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A review by seshat59
Children of the Storm by Elizabeth Peters
3.0
Children of the Storm is, naturally, all about the children, particularly those of Ramses and David, who have emerged from the storm that was WWI.
The year is 1919, and the Great War is finally over. All three generations of Emersons are reunited finally when Walter and Evelyn as well as David, Lia, and their two children come out to spend the season with Emerson, Amelia, Ramses, Nefret, and their two year old twins. Sethos joins the family reunion as does, eventually, his prodigal daughter. Accidents occur, treasures go missing from the accumulated Gods Wives collection at Cyrus’s residence, but the threats are ineffectual and halfhearted at most. Ramses is kidnapped, given hallucinogenic drugs, and a woman garbed as the goddess Hathor attempts to seduce him. Was it real or an illusion? It certainly throws a wrench in his marriage, already shifting around the joy that is the addition of children.
With so many characters to manage, it’s difficult to give any sort of characterization to the lot of them. Lia especially has been a pretty flat character, but I did enjoy how David was the one to dispel a would-be riot. With the end of the War, nationalistic unease is growing and the Egyptians want self-determination.
I kind of feel that MPM really lost her thread for Nefret in general in all her later-written books, including the “fill in the gap” books. I loved Nefret in Ape especially, and while I certainly understand and empathize with how motherhood can dramatically transform one’s life and overwhelm all your sensibilities... Nefret has a great deal of help. In this book and even the previous book, Nefret’s primary agency is just worrying over Ramses. She’s lost some of her fiery spark, and again, that could be natural character evolution... But this is the Amelia P. Emerson series. Come on now.
Alas, the writing is a bit confusing several times throughout the book. Beyond some mild grammatical errors, there is a confusing scene where Ramses and Nefret remove one of their children. Somehow they both reappear in the scene and then Nefret is mentioned later to still be with Charla. Then Dolly had been riding a donkey and had his own special one... 50 pages later, he’s getting his first lesson and his special donkey. Ramses, David, Lia, and Nefret are planning a moonlit stroll tonight, morphs into tomorrow night.
But the concluding action is very fun, and I can’t really complain. 3-3.5 stars.
The year is 1919, and the Great War is finally over. All three generations of Emersons are reunited finally when Walter and Evelyn as well as David, Lia, and their two children come out to spend the season with Emerson, Amelia, Ramses, Nefret, and their two year old twins. Sethos joins the family reunion as does, eventually, his prodigal daughter. Accidents occur, treasures go missing from the accumulated Gods Wives collection at Cyrus’s residence, but the threats are ineffectual and halfhearted at most. Ramses is kidnapped, given hallucinogenic drugs, and a woman garbed as the goddess Hathor attempts to seduce him. Was it real or an illusion? It certainly throws a wrench in his marriage, already shifting around the joy that is the addition of children.
With so many characters to manage, it’s difficult to give any sort of characterization to the lot of them. Lia especially has been a pretty flat character, but I did enjoy how David was the one to dispel a would-be riot. With the end of the War, nationalistic unease is growing and the Egyptians want self-determination.
I kind of feel that MPM really lost her thread for Nefret in general in all her later-written books, including the “fill in the gap” books. I loved Nefret in Ape especially, and while I certainly understand and empathize with how motherhood can dramatically transform one’s life and overwhelm all your sensibilities... Nefret has a great deal of help. In this book and even the previous book, Nefret’s primary agency is just worrying over Ramses. She’s lost some of her fiery spark, and again, that could be natural character evolution... But this is the Amelia P. Emerson series. Come on now.
Alas, the writing is a bit confusing several times throughout the book. Beyond some mild grammatical errors, there is a confusing scene where Ramses and Nefret remove one of their children. Somehow they both reappear in the scene and then Nefret is mentioned later to still be with Charla. Then Dolly had been riding a donkey and had his own special one... 50 pages later, he’s getting his first lesson and his special donkey. Ramses, David, Lia, and Nefret are planning a moonlit stroll tonight, morphs into tomorrow night.
But the concluding action is very fun, and I can’t really complain. 3-3.5 stars.