The Buried Pyramid (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "IT COULDN'T have happened at a worse time, but Neville Hawthorne knew he had no one but himself to blame..." (more)
Key Phrases: jenny frowned, shabti figures, jenny glanced, Lady Cheshire, Uncle Neville, Sir Neville (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Taking a break from her well-received Firekeeper series (Through Wolf's Eyes, etc.), Lindskold delivers an exotic historical fantasy that takes the reader from Victorian England to Egypt. Sir Neville Hawthorne, a self-made millionaire and wounded war hero, is a man so mesmerized by his desire to retrace the path to a mythical Egyptian archeological treasure that he willfully neglects to use common sense and heed warnings of imminent peril. Sir Neville is hunting the burial chamber of Pharaoh Neferankhotep, who's rumored to be Moses the Lawgiver. His niece Jenny Benet, recently orphaned and come to live with him in England, is spunky and rather too American for her upper-crust English uncle's sensibilities, but she manages to persuade Sir Neville to take her into the desert along with the other members of his team. Lindskold does a fine job of describing the English lifestyle of the day and ancient Egyptian rituals. While the first third of the book tends to bog down in exposition about hieroglyphs (not hieroglyphics, please), by the middle the action has shifted to high gear and the supernatural spookiness carries the story to a satisfying conclusion.
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Review

"Lindskold delivers an exotic historical fantasy that takes the reader from Victorian England to Egypt... the supernatural spookiness carries the story to a satisfying conclusion."--Publishers Weekly on The Buried Pyramid"The setting is impeccable, as are the characters' manners, with rich details that bring the era vividly to life. Jenny is a charming heroine, at once practical and daring, and the secondary characters comprise a worthy cast of intellectuals and eccentrics, both English and Egyptian.... A definite keeper, and a story to be savored."--Romantic Times on The Buried Pyramid (4 1/2 stars, Top Pick)"Some incredible fantastic encounters, marvels, even a bit of time travel.... it's spectacular."--Locus on The Buried Pyramid"This would make a fine movie.... The Buried Pyramid offers hot, dusty entertainment for a dreary afternoon."--Detroit News and Free Press"Her characters live--they're real, but they are different. And the world they live in lingers in the mind; heroic, squalid, exotic, everyday. I was convinced that it went on by itself when I turned the last page. Bravo!" --S. M. Stirling on Through Wolf's Eyes"I adore Jane Lindskold's writing. Her novels are a rarity for me--fat, engrossing novels that still don't seem long enough."--Charles de Lint

"Lindskold delivers an exotic historical fantasy that takes the reader from Victorian England to Egypt... the supernatural spookiness carries the story to a satisfying conclusion." (Publishers Weekly )

"The setting is impeccable, as are the characters'' manners, with rich details that bring the era vividly to life. Jenny is a charming heroine, at once practical and daring, and the secondary characters comprise a worthy cast of intellectuals and eccentrics, both English and Egyptian.... A definite keeper, and a story to be savored." (Romantic Times )

"Some incredible fantastic encounters, marvels, even a bit of time travel.... it''s spectacular." (Locus )

"This would make a fine movie.... The Buried Pyramid offers hot, dusty entertainment for a dreary afternoon." (Detroit News and Free Press ) --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765302608
• ISBN-13: 978-0765302601
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,458,834 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Three men in a boat . . . to say nothing of the god, May 31, 2004

By	Karl E Martell "Karl Erich Martell" (6000' above sea level, high desert, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(. . . or the three women, or the boy, or the cat . . . .) Sorry, I won't explain the title of my review, but if you're a Jerome K. Jerome fan, you'll find yourself grinning about 3/4 of the way through this terrific story (which you should now purchase and enjoy, by the way). Ms. Klausner and Mr. Jordin have already done a superb job in recounting the essentials of this fun Jane Lindskold story, so I'll try not to repeat what they've already posted.

The Buried Pyramid starts out like a pleasant Victorian historical novel (a la Cecille Holland), incorporates a bit of mystery (with nods to Poe and Doyle), and then roars off into pure Lindskold fantasy country. You can tell Lindskold has a doctorate in English, because it's all done just so . . . and you can tell she has a sense of humor because, well, while it's always a fun read, it's often a funny one. The Buried Pyramid's 399 pages flew by in a couple of days, very much brightening up a vacation weekend. The exciting story was told, as I've said, just so, and the ending could not have been more satisfying . . . however, I'll be very disappointed if I don't see some of these characters again (at least in a short story). While The Buried Pyramid doesn't leave you hanging on the limb for a sequel (remember Dan Simmons' first Hyperion release? Aaargh! I know it wasn't his fault, though.), I really enjoyed its main characters, and I'm not ready to part with them yet.

This is not the darker Lindskold, The Buried Pyramid is more Lord Demon than it is Donnerjack. Frankly, that brighter feel was welcome on my vacation weekend. I eagerly bought Pyramid as soon as it hit the shelf, wanting a fix of this terrific author's work before Wolf Captured (Book 4 in the Firekeeper Saga) is released in Nov 2004, and it was money well-spent. Hopefully it will hold me until November!

It seems evident that Tor is taking good care of their wise investment in Lindskold: I was pleased to see the great cover art for The Buried Pyramid and I felt the title page (I wanted to say "frontispiece," but that wouldn't be correct) and chapter heading illustrations by Edward Murr were breathtaking - much nicer than anything you usually see. The artwork is a wonderful entry into the book - it's nice to see Tor is making sure to draw the public's attention to its excellent authors.

One other thing: I'm a gun nut and my undergrad degree was in history. I am one nit-picky individual when it comes to period pieces!!! I do not recall finding a single firearm or history error (they always drive me nuts - I hate it when ignorant writers have their heros screwing silencers on revolvers, etc.) in The Buried Pyramid. In fact, I was delighted to see that small firearms details were included correctly. Lindskold thanks her archeologist husband for the weaponry advice (I'm sure he assisted on the archeology details, too) - well, she evidently relies on the right guy. Well done!

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seeking the Good King, May 7, 2004

By	Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Buried Pyramid is a singleton fantasy novel. In the late 1860's, Egypt under the hegemony of the British Empire had been transformed into an exotic vacation spot for Europeans. First class hotels had been built in Alexandria and Cairo and the Egyptian tombs and monuments had become popular stopping places for Cooks Tours. Archaeologists were still digging in the Valley of Kings and elsewhere, discovering more about the ancient Egyptian civilization.

Captain Neville Hawthorne had served in Egypt and participated in such archaeological expeditions. One such excursion involved a long buried pyramid of the Good King, Pharoah Neferankhotep, beloved of the gods and his people. Neville accompanied the German Alphonse Liebermann into the desert following a journal entry by an explorer who stumbled over a valley in the desert that matched the description of the buried pyramid.

During their trek, they came across the Hawk Rock mentioned in the journal, but were attacked by desert tribesmen. After a forced battle among the old ruins, they frightened away the tribesmen and escaped back to the Nile. Neville tried later to search for the buried pyramid, but was once more attacked by tribesmen and severely injured, resulting in his disability retirement from the service.

In this novel, Neville Hawthorne was added to the honors list upon retirement and is now Sir Neville. He is also a moderately wealthy man, has remained interested in Egyptian affairs, and is acquainted with many of the Egyptologists in England. Sir Neville has put off trying again to discover the buried pyramid, but the death of his sister Alice reminds him not to wait too long.

Sir Neville has just about completed his preparations to leave for Egypt when he finds himself with a newly arrived niece on his hands. Genevieve Benet became an orphan with the death of her mother and father and Sir Neville is now her closest relative and guardian. Upon learning his plans, Jenny becomes determined to accompany him on the expedition.

Jenny Benet is a child of the American frontier, equally proficient with guns and knives as well as the manners of high society. She is also a trained medical assistant, spending many years studying under her father in his practice. She is quite competent at treating gunshot wounds.

In this story, Sir Neville and Jenny travel to Egypt with Steven David Holboe, a noted scholar of Egyptian matters. On the boat, they encounter another party lead by Lady Audrey Cheshire, the widow of one of Sir Neville's Egyptologist friends. Somehow, Lady Cheshire continues to cross their path throughout the journey.

From the beginning of their journey, they have been receiving encoded notes from someone calling themselves the Sphinx. The warnings are rather vague, but ominous. Later, Jenny and Steven begin to think that they are being warned about Lady Cheshire.

In Cairo, Sir Neville contacts Eddie Bryce, one of his former subordinates and a fellow veteran of the Liebermann expedition. Eddie had married Miriam, the young native who saved that expedition. Now he is a converted Muslim with the adopted name of Ibrahim Alhadj ben Josef and the father of three sons and two daughters. With his contacts in the local community, Eddie soon arranges the details of their journey.

Later, the party is attacked in their lodgings by men wearing jackal masks and carrying knives. However, Jenny shoots her assailant and the remainder flee, but not before injuring Sir Neville. Another masked man attacks Eddie near his home, but Eddie is better with a knife. Apparently the men who had attacked Sir Neville long before are aware of their identity and purpose.

When Sir Neville and his party finally reach the desert, they find much more than they expected. The legends of Neferankhotep are much truer than they thought; someone is protecting the tomb of the Good King. Moreover, their European opponents have joined forces with the native protectors. Soon they find themselves in judgment, facing the truth about themselves and their motives.

Highly recommended for Lindskold fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of victorian adventurers, ancient societies and foreign gods.

-Arthur W. Jordin

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Leaps to the Stars....Falls in the Mud, January 19, 2007

By	Cap'n Stoob "Stoob" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Buried Pyramid (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

Lindskold has written a very good airplane book: easy to read, moderately entertaining, and quickly forgotten. What could have been a very deep and engrossing book turns out to be a puff of cotton candy, a sweetish treacle that satisfies for the immediate moment and yet leaves no lasting warmth in the literary tummy.

The story, as told above, is centered around two main characters: Sir Neville and Jenny Benet. Sir Neville had been to Egypt before as a soldier and fancies himself an archaeologist first and foremost and Jenny Benet is his cousin who was raised in America. The most important things to remember from these two characters is that Sir Neville has connections through an old acquaintance, Eddie, whenever he needs them and Jenny 's upbringing in America was SO well-rounded that she can basically produce any skill on demand to fill gaps in the storyline. Add an Egyptologist that knows every facet of history and you have a team that cannot fail.

And herein lies the problem with this story.

Since Sir Neville and Eddie can basically do whatever they want in Egypt thanks to connections or Eddie's conversion to Islam and since any challenge is conquered by the genius skills of Jenny (who not only is a frontier doctor, but also a tough fighter, an excellent shot and a well-mannered, boarding school-trained solver of complex puzzles) there is no real challenge in any of the situations they face. A cursory 60's Batman-style association string figures out the puzzles ("Hmmm...sausage...television....soda pop.....THE JOKER!") and Stephen the Egyptologist can read any heiroglyphic and knows any fact about ancient history; where is the thrill of danger and clever action/quick wit that saves the day? There is none. You can easily skip pages whenever the intrepid group encounters a tiny difficulty, since it will definitely be solved in record time. Each character is a static, video game character that has a special skill or five and can be called on and develops in much the same manner. There is no real development of closeness or maturity in Jenny: she is a tough-as-nails fighter genius doctor when she arrives and is one when the story is over. Even when a character dies, he is forgotten about by everyone (and even the subcharacter that spends the previous 2/3rds of the book FAWNING over him) within a few pages as if he had never existed. All the plots look contrived to be as easy to solve as possible or at least a diversion from the team's goal. It's like going on the Safari boat at Disney World and seeing the "dangerous" animatronic hippo come out of the fake river so the tour guide can shoot it with the toy gun to save the day.

And then we get to the last third of the book and its deus ex machina ending. 1. heroes are trapped in an INESCAPABLE room by the bad guys. 2. Heroes find a way out of the INESCAPABLE room. 3. Heroes find RA THE SUN GOD AND GUIDE HIS BOAT FOR HIM BECAUSE HIS FRIENDS THOTH AND ISIS ARE SOMEHOW MYSTERIOUSLY NOT THERE. 4. Shenanigans ensue! 5. Judgement by Osiris and a useless interlude that is easily won. 6. VICTORY!!!


The book itself is an easy and quick read because there is no substance to it. It's calorie-free and the characters never develop beyond their introductory profiles. The first parts of the book paint such a mysterious picture and promise so much possible intrigue and interpersonal development in the relationships between Neville and Jenny and also Neville and Eddie, who could be struggling with his total conversion to Islam and reconcile his native Englishness with his chosen path. But this never happens. Neville is enchanted with the "villain" when he needs to be and is helpless whenever she needs to manipulate him. Huzzah.


Read this book if you're trapped on a 7-hour flight, but skip it if you're looking for something with bite and substance.