Christian Jacq

If visitors to the Cairo Museum ever report seeing the mummy of Ramses II spinning in its display case, this book will probably be the reason.

Jacq, "France's leading Egyptologist", plays fast and loose with the known details of Ramses life, inventing a scheming older brother and casting the Hebrew Moses as a childhood schoolfriend of the Pharoah Seti's son, a highly unlikely scenario.

Add to this Menelaus and Helen stopping in Egypt for an extended stay on the way back from the Trojan War show more (which some scholars say may have been waged in Ramses' lifetime) with blind bard Homer in tow writing The Iliad as a first hand account (Homer actually lived hundreds of years later) and what you get is a fictional 'biography' that is part potboiler, part soap-opera.

Cardboard (or is that papyrus) characterisations abound, with absurd subplots, passionless writing and cliched, modern-idiom dialogue all adding up to an ancient world 'Bold And The Beautiful'. Jarring modern day references abound: "job description", "State Department", "police". Jacq and/or his translator seem hell-bent on breaking the spell that must be cast on a reader in a historical novel such as this. As "historical fiction" it fails dismally in both spheres.

Jacq himself deserves 5 stars for parlaying his Egyptology credentials into a career writing drivel like this. This novel was followed by 4 more volumes covering Ramses' reign as Pharaoh. I assume they are just as bad as this one.

This really is one of the worst books I have ever read. show less

Ramsès. Son nom incarne l'éclat et la puissance de la civilisation pharaonique. Fils du soleil et du dieu vivant, il a régné pendant plus de soixante ans et porté l’Égypte à un degré de grandeur jamais atteint dans l'Histoire. Pour l'heure, l'enfant-dieu n'a que quatorze ans. Comment succédera-t-il au pharaon Séthi, son père? Quelles seront les étapes surprenantes de son initiation secrète ? Saura-t-il choisir entre Iset la Belle et la mystérieuse Néfertari ? Dans sa marche show more vers le trône, Ramsès ne peut compter que sur de rares amis : Améni, le scribe, Sétaou, le charmeur de serpents, et Moïse, son condisciple hébreu.
Romancier magique, Christian Jacq sort l'Antiquité des manuels scolaires, et offre au lecteur un immense territoire de rêve, d'action et de poésie. show less

Un monstre. Un monstre gris et froid de 42 millions de mètres cubes. Un monstre qui menace l’Égypte et ses monuments de mort lente mais certaine. Tel est le haut barrage d'Assouan contre lequel l'égyptologue américain Mark Walker combat depuis des années.
La découverte d'une très ancienne prophétie prédisant un cataclysme l'incite à redoubler ses efforts au moment même où il va se marier. Mais sa fiancée est victime d'un attentat...
Le monde de Mark Walker bascule alors dans la show more violence intégriste qui, comme le barrage, menace de détruire l’Égypte. Balloté par les vagues d'une révolution en marche, manipulé par des hommes de l'ombre, refusant de se laisser aveugler par l'amour, Mark Walker recherche obstinément la vérité qu'on veut lui cacher.
Une vérité qu'il n'a que trente jours pour découvrir s'il veut sauver l’Égypte. show less

Christian Jacq has two foremost elements going for him in the 'Vengeance of the Gods' series.

First is his familiarity with antiquity era Egypt, Egyptian esotericism and Pharaonic history.

Second is his reputation as a leading authority on all things Egypt.

Unfortunately, besides these two he offers us a lacklustre dribble of unnuanced 'when worlds collide' cliches with 'Manhunt.' We have our protagonist Kel, a scribe in training framed for murder in a greater game in which he is an unwitting show more pawn, his friend an actor and a sex-doll priestess. Then we have evil Greeks, avaricious Persians and a beset Pharaoh thrown in for the mix.

This novel lacks any bait to hook in the reader. It does offer a few tantalizing 'turn the page' moments but these are few and far-in-between. This is not Jacq at his best but at his apathetic. A disappointing read. show less