In the Image of God

The First-Born of Egypt #6

by Simon Raven

The sixth in the 'First Born of Egypt' series sees Raisley Conyngham, Classics teacher at Lancaster College exert a powerful influence over Marius Stern. His young pupil however is no defenceless victim. Marius has a ruthless streak and an ability to sidestep tests and traps that are laid for him. Which is just as well because everybody is after something from him.

Genres: Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Simon Arthur Noël Raven (28 December 1927 – 12 May 2001) was an English novelist, essayist, dramatist and raconteur who, in a writing career of forty years, caused controversy, amusement and offence. His obituary in The Guardian noted that, "he combined elements of Flashman, Waugh's Captain Grimes and the Earl of Rochester", and that he reminded Noel Annan, his Cambridge tutor, of the young Guy Burgess.

Among the many things said about him, perhaps the most quoted was that he had "the mind of a cad and the pen of an angel". E W Swanton called Raven's cricket memoir Shadows on the Grass "the filthiest cricket book ever written". He has also been called "cynical" and "cold-blooded", his characters "guaranteed to behave badly under pressure; most of them are vile without any pressure at all". His unashamed credo was "a robust eighteenth-century paganism....allied to a deep contempt for the egalitarian code of post-war England"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_R...

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some ways both this, the penultimate volume in the series, as well as the previous one, seem like mere set-ups for the final confrontation between the forces of good (Carmella Salinger, Fielding Gray, Piero Caspar and Jeremy Morrison) and the forces of evil (Raisley Conyngham and Milo Headley) for the soul and spirit of Marius Stern. But it still has some dynamite set-pieces, some intriguing and esoteric knowledge imparted about the Cathars - and the final scene, in which servant betrays master, is exquisitely done.

[Johan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What does the author aim to prove with this book? We may find the answer in the final tome of this series: The Prince of Egypt. I found it less compulsing to read than the previous ones - but, hey, without ado on to the next one: The Troubadour.

[Chiefdonkey Bradey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Red gold from black tombs, yet more reptilian guile