The
Tree of Life
The
Mysteries of Osiris I
By
Christian Jacq
Young
Iker just wants to be a scribe, so what is he doing on a ship destined
to be a sacrifice? When he is saved, nobody believes his story and
thus begins his quest to find out about the ship and her crew. Meanwhile,
Pharaoh Sesostris III has his work cut out for him to unite Egypt,
as most of the provincial governors think that they are doing just
fine without him. To makes matters worse, the holy acacia tree is
dying, and without it there can be no Egypt. The paths of these
two very different men are destined to cross, and when they do there
will be portentous consequences for Egypt.
Firstly,
three cheers for writing about an obscure pharaoh who hasn't already
had reams written about him in other novels. Jacq's easy-to-read
style is a winner as usual, but often his plots can be very linear.
Not here, as there are two main strands that intertwine, as well
as the fortunes of several other characters. There is, as usual,
an Old Testament feel about this work where nothing is done by halves
and Iker is another one of Jacq's formidably fit and able but driven
characters who seems to be able to accomplish anything he sets his
mind to. Many readers seem to class his books as fantasy, but this
isn't exactly true. He does season his work with a generous dose
of wishful thinking, but the "supernatural" happenings in his books
can be attributed to the characters' faith, imagination, various
substances and suggestion. In this book however there does seem
to be some rather amazing things going on and we have a seemingly
superhuman villain and some astonishing "mirages". I tend to categorize
it more as a part of his surely inimitable folktale style, and long
may be continue to enthrall us with his unique tales. |
The
Book |
Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster) |
March 2005 |
Trade Paperback |
0743259572 |
Historical [19th century BC - Ancient Egypt] |
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Excerpt |
NOTE: |
The
Reviewer |
Rachel A Hyde |
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