Egyptian Dreams

Meritamon · Scribe Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 225 Location: Bubastis

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran (Almost finished.)
_________________

kmt_sesh · Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:21 am Post subject:

kylejustin · Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:36 am Post subject:

just finished the pharaohs by joyce tyldesley, and read her book on cleopatra earlier this year. i just finished a book the granddaughters of queen victoria by julia gelardi. and right now am currently reading madame de pompadour by margaret crosland. evelyn lever's book on her is phenomenal.
im also watching the tudors with jonathan rhys myers and natalie dormer, which is begging some questions, so the next book i read will be the six wives.....by either david starkey (which is really good, i started this in the library, didnt finish, so bought it) or alison weir, who writes extensively on tudor and medieval royalty.
ive recently finished dodson and hilton's royal families, and john romer's valley of the kings. both fantastic books.
_________________
heaven won't take me.......hell's afraid i'll take over.....

anneke · Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:15 pm Post subject:

anneke · Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:20 pm Post subject:

Naunacht · Citizen Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 29 Location: U.S.

Just finished "Cleopatra and Antony" by Diana Preston. This was a nice readable overview of their lives and put their legend into the context of the times and of other's, particularly Octavian's, attempts to rewrite history.

Am still going through "Thutmose III: A New Biography" edited by Eric H. Cline and David O'Connor. Scholarly and slow going. Called by the editors, "an enigmatic king" who everyone who's studied Egyptian history thinks they know well, a closer examination shows that in many cases we really do not understand this man, what he did, how and why he did it.

Finally, I'm reading "King and Goddess" by Judith Tarr. It's actually better than I thought it would be as a novel but some of the historical howlers almost had me putting it down in

.

I mean seriously, I can deal with a historical novelist tinkering with a few dates here and there to make a better story especially in a period where actual dates for major events are a rarity and largely a matter of scholarly opinion, but she knocks off Hatshepsut's daughter Nefrure during the regency period when it's about as well attested as anything can be in this period, that Nefrure was alive and well in Year 11--long after her mother had taken the titles of King--well that's just not right. She also gets the names of Senenmut's brothers wrong--a minor thing but once again--somewhat sloppy.

On the other hand I'm kind of liking her characterizations. Hatshepsut as a beautiful, charismatic, unconventional charmer--that works. (oh well maybe following the identification of her mummy as that of a fat 50ish woman suffering from a formidable range of illnesses--we may have to drop the beautiful part--at least toward the end of her life.) Thutmose III as a brilliant but uncomunicative child dreaming of conquest--and revenge--sure. Senenmut as a surefire, but somewhat arrogant, genius with one foot in the home of his very ordinary family and one foot in the palace as favorite and defender of the queen, works for me. Nehshi as the silent, devoted defender of the queen, why not? Hapusoneb as a somewhat impish Priest of Amon who becomes High Priest, unconventional but the characterization is so unusual that I found myself liking it. I've always thought of him as an old cleric--and political power player.

Haven't finished it yet but I'm finding it hard to put down--until she pulls of another historical howler--of course.

kylejustin · Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 3:31 am Post subject:

Neferseshat · Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:25 am Post subject:

I am reading The Count of Monte Christo, also AE magazine 9-2,10-2, KMT Fall 2009. Does it count? Laughing

eccles · Citizen Joined: 25 Jul 2009 Posts: 35 Location: Australia

anneke · Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 2:26 pm Post subject:

Osiris II · Vizier Joined: 28 Dec 2004 Posts: 1350

Taken from the English Royalty Family Tree site:

The royal family's official name, or lack thereof, became a problem during World War I, when people began to mutter that Saxe-Coburg-Gotha sounded far too German. King George V and his family needed a new, English-sounding name. After considering every possible name, from Plantagenet to Tudor-Stuart to simply England, the king and his advisors chose the name Windsor.

The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha name came through Victoria's husband, Prince Albert.

Segereh · Pharaoh Joined: 22 Apr 2004 Posts: 2910 Location: Bruges

kylejustin · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:22 am Post subject:

Meritamon · Scribe Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 225 Location: Bubastis

Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran
_________________

Osiris II · Vizier Joined: 28 Dec 2004 Posts: 1350

I'm taking a break from serious books...
I LOVE British mysteries!
Currently reading "Trouble In Type" by Florence Bell. On a scale of 1 to 10, give it a 4... Surprised