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3.22 AVERAGE
3.22 AVERAGE
I really liked this story, it's an easy read but still mysterious enough to keep you turning the page.
A very dull book featuring a protagonist who is a secondary character in the story of much more interesting characters. The lead mostly bumbles around accomplishing nothing until the plot is explained to him roughly two-thirds of the way into the book. Following that were many vague conversations that wanted to sound mysterious and philosophical but just came off as inane.
I will say, if nothing else, it kept me engaged. I never knew what to expect, and that made me want to read it through to the end. I just wish it lead to somewhere interesting.
I will say, if nothing else, it kept me engaged. I never knew what to expect, and that made me want to read it through to the end. I just wish it lead to somewhere interesting.
This book was a first for me. A novel of ancient Egypt, formulated much like a modern-day mystery. While it's not the best book I've ever read, it certainly has re-reading value. I found myself fascinated by Rahotep, Senior Medjay of Thebes, both as a narrator and a character. The book is written in a sort of diary format, and though it often slips between tenses and the author sometimes slips and uses modern day dialect in place of more appropriate choices, it was a satisfying read. That's more than I can say for many of the books that I've read this year.
I love historical mysteries. I think this was my first time 'walking' with an investigator in ancient Egypt. It took me a bit to get into the character and storyline, but once I did, the story flowed quite wonderfully.
More than a mystery, it showed power hungry people and the ones who got stepped on in the process.
Nefertiti, beloved Queen, has disappeared. Akhenaten wants her found and threatens death to Rahotep, the detective placed in charge of the investigation.
Nicely paced with plenty of twists and turns. Glad I have another in the series on Mt Git'r'Read.
More than a mystery, it showed power hungry people and the ones who got stepped on in the process.
Nefertiti, beloved Queen, has disappeared. Akhenaten wants her found and threatens death to Rahotep, the detective placed in charge of the investigation.
Nicely paced with plenty of twists and turns. Glad I have another in the series on Mt Git'r'Read.
Historien er i ret høj grad en ganske almindelig krim ala 'Da Vinci mysteriet' sat i oldtidens Ægypten under Akhenatons korte regeringstid. Bogen begynder på et tidspunkt fyldt med omvæltninger og splid. Akhenaon har forladt de gamle traditioner og har indført monoteisme med tilbedelse af solguden Aton som eneste gud, ud over selvfølgelig Akhenaton selv og hans kone Nefertiti som begge er ophøjede til gudestatus. Det går dårligt for det nye regime, der styres fra en hurtigt opført hovedstad i ørkenen midt mellem Memfis og Teben. Økonomien skranter og magten i versalstaterne er ved at smuldre og det frygtes at 'de to lande' snart kan vente angreb fra både nord og syd. For at stadfæste sin magt har Akenaton arrangeret en stor fest for ham og Nefertiti (den perfekte) for alle landets vigtigste personer, samt ambassadører for versalstater og nabolande. Kun få uger før festen skal starte forsvinder Nefertiti imidlertid, hvis ikke hun findes inden feste kan det betyde Akhanatons fald. 'Politi'manden Rahotep bliver hentet fra Teben til den nye hovedstad for at løse mysteriet og bringe Nefertiti tilbage. Når han det ikke er prisen hans liv... og værre end det også hans families. Han kæmper mod alle ods for at optrævle mysteriet uden at vide hvem han kan stole på og hvem det er der helt fra starten tilsyneladende prøver at bekæmpe ham og endda slå ham ihjel!
I liked it, especially Drake's re-imagination of Akhetaten and Nefertiti. The writing was great, even though it was obviously 21st century lingo, but then who wants to learn hieroglyphs in order to read the story. True, it dragged a bit, especially in the first half, but the description of Egypt at that time was necessary, IMO, for defining the background of the characters.
I just couldn't get into the narrative.
The author has a beautifully descriptive style to his writing. I really liked his metaphors and observations. I think the setting came to life well. However, the characters were lacking depth. They were not consistent in their reactions or have enough depth presented that they were relatable. It didn't seem like the author was a big fan of this period of time. The characters were overall very unlikeable. I was disappointed the way almost all the historical figures were painted with so many dark tones.
Overall, though, I had three problems with this book:
1) The main character, Rai Rahotep, was very ungrateful and didn't solve anything. By the end of the book, there was really no point to why he was sent for in the first place. He found clues, but he discovered nothing and solved nothing. He was mostly a pawn being moved around by the historical figures in the book. An example regarding him being ungrateful, after he was saved from being tortured (by having his fingers broken one by one), he rebuts back to the person who saved him when he's asked to deliver a message saying, "I'm not a messenger boy." Excuse me, you were almost a dead boy, so stop being a jerk. He also gets mad at someone for not trusting him "after all they've been through" even though Rai constantly questioned this other man's loyalty throughout the entire book to that point. Double standard, much?
2) What was the point of all the killings? Why would those things happen
3) There were too many modern references. For instance, Rai relates that a cat's tail looked like a question mark. Sorry, but the ancient people did not have the question mark symbol in their writings. Also, Rai references to moving something an "inch." That was not an Egyptian unit of measurement. Plus, the following paragraph used the correct unit of measurement! Sloppy. Things like this make me crazy. You've got to nail down the details to make the story believable.
The book wasn't terrible. I liked the author's writing style. However, the author needed to do a little more research to pull this story off. I also never felt there was a climax to things. Some peoples' lives got disrupted, and then everything was cleared up at the end with no help from Rai's influence. This story was lacking big time in the motivation and climax. Maybe for some, Ay's revelation was an actual revelation, but I knew what was going to be his "trump card" from the beginning. I was hoping the author would pull out something more to tie together the events of the story. Instead I felt left with a lot of underdeveloped plot threads.
Overall, though, I had three problems with this book:
1) The main character, Rai Rahotep, was very ungrateful and didn't solve anything. By the end of the book, there was really no point to why he was sent for in the first place. He found clues, but he discovered nothing and solved nothing. He was mostly a pawn being moved around by the historical figures in the book. An example regarding him being ungrateful, after he was saved from being tortured (by having his fingers broken one by one), he rebuts back to the person who saved him when he's asked to deliver a message saying, "I'm not a messenger boy." Excuse me, you were almost a dead boy, so stop being a jerk. He also gets mad at someone for not trusting him "after all they've been through" even though Rai constantly questioned this other man's loyalty throughout the entire book to that point. Double standard, much?
2) What was the point of all the killings? Why would those things happen
Spoiler
if the planner was not going after Nefertiti like the book had played it out to be. I don't mind a good plot twist, but this one made the first part of the story moot. What did faking Nefertiti's death or killing the other investigator or burning the priest have to do with anything? It felt like unnecessary violence, and there was never a motivation given for these occurrences. Was it supposed to be undermining Akhenaten's authority? I think Nefertiti's disappearance alone did that well enough.3) There were too many modern references. For instance, Rai relates that a cat's tail looked like a question mark. Sorry, but the ancient people did not have the question mark symbol in their writings. Also, Rai references to moving something an "inch." That was not an Egyptian unit of measurement. Plus, the following paragraph used the correct unit of measurement! Sloppy. Things like this make me crazy. You've got to nail down the details to make the story believable.
The book wasn't terrible. I liked the author's writing style. However, the author needed to do a little more research to pull this story off. I also never felt there was a climax to things. Some peoples' lives got disrupted, and then everything was cleared up at the end with no help from Rai's influence. This story was lacking big time in the motivation and climax. Maybe for some, Ay's revelation was an actual revelation, but I knew what was going to be his "trump card" from the beginning. I was hoping the author would pull out something more to tie together the events of the story. Instead I felt left with a lot of underdeveloped plot threads.
could not get past the first few pages!!!!! It just was too forced for me.
This is my first excursion into historical ficton, so kindly bear with me.
The book takes you on a journey to ancient Egypt (ca. 1350 BC). The great queen Nefertiti (sobriquet "The Perfect One") has mysteriously disappeared just before the King ("Akhenaten") has announced a festival to commemorate his overhaul of Egyptian religion (and by extension, politics).
Which brings our hero, Rahotep (the "Seeker of Mysteries") into the fray. Leaving his peaceful familial existence behind, the seeker must now trace the queen and return her in time before the festival to save the king embarrassment. Should he fail, threats to him and his family are made in no uncertain terms.
Rahotep balances through the quagmire of Egyptian politics and the envy of local police ("Medjay"), while constantly watching over his back for unknown yet potent adversaries out to get him, even as the time is running out.
The setting, character profiling and exploration of ancient Egypt (I did have to Google this) gratify my inner nerd sufficiently enough, so I am tempted to give it a 4 (this is after all my first historical fiction read). However, I certainly found the book lacking in terms of the mystery itself, maybe just a 2 then? (Admittedly, Ms. Christie has spoiled me for mysteries forever.)
I think I will settle this with a 3.
READER ADVISORY: Contains descriptions of graphic violence. May induce nightmares in over-imaginative readers.
The book takes you on a journey to ancient Egypt (ca. 1350 BC). The great queen Nefertiti (sobriquet "The Perfect One") has mysteriously disappeared just before the King ("Akhenaten") has announced a festival to commemorate his overhaul of Egyptian religion (and by extension, politics).
Which brings our hero, Rahotep (the "Seeker of Mysteries") into the fray. Leaving his peaceful familial existence behind, the seeker must now trace the queen and return her in time before the festival to save the king embarrassment. Should he fail, threats to him and his family are made in no uncertain terms.
Rahotep balances through the quagmire of Egyptian politics and the envy of local police ("Medjay"), while constantly watching over his back for unknown yet potent adversaries out to get him, even as the time is running out.
The setting, character profiling and exploration of ancient Egypt (I did have to Google this) gratify my inner nerd sufficiently enough, so I am tempted to give it a 4 (this is after all my first historical fiction read). However, I certainly found the book lacking in terms of the mystery itself, maybe just a 2 then? (Admittedly, Ms. Christie has spoiled me for mysteries forever.)
I think I will settle this with a 3.
READER ADVISORY: Contains descriptions of graphic violence. May induce nightmares in over-imaginative readers.