Another gripping installment in the rise and rise of Ramses, Son of the Light. ( )

egyptology - fiction ( )

I read it and disliked it even more than the first 2 installments of this Ramses saga. The first one I read in a German translation and I liked it. Then I read the second one in an English translation. I did not like the style of the whole thing, which might be due to the different language. Perhaps the German translation is a bit more lively. But after reading the third book, I think it is the characterizations and the plot that are the actual problem. I know that lots of people really like this series, but I just find it annoying. I don’t relate to the characters and there are just too many times that I find the plot unbelievable and too far fetched. So I now actually dumped part IV and V, sorry! ( )

Continuing story of Ramses and the notorious battle of Kadesh. Apparently, in this story, Ramses really DID take down an entire army with his sword. (dumb) ( )

Probably one of the worst books on my shelf, in my opinion. Thankfully it was dirt cheap, but don't be fooled by the "International Best Seller" tag - possibly it's the fault of the translation, but I found the language stilted, and the story badly broken up by meandering passages of historical 'fact'. This then sits uneasily with a plot reliant on literal intervention by the gods. Suspension of disbelief works fine in fantasy novels, but here it just seems lazy.

Further, a few interesting concepts are thrown up, but not really explored (e.g. Pharoah's main wife is Queen, then he has a secondary wife to bear his children). However, I did find the detailed account of Ramses comparing his wife's breasts to 'love apples' rather bizarre - 'love apples' are tomatoes!

Recommend avoiding this one. ( )