Customer Reviews

The Buried Pyramid

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

(. . . 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!

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

The first 90% of this book is written in the form of a traditional adventure (ala H. Rider Haggard) and is fairly exciting and interesting.

Unfortunately, the last 10% is a totally different style. It almost seems as if Ms. Lindskold had written a traditional ending, and was then told that it wasn't exciting enough. So she then pasted on a magical ending whose effect is rather jarring and bizarre.

In her attempt to merge history and magic, Ms. Lindskold would have done well to first study the works of Tim Powers, a master of slowing working magic into the story until its presence seems completely natural. Only then does a full-blown magical ending work. To suddenly introduce it forces the reader to shift gears so rapidly that the flow and believability is lost.

This is a noble effort that holds some interest for those with a passion for Egyptology, but due to its weak ending, it ultimately fails.

Ms. Lindskold's latest is a real tour de force! The interaction of some very real Victorian characters and the Egyptian pantheon is beautifully depicted. Every story twist is perfectly introduced and justified. I have come to expect good tales from Ms. Lindskold, her Athenor and Wolf books were great, but she has really outdone herself with The Buried Pyramid. I recommend this to anyone who loves "a ripping good yarn".

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.

This "old-fashioned" novel by Jane Lindskold moves briskly from one scene and theme to another, but with rich detail. Its lead character, Jenny Benet, is an EDUCATED American wild west woman. She adventures with mostly Victorian British, yet key players are a British Muslim convert and a "quiet" Egyptian native. The scenes and themes are mostly Egyptian native, however. But there are other settings and players, including wild west American, Victorian Britain, Imperial German, Italian and Egyptian Coptic. So the scenes, themes and players flow in a rich, balanced diversity, with direct and subtle contrasts. [...]

The plot twists and turns, with mysteries and puzzles along the way. I enjoyed breaking about half the coded messages on my own, and just went onward in any case, not wanting to lose momentum. Some of the scenes and players are very funny, and there are times when certain players get quite their just due. Egyptian tradition and speculation are woven into the whole saga and its scenes, themes, and players. The Way of the Old Gods interacts with the "modern" Christian and Muslim characters in a wonderful style. Amazing that "legalistic theology" can be such a natural story matrix. Before Indiana Jones there is Jenny Benet.

The story of a recently orphaned girl - Jenny Benet - who instead of becoming a frontier doctor travels back to UK to be reared by her uncle Neville. Upon arrival she finds that he is about to start out on an archeological expedition to find a hidden pyramid. When uncle neville sets out, Jenny, and her guns, are brought along. The expedition is hampered by threats from a fellow archeologist party and a religious sect bent on protecting the pyramid, and helped by cryptic warnings from an anonymous source. The book start out with a bit of backstory to the search, and end with a suddenly appearing egyptian pantheon.

My problems with the story are many. Most prominent is the simplicity and childlike way the story is told - 50 pages in I actually had to make sure it wasn't just a bad childrens book I had picked up - and the sudden tacking on of a 'fantastic' ending that is not in any way made believable or plausible.

I first found Lindskold through When the Gods are Silent, an excellent book. Then Donnerjack, her completion of one of Zelazny's unfinished works, was excellent as well. I read the first three of her wolf novels; very good. So I had high hopes for The Buried Pyramid. Unfortunately, the first eighty percent of the book struck me as childish without the childlike sense of wonder, and as leading to a great climax. Also unfortunately, the great climax was nothing but a radical change in form, the sudden appearance of great magics and jarringly useless gods, and epic adventures compressed into paragraphs. I'll go try the 4th of her wolf novels now.

Cap'n Stoob's review [...] says most of what needs saying about this hard-to-rate book. Others have also mentioned the careful attention given to historical details, which deserve an enthusiastic and firm "yes!" -- with thanks. This extends often to points of view; for example, the subtlety of Europeans using terms such as "Mohammedanism"--regarding it as a non-trinitarian heresy--while Arabs (and converts) using the term "Islam"--regarding it as a unique method of submission to God.

Novels set in Victorian Egypt which have a suspense or mystery component always invite comparison to the Amelia Peabody novels of Barbara Mertz (writing as Elizabeth Peters), who is very, very careful in her archaeological and Egyptology references. Dr. Lindskold achieves a level of verisimilitude on a par with Dr. Mertz, accompanied with a slightly greater fluidity of writing. I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure, in which Dr. Lindskold achieved an unusual degree of making some stock characters quite believable.

Although forewarned by the genre category of 'fantasy', the switch to relationships with the ancient Egyptian gods was very, very jarring. The river journey with Ra was perhaps an initial working out of what she later very successfully integrated into the alternate universe of her Thirteen Orphans series, but the whole section did not succeed. She much better controlled the impulse to a jarring supernatural /deus ex machina/ in her Firekeeper series (which I recommend highly), and, at least in the first two of the Thirteen Orphans series (very highly recommended), much better integrates the interaction of fantasy with the mundane.

For the first part of the book: four stars. For the later part: one star.

Awful novel, complete waste of time. Takes over 200 pages just to get started, moves along decently for under 100 pages and then goes off the deep end for the last 200 pages in a tedious, annoying meeting of mortals with a number of Egyptian gods and monsters. There is no solid ending with intelligent explanations to make the reading worth it, the story simply stops. That's it.
The majority of characters are boring and unlikeable and the author spends endless pages and paragraphs dissecting their thoughts in what seems to be an attempt at teaching morality to the reader, but which only slows the plot, dragging it out endlessly.
Trim the book down to 150 pages, add lots of brightly colored graphic novel art and a completely different ending and 'The Buried Pyramid' MIGHT be worth flipping through.