Customer Reviews

The Twelfth Transforming

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

And she certainly doesn't talk down to the reader!

The Twelfth Transforming is a rather ambitious telling -- that of Akhenaten's reign told from the eyes of his mother, Queen Tiye. Tiye is a strong, aggressive heroine, and almost always not someone to admire. Still, she carries the story forward forcefully, and you follow her footsteps from Amunhotep's ending days to Akhenaten's height of power and his eventual downfall.

A warning to those not familiar with the storyline out there -- Akhenaten's rule over Egypt was filled with incest. If this sort of thing will turn you away from the story, then I advise you not to read this. The author does NOT pull punches in this, and every act is detailed in full depth -- even the ones you think are almost too bad to print. It creates a dreamlike, ... air over the book, which is exactly what it's supposed to do. After all, you're not supposed to feel sorry for Akhenaten; you're supposed to hate him. It's nonetheless compelling.

Those of you that are fans of historical Egypt should pick this up. Gedge fans should not HESITATE to pick this up. I will warn the casual reader though -- if you are looking for light summer reading, I would advise against this book. The tale is deep, dark and monstrous, but Gedge carries it off to a tee.

Pauline Gedge has written many excellent books on the subject of ancient Egypt. This, in my opinion, is her finest. In the Twelfth Transforming she brings to life the remarkable political events of the last years of the reign of Amenhotep III through to the end of the dynasty. The period is particularly interesting because we have so much information and yet, the actual facts are shrouded in mystery. Relying heavily on the interpretation of Christianne Desroches-Noblecourt, Gedge has produced a logical and believable tale set in a period that fascinates Egyptologists, particularly since the discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamon. If you enjoy historical fiction set in ancient Egypt, this is a must-read.

This is a densely written, historically detailed account of a mysterious and romantic era of ancient Egyptian history. I have been fascinated with this period since I was a little girl, and I could hardly put the book down the first time I read it.

Pauline Gedge knows Egyptian daily life very well, and her strength is in recreating it. As far as the historical events and personalities go, sometimes I agreed with her interpretation, sometimes not.

The idea that Tiye married Akhenaton is not historically verified, though it does weave together some facts in an intriguing way. I first discovered that interpretation in a book called Oedipus and Akhenaten, which theorized that Akhenaten was the historical Oedipus, and Gedge has certainly gone with this interpretation. It is intriguing for the novel, and she makes a good case, especially in details like the role of the seer, Amenhotep son of Hapu. I have to say, though, I don't really believe that it happened this way. I also disagreed with her view of Akhenaten as a weak dreamer. He was many things, possibly mad, but anyone looking at sculptures of him can see that, whatever he was, he wasn't weak.

I have the same feeling about Nefertiti and her "viper heartedness." To suit certain interpretations of the facts, Nefertiti had to be made vain and power hungry. I'm sure she wasn't perfect, but I just couldn't see her as the hollow, shallow character she was made to be.

Other interpretations were spot on, or at least interesting. I liked the relationship of Mutnodgeme and Horemheb, and the tragic love story that weaves delicately through the major part of the novel. Ankhesenamun and Tutankhamun's brief, sad story felt real to me, as well Horemheb's eventual motive for murder.

One thing this book did leave me wanting: The story of Amunhotep and Tiye in their youth.

The Twelfth Transforming (which refers to the twelfth and last gate Ra must negotiate during his nightly journey through the underworld) is a sumptuous novel of time, place, and character. Set during the unique Amarna period of ancient Egyptian history, Ms. Gedge brings it all to life as no author has done before or since. The background scenery is lush and dense, and you can almost feel the heavy heat of the Sun Disc bearing down upon you. Her descriptions of palaces, harems, and temples are extraordinary; but what really makes this story come truly alive are the people. Like a goddess, Gedge breathes life into what heretofore had only been names to us. Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Sitamun, Ay, Tey, Meritamun, Smenkhkare, Mutnodjme, Horemhab, Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun and many more. We see them all through the eyes of the great dowager Queen Tiye, perhaps the most intelligent and powerful woman in ancient Egyptian history. Tiye's inner profiles of others is a wonder to behold, and she spares nothing and no one in her character assessments... not even herself. Ms. Gedge has the uncanny abilty to smooth the hard edges and distinctions between fact and fiction. A true artist, she paints vivid portraits of fiction onto a canvas of factual history. This incredible artistry she then frames in hardcover. A master artist... and this is one of her best.

I love all of Pauline Gedge's novels about ancient Egypt. She seems to know how to make that era come back to life, and to be able to inhabit the minds of the people and bring them to life as they were in their own time. Akhenaten is one of the most mysterious figures of the distant past, and she attempts to recreate him. It is difficult, as even the Egyptian experts argue over whether he was mad, a megalomaniac, suffering from a genetic disease, or all of the above. Read this together with a non-fiction book, Nicholas Reeves' "Akhenaten: Egypt's False Prophet" which has lots of beautiful photographs and illustrations, and does, despite what some reviewers wish to hear, agree that he fathered children on his older daughters (as did other pharaohs). Whether he married Tiye, his mother, is unknown according to what I have read, but certainly possible in the context of Egyptian beliefs at that time. What is most important is the turmoil he plunged the nation into by suppressing all worship of the old gods and insisting on the worship of the Aten (sun disc) which could be worshipped only by worshipping him--- so it was not really true monotheism as history books used to say. At any rate, this is a fascinating book, attempting to explain him and his time, and make it feel as if you were there in the almost claustrophobic court of Amarna where a mad, mystic king is the sole ruler and everyone waits for him to fall, and his heir is the child Tutankamun.

In the Twelfth Transforming, Pauline Gedge takes us back to a world that existed over 4,000 years ago, in ancient Egypt. She brings to life characters that we know historically existed, but she breathes humanity into them, replete with virtues and many fallacies. These characters are not one-sided as sometimes happens with protaginists in a novel, but complete with persons which you sometimes like, and then dislike. You're transported back to palaces along the Nile, walking alongside Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti, their children, family and extended retinue, with their intrigue and excesses, and political outmanuevering intertwined with daily life. Her writing is rich in depth, and she is a writer whose book I buy just because she's the author. A definite 5 star!

Personally, I believe that this is Pauline Gedge's Magnum Scriptus. I have read her triumphant Child of the Morning, her Stargate, her Eagle and the Raven, and her House of Dreams and Illusions, and this one is the true triumph. How ironic it is that the story itself is anything but triumphant!

The bizarre cast of the Amarna royal family of Egypt is the subject of this novel. Immediately the reader can tell that the book will revolve around several large characters, with the rest of the prolific cast revolving around them, very much like moons around planets.

At the center of the book is the tragic, aging heroine. Queen Tiye is the unforgettable protagonist that encompasses so many qualities she is almost ethereal. Yet despite being a divine being in the eyes of her people, an empress of the most powerful nation on earth, Tiye is painfully human. She is forced to marry her own son in the hopes that she can salvage the wreckage of the empires of Egypt. She is forced to accept the murder of her daughter by her niece. She is forced to make decisions that put Egypt on the balance. And ultimately, the brave and illustrious queen commits suicide.

Akhenaten is the visionary that romanticists have protrayed him to be. The Sun Pharaoh is everything the reader expects: he is a dreamy, detached being, out of tune with his nation, his family, and even himself. He cares for none but his great god Aten.

Nefertiti is the dominant power-struggler here. She is part malicious, but this malice comes from the stress of being incapable of producing a male heir, from being forced with the choice of either commanding the murder of her cousin or dying herself, and from the horrors of a loveless marriage to a raving lunatic that is destroying all of Egypt. One catches glimpses of everything from almost evil to frustration and soft emotion with Nefertiti, but nothing solid except for her pride and strength. She is every bit the Great Queen and Divine One as her part-enemy Tiye is.

The book is filled with poignant scenes that history has left behind. Ankhesenamun, Princess and Queen of Egypt, is the most striking. She is the sole survivor of her family after her father, brothers, and husband are murdered, her five sisters die, one committing suicide, and her two children dying at birth. The princess is jerked along with fate: after finding love in a marriage her husband is murdered, her children die, and she is compelled to marry her clever and scheming grandfather Ay. The farewell scene where Ankhesenamun, now queen, bids goodbye to her mother, the funeral scenes where the royal family variously mourns or ignores the deaths of so many of their relatives, all touch the reader's heart.

This is a true must-read. Though sometimes a little dry, Pauline Gedge lacks none of that luster she seemed to be missing in Mirage/Scroll of Saqquara. Egypt truly comes to life under her hands in this novel. Whether or not you like emotion, romance, or suspense, this book has it all.

Seen mostly through the eyes of Amunhotep III's Empress, Tiye, it chronicles the reigns of the Amarna pharaohs: Akhenaten's (Amunhotep IV's), Smenkhara's, and of course, Tutaknhamun's. Gedge deals very sensitively with the relationships between the characters, and each and every one of them is flawed; but at the same time, some are admirable. Gedge also makes an educatedly subtle nod to the idea that Akhetaten was the "real" Moses, in her description the the drout and his unexpected turn to monotheism. Her description of Nefertiti did let me down, however, simply because in my mind, Nefertiti had been a far more important, powerful, and intelligent person. Tiye is a very positive point in the story, however--her nature is simply attractive and sympathetic while being at the same time very capable. The novel ends on a note that is both harrowing and somehow heartening. I'd highly recommend this to Egyptian historical fiction buffs. This is possibly one of the finest ancient Egyptian historical novel out there.

Queen Tiye, the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoah Amunhotep III is the focus of this very complex historical novel. Pauline Gedge gives a new interpretation of some of the known historical and archaelogical facts about the entire Amarna Royal Family including Akhenaton, Nefertiti, Smenhkara, Ay,Tutanhamon and Horemheb. Her portrayals of Queens' Tiye and Nefertiti are masterful in showing their struggles to govern and hold on to power for the former and to attain power for the latter. Each were women who had husbands who were Pharaohs, but had other agendas which were to the detriment of Egypt. However, these women wanted power and to govern. Gedge's new spin sees Tiye and Nefertiti as rivals with Ay and Horemheb forming a quadrangle of deadly machinations, murder and political intrigue which resulted from Akhenaten's religious revolution during the Eighteenth Dynasty.

Ancient Egyptian buffs will be intrigued by Gedge's use of known facts and figures and the weaving of these into a fascinating portrait of an Egyptian Queen fighting the decline of her empire. The rich historical details and the incorporation of stories, myths and facts about the opulent lifestyles,descriptions of palaces and of the cities of Karnak, Akhetaten shows Miss Gedge's thorough knowledge of or research of the period.

Unfortunately this is also a handicap, because the need to weave facts and create fiction to make a workable story had me questioning certain elements crucial to the story. An example would be Nefertiti's desire to becoming a Great Royal Wife This is known to have been attained; however, she did not wear the disk and two-feathers crown which Tiye wore, wearing her own distintive Blue Crown. Although, this crown was known previously or used later, Nefertiti was a Great Royal Wife. In the story her pursuit of this Rank and The Two Feather Disk Crown of Tiye was a crucial dramatic element which formed the basis of a number of her misdeeds. Another example was the diminution of the role of Kia(Kiya)one of Akhena! ten's secondary wives who many believe may be Tutankhamun's mother or at best was a "Favorite" such that wine jars were found at Amarna with this inscription. A greater role was given to Sitamun, daughter-wife of Amunhotep III and Tiye. The rivalry between she and Nefertiti was quite interesting. Another interesting character was Mutnodjme, sister of Nefertiti and wife to Horemheb. Gedge even had the vicissitudes of Tiye as working mother. The best feature of the novel is the atmosphere and descriptions of this historical period which were so vivid and seemly accurate that you felt you were in that time period. Having read Lady of the Reeds, Miss Gedge is a master of this type of writing and her ability to weave the archaelogical and historical evidence with mythological and religious elements is excellent.

Something one seldom finds--a completely engrossing historical novel, rich in detail, with excellent characterizations.