Hoewel Gedge veelbelovend begon met deze trilogie, worden de minpuntjes uit deel 1 benadrukt in deel 2. De Oase begint traag en in het midden lijkt het bijna volledig stil te staan.Waar het in het begin nog wel interessant was om te lezen over de allerdaagse handelingen van de Oude Egyptenaren, z...
(view spoiler)[I loved The Hippopotamus Marsh and The Oasis. I couldn't put them down while I was reading them, so naturally I expected to love The Horus Road as well. Instead, I am extremely disappointed and could not bring myself to finish the book (finished at ~80%). I was close to giving the ...
4.5 starsLet me state, right off the bat, this is an excellent book. It is truly the standard by which all ancient Egyptian historical fiction novels should be measured...for the most part (I'll explain in a moment). The research is impeccable, thorough without being overwhelming and used appro...
Getting the sole bad point about this book out of the way first, some of the information on which Gedge bases the book we now know is inaccurate. Gedge, for example, has an enmity between Hatshepsut and Thothmes III, her nephew/step-son. This enmity was previously deduced from the evidence that t...
This sequel to House of Dreams, also known as Lady of the Reeds, was actually written as a response to the overwhelming reader popularity of the character of Thu in the previous book. Gedge herself wrote that she had thought Thu’s story finished, but Thu proved so popular with readers that she de...
The combination of heretical scandal as well as disastrous rulership is what crucially provides our fascination with Akhenaten's motivations, and the desire to find out what those motivations were is what drives the main plot of the book. We do care about what happens to Tiye and the few other ch...
Sorry to have to add to the dismal 1 star review.I read this many, many years ago and wanted to revisit as I couldn't remember anything about this other than the fact it was science fiction which is a big change for Pauline Gedge who is a historical fiction queen (as far as I am concerned).I foun...
Prince Khaemwaset is a powerful man. The son of Ramses II and a revered physician, his wisdom is respected throughout Egypt. But Khaemwaset harbours a strong and secret desire—to find the mysterious Scroll of Thoth and receive the power to raise the dead. When Khaemwaset hears of the discovery of...
Young Huy's family is thrilled when his uncle offers to pay for the boy to attend a prestigious school at Iunu. Thanks to his generous benefactor, this farmer's son will now have a chance at a better life as a scribe. But once away at school, Huy is unprepared for the jealousy his easy success st...
There was nothing to do and not much to say. Disenk spoke occasionally of a Kenna I had never known, a man who loved dogs and who had captured and tried to tame one of the desert creatures, shy and harmless but traditionally impossible to domesticate; a man whose mother had abandoned him in the s...
It was true that I was not being harmed, in fact I was being cared for scrupulously. Besides, my sight of the drunken princess had given me pause. Hui had connections in very high places. If I behaved myself, if I concentrated on trying to be obedient, one day I might be invited to serve at the f...
After a night of restless sleep and lurid dreams I sat just within my door where my shame could not be seen, and watched and listened to the furore as the other women prepared to enjoy the great day. The harem was emptying. Even the drunken Hatia, swathed in red linen, her pallid face garishly pa...
Paneb lowered himself to the floor at Huy’s knee and began to prepare his palette, the small sound of the burnisher against his papyrus faint but discernible in the quiet air. The room was empty but for Userhet, who glided past them to take up his station just out of earshot against one of the wa...
By the time Heby’s gate guard waved him through the high brick wall separating the house from the noisy maelstrom outside, a thin film of dust had insinuated itself onto his skin and settled on the litter’s cushions, even though the curtains had been closed. Thothhotep fluffed at her hair and sho...
Caradoc sent scouts to watch the coast, and the winter plodded on. “How do we know which part of the coast to observe?” Togodumnus had asked him, but Caradoc knew. The Romans would land where Julius Caesar had landed, on the Cantiacan peninsula, and he sent emissaries to the Cantiaci, requesting ...