Customer Reviews

Empire of Darkness (Queen of Freedom 1)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I adored the Ramses series. I enjoyed it so much that it inspired me to take a tour of Egypt after I had finished reading it. I read the "Place of Truth" with equal relish, but it failed to capture the magic of the Ramses series. It became ridiculous towards the end, with the main character thwarting hundreds of bad guys at every turn like some comic superhero.

Now, with the "Queen of Freedom" series, Christian Jacq has returned to his historical fiction roots which made the Ramses series so thrilling. However, it still failed to engage me. I don't think that the fault lies with Mr. Jacq, but rather with the translation. When compared to the Ramses series, it seems like a different author. In addition. the descriptions are brief and the dialog is very lazy. Even the character names are lazy. It was odd to have someone introduce themselves as "Moustache," or "Mouse face."

It's a shame, too. The story is fascinating, but it is a chore to plow through. I'm finding myself reading it out of obligation more than anything else.

Christian Jacq's trilogy opener, `The Empire of Darkness' is set in 1690B.C, covering a decade during the time known as the Second intermediate period. It is, as the title suggests, a period of darkness in Pharaonic Egypt, with the Two Lands beset by the Hyksos invaders who have achieved their conquest with the introduction of the horse and chariot to the military technology.
As a result the only nominally free city is that of Thebes were the aging Queen Teti rules without her Pharoah, but her headstrong daughter, Ahhotep seeks to raise the resistance and vanquish the invaders. At her side, comes the common-born Seqen and her guard dog, Laughter. The former quickly declares his love as they seek to garner some support for their rebellion and becomes her husband and Pharoah. Ahhotep dedicates her cause to Mut and is blessed by the Eygyptian Gods.
The Hyksos are represented by the evil Apophis, his henchman Khamudi and their wives, who enjoy torturing, murdering and suppressing the Eygptians, the resistance grassroots by the wily Afghan and his growing band of rebels. However, a sympathetic Hyksos appointed overlord, Emheb, ensures that Ahhotep and Seqen are able to maintain the facade of Thebes' subservience throughout the years whilst secretly removing all the Hyksos sympathizers and creating a small army with which to strike back. By the end of the first novel, they have two strong children and eventually cast off their cloak of meekness to attack and defeat the Hyksos in two river and then one land battle, the last ultimately costing the Pharaoh his life. Nevertheless we are set up the for the next two novels for Ahhotep to continue her liberation of Egypt.
As ever Jacq's style is very limited and punchy and his novels would benefit from more `fill'. It is as though he wants to move from key scene to key scene as quickly as possible and, as such, there is little character empathy or even understandable reason for their actions most of the time. Indeed the entire novel is screenplay in its effort. Nevertheless, this has been Jacq's style (or the style of Dyson, the translator) for most of his novels now, so it is to be expected. For now, novelisation of historical Egypt is dominated by Jacq's prolific pen, but there is room for substantial improvement.

After reading 'Ramses' 5 books I was salivating on hope of another extra ordinary book by Mr. Jacq on ancient Egypt. However, this book is a huge disappointment. 'The Empire of Darkness' is set during the time when Egypt was ruled by Hyksos (people from the sea) and the remnants of Pharaoic Egypt had been represented by Queen Ahhotep and her husband Seqen in Thebes. It's the story of war of independence. It could be fascinating when comparing with so many historical wars of independence in not so distant past in Europe, Africa or Asia. But this book is nothing like a good historical or political thriller. It's more like a light adventure mixing or omitting historical facts. This book is far from what Mr. Jacq achieved in 'Ramses' series. The language is very simple (maybe this is just the issue of translation?), descriptions of country and main characters are very dubious, and the flow of the sory not that exctiting. If you really want to read a great historical book on Hyksos invasion and Egypt's struggle for independence, get 'Lords of the Two Lands' by Pauline Gedge.

I thought that this story was great. I really enjoyed the way this story was told. Out of all of the main characters, my favorite was Ahhotep. I liked her the most because she showed real power and courage. Eventhough life had put her through many hard things she never gave up. She showed real bravery. I also liked the way the author characterized the enemy. He told how awful they really were. The one thing that I disliked about the book was how detailed the author explained how the enemy tourtured his captives. I thought it was a little too graphic for me. But in an overall veiw i really enjoyed the book because it really showed how these people were smart and could defend themselves mentaly by thinking of strategies. I have this book in paperback...

Book arrived promptly and in good condition. This book, part of a series of three, is an excellent read, with people and events based on historical fact or evidence. My only criticism is that I would prefer a more realistic approach to the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, rather than the ridiculously fantastical events that Jacq portrays.

This - the first book in the Queen of Freedom trilogy - is not a bad story but probably more for the younger reader - adolescant who dont want to be bogged down in detail. It has plenty of action, some adventure, a dash of romance, a good blend of bad people you can quickly loathe, and plenty of good ones you feel compelled to support. In short, it has a nice flow to it, easy to read and you learn a little about the Hyksos occupation of Ancient Egypt and the efforts of Ahhotep I an Egyptian Queen of the New Kingdom who vows to depose them.

But the thing that lets the story down is a combination of loose writing and translation.

An example of how bad this is (without spoiling the story and giving away the character who I will call "X")can be seen as follows:

"Sliding under his guard, a short Canaanite caught him a blow below the left eye with an axe. Ignoring the pain, X plunged his sword into his enemys chest. But another Canaanite sank his dagger into X's forehead. Blinded by the blood pouring down his face, X swung his sword at empty air.

(skip a couple of lines of action)

...But a spear caught him in the back as an Asian officer smashed his heavy axe down on X's head.

(generally you would assume X would be dead but as if to prove the peoples of the Ancient world were tough nuts to crack it continues..)

...Dying....X sank down onto his right side ( Dying?? incredibly yes he is still alive before two blows from a club finally end our hero's plight. And not before time. Two axe blows, a knife, a spear and two clubs to the head/body leaves even the most open minded reader feeling credibility is stretched).

The translator Sue Dyson has translated 30 novels from French to English. Given the translators experience and Mr Jacqs has penned better than this (not classics by any standard but definately better structure and translated books) its really puzzling how both can produce a result like the above example of text (on occassions).

Its like Mr Jacq has gone into total relaxation mode in writing this work - keeping effort to a minimum. Its not a book like Pauline Gedges with liltingly beautiful descriptions of the Nile, Thebes, Memphis and the temples and life of the day. So if you love that aspect in your Ancient Egyptian fiction stories then you might be disappointed. He has also dispensed with using historically correct Ancient Egyptian/Middle Eastern people names in many places. Instead we have characters called Moustache, pharaoh Seqenenre is always called "Sequen", then there is Fat, Thin, Long Beard, Jovial and Impatient to name a few more names used.

In short blame translator or writer or both but the real shame is that this series had great potential but instead sinks to a level that will leave most readers feeling a little disappointed. Disappointed - not because the book isnt interesting for its not a bad read, but because the part of Egyptian history it depicts, and gives a glimpse into deserves a higher quality telling. So it wets the appetite without filling the senses. Was tempted to give two stars...but rounded 2.5 up since the book is probably more suitable for younger readers but even they will expect tighter editing/translation. Not what is delivered this version.

I often find myself mentally escaping to Hatschepsut's Temple and the Valley of the Kings and Queens in reading this book...

This is easy-going beach/holiday fiction. His descriptions of how the historical characters looked aren't the quintessence of accuracy, but it is readable nonetheless.

If you fancy Egyptology, historical fiction or a just plain easy read, go for this piece. And if you are mystified by this part of the world and trilogies, it makes it even better.

Before the great Pharaoh Ramses II and the renowned Queen Cleopatra VII, Egypt was liberated by Queen Ahhotep of Thebes. Known as the Egyptian "Joan of Arc", Queen Ahhotep led the resistance that would restore Egypt to its former glory. Mounted with a new weapon of war the horse-drawn chariot the barbarian hoard known as the Hyksos lead by its Emperor Apophis would invade Eygpt and subjected it to a century of despair and slavery.

A rich and prosperous country Egypt had known tranquility until the 18th century B.C. when it experienced its first major foreign invasion by a collaboration of peoples known as the Hyksos. The Hyksos were able to overrun Egypt by using an animal unknown to them at the time called a horse. In addition, the Hyksos used wheeled chariots that could carry up to four soldiers during battle and threw bronze-headed spears. Turning the Egyptian populace into slaves, the Hyksos displayed unfathomable ways of torture and cruelty bleeding the land dry of resources and wealth. With its military headquarters established in the Delta city of Avaris only the small island city of Thebes remained free of the ruthless tyrant Apophis's reach. Thebes under the rule of Queen Teti the Small was seen as unchallenging to the occupation. Unable to lead the battle of resistance herself her eighteen year old daughter Princess Ahhotep took up the reigns. Now as Queen Ahhotep established the resistance that would return freedom and reunification to Egypt. By her side in battle was her husband the Pharaoh Seqen-en-Ra whose head was horribly disfigured during an attack in war. Queen Ahhotep preserved the Pharaoh Seqen's memory of bravery by having him mummified without removing traces of his wounds.

This is the first volume of the Queen of Freedom trilogy. Queen Ahhotep's sons Prince Kames and Prince Ahmose continue the battle of this true history.

I loved this book. The other two books in the series are available on amazon. uk site. I couldn't wait for them to be released in the USA. I ordered and paid international shipping. Jacq also has another series listed on the UK site that has not been release in USA.

I thought that this book was really great. I liked most of the characters except for the Hyksos. I, also thought that this book was thought out really well. The one thing that I didn't like was how Mr. Jacq would describe what the enemy would do to tourture people. I know that it might be true about what they used to do but he didn't need to be that graphic about it. There are not that many parts in the book that tell you about it, but the ones that do shouldn't be so graphic. Otherwise, I liked the courage and kindness of the main characters like Ahhotep and Seqen. I thought that they were very strong and courageous people and I like to read about people like that in my books. I also thought that the main characters were very smart and cunning. I liked the way they deceived the enemy. I read this in paperback and really liked it a lot. If you decide to read it I hope that you enjoy this book.