Reviews

The Last Camel Died at Noon by Elizabeth Peters

snowmaiden's review against another edition

4.0

If there's one device I've come to hate in literature and on television, it's when a story starts in media res with what will turn out to be the climactic action scene and then rewinds all the way back to the beginning. It's only in the past few years that this device has become almost omnipresent on television, so I was somewhat surprised that Peters uses it at the start of this book. Perhaps it was a new and exciting thing when she did it in 1991. At any rate, I can't blame her too much for this lapse in judgment when the rest of the book is so genuinely exciting. Amelia and Emerson go to an archaeological dig in Sudan instead of their usual Egypt, but they don't get very far with their excavations this time, as they are lured out into the desert on a quest and end up discovering a lost civilization. I'll confess that the usual Egyptian settings of the Peabody stories had seemed a little humdrum to me during the last few books, so it's nice that we had a change of scenery and got to explore a living civilization instead of a dead one this time. All in all, it was a fun read, and as usual, I'm looking forward to the next one!

jacelynspacin's review against another edition

Book is a bit dull and dated, the romance is boring and the writing is obnoxiously posh. Not my cup of tea. 

kimu's review against another edition

2.0

Sigh, this is the Amelia Peabody book that always bogs me down when I'm re-reading them. The plot just drags so badly.

ccqtpie's review against another edition

3.0

Okokok ngl i felt like this one jumped the shark a lil bit. There were some great moments (one in particular that made me put down the book i was laughing so much) but it all got a little too fantastical at the end. Still enjoyed it though!!!

PS
I did appreciate the literary references, though I (like Emerson) would tease Amelia for her love of Haggard's She, i greatly appreciated the Moonstone references (although it makes me wonder how Amelia didn't see the similarities between Sergeant Cuff and Inspector Cuff like come on girl they have the same name and both love roses)

sjgochenour's review against another edition

Upon rereading, I found myself issuing a low, fervent, “YIKE.”

novel_nomad's review against another edition

4.0

Such fun to be found in the company of Amelia Peabody and her outrageous family, especially when they find themselves caught up in lost cities, power struggles and more confounded young lovers. Not my absolute favourite from the series so far, but with so many interesting developments I cannot wait to continue the series.

sparkingjoyinreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

4.0

cheryl6of8's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars -- I liked the tongue-in-cheek aspect of it, in that the running gag through the whole story is Peabody's fascination with H. Rider Haggard's book King Solomon's Mines and this is written in the same style with a similar storyline. I have not read this series in any particular order, so it was kind of fun to see the first meeting between the Emersons and Nefret, their adopted daughter. There was a lot of intrigue in the book -- who can you trust and who can you not trust, shifting loyalties, etc -- as opposed to an actual mystery. But it was a grand adventure, if a trifle long and wordy (which is exactly what I thought about King Solomon's Mines when I read it several years ago).

lghammond's review against another edition

4.0

last read 5/14/2014

katyjo13's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0