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minnajee's review against another edition
3.0
2.8.2006
Jacq, Christian: Ramses - Ikuisuuksien temppeli (Ramses, Le temple des millions d'années, 1996)
8½
- No prkl, kaikkiko nää osat loppuu kesken! Ei toimi kyl yhtää yksittäisinä kirjoina... Mut iha miel.kiint. tapahtumia, pitää vaa ilm lukee viel 3 tiiliskivee et tosiaan saa selville mitä tapahtuu...
Jacq, Christian: Ramses - Ikuisuuksien temppeli (Ramses, Le temple des millions d'années, 1996)
8½
- No prkl, kaikkiko nää osat loppuu kesken! Ei toimi kyl yhtää yksittäisinä kirjoina... Mut iha miel.kiint. tapahtumia, pitää vaa ilm lukee viel 3 tiiliskivee et tosiaan saa selville mitä tapahtuu...
curtis49's review against another edition
3.0
Little depth, as in the first book, but the tale infers the intrigue of court, back biting, jealousy, all those things that happen around men of power. Only two thousand years separate this ancient Egypt and the reign of the Plantagenets in Europe, but I could be reading about the latter as well as the former.
Onto book three and then maybe a rest.
Onto book three and then maybe a rest.
lostinfrance's review against another edition
3.0
I am not sure why I am continuing to read the series...the books are so-so. A bit boring...especially in French. I guess I really am reading them because they were such a big hit in France. Yawn.
berenikeasteria's review against another edition
1.0
In the course of reviewing this book I've come to understand why Book 1 received such a more wide ranging set of reviews than this, Book 2 in the series - those who were underwhelmed by the first book understandably did not continue reading the series. I bought a stack of Christian Jacq novels from a bookstore a couple of years ago whilst on the prowl for historical fiction to do with ancient Egypt. Christian Jacq seemed to be prominently displayed, and the words "international bestseller" were printed boldly on the front of every book, leading me to believe that I couldn't go wrong with a bulk buy of several of his books at once. I soon realised that I had made a critical error when I read the "Queen of Freedom" trilogy set at the end of the 17th Dynasty, which proved to be simplistic, unimaginative, poorly written and frankly awful. That soon got shipped off to the charity shop, but I was left with the dilemma of what to do with the remaining six books that I had bought. I reluctantly decided that, as an avid reader who truly hates to give up on a book halfway through, or even the idea of giving up on a series or author, that I ought to read them - I happened to have Book 2 but not Book 1 in this "Ramses" series, hence why I've reviewed this book but not the first one. Unfortunately, I swiftly regretted my decision as my sense of good literature gagged at the utter drivel liquefying my brain whilst I was reading this book.
I'm not even going to cover the little niggles of the odd naming choices and the multiple grammatical and spelling mistakes, which are frankly insignificant in comparison to the bigger issues plaguing this novel. Some people have wondered if the terrible writing in these novels is down to the fact that they are actually translated from an original manuscript in Jacq's native French, and certainly some of the minor niggles above can be attributed to that - the spelling and grammatical mistakes for example are unlikely to have been reproduced by a translator from the original text, and therefore can be attributed to the translator. However, I don't think any translator could have been so bad as to be responsible for the flat characterisations, monotone plot and poor writing. Just to make sure, I checked inside the covers of all my books by Christian Jacq and it turns out that each series is translated by a different person, and yet they all suffer from the same problems. This is definitely an issue with the author, not the translator.
The language was extremely simplistic and basic, you would think almost aimed at a readership of children. Most of the language was as simple as possible, and frequently clumsy or clunky. The dialogue was trite and tedious, peppered with anachronisms such as "You're on!" and "Cat got your tongue?" The characterisations were as flat as the paper they were printed on - everyone was either "a goodie" or "a baddie" with very little in between. It was all very black and white, no room for shades of grey, for subtle or complex characters. This made the entire cast of characters either boring or cheesy and clichéd, usually both at the same time. Historical figures from other periods and parts of the world are plopped in just for the heck of it - Helen of Troy, Menelaus, Homer. There are endless repetitive conversations where Ramses is told by some advisor that what he wants to do is impossible, but he decides to go ahead anyway (this happened a lot in the "Queen of Freedom" trilogy too). Plot devices are often tired and laughably cheesy,
Threads in the plot are often left as loose ends and never tied up; for example, Jacq seems to think up a development in the plot but not think it all the way through, and then drops it and creates a new even more implausible twist to try and move the plot ahead instead and inject a sense of events actually happening and moving forwards.
The plot also jumps about wildly and many scenes feel stunted. From their conversation its implied that further interactions take place between them "off-screen", so to speak, but such a fundamental change in character such as this is a really significant part of any storyline and far more resources and page space needs to be devoted to it to make it seem believable. I can't believe that the readers are asked to swallow this claptrap. Sometimes the plot devices pop up out of absolutely nowhere.
"Answer my question," Ramses told him, "and you'll go free. What do they call this place?"
"Abu Simbel."
"You may go."
Are you kidding me?! Four paragraphs of build up just to ask the boy the name of the place?! Just send a guardsman to ask and then come back and tell you!
The historical inaccuracies are really just an afterthought. Throughout the book, a secret police force, hospitals, acid, the spinal cord, royal schools or universities and initiation into the "mysteries" at Memphis are mentioned. All of which did not exist in ancient Egypt and the Egyptians had no knowledge of - but an in depth explanation of that is not for this review. When I finished the book I couldn't believe how crushingly bad it all was, but after the "Queen of Freedom" trilogy I wasn't surprised. The entire novel was cringeworthy to the point of making my eyes bleed. As an avid reader who treasures her books, it really galls me to say this, but I'll be sending these books to the charity shop.
Still, there is a lesson to be learned here. Never buy books in bulk from an author you've never read before. If you simply must, just buy the first book and see how you like it. If you can, check out the reviews and try to get it out from the library before buying.
I'm not even going to cover the little niggles of the odd naming choices and the multiple grammatical and spelling mistakes, which are frankly insignificant in comparison to the bigger issues plaguing this novel. Some people have wondered if the terrible writing in these novels is down to the fact that they are actually translated from an original manuscript in Jacq's native French, and certainly some of the minor niggles above can be attributed to that - the spelling and grammatical mistakes for example are unlikely to have been reproduced by a translator from the original text, and therefore can be attributed to the translator. However, I don't think any translator could have been so bad as to be responsible for the flat characterisations, monotone plot and poor writing. Just to make sure, I checked inside the covers of all my books by Christian Jacq and it turns out that each series is translated by a different person, and yet they all suffer from the same problems. This is definitely an issue with the author, not the translator.
The language was extremely simplistic and basic, you would think almost aimed at a readership of children. Most of the language was as simple as possible, and frequently clumsy or clunky. The dialogue was trite and tedious, peppered with anachronisms such as "You're on!" and "Cat got your tongue?" The characterisations were as flat as the paper they were printed on - everyone was either "a goodie" or "a baddie" with very little in between. It was all very black and white, no room for shades of grey, for subtle or complex characters. This made the entire cast of characters either boring or cheesy and clichéd, usually both at the same time. Historical figures from other periods and parts of the world are plopped in just for the heck of it - Helen of Troy, Menelaus, Homer. There are endless repetitive conversations where Ramses is told by some advisor that what he wants to do is impossible, but he decides to go ahead anyway (this happened a lot in the "Queen of Freedom" trilogy too). Plot devices are often tired and laughably cheesy,
Spoiler
such as the opening scene where Ramses comes across a lion in the desert, lo and behold he's somehow friends with this lion and it understands what he says and obeys him. Convenient. Magical omens convince the general populace of Egypt that Ramses is chosen by the gods to be their pharaoh, instead of him demonstrating this by skill - one of many examples where Jacq avoids "showing" the reader but prefers to "tell" instead. Many of the characters act completely illogically and wildly nonsensically, for example Ramses wandering off into the deserts of Nubia completely alone to find water.Threads in the plot are often left as loose ends and never tied up; for example,
Spoiler
Ramses' secondary wife writes to him to warn him that his brother is planning something against him, and Shaanar intercepts this letter and destroys it. There is never a follow up scene in which Iset asks the messenger what he did with her letter, or sends out further messengers to make sure that Ramses got the letter, and when they finally meet in person again she never asks him if he received her note - the whole incident is just forgotten.Spoiler
For example, Shaanar and Ahsha's plan to work against Ramses? Er... to wait... until Ramses makes a mistake as pharaoh... then the time will be right... for them to do something... apparently. At the same time Shaanar is in cahoots with a Hittite spy. This spy, after the two characters agree to work together, only shows up again at the very end of the book. These are not isolated examples. At one point Ramses' lead bodyguard attempts to investigate a suspicious incident involving a scorpion. There are only two follow up scenes to this particular strand, but ultimately no progress is made in uncovering the perpetrator. We're told that three years pass during the course of this book - what on earth is this bodyguard doing, kicking up his heels and sipping tequila by the Cairo hotel pool?! In any case, because the whole plot to sit and wait naturally produces no results, Jacq drops that idea and introduces even more caricatured one-dimensional characters to try and restart the whole idea of plotting going on against Ramses. This results in the introduction of a Libyan sorcerer named Ofir, and a girl called Lita who is supposedly the great-granddaughter of Akhenaten. This prompts a spell of Ofir smashing magical tablets and playing with voodoo dolls... which actually works in harming Ramses and those close to him. Apparently magic is real, just as it was in the "Queens of Freedom" trilogy.The plot also jumps about wildly and many scenes feel stunted.
Spoiler
Ofir develops a plot with Shaanar to try and turn Moses against Ramses. Ofir and Moses have only two scenes together of only a couple of pages, and from this the Moses character transforms from a staunchly loyal friend of Ramses to a crazed and desperate man in opposition to him.Spoiler
In the middle of Ramses' oh so important campaign against twenty Nubian rebels, for example, an elephant shows up in the middle of the desert and leads him to the future site of Abu Simbel. Somehow Ramses already knows this elephant (in an exact repeat of his relationship with the lion, he somehow helped it when he was younger) - isn't that lucky! Ramses spies a young Nubian boy by the river and orders his men to bring the boy to him. Four paragraphs are then devoted to describing how the soldiers drag this boy before Ramses and how the boy struggles to get away, only to culminate in the following scintillating piece of dialogue:"Answer my question," Ramses told him, "and you'll go free. What do they call this place?"
"Abu Simbel."
"You may go."
Are you kidding me?! Four paragraphs of build up just to ask the boy the name of the place?! Just send a guardsman to ask and then come back and tell you!
The historical inaccuracies are really just an afterthought. Throughout the book, a secret police force, hospitals, acid, the spinal cord, royal schools or universities and initiation into the "mysteries" at Memphis are mentioned. All of which did not exist in ancient Egypt and the Egyptians had no knowledge of - but an in depth explanation of that is not for this review. When I finished the book I couldn't believe how crushingly bad it all was, but after the "Queen of Freedom" trilogy I wasn't surprised. The entire novel was cringeworthy to the point of making my eyes bleed. As an avid reader who treasures her books, it really galls me to say this, but I'll be sending these books to the charity shop.
Still, there is a lesson to be learned here. Never buy books in bulk from an author you've never read before. If you simply must, just buy the first book and see how you like it. If you can, check out the reviews and try to get it out from the library before buying.
persychan's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.5
Il primo era un tre stelle scarso, questo è decisamente un tre pieno, quasi 4, se non fosse che lo stile di scrittura a tratti ancora mi uccide con la sua piattezza e i dialoghi sono...una scelta.
D'altra parte si sente molto di più la presenza mistica, divina che aleggia nella storia e ho apprezzato molto di più il personaggio di Ramses, che continua a schivare i complotti per pura fortuna e cazzimma, ma almeno ora è ufficialmente blessed :tm: quindi non mi faccio più domande.
In mezzo al tutto, non sono ancora del tutto convinta della scelta fatte per la storia di Mosè (soprattutto perchè rivela una discutibile interpretazione della religione ebraica, ma vabbeh).
In generale un miglioramento rispetto al primo.
D'altra parte si sente molto di più la presenza mistica, divina che aleggia nella storia e ho apprezzato molto di più il personaggio di Ramses, che continua a schivare i complotti per pura fortuna e cazzimma, ma almeno ora è ufficialmente blessed :tm: quindi non mi faccio più domande.
In mezzo al tutto, non sono ancora del tutto convinta della scelta fatte per la storia di Mosè (soprattutto perchè rivela una discutibile interpretazione della religione ebraica, ma vabbeh).
In generale un miglioramento rispetto al primo.
mayetra's review against another edition
4.0
Again a good story with real facts sprinkled into the story. I'm glad the Greek storyline was short=lived. Another good installment.
melineegout's review against another edition
1.0
Je n’ai pas aimé ce livre. C’est un roman historique peu réaliste. Tout est trop beau pour être vrai, il n’y a pas d’esclavage et tout ce que Ramses entreprend réussit. Il n’y a aucun rebondissement et l’intrigue tourne toujours autour des tentatives ratées d’assassinats sur Ramses. En plus de cela les personnages féminins sont très mal exploités et s’accordent avec le côté monotone du roman.
astras010's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
frahorus's review against another edition
5.0
Siamo agli albori di quello che sarebbe divenuto forse il regno più luminoso di tutta la millenaria storia egiziana. Sethi I aveva ormai associato il figlio Ramses al trono del ‘Regno delle due terre’ perché, dopo il superamento di varie prove, gli era sembrato che gli dei avessero previsto per lui un futuro assai luminoso. La crescita spirituale del giovane principe non era però ancora certamente giunta ad una piena conclusione. Nemmeno dopo la morte del padre e la sua susseguente ascesa al trono il ragazzo sembrava essere ancora maturo.
Molti erano i nemici da cui guardarsi e pochi i fedeli servitori delll’Egitto su cui contare veramente.
In primis bisognava preoccuparsi della infida, ma potentissima, aristocrazia tebana, poi della gelosia dei fratelli del Faraone per un destino che non ritenevano giusto e infine del nemico più pericoloso, l’astuta casta sacerdotale che aveva in Karnak il suo centro del potere. Il nuovo Faraone non poteva che essere assillato dai dubbi su come riuscire a rimettere in sesto un paese che sembrava, ogni giorno di più, diventare una facile preda per gli appetiti dei grandi regni stranieri.
Nel primo libro lasciamo un Ramses fanciullo in procinto di salire al trono, in questo lo vediamo affrontare concretamente i problemi che porta l'assumere una carica così importante in così giovane età.
Di questo libro mi è piaciuto il modo in cui l'autore mescola fatti storici ben noti con figure legate al mito, come quella di Mosè, il migliore amico del Faraone, che si trova combattuto tra la fedeltà a Ramses e la sua fede. Suggestivo l'accostamento della fede ebraica con quella del dio unico Aton, sebbene l'intera storia dell'esodo riportata nella Bibbia in realtà non abbia tuttora alcun riscontro certo nella storia egizia.
Molti erano i nemici da cui guardarsi e pochi i fedeli servitori delll’Egitto su cui contare veramente.
In primis bisognava preoccuparsi della infida, ma potentissima, aristocrazia tebana, poi della gelosia dei fratelli del Faraone per un destino che non ritenevano giusto e infine del nemico più pericoloso, l’astuta casta sacerdotale che aveva in Karnak il suo centro del potere. Il nuovo Faraone non poteva che essere assillato dai dubbi su come riuscire a rimettere in sesto un paese che sembrava, ogni giorno di più, diventare una facile preda per gli appetiti dei grandi regni stranieri.
Nel primo libro lasciamo un Ramses fanciullo in procinto di salire al trono, in questo lo vediamo affrontare concretamente i problemi che porta l'assumere una carica così importante in così giovane età.
Di questo libro mi è piaciuto il modo in cui l'autore mescola fatti storici ben noti con figure legate al mito, come quella di Mosè, il migliore amico del Faraone, che si trova combattuto tra la fedeltà a Ramses e la sua fede. Suggestivo l'accostamento della fede ebraica con quella del dio unico Aton, sebbene l'intera storia dell'esodo riportata nella Bibbia in realtà non abbia tuttora alcun riscontro certo nella storia egizia.