I was pretty excited to get picked to review this book. Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead by Nick Drake (352 pages) is an excellent novel about ancient Egypt and ten days in the reign of Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti (the Perfect One). Drake takes the few historical facts that are available and creates a very plausible mystery about why and how Nefertiti really disappeared. Akhenaten was trying to change the course of history by declaring the Aten (the disk of the sun) as the supreme deity and the worship of it as the only religion in Egypt. This was a pretty big deal and many of the priests at the other temples were furious over it. There was a lot of money that would be lost to them. Not only was he trying to restructure religion in Egypt, he had declared himself a God.
Rai Rahotep was a Medjay (police) officer and "Asker of Questions" in the city of Thebes. 10 days before the Festival that would solidify Akhetaten as the new capital city, he was summonsed to work on a case in this new city. Rahotep was called by the Pharaoh himself to find Queen Nefertiti, who had disappeared a few days before. Rahotep has 10 days until the festival commences to find Nefertiti or else he and his family will die.
Nick Drake's words are beautiful and lyrical. I can almost feel the heat of the desert on my skin and the grit of sand against my teeth. He takes a few historic facts and creates a fast-paced mystery that is a page-turner from the very first sentence. I will definitely be reading the two remaining books in this new trilogy. I can't wait!! 4.25/5
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Harper Collins First Look Review
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9 comments:
You really have to read the book that I talked about so much on my blog when it comes out in July, Nefertiti by Michelle Moran. It was really good. I am going to keep my eyes open for this one too, though. :)
Also, where's my email? Now who is getting slack :p Just kidding.
There's no such thing as a coincidence, so something's up with Akhenaten. I posted a comment on Ursi' "other" blog about her comments about ancient Egypt, saying I'm most interested in Akhenaten. Then I added that I may have to post something on "Continuing the Quest" about Akhenaten and the monotheism that basically didn't outlast him. And now here YOU are talking about the guy and his famous wife. Must be something in the water, huh?
That sounds really good! I love watching the history channel when they have Egyptian shows.
Yum! This sounds great. And free books never hurt either. :D
This does sound good! Have added it to my list! Hopefully the two books about her won't come out so close together though!
Add me to the list of those interested in this one. I've never read anything that took place in ancient Egypt but I've slowly been gaining an interest in it.
Akhenaten really is very interesting. He intrigued me while I was in Egypt as all the statues remaining of him are in a completely different style than those of the rest of the pharaohs. He seems to have some sort of genetic disease, in my opinion.
At any rate, must admit that I never actually did anything post-Egypt to learn more about him other than passively watch some shows on the History channel. Will have to look into this book :-)
It sounds good! I don't know if I can get into another series though.
Great review. I love that period of history and this sounds like a really fun book.
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