I have read, of Christian Jacq's books, only the War of the Crowns. It's about the Egyptian fight for independence, led by the 17C BC Queen Ah-hotep, against the foreign Hyksos dynasty, possibly a Hittite-led Syrio-Canaanite-Anatolian confederate warrior elite from the north.
Yes, the language is perhaps not as smooth as what you get from the leading authors in the HF genre, Christian not being a native English speaker probably relying a lot on a translator. But I thought it was just okay, in the absence of wider choice on Egyptian-based HF of the action-packed class, as an insight provider, without being brilliant.
I have not read Men of Bronze by Scott Oden, which I believe is about the collapsing Egyptian empire being surveyed for conquest by the Achaemenid Persians. But judging by Oden's Memnon, which I have read, perhaps it would give the reader looking for smoothness greater satisfaction.
If AndrewOberg would consider Mesopotamian HF as an alternative to Egyptian HF, then I think Sam Barone's Esskar/Empire series, of which I've read only Conflict of Empires so far - could be worth a try. It's set in an even more ancient time, a thousand years before Ramses II. BTW, CoE is about Esskar and his wife Trella, who founded the Akkadian empire, future rival and eventual nemesis of the Sumerian empire.
If it rings any bells, Esskar & Trella bear a son named Sargon, eventually to become Sargon the Great, most glorious king of Akkad.
If what you want is a picture of life in ancient Egypt, perhaps you might want to try 'Tutankhamun and the Daughter of Ra' by Moyra Caldecott. I came across it in Google Books while browsing around. I don't know, it seemed quite readable to me.
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Ramses-The Son of Light
- Shield-of-Dardania
- Reader
- Posts: 129
- Joined: February 2010
Last edited by Shield-of-Dardania on Mon May 28th, 2012, 4:14 am, edited 8 times in total.
[quote=""andrewoberg""]I got this off of a bookshelf at work recently, it's by Christian Jacq. Has anyone read it? It looks okay to me, but not great. Anyway, it's the first of a whole series, and my work only had this one, so I'd be interested to hear any comments. Is this going to be worth getting into?[/quote]
I loved this series! I read the five books, then got distracted as other off-shoots came out. If you didn't like the first one you might feel the same about the rest though. Just as i loved them all because I really enjoyed the first one.
I loved this series! I read the five books, then got distracted as other off-shoots came out. If you didn't like the first one you might feel the same about the rest though. Just as i loved them all because I really enjoyed the first one.
- Gabriele Campbell
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- Location: Germany
- Contact:
[quote=""andrewoberg""]Hey all, thanks for your comments.
Actually, that might be too negative. I would say that it's a good, light read for something like killing time on a flight. But I was looking for a book that would really open up life in ancient Egypt to me, and felt that Jacq's book didn't have the depth of detail to do that. There were times when it almost did, but not quite enough to keep me reading.[/quote]
Try Mika Waltari's The Egyptian. It's a lot more immersive.
Actually, that might be too negative. I would say that it's a good, light read for something like killing time on a flight. But I was looking for a book that would really open up life in ancient Egypt to me, and felt that Jacq's book didn't have the depth of detail to do that. There were times when it almost did, but not quite enough to keep me reading.[/quote]
Try Mika Waltari's The Egyptian. It's a lot more immersive.
Visit my blog at http://lostfort.blogspot.com
[quote=""andrewoberg""]Hey all, thanks for your comments.
I actually stopped reading about midway through. It was just too terribly written. Very clunky language, as many of you commented on, and the pace was far too fast for my liking. Just when something interesting began to happen the next paragraph would have fast-tracked the entire scene.
Actually, that might be too negative. I would say that it's a good, light read for something like killing time on a flight. But I was looking for a book that would really open up life in ancient Egypt to me, and felt that Jacq's book didn't have the depth of detail to do that. There were times when it almost did, but not quite enough to keep me reading.[/quote]
Try anything by Pauline Gedge. She really knows how to get into what it might have been to be an ancient Egyptian.
I actually stopped reading about midway through. It was just too terribly written. Very clunky language, as many of you commented on, and the pace was far too fast for my liking. Just when something interesting began to happen the next paragraph would have fast-tracked the entire scene.
Actually, that might be too negative. I would say that it's a good, light read for something like killing time on a flight. But I was looking for a book that would really open up life in ancient Egypt to me, and felt that Jacq's book didn't have the depth of detail to do that. There were times when it almost did, but not quite enough to keep me reading.[/quote]
Try anything by Pauline Gedge. She really knows how to get into what it might have been to be an ancient Egyptian.
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- Scribbler
- Posts: 10
- Joined: November 2015
- Currently reading: A Christmas With The Dodger by Charlton Daines
- Interest in HF: A teacher put a Historical Fiction book in my hands when I was ten and I immediately looked for more. It brings history to life!
- Favourite HF book: Cannot choose!
- Preferred HF: Ancient Egypt, Barbarian invasions of Europe c.200-400, Victorian England
- Location: UK
Re: Ramses-The Son of Light
Personally I loved this series, and knowing that Jacq is an Egyptologist lends credence to the factual information.
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- Scribbler
- Posts: 10
- Joined: July 2019
- Currently reading: Testament
- Interest in HF: I've been obsessed by history all my life and in particular with the Dark Ages and whatever reality there might be pertaining to King Arthur. I also like the Roman occupation period.
- Favourite HF book: Wolf Hall
- Preferred HF: Dark Ages
Medieval
Roman - Location: Newbury in Berkshire
Re: Ramses-The Son of Light
I read a brilliant book a long time ago (got it from the library) by a woman called Joan Grant. It's about Rameses but in a round about way, and is called 'So Moses was Born'. I wish I could find it again as I loved it, and it answered all sorts of questions about how Moses came to be in an unusual way, and about Rameses himself.
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