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The Pearl of Egypt #1
The Feather of Ma'at
This historical fiction is set in Alexandria, during the reign of Ptolemy II. The young Macedonian dynasty will superimpose rather than impose its will on Egypt for almost three centuries. The story of the first Ptolemies contains the ferment of the tragic destiny of Cleopatra VII. From the beginning, the worm was in the fruit. The strong narrative blends light humor to an otherwise grim era.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
ebook
First published November 7, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 21, 2012
I got to page 81 out of 201 in this eBook edition and could take no more. Yep, 39 percent of the way into the book and I am abandoning it.
First, I never did figure out what the book was about. Is it the murder of Lysimachus? The intrigues of Arsinoe? The Olympian Bilistiche, who appears to be secretly some kind of warrior? At nearly the half-way point in the book, I should have an idea about what constitutes the plotline.
Second, the book is poorly edited. It is rife with poor constructions (e.g., "holding clumsily his sister under the armpit"), anchronistic speech like "miffed," "cut the crap," "gotta go," and so on. And then there are the malapropisms. The worst example: "vaporous fabric" instead of "diaphanous." The words are not interchangeable.
Finally, as both an author of historical fiction and someone who volunteered for a good long while at an Egyptian museum, I am offended by the complete disregard for Egyptian culture and timelines. If there's one thing at which the Egpytians excelled, it was documentation. Thus, we know, for example, that Tutankhamun was *not* married to Nefertiti (despite what the author says). His wife was Ankhsenamun. Nefertiti was married to Akhenaton.
We also know that, despite what the author says, royal incest was commonplace amongst the Egyptians. It was not the big taboo she tries to make it.
And finally? We know that the pharaoh at the time of the Exodus was Thutmose III -- who ruled more than 100 years before Tutankhamun.
The risk that one runs, as an author of historical fiction, is that people with a non-fictional understanding of the time period will read your work. I can't imagine writing a work of historical fiction without appearing to do a modicum of research on the period, culture and *facts.*
Unfortunately, the book has been removed from Smashwords so I am unable to post the review at the site where it was purchased.
First, I never did figure out what the book was about. Is it the murder of Lysimachus? The intrigues of Arsinoe? The Olympian Bilistiche, who appears to be secretly some kind of warrior? At nearly the half-way point in the book, I should have an idea about what constitutes the plotline.
Second, the book is poorly edited. It is rife with poor constructions (e.g., "holding clumsily his sister under the armpit"), anchronistic speech like "miffed," "cut the crap," "gotta go," and so on. And then there are the malapropisms. The worst example: "vaporous fabric" instead of "diaphanous." The words are not interchangeable.
Finally, as both an author of historical fiction and someone who volunteered for a good long while at an Egyptian museum, I am offended by the complete disregard for Egyptian culture and timelines. If there's one thing at which the Egpytians excelled, it was documentation. Thus, we know, for example, that Tutankhamun was *not* married to Nefertiti (despite what the author says). His wife was Ankhsenamun. Nefertiti was married to Akhenaton.
We also know that, despite what the author says, royal incest was commonplace amongst the Egyptians. It was not the big taboo she tries to make it.
And finally? We know that the pharaoh at the time of the Exodus was Thutmose III -- who ruled more than 100 years before Tutankhamun.
The risk that one runs, as an author of historical fiction, is that people with a non-fictional understanding of the time period will read your work. I can't imagine writing a work of historical fiction without appearing to do a modicum of research on the period, culture and *facts.*
Unfortunately, the book has been removed from Smashwords so I am unable to post the review at the site where it was purchased.
September 21, 2013
Fairly good book. Sadly it had a lot of spelling and grammatical issues.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews