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Nefer the Silent (La pierre de lumière #1)

3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 · rating details · 559 ratings · 16 reviews

They built a civilization ahead of its time, and dominated the ancient world. They defined an era of war, love, passion, power, and betrayal.

They were a people of mystery whose secrets have turned to dust -- but who inspire our awe and wonder even to this day....

The ancient Egyptians

They showed us how to live. And how to die.

Christian Jacq, author of the international triu...more

Paperback, 400 pages

Published April 1st 2000 by Atria Books (first published January 1st 2000)

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The Eagle Of The Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

Best Novels Set in the Ancient World

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Oct 12, 2011 C_ rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: deutsch, historisch, mysterioes, lies

Ein historischer Mystery-Roman: Die Geschichte des Schweigsamen und des Feurigen, zweier Charaktere, die unterschiedlicher nicht sein könnten, die aber auch durch eine Fügung des Schicksals eine tiefe Feundschaft verbindet, wird in diesem Buch erzählt. Sie leben im alten Ägypten zu den Zeiten Ramses', doch nicht das ganze Land ist den beiden und der Heimat ihrer Herzen, der Stätte der Wahrheit, freundlich gesinnt. Ein Netz von Intrigen sorgt für die nötige Spannung!
Aber genau von ihr hätte ich m...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Jessi Hafeman rated it 5 of 5 stars

A solid step up from his other book series I read. His characters are more deeply motivated. The landscape feels very authentic (as did his other, but I feel more historically indulged in this book). I just wanted to sit and read this book all day and night!

Surprisingly, one of the main characters is really hard to get behind, Paneb, but you see development here and there with him. Jacq has the talent to somehow get you interested in him though. He is quick to anger, he does not show appreciate...more A solid step up from his other book series I read. His characters are more deeply motivated. The landscape feels very authentic (as did his other, but I feel more historically indulged in this book). I just wanted to sit and read this book all day and night!

Surprisingly, one of the main characters is really hard to get behind, Paneb, but you see development here and there with him. Jacq has the talent to somehow get you interested in him though. He is quick to anger, he does not show appreciate to women, and he even cheats on a wife expecting his baby (granted, she did impose herself on him as basically a servant because she was in love with him, which is, well, demeaning in my opinion). Yet you can see his maturity sprinkle in the mix. I really went back and forth on him. While he seemed to begin to show growth in one chapter, he would revert in the next, and then I would not like him as much as the previous chapter. But near the end of this book, he did end up being more thoughtful and a better listener. He had a love of learning. Still, I’m not a huge fan due to his outlook on women.

In the Queen of Freedom (QoF) series, most characters had names that were a personality or facial tribute versus an actual Egyptian name. This story combines both an Egyptian name and a descriptive name, which makes more sense than the former. Having someone go by the name “the Arab” and “Moustache,” while they were great characters, felt a bit like a give up to me on the author’s part. In this story, characters are given names as they enter the Brotherhood.

As I mentioned before, the characters in this book have deep feelings. They are motivated by internal desires. You can really feel the emotion in this story. Most of the characters of the QoF series were pretty shallow and showed almost no emotional depth until the end. Strong men and women do not have to be devoid of emotions! This book seemed to get that. While many different characters can take the stage in this novel, their personalities really define them and make you want to keep reading (even if you don’t like them!). I seriously did not want to stop reading this book! I was a little disappointed that Nefer the Silent’s development seemed to stop after his got his name Nefer. He became a stoic side character to Paneb’s more dominating personality. I wanted more from Nefer after he began advancing up the ranks of craftsmen, not Paneb’s observations of his ascent.

The landscape felt more authentic in this story. Jacq put in a great blend of mystical and realism. People were inspired and driven by their beliefs, but they had to work hard, show dedication, lead an honest life, and were masters of their own fate. They did not rely on signs from the gods before taking action.

What I do find interesting is that Jacq emphasizes the one God who gave birth to many. He hardly mentions the rest of the multitude of gods by name except for a few like Thoth, Hathor, and Sekhmet. The emphasis is on one all-powerful God. This seems a rather Christian emphasis, especially after the hearsay of Akhenaten’s one god. Historically speaking, there were many different versions of the creation story for the Egyptians. So I would conclude this use of “God” versus god could be because Jacq kept the story in Thebes, and Thebes’ patron god is Amon. The other cities would have their worship and prayers centered on other gods. I can say that I liked the way it was handled. Jacq had some beautiful allegories with it too. His language and expressed enlightened thoughts were a delight in this book, which all stemmed from the religious beliefs. This belief also was the foundation for the Brotherhood and guided their methods and rituals. There were so many layers to the culture through the religious belief system. Everything branches out from this strong foundation. I just ate it up the way Jacq used it in the story.

As with QoF, the time period is hard to follow. Jacq will occasionally throw in a “for 10 years now” statement, but overall, the passage of time is difficult to tell. I did not find it a deterrent though as the characters and storyline were so strong.

But what I most loved was the details and the way life was carried out in this village. Their work has survived thousands of years. They created and decorated the tombs, and we still adore them today. This story really expands on life. Its not just throwing an ancient world on us to show it off. Its about how the pigments of colors were made, the division of work groups and how they functioned together, the way things were measured, how grids were used and the proportions of drawings on these grids, their mathematics, the way a stone was checked to be level, rituals of purification, how medicines were created and used, etc. The culture is so thick, and the storyline is made so much richer with these added details of life. It highlighted how people behaved and what was important to them. I loved learning the trade of these tomb builders along with the characters’ experiences.

The book wow’d me. It had great respect for the people of this time period. I’m glad I read this after QoF, otherwise that series would have seriously disappointed me after the dazzling depth of this story. I can’t wait to keep going into book 2!
(less)

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Mar 11, 2011 Whitelady3 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Whitelady3 by: slayra

Shelves: not-own, portuguese, 2011

Conheço este autor desde que conheço a Slayra, o que já vai para algum tempo (O.o), pois é um dos seus autores preferidos e escreve sobre um dos seus períodos históricos de eleição. Eu tenho de dizer que o Antigo Egipto nunca foi bem o meu género. Ok, reconheço-lhes o génio construtivo, a religião também é das coisas mais fascinantes (mas eu adoro esse tema) que têm, também acho interessante toda aquela superstição no que toca ao Tutankhamon e outros túmulos do Vale dos Reis e das Rainhas, mas n...more Conheço este autor desde que conheço a Slayra, o que já vai para algum tempo (O.o), pois é um dos seus autores preferidos e escreve sobre um dos seus períodos históricos de eleição. Eu tenho de dizer que o Antigo Egipto nunca foi bem o meu género. Ok, reconheço-lhes o génio construtivo, a religião também é das coisas mais fascinantes (mas eu adoro esse tema) que têm, também acho interessante toda aquela superstição no que toca ao Tutankhamon e outros túmulos do Vale dos Reis e das Rainhas, mas nunca fui fascinada como outros colegas de curso. Daí que tenha tardado em pedir estes livros emprestados, já que não são, hoje em dia, assim tão fáceis de encontrar. Entendo agora o porquê da Slayra os apreciar tanto.

A escrita e as personagens não são nada de outro mundo. A primeira é simples, sem grandes floreados, concisa e straight to the point, no entanto, não conseguimos parar de ler. Os capítulos pequenos ajudam a que continuemos a virar as páginas, sem darmos por isso, já que a história é interessante e queremos saber o que vai sair dali. Já no que toca a personagens, elas são bastante estereotipadas, com os vilões a serem a pior espécie de homens a pisar a Terra e os heróis a terem tantas virtudes que estamos à espera que sejam elevados às alturas, mas já estava preparada para isso e convenhamos, este tipo de coisas resulta em thrillers! Faz-nos querer que os bonzinhos dêem uma coça moral aos maus e o mundo se torne num local mais aprazível para viver, livre de ameaças. :P

O que sobressai então nesta leitura? A sociedade egípcia! Tirando alguns termos que considero anacrónicos, nomeadamente a palavra villa para descrever uma casa senhorial, o autor consegue dar a conhecer o quotidiano de forma fenomenal, tornando o retrato da sociedade bastante credível. Acho sobretudo muito bem conseguido o facto de colocar a religião em todos os momentos do dia e da vida dos protagonistas. Por vezes é difícil imaginar, na sociedade actual, a importância que a religião (nas suas mais variadas formas) tinha anteriormente, mas Jacq ilustra isto de forma brilhante e não deixa de ser incrível como consegue unir religião e ciência, ideias que parecem ser tão difíceis de conjugar. Aqui também temos este confronto, com uma facção a querer tirar o Egipto do “obscurantismo” e das práticas milenares, evoluindo para uma civilização tecnologicamente avançada. Mas a força da tradição não exclui a evolução, pelo contrário parece contribuir para a mesma, daí que tenham conseguido as proezas arquitectónicas que conhecemos e que terão sido construídas com o objectivo de atingir a imortalidade, de ficar mais perto dos deuses e das estrelas.

É exactamente esta parte a mais vincada na história, já que os protagonistas, Néfer, Paneb e Clara, habitam o Lugar de Verdade, uma pequena aldeia de construtores e outros artistas que ouviram o chamamento de Maet e têm como objectivo construir grandiosos edifícios para morada eterna dos faraós, por modo a preservar a Justiça e a Verdade. Acompanhamos então o trabalho dos variados artesãos, nomeadamente Paneb que tem de se esforçar para progredir na profissão que tanto ambiciona. Mas o Lugar de Verdade encontra-se ameaçado por intrigas, já que é um local isolado, sobre o directo domínio do faraó e do seu vizir, escapando à burocracia de Tebas que acredita existir lá incontáveis riquezas, bem como importantes conhecimentos e segredos que seriam preciosos num eventual conflito bélico com outras potências, como os hititas.

Este é então um livro interessante, mas nota-se que é um primeiro volume. Trata-se basicamente de uma introdução às personagens e história, que são desenvolvidos em outros volumes. Este não acaba por isso de forma definitiva, tem uma espécie de to be continued, deixando em aberto o que pode vir a acontecer ao Lugar de Verdade depois da morte de um dos seus mais importantes protectores.

Emprestado e pouco se perde com isso: Na verdade está perto de um “Vale o dinheiro gasto”. Sem dúvida de que fica a curiosidade em continuar a série, já comecei a ler o segundo livro, mas como se trata de uma introdução não sei se seria capaz de o comprar sem ler o resto. Mas parece-me uma boa aposta e será, com certeza, um autor a seguir.(less)

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Apr 22, 2012 Rita Viegas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, portuguese, april-2012

Adorei! Este livro fez-me começar a ter um fascínio pela cultura egipcia que eu nunca pensei poder ter! A única razão pela qual não atribui um 5 ao livro foi devido à escrita. Suspeito que a escrita simplista se deve à tradução porque pelos conteúdos parece-me impossível um escritor que cria um mundo e personagens tão genuinas e elaboradas ter uma escrita tão "simplista".

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Nov 04, 2010 Sandra Azevedo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Adorei!! Excelente investigação ... forma de escrita... realmente o autor escreve de uma forma que fica na memória! :)

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May 11, 2009 Neetha Philip rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first books of the last series that i read by Christian Jacq. While I drank in every detail that reflected ancient egyptian history in the other books by jacq, this book really made me think about more than just history. The story itself emphasises hard work,honesty and determination. Values that I have realised Jacq includes in most of his books. One cant help falling in love with Jacq's characters.

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May 24, 2013 Tib Sou rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: aventure-historique

Une écriture à la truelle pour la ménagère qui a de l'espace de cerveau disponible.

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Feb 08, 2012 Karinirmgard added it · review of another edition

Shelves: historisch, historisch-alte-reiche

Die weise Frau
Paneb der Feurige
Die Stätte der Wahrheit

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Oct 10, 2012 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Need to re-read before I can comment further

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Feb 07, 2010 dara rated it 5 of 5 stars

I always love something about Egypt

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Jul 25, 2011 Christine Van Heertum rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-set-in-the-past

aucune surprise dans ce 1er numéros de 4 tomes. J'ai l'impression que cette histoire reprend +/- les mêmes personnages "typés" que dans les autres séries.
Se lit cependant très facilement.

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Feb 01, 2013 Constance Lapsati rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, fiction

Ό, τι έχει σχέση με την αγαπημένη Αίγυπτο και την αρχαιολογία της είναι καλοδεχούμενο.
Άλλο ένα ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα που με ταξίδεψε για τα καλά !

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Jun 22, 2011 Maggie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: part-of-a-series, middle-east, historical, real-people-history

really enjoyed this series about the artisans who created the tombs of the pharaohs

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May 09, 2012 Jasmine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was okay, not as good as the Ramses series. Not sure I will read the rest!

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Jan 10, 2008 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

The introduction to an interesting series on ancient Egypt

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Sep 15, 2009 Mariella rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was full of stick characters that had absolutely no characteristics of a human being, all characatures. Really really bad. And I didn't even get a sense of it being a historical novel, they all talked like modern day humans, not ancient Egypt. The only redeeming quality is that it was a really quick read, but I think its speaks to my desperation towards wanting to finish it as soon as possible.

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May 23, 2013 Eepa (Eija) marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: finnish-miscellaneous

May 22, 2013 Jared rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

May 21, 2013 debby pernes marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: read-next

May 20, 2013 Julie Stam added it

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May 16, 2013 Marc Springer added it · review of another edition

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May 14, 2013 Jamie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

May 12, 2013 Stefan Back rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

May 12, 2013 Odile rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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About Christian Jacq

Christian Jacq is a French author and Egyptologist. He has written several novels about ancient Egypt, notably a five book suite about pharaoh Ramses II, a character whom Jacq admires greatly.

Jacq's interest in Egyptology began when he was thirteen, and read History of Ancient Egyptian Civilization by Jacques Pirenne. This inspired him to write his first novel. He first visited Egypt when he was s...more

More about Christian Jacq...

Books by Christian Jacq

Ramses: The Battle of Kadesh (Ramses, #3)

Ramses: The Lady of Abu Simbel (Ramses, #4)

Ramses: Under the Western Acacia (Ramses, #5)

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Nefer the Silent (La pierre de lumière #1)

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