Showing posts with label egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label egypt. Show all posts

Monday, November 13, 2017

Review: Nefertit by Michelle Moran

This biographical novel of Nefertiti as told from her sister's point of view has a compelling plot with interesting characters, but at the same time, the most frustrating thing about it is that one of the main characters (Nefertiti herself) is so unlikable and also is supposed to be intelligent but frequently makes poor decisions.

Additionally, one of the downsides to writing in first person from a more minor character's point of view is the fact that we don't get to see much of the actual governing that Nefertiti did. Some of it is mentioned at the very end, almost as an afterthought, but it might have made her a bit more likable had we seen more of that, and less of her selfishness and petty, spiteful vindictiveness. You have to wonder why Mutny kept going back to her sister, and then you remember "because then the book wouldn't be about Nefertiti" and yet, that didn't really feel like it would be so terrible.

I also felt like this was set up perfectly for a sequel about Tut's reign and fall, and the succeeding Pharaohs, which has never happened. There was much talk about Horemheb, for example, but ultimately, he didn't play much of a role, so it would have been the perfect set up for a sequel, but I guess Moran only writes about famous women.

Overall, the subject matter and plot was fascinating enough to hold my interest but I definitely wouldn't rank this as the best Moran novel.


Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Review: The Alexandria Affair (Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries #11) by Ashley Gardner

Captain Lacey's next case of amateur sleuthing occurs while he's vacationing in Egypt. At first, it seems this mystery will just be about locating an artifact that James Denis wishes him to procure, but of course it's not really a Captain Lacey tale if there's not a dead body. Throw into the mix the mysterious impostor who wants Lacey dead, and a rouge henchman of Denis' and there's a lot going on in this novel!

While I wouldn't have previously said that the London setting in most of the first ten books was getting stale, this one definitely shakes things up a little bit by showing us a glimpse of what was going on in another part of the world during this time period. It was very refreshing and I'm now kind of hoping Lacey will take other vacations elsewhere in future books (my fingers are always crossed that there will continue to be many more books to come in this series).



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