Akhenaten Dweller in Truth - review

This book is written by the famous Egyptian writer. It tells the story of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten (known also as Amenhotep IV or Ikhnaton). 

Akhenaten is one of the most recognized of Pharaohs for two reasons: he was world's first known religious reformer who promoted cult of Aton, a first known monotheistic religious about  God who wants love and peace, and he was married to Nefertiti, a famed beauty queen of Egypt. 

The novel is written in a style similar found in "The Daughter of Time" or "An Instance of the Fingerpost" where story about Pharaoh is told from different people's perspective. These people were real historical figures, close associates of the Pharaoh.

In my opinion, this novel lacks that little something that supposed to make it more clear the history behind this enigmatic Pharaoh. I did not learn much about him from this novel beyond to what is generally known about his reign. It did not advance any narrative that could explain the Pharaoh's behavior and his decision to change the Egypt. But it was sufficiently interesting book to pique my curiosity so much so I decided to read other books about Akhenaten. 

posted by David Usharauli

Tweet

Review of "The Singer from Memphis" by Gary Corby

I already mentioned in my previous posts that I really liked an Athenian mystery series by Gary Corby. The author is able to present the complex historical events in simple language. No prior subject-matter knowledge is required to fully immersed and experience ancient Greece on the eve of birth of democracy.

This latest novel in this series is the best so far, in my view. What is unique about it compared to previous books is that it is very funny too. We follow the main characters into ancient Egypt. Along the way we encounter Persians from Achaemenid Empire who are about crush local rebellion, an assassin from Sparta and the head of Egypt's powerful Public service, the oldest system of bureaucracy in the world.

As a history goes the author got all major events right. Though, when it came to scenes about mummy preparations for afterlife, I found one major discrepancy between this novel and another famous novel called "The Egyptian" by Mika Waltari.     

In summary, I highly recommend to everyone to read these series.

posted by David  

     

Tweet