Customer Reviews

Daughter of the Crocodile (Ptolomies Quartet 2) (Vol 2)

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I have always hated history in school, where it was presented as a meaningless jumble of dates peppered with brainless, arrogant blowhards (much like today's political climate). However, a book like this will absolutely blow away all preconceived notions of 'boring' ancient history - and is both a terrific read and an absolute revelation as to how things REALLY were in the so-call Classical civilized world. This is precisely detailed, comprehensive and yet tremendously interesting work, the second book in Ptolemys quartet.

Like the first book in the series, this is a bloody, sacrilegious, and fascinating saga, this time covering the period of Egyptian history during the reigns of the children of the first Ptolemaic pharoah. Also like the first book, it is 'narrated' by an Egyptian deity, this time Sheshat, goddess of architecture and mathematics. Her tone is considerably milder than the bombastic oratory of her husband Thoth, narrator of the first book, which is probably a good thing - Thoth was fun, but overbearing, and I'm not sure I could take another long work narrated by him. In any case, read this book slowly - you'll want to get every juicy detail of this wild and wooly tale. I also recommend that you refresh your knowledge of the first book in the series, the Ptolemies, (also sold under the title House of Eagles)if it's been awhile since you've read it; the details of the first book are important to this second. Especially as pertains to the women of the Royal House, who end up being married off to various allies and enemies as hostage brides; some are killed, and some will return to Egypt to make further serious mischief. The saga continues, and I can't wait for the next installment. Not the least of which is wondering which Egyptian deity will be the narrator next time around...

Some quibbles with the publishing / availability of this book: I bought the first Ptolemies book overseas, under a different title, years ago, and have been haunting US bookstores ever since looking for the sequels. I finally found Daughter of the Crocodile on the Internet two years after its original publication date. I cannot understand why this fine series is not promoted or made widely available in the US. Books of this quality should not be so difficult to find.

I also question the first two reader critiques in this file, which are exactly the same reader critiques shown under the first book of this series, The Ptolemies. Is this a mistake somewhere?

It has always occurred strange to me why so much academic attention has been lavished on Cleopatra vii, and so little devoted to her more enigmatic ancestors. Sure, the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt had a pivitol role in the history of the last years of the Republic, but there has been a tendency to forget how she was influenced by the mores of the rulers that preceded her.

The history of these rulers is utterly facinating, and in the absence of any book dedicated purely to this, I have found Duncan Sprott's two novels very enlightening, although they would obviously have to be classified as historical fiction.

The author has thoroughly researched the Ptolemaic period with all its intricate family ties and produced two novels of great value. Never a dull moment, I eagerly await the follow-up books in the series which, I feel would also make a compelling, if not ground-breaking television series!

I completely concurr with the reviewer, enjoying the first two books of the Ptolemies Quartet by Duncan Sprott very much, and have been eagerly waiting for the story to continue. It's hard to believe that no one who is interested in Cleopatra wouldn't feel the same way, or other fans of Ancient Egyptian historical fiction -- or history, for that matter. Both of the available volumes were well written and full of interesting historical detail, allowing the reader to enter this exotic world -- Egypt in decline perhaps, but not in interest, in fact, thanks to the recent films on Alexander the Great and the excellent HBO miniseries on Rome, Egypt from this period has been given a new look on film, expecially in the two TV series with a completely different take on Anthony and Cleopatra, which has all of the seediness of the cultural backwater this Egyptian era doubtless contained. The recent film on Hypatia also ventured into a later era of Alexandria, but its story was too depressing and too similar to our own sad era for my liking. Give me Arsinoe anyday.