Children of the Storm

I'm getting quite a kick out of these latest books in the series. Sethos is a wonderful addition to the family cast as well as little children (who all sound alike but who nevertheless add a bit of humor to storyline). One thing I enjoy about Ms. Peters' books is that she freely mingles caricature with real life touches - the fear that Nefret has for her family if she were to die brings the story closer to the reader. I'll be sad to reach the end of the Emerson family adventures...

The mythical analogues are fairly prominent in this one: Emerson is Osiris, Peabody is Isis, Sethos is, of course, Set, and Ramses is a hot tempered Horus. This has been going on for a while, but it is still enjoyable. Nefret's adventures are unusually realistic and suspenseful. Two different viewpoints, the Peabody one and "Manuscript H" are employed. This relieves the tedium of a single voice and allows for numerous cliff-hangers and resolutions throughout the book. The technological changes that have happened in Egypt are notable. The characters travel regularly between Cairo and Luxor by train; the reason the archaeological treasures must travel to the Cairo museum by steamboat is to avoid jolting and jarring. In the early books, show more the characters traveled by sail, and were often confined to a single location on the river for long stretches of time. show less

The encrimsoned sun sank slowly toward the crest of the Theban mountains. Another glorious Egyptian sunset burned against the horizon like fire in the heavens. In fact, I did not at that moment behold it, since I was facing east. I had seen hundreds of sunsets, however, and my excellent imagination supplied a suitable mental picture. As the sky over Luxor darkened, the shadows of the bars covering doors and windows lengthened and blurred, lying like a tiger's stripes across the two forms squatting on the floor. One of them said, "Spoceeva."
"Russian," Ramses muttered, scribbling on his notepad. " Yesterday it was Amharic. The day before it sounded like--"
"Gibberish, " said his wife.
"No," Ramses insisted, " It has to mean something. They show more use root words from a dozen languages, and they obviously understand one another. See? He's nodding. They are standing up. They are going... " His voice rose. "Leave the cat alone!" show less

I read the first Amelia Peabody novel a long time ago. I do not normally read romances, they irritate me. But stroppy 'old' Miss Peabody rescuing Evelyn and then clashing with such obvious deliberate fun with Emerson made for hilarious reading. And Elizabeth Peters was in no danger of getting her historical details or Egyptology wrong. I hate authors who can’t do their research, or only do superficial research.

Over the years novels have followed as the Emerson clan produced children who grew up and now it is the fifteenth novel, 'Children of the Storm', WWI is over, everyone hopes for peace, Amelia has grandchildren to guard and the archaeology continues. The plot this time I felt a little melodramatic but still the characters are show more good fun, and the events exciting - I am afraid I laughed when the boat sank! - and Amelia brings it all together and gets her precious family and friends home in nearly one piece.

A cheerful, cheering read and definitely one for the Miss Peabody fans. Just the sort of novel to curl up with for a cosy night in. I would suggest that anyone who really wants to get the most out of the novels start with the first because it gives you clear insight in to Amelia Peabody and that is where you will either love her or she will drive you nuts. Diving into the later novels without understanding Amelia means you may well be annoyed by her bossy and managing ways and miss out on all the fun when she needles Emerson and he needles her. show less

Now that World War I is over the Emerson family is reuniting in Egypt. Walter and Evelyn along with their daughter Lia, her husband David, and their two grandchildren are coming to Luxor to join Amelia and Emerson, their son Ramses, daughter-in-law Nefret and twin grandchildren Davie and Charla. It makes for a crowded couple of houses especially when Sethos and his daughter Molly are added to the bunch.

The crimes this time include the theft of some of the jewelry found in the princesses' tomb and the assumed theft of the treasures by the man hired to restore the jewelry who has disappeared. Then Ramses is kidnapped by a figure calling herself Hathor and there are various "accidents" happening to the Emersons and their colleagues. The show more most serious is a car accident that almost takes Selim's life.

There are so many events of a suspicious nature that Amelia is quite confused about the purpose and perpetrator of all of the chaos. Amelia's persistence and help from various members of her family do manage to solve the thing. But not before Nefret and Emerson are kidnapped by the villains and a daring rescue needs to be mounted.

This was another excellent episode in the long-running Amelia Peabody series. show less

I felt like I was being pulled a million directions with all the old characters and the new ones. Thus my interest and affection for the characters was minimized somewhat. Not that Peters has lost her sense of humor, or her cleverness. It's still there. But it would help to simplify things a bit. Maybe separate the family and have 2 mysteries going on rather than try and remember every little detail. The "additions" to the family circle are endearing and the character growth is believable.

Last pet peeve: Remember how in the earlier books there would be a side-plot romance? Bring it back. It brought an opportunity for lighter, less emotionally-clogged moments and amazingly brilliant characters. I miss Kevin and other stand-by characters show more that made the other books crackle with wit, humor, action, and (occasionally) good-humored annoyance. show less

There are some places you can go where everybody knows your name (reference semi-intended) and it doesn't matter how long you've been gone. Then there are others: mostly family reunions where everyone has grown up, gotten married and has children and you don't know any of those people anymore. This book is that family reunion. I hadn't read any Amelia Peabodies in a long while, and there is a gap in my collection. I won't skip any gaps anymore. I promise. It was just too difficult to keep track of who was maried to whom, which baby belonged where, etcetera. It actually interfered with the plot for me. Speaking of which, it was a decent enough romp and at least the location was old home week. Elzabeth Peters does a fine job making you show more feel both sides of Luxor (the seedy and the British-wonderful). The plot itself had enough twists to keep me reading. I just wish I'd known all those people before I got to the party! show less