Customer Reviews

Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Ever since I was young, I've been a nut about ancient Egypt. I've read everything that I possibly can on the subject, been to special exhibitions on the art, and regularly haunt the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Egyptian galleries. So, naturally, when there is some new fiction about Egypt in the bookstores or listed on Amazon, I take a look.

Nick Drake's novel is set in the late Eighteen dynasty, in the time of Akhenaten, when the land was in religious turmoil and the dynasty itself was dwindling to a close. Now that the Pharaoh Akhenaten has moved the capital northwards to a place called Akhetaten, the Horizon of the Aten, the former capital of Thebes has dwindled a bit, especially now that the great temples of Amun have been closed. For an investigator of the Medjay, the police force of Egypt, it's a mixed blessing.

Rai Rahotep has been spending these quieter days with his adored wife and three young daughters. If there isn't quite so much work to be done in Thebes as before, he's perfectly happy about it. But a message arrives from the new capital, and he is summoned into the very presence of Pharaoh himself.

Things are going to turn pretty desparate for Rahotep, for Pharaoh is giving him only ten days to find his missing queen, Nefertiti. Or Rahotep will pay with his life, and worst still, those of his family as well. At the end of those ten days, Pharaoh is going to summon the mighty of both Egypt and the world to pay homage to him in a great Festival, and if he does so without the Queen at his side, it will be a terrible blow to his stature.

And Rahotep is working with very little, only with the knowledge that there isn't a body, and that the decadent world of Pharaoh's capital is filled with treacherous officals that are seeking their own advancement. All he has is a pair of assistants, Khety, and Tjenry. And most of all, there is the engimatic riddle of Nefertiti herself.

We follow Rahotep as he finds several gruesomely dead bodies, a sinister Medjay cheif named Mahu who's determined to see him dead, the Queen Mother Tiye, and other historical figures in the game. As time runs out on him, Rahotep grows increasingly worried, for it appears that there is something else much more going on in Egypt than the greed and malice of the powerful, could it be that the gods themselves are turning against Pharaoh?

I do have to say that it was interesting to read this one. Drake is able to create some vivid images here, from a hunt in the marshland, a reception for foreign ambassadors, a paper trail in the royal archives and the great Festival itself. There's a lot of creativity and even some research in this one, which I always enjoy, but there is a severe problem here -- while Drake can create vivid scenarios, he has a problem with the characters themselves.

Everyone, and I do mean everyone, in this novel except for Rahotep and his family, are people that you would not want to invite for dinner or within a hundred miles of yourself. They are all equally nasty, detestable, and without hardly any scruples of their own. Now, I do understand that power corrupts, and very much so, but the various suspects in the story are so maliciously happy about the trouble they're making that the end result is that by the end, I was just happy to have the story be over. And the characters do odd things as well -- in the middle of their gloating or lording it over lowly Rahotep, they suddenly start spouting religious phrasing or quotes from the various hymns that Akhenaten wrote.

Huh?

Worst still, everyone including Rahotep, use modern idioms and speech in their conversations and thoughts. For heaven's sake, even the term VIP is used when General Horemheb rolls into town. Drake, honestly, left me feeling as though I was reading a screenplay for Law and Order that was set in ancient Egypt, not a historical mystery. Too, suspects suddenly die or vanish, clues appear and disappear, and there are a lot of dangling ends. Too, Drake has grasped the idea of Egypt, but doesn't really get the essence of that ancient time. The writing style is choppy, the plot leaps and lurches about, dead bodies are lingered over with bloodthirsty detail, and by the end -- I was more than happy to set this one aside. The biggest sin of the story is the deus ex machina at the end, where the real villain of the piece appears and then it is all explained to the reader -- I hate that in a novel, it's a sign of bad storytelling and treating the reader like an idiot.

Which most mystery readers certainly are not. Most of us read these to figure out what's really going on, and to see if we can guess the twists out for ourselves.

Naturally, it will not surprise me in the least if this is the opening novel of a series. Sadly, this particular part of Egyptian history is the one that writers turn to most often, especially as it is one of the best preserved and document periods -- a real quandary, as Akhenaten's succussors tried very hard to erase all knowledge of Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Smenkhare (who does not appear at all in this one), and Tutankhamen from the offical record. Authors Lauren Haney and PC Doherty have written far, far better mysteries set in this period, and one of the best historical novels for this time is still Pauline Gedge's Twelfth Transforming which pretty much tells the same story, but without the silly posturing. There is, as well, innumerable artifacts and nonfiction works that tell the story as well, and are much more satisfying.

Not recommended.

I was so annoyed by this book that I am moved to write this. Here's what you can look forward to: a detective who detects nothing -- the only crime he supposedly solves has nothing to do with the outcome of the book. Sherlock Holmes was a triumph because he showed the power of thought; this book reveals the impotence of thought, loyalty, and persistence. But what is frustrating is that Drake has skill; what he needs is a better editor. Nothing the protagonist does matters in the end. His triumph is a non sequitur.

While Mr. Drake has passable writing skills, his research (if he did any at all) leaves a lot to be desired. This novel could as well be taking place in current day London for all the "history" it supposedly contains. I found the characters to be relatively lifeless as well.

Mr. Drake also has a sad habit of using modern day terminology and concepts which jerk the reader back into the present while confusing him/her as to time and place. A glaring example was when the main character referred to the "gunwales" on a "ship of state." I'm pretty sure the ancient Egyptians didn't have guns let alone gunwales on their boats.

HIs dialog skills could use a little polishing as well. The initial converstation between our erstwhile narrator and Nefertiti was wooden, silly, and wholly unbelievable.

If you're looking for quality fiction set in the age of the Pharoahs, then you need to check out Pauline Gedge. The woman is a true artist and her books left me feeling as if I had actually been wandering along the Nile 2000 years ago.

Don't bother with this. I'm sure glad I resisted the impulse to buy it at the book store and instead checked it out of the library. At least this way I"m only out my time.

It's an incredibly confusing, frustrating, and frightening time in Ancient Egypt. The "heretic" Akhenaten is on the throne as pharoah and he is more than determined to bring Egypt from poly- to mono-theism. Such an enormous transition does not go easily, as the previous powers of the priesthood, coupled with opposition of some of the military, economic, and political leaders, are determined that he must stop, at all costs.

Nick Drake, in his first Egyptian novel of the period, brings us directly into this deadly intrigue with "Nefertiti," a police procedural of the age. Drake joins a number of other good ancient Egyptologist works of histo-fiction and certainly this one is among the best.

Well-written, "Nefertiti" introduces us to Rahotep, a young and upcoming Medjay "investigator of mysteries" from Thebes, who's been called to the newly constructed city of Akhetaten, the capital of the new faith, which is one the eve of celebrating its grand opening. Everyone in the known world will be there. It is to be the celebration of the millenium.

Everyone is to be there--except, it seems, Akhenaten's queen, The Perfect One Nefertiti. She's disappeared. Rahotep faces a formidable task:

find her, he's told by the pharoah himself, in ten days' time or else. The else means the death of the policeman and his beloved family.

Every step of the way, however, is marked by obstacles, many deadly, as bodies seem to pile up like Act V of "Hamlet." Reduced, it seems, to only one loyal assistant Khety, Rahotep finds search filled with complicated plots, causes, reasons, and excuses. He must proceed, facing fatal objections from the court, the police with whom he's to work, the military, and the royal family itself.

This period of Egyptian history is perhaps the most famous era and Drake seems to capture the spirit of it. Not as dark as Mailer's "Ancient Evenings," "Nefertiti" nevertheless manages to couple the police procedural genre with the historical period's nuances and drama and comes through in an exciting read, so much so that, thank goodness, Drake is publishing a second Rahotep episode in 2008 called "Tutankhamen." Clearly, Rahotep succeeds in this first try, but not without careful and considerate planning and action. If "Nefertiti" is any indication, the next installment should be well worth the wait.

I have no idea what book some of these reviewers were reading. I am a huge Nefertiti addict. I've read all of the books, seen all of the specials on Discovery Channel and NG, and have even taken a trip to Berlin to see her bust. I'm hoping my next trip will be to Egypt. But this book was sadly lacking in any historical accuracy whatsoever. The characters were unbelievable, the plot thin and extremely difficult to follow in places, and the end leaves you really wishing you had stopped reading much earlier on in the book. Perhaps Drake's work down the line will be better, but this book is not recommended.

I'm surprised to read the rave reviews here-- while this book has moments of pretty writing, it has so little emotion to it that it's hard to see where such enthusiasm comes from. The main detective is suffering from emotional numbness, and wanders through the Egyptian capital in a series of sometimes confusing scenes that vary between dream sequences, sequences that seem like dream sequences, and the occasional quasi-mystical moment. Nefertiti shows up about halfway through the book and at that point the plot loses any semblance of coherence. Why did she vanish? What on earth was she trying to accomplish? What is the point of any of this? Nick Drake solves these burning questions by having... a big sandstorm show up. In the end, this mystery makes little sense; there is little sense of urgency; the main character seems uninvolved or uninterested (until he meets Nefertiti, when he is smitten and worshipful for no explainable reason), and the research is spotty; the idea in particular that Egyptians struggled over whether they believed in their gods in their hearts is a very Christian anachronism, from what we know of how ancient peoples worshipped. Miss this one; it goes from chilly to just incoherent.

Probably the worst part about this book is that it wasn't better. There were anachronisms, there were a number of moments where characters foreshadowed modern religious views and fingerprinting. But there were a few moments where this book really seemed that it was going to take a reader someplace amazing. From the other book reviews, it seems the readers were transported - but not for the whole book, and not everyone in the same spots. So, the book was uneven. With better editing, a finer eye for plot holes, and a bit more character development, this would have absolutely been worth reading.

Hopefully the author will continue the career of the Medjay detective Rahotep. With the fall of Akenaten, the affairs of Egypt are going to get worse and worse, in the next few years. The plot of the story was a little unbelievable, but most detective stories are, they are usually more about the people in them and what they go through to solve the mystery than a truly believable plot anyway. Rahotep does solve it, though the ending sort of surprised me, I didn't expect what he found when he got home, not in that time and place and not with everyone he had angered... Anyway. Its a fascinating period of time and the Medjay were real people, originally a Nubian tribe who for centuries were first warriors for phaoraoh and then eventually the hereditary police force. The author doesn't clarify that, as Lauren Haney does in her excellent series about Lt Bak (also a mystery/police series)who leads a group of Medjay at the edge of the empire in the days of Queen Hatshepsut. And to go way back, the first pact between Egyptians and Medjay can be read about in Pauline Gedge's wonderful trilogy: "Lord of the Two Lands" where the Medjay tribesmen help the descendents of last Pharaohs fight to free Egypt from the Hyksos conquerors, centuries before the events in this book.

On the surface the premise for this book sounds intriguing. However the characters are 2 dimensional except perhaps the detective Rahotep. The plot rambles and there is not much of a mystery. I was glad when this book was over.

Nefertiti. Perhaps all we know is the name and that there's some sort of connection with Egypt. Or her face -- there's a bust of her head available just about everywhere that you can buy Egyptian motif collectibles. Then there's the references to her in all those Mummy movies. But, in truth we don't know that much about the woman, the queen, the mother, and the wife. Drake's Nefertiti is a savvy modern woman who dressed and acted as she wished, and took charge of her own destiny until she disappeared without a trace... or did she?

Nefertiti ruled over the two kingdoms with her husband Akhenaten. It was a time of crisis for the kingdom as Akenaten and Nefertiti were declared gods and the old Egyptian god were demoted and their priests thrown out to foment unrest and rebellion. In year twelve of their reign, Nefertiti disappeared. If she could not be found Akhenaten's rule would be severely undermined. Akenaten ignores his local Medjay and calls upon Rahotep, the youngest chief dectective of the Thebes Medjay to come and find Nefertiti. Needless to say this does not endear him to the local Medjay. And, by the way if he doesn't find Nefertiti -- he'll be killed along with his wife and children. Rahotep is very motivated -- but will that be enough to help him discover the solution to the mystery and keep his family alive when he doesn't know the city or its denizens?

So far we're dealing mostly with fact. What Drake has done is take the givens and build a story around what might have happened, choosing as his solution one of the several major theories about the missing queen. Some experts say she was killed, others that she died, or was kidnapped, or even that she returned but under a new name and as co-regent. Even knowing the theories and possible results going into the book, I found Drake's depiction of the region, people, culture and times to be fascinating. While you know one of these outcomes will probably prevail in the end -- almost to the end you're left wondering which way it will go.

The writing was so evocative of the senses that you could almost feel the heat of the burning sun, smell the Nile, and hear the whisper of the reeds as the small boat is paddled through the Nile waters on a hunt. It's hard to describe as the action keeps you turning the pages eagerly but still there's a sense that it was leisurely paced -- as no one moves fast in the heat of the sun. You're engulfed by this book and the mystery surrounding one of the most famous of the Egyptian queens, Nefertiti.