14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Utterly anti-climatic, April 13, 2004
Jacq's final volume in the Queen of Freedom trilogy creates a sense of injustice through its sheer anticlimax to so many plot lines. By the end of the final page, I put this down feeling somewhat cheated, having followed the lives of so many Egyptians who had fought to regain the Two Lands and suffered enormously for it. The reason is simply because of Jacq's dealing with the major characters who have brought so much death and destruction. Following on from the theme of the previous two we find the utterly depraved Khamudi and the unequivocally evil Apophis continuing to murder and torture their way through thousands of people. In fact Jacq spends a lot of time describing these acts of cruelty and a general disregard for human life on a scale that is pure genocide. All of which serves to ensure the reader wants a fitting end to these people who have committed such atrocity.
And it doesn't happen.
Their deaths are almost footnote in nature and whilst it is not necessary for them to die in a manner similar to the deaths they have caused, there is no sense of justice whatsoever. Take the emperor Apophis for example, as the ultimate cause of all the suffering. Jacq has him get up one day, get into a litter and casually gets stabbed by Khamudi and his corpse burnt. In the space of ten or so lines. An utter anti-climax. You'd expect a climatic scene of some kind where he meets the Egyptians or somesuch, but nothing. The same for Khamudi. In a scene reminiscent of the death of Pompey the Great, Ahhotep turns up to find the final Hyskos emperor was been killed in a village for being rude to someone! Again, utterly anti-climatic. In fact the only death that has a sense of justice about it is Aberia's death by Big Feet in the prison camp at Sharuhen.
In the final volume, Pharaoh Ahmose finally liberates Memphis and then Avaris (though the latter is done with the aid of a major earthquake). Jannas is murdered, Windswept flees to Minos, thus ensuring the Minoans and Egyptians join forces against the Hyskos. The Hittite Empire arrives in time to destroy the Hyskos reinforcements and we eventually uncover the spy (who's fairly obvious as it can only be one of two people given the lack of suspects throughout the trilogy) which means the Ahhotep can retire to the temple for the rest of her natural life as promised in the opener and Ahmose can now rule the Two Lands peacefully again with his wife Nefertari.
So, as a trilogy, not as good at Ramses. Jacq's style (or perhaps the translator's) is overly punchy, moving from scene to scene almost paragraph by paragraph. The body count continues to be high, too much time given over to the murdering and torturing but it does build the sense of expectancy of a fitting climax - which is never delivered, disappointingly so. The entire trilogy is an easy read on a long train or plane journey but there needs to be improvement to reach the heights of Ramses again.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Christian Jacq is brilliant, August 16, 2003
Christian Jacq manages to somehow take you back to the time of Ancient Egypt. I have read all of his stories and all have entralled me, I have been left not wanting to put it down with ALL of his books. Brilliant man.
Absolutely loved this trilogy (Queen of Freedom) brilliant, but not quiet as good as the Ramses series.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Peased, November 5, 2010
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.
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