interesting! I look forward to the next installment to see how the story continues!

As is often the case with Europe Comics, the art is lovely but the plot is a little disjointed. Though the script mostly follows a fairly straightforward narrative, too many characters are introduced in a short period of time and the plot at that point is moving quickly. Yet for all that plot, the characters don't grow or change as people. Since it's the first volume in at least a two part series, I'm hoping for that to happen in the next installment.

Even with my quibbles, it was a fun, quick read. I'd call this something like a historical sibling adventure set in ancient Egypt. If that appeals to you, give it a shot!


I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this graphic novel that I read via NetGalley. I think readers who enjoy ancient settings with a good storyline will love it. The drawing is impressive with warm colors and a lot of nice details, the characters are well-defined and relatable for an adventure with a timeline in ancient history.
The story is paced well enough to enjoy the visual elements in each scene. I especially enjoyed general views of the ancient cities that look rather realistic, and I took my time to study them closely.
There is also a short glossary with the names mentioned in the book that includes very brief information about the history of ancient Egypt and Babylon empires.
I will be looking forward to the second part.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this one and the historical references it made. It felt like this could have been a true story with the cultural, political, and historical figures mentioned in the novel. I was a little confused for the first half of the novel which made it difficult to get into. My favorite part was the amazing colors and artwork that balanced the Egyptian culture depicted so well!

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This begins with two half siblings, children of the Pharaoh, running away and ending up in slavery in Babylon. The sister ends up as a nanny for the prince's child and maid to his concubine, while the brother ends up as the Straw King. From there the sister tries whatever she can to keep her brother from going through the ritual of the Straw King.

If you like ancient society settings and warm colors, this may be worth taking a look at if the story interests you. I will say the font is kind of hard on the eyes. I wear glasses, and I needed to pretty much pull my computer too close to my face to be able to read some of the text because of it.

This was my first historical fiction in graphic novel form and wow!! it was amazing!. The illustrative style really fit the time period. It was super easy to follow and there was a clear distinction from point A to point B. Nothing irks me more than having hard to read illustrations but this was great!

The plot was also well done. Graphic novels usually feel rushed but this didn't. You got a real sense of the family dynamics and politics during ancient Egypt. You can tell the author did their research.

I'll be researching when the next volume comes out cause I'm eager to know what happens next!

An interesting historical graphic novel. Nothing really grabbed my attention here. It was trying to be exciting but sort of fell short with heavy dialogue and non-dynamic pages. Not my thing at all.

*I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.*

The Staw King tells the tale of an Eygptian princess named Neith and her brother Sennedjem attempting to escape their father's kingdom, each for their own personal reasons. However their plan soon fails when they are captured.

This beautifully illustrated graphic novel was a fast and entertaining read. At times the dialogue felt stilted and I found the pacing was rather awkward at times, which affected the overall flow of the book for me.

However, pacing and dialogue issues aside, I found the Straw King to be visually stunning, and the plot itself was so engaging that I read The Straw King in one sitting. I will definitely be looking forward to the next installment.

Politics is personal in ancient Egypt and Babylon. Focused on the ins and outs of court (of Pharoh Amasis II) and palace (of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon) intrigue, the characters were engaging, the art was well-drawn, but the plot wasn't quite byzantine enough for my tastes. Fun and well worth a read.

The art in this book was fabulous! With all colored pages and nice detailing, also had in engaging story to back it up!!!

It was beautiful drawings and that i really liked, but the novel felt too informative and i wasn`t too fond of the whole story. I had other hopes for this story, but they kind of crashed. I give it 3 stars, but that is actually mostly for the beautiful graphics/drawings.

I intially wanted to read this graphic novel for the egyptian theme and wasnt disappionted on that part. The art style in this is absoluetly lovely and fitted well with this type of graphic novel. However that is where this good review stops as although you can tell the writer put in alot of research into Egyptians and Babilonians that was all this novel was. I did not feel I was reading a story, more that I was reading a graphic inforamtion book. So many details were cramed into the story that I just couldnt get my head around what the actual plot was. I also found that the story did jump way too quickly and the jumps/gaps in the timeline were too big and didnt make sence. I really wanted to like this but it was just too confusing.

This first part focuses on Neith and Sennedjem, who are very far removed children of the current pharaoh, that decide they're going to leave Egypt and try and make their way elsewhere, but bad luck befalls them. They end up in Babylon as slaves, Neith given to the prince and Sennedjem made to be the Straw Man, a body double in a ritual for the king that will end in his death. Neith is not OK with that and a rescue attempt is planned - though things do go awry.

Dethan Isabelle wrote and illustrated this and while I find the pacing to be weird (I have this problem with a lot of graphic novels, so that may just be me) and some of the characters seemed a bit off looking to me, the scenes of the just buildings and nature were beautiful.

I'm interested in seeing where this story goes as it does leave on a bit of a cliff hanger!

Thank you NetGalley for providing this arc for review.

The Straw King is a graphic novel set in ancient Egypt. I love reading and studying anything Egypt so when I saw this, I was really intrigued. The story mainly follows Neith and her brother who went on an adventure to escape Egypt and became enslaved to Babylon. I am not the hugest fan of graphic novels… but I loved each illustration as it depicts the time period and the way of life.

I can’t wait to read the next one!

3.5
I love the artwork, the style and colours go really well with this type of story and setting. Real effort has go into it even the backgrounds. The setting and historical context used is fascinating especially the whole straw king ritual. The main character is determined and is very loyal to her brother. However I think that there could have been more to the story, it's very short especially since it's only a 2 book graphic novel series. Maybe show snippets of them being siblings growing up (we don't actually get to see why they are so loyal to each other) and the 2 days that don't get shown between them escaping the palace to becoming slaves. The main character also gets a lot of breaks, she never seems to be in danger which seems quite unrealistic for her situation.
Overall it was enjoyable and if you are a fan of Ancient Egypt it's worth a read

This graphic novel is about Neith and her brother Sennedjem who are the pharoah’s children. They decide to run away together because Neith doesn’t want to become her own father’s concubine, and Sennedjem is not the heir but one of many sons down the ladder, so he isn’t really important to his father. He would most probably end up as a leaf bearer for one of his older brothers.

Unfortunately they are caught by slave traders, and are sold to the King of Babylon, who is an enemy of the Egyptians. The King decides to use Sennedjem as a Straw King. This means that Sennedjem would be forced to pretend to be the King and then sacrificed at the temple to get rid of all the bad omens and curses that would befall the real King otherwise. Neith is horrified to learn this and decides to save her brother from this terrible fate.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel as I learnt a lot of facts about ancient Egyptian and Babylonian customs and traditions, that I did not know before. I do really like reading about that time period and this was very interesting for me.

The illustrations were really beautiful and a treat to behold. Very vibrant, rich and colorful. It felt like they transported me back in time.

This was volume 1 of the two part series and now I really want to read the second part, to know what happens next, as the story was so engrossing.

I recommend this book for people who love history, and love reading comics and graphic novels with beautiful illustrations.

I have been a big fan of Ancient Egypt since I was a little kid. There's something charming about its mythology, architecture and even pharaohs. That's why I couldn't pass an opportunity to try The Straw King.

The Straw King is first in the two-book series, The Pharaoh's Daughter. It's focused on Netih, daughter of the Pharaoh and her brother, escaping from their country and being enslaved and sent to Babylon. Author focused on many aspects of the society back then - monarchy itself, politics and relationships, slavery and female position in the society. Story itself was very intriguing, gripping and unpredictable. I would personally appreciate more of Egyptian setting, but Babylon was surely interesting enough to keep me interested.

One thing I must pinpoint is art of the comics. It's very vivid, colorful and eye-catching. It sets the atmosphere perfectly, especially bigger panels with no text. Comics itself is not very long, which was a bummer because I wanted more, but I am sure we'll get nice conclusion in second volume.

I'd recommend this comics to anyone interested in Ancient Empires (especially Babylonia and Egypt), strong female lead and lot of politics.

This was my first graphic novel. I love the Egyptian background. Egyptian mythology is one of my favourites.
Two siblings, children of the Pharoah, who are nowhere near next in line for the throne, decided to leave Egypt, only they find themselves in strife from the get-go, and now they need to get home.

The siblings are fierce and I love that. They find their path and are doing what they can for each other, even separated. It shows the love and commitment that comes from family.
I really enjoyed the mention of the Gods. I would definitely say it's for a younger audience than myself, possibly around 15-19 years old. However, I loved the graphics and it was super easy to follow the story. Thank you!