The Son of Light

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 (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, show more 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 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 show more immense territoire de rêve, d'action et de poésie. show less

Una novela interesante que relata la vida de un muy joven Ramses, hijo del Rey Seti de Egipto.

No cabe la menor duda de que el autor demuestra unos conocimientos impresionantes sobre la historia de Egipto.

En independencia de eso, el libro es muy entretenido, una novela llena de acción, de conspiraciones y de aprendizajes, el autor sin duda nos presenta a un muy joven Ramsés futuro Rey de Egipto, como supongo lo debían de ver las personas en su época, grandioso, glorioso, grandilocuente, inteligente, soberbio, humilde, audaz, en fin todo eso de lo que los Dioses le otorgaban al que sería el próximo Dios vivo de Egipto.

A pesar de como suena no choca por exagerado, mas bien es una novela narrada y contada de una manera exitosa que show more logra captar la atención, que hace que no puedas mas que enamorarte del personaje principal y seguir junto con él todas las aventuras a las que el destino, los Dioses y su padre le han dispuesto para forjar su carácter. Un Ramses que tiene que encontrarse a sí mismo empezando por encontrar la humildad como ser humano para saber que es eso y solo eso lo que hace grande a un futuro Rey, que además tiene que enfrentar la envidia de su hermano mayor, quien lucha por el poder y quedarse con la silla del Faraón.

Me gusto mucho, no lo puedo negar, tiene una muy buena mezcla de realidad y ficción que hace muy entretenida su lectura, esta serie cuenta con 5 libros, ya iremos avanzando....

No dudaría en recomendar este libro, me parece que puedes aprender mucho mientras lees una muy buena novela de intrigas y conspiraciones. show less

‘The Son of the Light’ is the first book in a series by Christian Jacq and covers the coming-of-age and ascent to the throne of ancient Egypt of Ramses II. Jacq has written over 20 novels set in ancient Egypt and is a global bestseller. I approached the book wanting to see what the fuss was all about.

Either I am more sophisticated and grown-up than I thought (hard to believe!) or this is throwaway teen (sorry, young adult) trash reading. The plot is straight as an arrow and the book is a simple narrative from A to B. The goodies are very good and the baddies are very bad, with little motivation and depth behind them. The scenes depicting the introduction of the young Ramses to the ancient mysteries of Egypt have as much feeling and show more awe about them as a visit to the supermarket.

An area where I think Jacq is successful is in the depiction of Egyptian life. To us today many of the rituals and hierarchies of ancient Egypt seem very strange. Jacq portrays these events as normal and accepted parts of life and in this way brings us very close to these people inways that formal histories do not.

Overall, I found this an easy read with some surprising elements, but it did not excite or arouse me and has not made me eager to read the next volumes in the series. show less

I can't even begin to remember where I heard about this book but boy am I glad that I did. I was entranced by this novel which is about Ramses before he became king of Egypt. It begins with the first time that Ramses meets his father, the Pharoah of Egypt and Ramses is fourteen years old. From then on Ramses is never sure if his father is training him to be the next Pharoah or whether his destiny might lie as something other than king. The book continues on with the struggles that Ramses faces as well as the triumphs. Because not everyone wants Ramses to come to power including Ramses' older brother who plans on being Pharoah himself.

I loved this book! I was transported into Ancient Egypt with this novel and I was entralled. The writing show more was gorgeous and I was marking passages to share left and right. The best part of the book though was that the author captured my interest and I was caught up within the story. There were times that I just couldn't put the book down. Ramses was a strong and likeable character but realistic at the same time. He wasn't without his flaws and as the reader I wanted to see him overcome his enemies and become the future Pharoah. I'm really looking forward to the 2nd book in this series! Here is a little teaser to share a taste of this wonderful novel:

"A courageous man goes to the limit of his strength. A king goes beyond it. If that is not in you, you are not meant to rule and we will never see each other again. No test should daunt you. Leave, if you wish; otherwise, capture the bull."

All in all, this was a wonderful novel that I highly recommend to anyone that enjoys historical fiction. show less

A younger version, perhaps early teens, would have loved this book a lot more. It's a story of Ramses and how he became Pharaoh. Like many reviewers, I found the characters flat.

I've been spoiled by some amazing historical fiction in the past couple years, and this book isn't in the same league. Still, there's no denying I enjoyed reading the book, a real page turner.

Because of the flatness of the characters, it's almost a "trashy novel" with no substance, and I feel a little guilty for liking the book.

eh. Not sure if the stilted, straightforward style is the author's or the translation, but it left me cold. not to mention no upscale in tension, merely a storytelling that eventually runs out of pages. Not inspired to pick up more.