What do you think?
Rate this book
Follow the Sun
This epic tale of exploration and discovery tells the story of Follow the Sun, a young man talented in language, science, and diplomacy, whose patron is the Pharaoh, Rameses II, and of his journey around the earth - by boat, horse, and on foot - in 1278, BCE.
182 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 2005
3 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 21, 2012
As much as I wanted to rate this 5 stars, I couldn't get past the fictional story used to house a series archaeological messages. The gray highlighted segments contained actual reference notes and facts, and were far more interesting than the fictional sequences they were intended to support.
This also appears to be directed at much younger readers who may be inspired to perform further investigation and reflection. I understand that getting adults to read historical texts based on fact is a punishing task. On the other hand, those who might enjoy this type of read would probably enjoy a more intense fictional account such as this, if it were supported well by research.
The section regarding boat travel in the Aleutians and to the Kamchatka peninsula, appeared to me to be the most hypothetical and unsupported by research portion of the book. The route has several physical barriers including weather and sea conditions. I am only familiar with Jon Turks's recreation in "In The Wake of the Jomon". One aspect in particular, is that he went from Japan to the US. Nearly all ocean rowers crossing the North Pacific, follow that direction. For east-West crossings, most travel from the Northwest US mainland to Hawaii as a first leg. I don't know of any human or sail powered expeditions that would have followed the route described here to recreate this portion of the round-the-world journey, and I am not familiar with any journeys by oar or sail along the Aleutians, except for those done by larger warships or powered vessels.
This also appears to be directed at much younger readers who may be inspired to perform further investigation and reflection. I understand that getting adults to read historical texts based on fact is a punishing task. On the other hand, those who might enjoy this type of read would probably enjoy a more intense fictional account such as this, if it were supported well by research.
The section regarding boat travel in the Aleutians and to the Kamchatka peninsula, appeared to me to be the most hypothetical and unsupported by research portion of the book. The route has several physical barriers including weather and sea conditions. I am only familiar with Jon Turks's recreation in "In The Wake of the Jomon". One aspect in particular, is that he went from Japan to the US. Nearly all ocean rowers crossing the North Pacific, follow that direction. For east-West crossings, most travel from the Northwest US mainland to Hawaii as a first leg. I don't know of any human or sail powered expeditions that would have followed the route described here to recreate this portion of the round-the-world journey, and I am not familiar with any journeys by oar or sail along the Aleutians, except for those done by larger warships or powered vessels.
Displaying 1 of 1 review