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demelzavandermeulen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder
marilynsaul's review against another edition
2.0
Bloody, gory, I would not have bothered to finish, except it was the last of the trilogy. The whole premise was unbelievable, and even Rahotep's thirst for vengeance was uncharacteristic. Normally, I would have kept this trilogy to re-read at a later date, but this third book has just spoiled the whole series for me.
lisa_setepenre's review against another edition
2.0
So we reach the end of Drake's Egyptian trilogy. It's an odd sort of series, an Ancient Egypt the way Raymond Chandler would write it, and a bit too modern and a little bit historically inaccurate.
In this instalment, Drake tackles the "Dakhamunzu" letter, wherein an unidentified Queen of Egypt wrote to Egypt's arch-nemesis, the King of the Hittites, and asked to marry his son. Drake equates the unnamed Queen as Ankhesenamun, which is fair enough since she's been a common suspect. However, while the theory generally runs that Ankhesenamun writes this letter in the immediate aftermath of Tutankhamun's sudden death, here she writes it while her new husband, Ay, is dying.
Because so little in that time period is known for certain, it's possible that this is what really happened. But it's incredibly doubtful. Ankhesenamun disappears from history around the same time as Tutankhamun dies, and any marriage with Ay was superseded by his first wife, Tiy. So the scenes where Ankhesenamun acts as the Great Royal Wife and then attempts to rule as Pharaoh in her own right ring false.
The other major plot point in this book is the opium trade. Again, this seems dubious – while opium was present in Ancient Egypt, it wasn't necessarily a street drug. More likely, it was used by physicians as a painkiller . The mummy of Ramesses II, for instance, contains traces of opium and it is believed that opium was used to relieve the considerable pain Ramesses was in at the time of his death.
I couldn't help but feel the emotional scenes fell flat – all the carry on over Khety felt unnatural. The way that Rahotep treated his wife, too, left me cold. I was pleased when Horemheb was revealed to be a "Good Man", but the revelation happened way too fast when throughout the entire series, Horemheb has been a suspicious figure. But then, I am biased towards Horemheb so I'm not going to complain too much.
Furthermore, the plot twist right at the end, came out of nowhere, and I felt like it would've been more powerful if the readers had been given time to digest it properly.
I feel like, in some way, that the story Drake really wants to tell is constrained by historical fact, and the story we get is a bit of a hot mess: fun to read, but difficult to take seriously.
In this instalment, Drake tackles the "Dakhamunzu" letter, wherein an unidentified Queen of Egypt wrote to Egypt's arch-nemesis, the King of the Hittites, and asked to marry his son. Drake equates the unnamed Queen as Ankhesenamun, which is fair enough since she's been a common suspect. However, while the theory generally runs that Ankhesenamun writes this letter in the immediate aftermath of Tutankhamun's sudden death, here she writes it while her new husband, Ay, is dying.
Because so little in that time period is known for certain, it's possible that this is what really happened. But it's incredibly doubtful. Ankhesenamun disappears from history around the same time as Tutankhamun dies, and any marriage with Ay was superseded by his first wife, Tiy. So the scenes where Ankhesenamun acts as the Great Royal Wife and then attempts to rule as Pharaoh in her own right ring false.
The other major plot point in this book is the opium trade. Again, this seems dubious – while opium was present in Ancient Egypt, it wasn't necessarily a street drug. More likely, it was used by physicians as a painkiller . The mummy of Ramesses II, for instance, contains traces of opium and it is believed that opium was used to relieve the considerable pain Ramesses was in at the time of his death.
I couldn't help but feel the emotional scenes fell flat – all the carry on over Khety felt unnatural. The way that Rahotep treated his wife, too, left me cold. I was pleased when Horemheb was revealed to be a "Good Man", but the revelation happened way too fast when throughout the entire series, Horemheb has been a suspicious figure. But then, I am biased towards Horemheb so I'm not going to complain too much.
Furthermore, the plot twist right at the end, came out of nowhere, and I felt like it would've been more powerful if the readers had been given time to digest it properly.
I feel like, in some way, that the story Drake really wants to tell is constrained by historical fact, and the story we get is a bit of a hot mess: fun to read, but difficult to take seriously.
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