The Tree of Life

In the temple of Abydos, an acacia tree is dying. Its death threatens all of Egypt. For this tree sprang forth from the tomb of the god Osiris, the first ruler of Egypt, as proof of his triumph over death.

The great pharaoh Senusret III immediately joins battle against the invisible enemy who would lead Egypt to her doom. But within his closest circle hides a traitor, a man who would sell himself to the powers of darkness in order to achieve his dreams of glory.

A young apprentice scribe, Iker, becomes an unwilling player in this mystery. Kidnapped by sailors who refer darkly to a 'state secret', Iker does not know who is trying to kill him, nor indeed who is trying to protect him. He senses only that someone is manipulating him, that he has set out on a road whose end he does not know.

Will the two of them, Iker and Senusret, the weak young boy and the great man of power, succeed in preventing Osiris from dying for the last time, thereby saving Egypt?

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The Conspiracy of Evil

Despite the best efforts of the Pharaoh Senusret and his generals, the beautiful acacia tree of Abydos is dying. But the beautiful priestess Isis has an idea: to save the 'Tree of Life', a new pyramid must be built in honour of Osiris.  Senusret agrees to the plan - but what the pharaoh doesn't know is that a triple conspiracy has been hatched against him.

On the one hand, the Herald, the bearded devil who preaches to the desert tribes, has decided to seize power by having the pharaoh murdered. On the other, within Senusret's own court, an ambitious, thieving traitor is plotting to get rid of his master.

Finally, Iker the scribe, deceived by appearances, believes that the time has come to settle his scores. Never has the pharaoh seemed so alone or so vulnerable. And never before has the future of Egypt been in such great peril.

External References

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The Way of Fire

The young scribe Iker has finally realised that, in pursuing Pharaoh Senusret with his hatred, he chose the wrong target. The real enemy, the one who is attacking the Tree of Life at Abydos, is in fact the Herald, that baleful individual who is rallying troops on the border in order to invade Egypt and annihilate her.

Now Senusret has entrusted Iker with a particularly dangerous mission: to enter Canaan and discover the Herald's lair.

Who can save Egypt now? Senusret - constantly faced with savage assassination attempts? Iker - fighting on a thousand fronts to prevent the traitor from succeeding? Or the beautiful priestess Isis who perhaps - deep in her heart - will find the means to pacify the spirit of the Nile?

External References

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The Great Secret

Unrecognisable, the Herald is hiding at the very heart of Abydos. With his accomplices, he is preparing to commit the supreme crime. By bringing death into the kingdom in order to prevent the resurrection of Osiris, he will at last be able to overthrow Pharaoh Senusret, seize power and spread his evil doctrine far and wide.

Will Iker manage to fulfil his mission, to celebrate the mysteries of Osiris? Will the priestess Isis bring her Quest for the Impossible to a successful conclusion? And can death really be overcome? After 40 years spent fervently studying the doctrines of Ancient Egypt, Christian Jacq closes the series by revealing the Great Secret of resurrection.

This mystery was at the very centre of Egyptian thought and pharaonic civilisation, and is the key to a modern understanding of Ancient Egyptian life.

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When he encounters a child prodigy, a six-year-old composer lauded throughout Prague, Vienna and Frankfurt, Thamos senses that he's found the one.

Is this young musician really the 'Great Magician' foretold by Osiris, the one who can pass on the light of the East to humanity? And if he is, can Thamos succeed in saving the boy from the traps that lie in wait for him?

External References

• Buy The Great Magician: The Count of Thebes from Amazon

The Judgement of the Mummy

London,1821. Recently returned from Egypt, the adventurer Giovanni Belzoni enthrals Londoners with the city's first exhibition devoted to Egyptian art. As he unveils his star exhibit, a mummy so perfectly preserved it seems almost alive, there is a collective intake of breath.

The astonishing spectacle provokes an immediate scandal: a hysterical preacher demands the destruction of this pagan relic; an elderly Lord wants to feed it to his dogs; a pathologist wishes to keep the body in order to study this fascinating phenomenon. But the following night the mummy disappears - and the preacher, the Lord and the pathologist are murdered.

For the country's foremost detective, Inspector Higgins, the prime suspect is none other than the mummy itself. He is also convinced that the mummy's disappearance is closely linked to the revolutionary conspiracy causing unrest in London's most squalid districts.

Assisted by the beautiful Lady Suzanna, will Inspector Higgins succeed in solving the puzzle before the mummy's inescapable judgement?

External Resources

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Empire of Darkness

Set in C17th B.C., Volume One in the stunning new QUEEN OF FREEDOM trilogy, from the bestselling author of RAMSES. Egypt is a shadow of its former self.

An army of barbarians, mounted on horse-drawn chariots, has swept through the Empire, destroying everything in its path. Known as the Hyksos, the 'leaders from foreign lands', they have reduced the land of the pharaohs to slavery. Only one city resists: Thebes, where the widow of the last pharaoh, Teti the Small, still reigns.

But Teti knows it's only a matter of time before her men succumb to the barbarities of the cruel Hyksos. She has an 18-year-old daughter, however: Ahotep. Fierce, beautiful and courageous, Ahotep will never accept defeat. And so she decides to re-ignite the flame of Egyptian resistance All by herself.

Review

I give the Empire of darkness by Christian Jacq five stars. It was an all-round great book! It gives just enough historical information about 17th century B.C. Egypt while instantly throwing you into a world filled with love, hope, despair, over taxation and death by gruesome torture.

With such hard rulers almost like slaver drivers one would think what hope have the Egyptians but all is not lost the Hyksos have forgotten the small city of Thebes the last free land of Egypt and the hope Egypt has comes in the form of an eighteen year old girl princess Ahotep.

I would recommend this book to anyone it kept me glued to my seat and I’m sure it will do the same for you.

External References

• Buy Empire of Darkness from Amazon
• Buy Queen of Freedom Trilogy from Amazon
• Empire of Darkness page on Librarything.com

The War of the Crowns

Second volume in the magnificent QUEEN OF FREEDOM trilogy 17th century B.C. The barbaric Hyksos have taken possession of the whole of Egypt, imposing their harsh rule with unimaginable cruelty. Only Queen Ahhotep has yet to succumb.

Not far from Thebes, the only city which retains its independence, she has established a secret military base to train the soliders who will one day set her country free. And even when, during an initial skirmish, her husband is killed, the Queen refuses to give in, turning instead to her eldest son, Kames, who must learn to take his father's place and become pharaoh in his turn.

Heading an increasingly powerful army, Ahhotep steals victory after victory, despite the treacherous behaviour of a handful of 'collaborators'. From south to north, the Egyptians begin to re-group, becoming stronger by the day - and the occupying forces no longer seem quite so invincible. Unless Queen Ahhotep and her followers are being lured into the most elaborate of traps...

External Resources

• Buy The War of the Crowns on Amazon
• Buy Queen of Freedom Trilogy from Amazon

The Flaming Sword

Egypt, 17th century B.C. In the north, the barbaric Hyksos still rule with unimaginable brutality. Queen Ahhotep, meanwhile, has recaptured much of the south - but at a terrible price: her husband killed in combat and her elder son, Kames, mysteriously poisoned.

Ahhotep refuses to be crowned pharaoh and prepares instead her second son, young Amose, to take power. But it's thanks to her that the Egyptians are now ready for the final battle. They lay siege to Avaris, the Hyksos capital - and once the city is taken, nothing further can stop them.

After 100 years of occupation and thousands of violent deaths, it looks as though at last the Egyptian empire will rise again from the ashes - all thanks to the courage and determination of a woman.

External Resources

• Buy The Flaming Sword from Amazon
• Buy Queen of Freedom Trilogy from Amazon

Manhunt

Egypt, 518 BC. Kel, a young scribe recently hired by the prestigious guild of interpreters, thinks his future is secure. But following a party to which he should not have been invited, he arrives at work one day to find his boss and colleagues murdered.

Are their deaths linked to a mysterious encrypted papyrus that the specialists were meant to decipher? Believing his life to be in danger, Kel absconds with the precious document, thus becoming prime suspect at the centre of an intrigue of State. Hunted by the authorities, Kel enrols the help of his friend Bebon and the beautiful Nitis, priestess of the goddess Neith. Egypt meanwhile faces an uncertain future.

Will the Greek mercenaries hired by the pharaoh Amasis be able to defend the country against the greed of the fearsome Persians? Who is plotting against Kel, and why? When human beings choose to follow a path paved with violence and injustice, they cannot avoid the vengeance of the gods ...

External References

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