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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
The writing style of the author was decent, but there was no evidence to support any of the claims made. Also, I didn't really like the way the chapters were organized. It sort of got confusing when it switched through all the time periods. The plot was interesting and kept my interest but I agree that it is a vacation book.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Very enjoyable. Great writing & storytelling of weaving the story of Tut and Howard Carter together. Facts presented in a captivating way. Fascinating story.
challenging
slow-paced
An interesting book, but I got annoyed with the short chapters. It was like Patterson was contractually obligated to keep his chapters four pages or less, because he would end a short chapter and then start the next in the same place. Why bother having two chapters then?
I found the parts on Carter to be the most interesting. I knew the general overview of Carter's story, but not the details. Patterson was able to provide more details in Carter's story than in Tut's, probably because it's better documented. Talking about life in 1300 BCE was much more speculative. Patterson just have us little bits leading up to Tut's death. I found that part of the story less satisfying. Throughout the book, you really had to pay attention to the dates that headed each chapter since he bounced back and forth so often.
I found the parts on Carter to be the most interesting. I knew the general overview of Carter's story, but not the details. Patterson was able to provide more details in Carter's story than in Tut's, probably because it's better documented. Talking about life in 1300 BCE was much more speculative. Patterson just have us little bits leading up to Tut's death. I found that part of the story less satisfying. Throughout the book, you really had to pay attention to the dates that headed each chapter since he bounced back and forth so often.
Terrible. Patterson spends lots of time at the beginning talking about the importance of research and how thoroughly he researches his novels, which only makes the many mistakes he makes more annoying. To be fair, the book isn't that recent and we learn new information every year, but it still made it difficult to take the book and his 'theory' seriously. Do yourself a favor and find a good (recent) documentary instead.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
I thought this book was pretty terrible. I am pretty interested in Ancient Egypt, and was excited to read this. I was very disappointed- it is poorly written and definitely not a "thriller" by any means. There are no footnotes or references to back up Patterson's claims, and he goes through the whole book telling the story and then bluntly states his conclusions at the end- it was very abrupt and I didn't feel his narrative led up to the conclusions he drew. I also felt that the storyline about Howard Carter was irrelevant- it would have been more interesting if he had just focused on Tut's lifetime and what current forensic technology can tell us about his death.
I listened to this as a book on tape. It was not abridged but I kept thinking it was because the chapters were so short. Most of the chapters were not put in a sensible order either.
This anecdote sums up my experience with this book:
My boyfriend heard part of the book when he was in my car and said "what is this terrible romance novel you are listening to? It makes me want to throw up!"
I had to explain to him that it was supposed to be a book about King Tut. (And the book is not really about the murder of King Tut either. It seems to be more about Tut's romance with his wife/sister and about the discovery of his tomb.)
I also have to admit that after reading other reviews, I was disappointed to hear that the few facts that were in the book were not well researched.
This anecdote sums up my experience with this book:
My boyfriend heard part of the book when he was in my car and said "what is this terrible romance novel you are listening to? It makes me want to throw up!"
I had to explain to him that it was supposed to be a book about King Tut. (And the book is not really about the murder of King Tut either. It seems to be more about Tut's romance with his wife/sister and about the discovery of his tomb.)
I also have to admit that after reading other reviews, I was disappointed to hear that the few facts that were in the book were not well researched.
Interesting book. Alot of bouncing around though. Three stories going on at once. Modern day, 1890's-1900's discovery of Tut's Tomb and 1300's BC Tut's father's rein then Tut's rein.