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Rai Rahotep #3
Egypt: the Book of Chaos
The future of Egypt lies in the hands of the Medjay's chief-detective Rahotep in the final, gripping installment of Nick Drake's acclaimed Ancient Egyptian trilogy. Following 'Nefertiti: the Book of the Dead' and 'Tutankhamun: the Book of Shadows', 'Egypt: the Book of Chaos' puts Rahotep on a high-stakes adventure across enemy empires and rogue states on a top-secret mission to secure the fate of the dynasty. Readers of Stacy Schiff's 'Cleopatra' and anyone fascinated by ancient cultures and unspoken secrets will be instantly drawn in by Drake's magisterial re-creation of one of history's great unsolved mysteries.
Incorporating his own research through the sites, monuments, ruins, and museums of Egypt, Drake brings vividly back to life an era long ago swallowed by the shifting sands of time in this powerful novel of loyalty, ambition, struggle, and destiny.
Incorporating his own research through the sites, monuments, ruins, and museums of Egypt, Drake brings vividly back to life an era long ago swallowed by the shifting sands of time in this powerful novel of loyalty, ambition, struggle, and destiny.
335 pages, Hardcover
First published February 26, 2008
73 people are currently reading
580 people want to read
About the author
Nick Drake
31 books59 followersNick Drake was born in 1961. He lives and works in London. His first book-length collection, The Man in the White Suit (Bloodaxe Books, 1999), was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 1999, and was selected for the Next Generation Poets promotion in 2004. From The Word Go was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2007. His most recent projects include a stage adaptation of Philippe Petit’s To Reach the Cloud; the screenplay for the Australian film Romulus, My Father, starring Eric Bana, which won Best Film at the Australian Film Awards; Success, a play for the National Theatre's Connections project; and a trilogy of historical novels (Nefertiti, shortlisted for CWA Best Historical Crime Novel, Tutankhamun and Egypt: The Book of Chaos which Mammoth Screen are developing for TV). He is a screenwriter, and is also working the composer Tansy Davies and director Deborah Warner on an opera for ENO. In September 2010 he was invited to join Cape Farewell's trip to the Arctic to explore climate change, and from that journey arose a commission from United Visual Artists to create poems and texts for their ground-breaking installation High Arctic at the National Maritime Museum (2011). Those poems, together with others inspired by the Arctic and its voices, are gathered in his collection The Farewell Glacier (Bloodaxe Books, 2012).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
March 12, 2018
This had to be my favourite of the three novels. I felt in this one we saw less of the pompous self righteous character traits I felt rahoteop sometimes displayed. In this novel he was vulnerable and human! I loved the fact we saw him uncover the truth and suffer in some of the worst ways possible. This reminded me of the amertoke series by Paul Doherty.
Loved the style of writing and I’d recommend reading !
Loved the style of writing and I’d recommend reading !
April 4, 2013
The conclusion of the Rai Rahotep trilogy. I was let down by this book. I suspected the identity of "Obsidian" about half-way through the story. The plot was very depressing. Rahotep was wallowing in his sense of failure due to the unsatisfying outcomes of his two previous investigations (Nefertiti and Tutankhamen). His career has crashed, his wife's affections have grown cool and he's no longer a hero to his son. All of that I can understand.
What I had problems with was the journey forced upon him by Tut's widow. He's tasked with going to Egypt's enemy--the Hittites--to convince their king to send one of his sons to her so she can marry and continue ruling the country. She has limited support and Horemheb (head of the Egyptian armies) is all powerful and very ambitious. He seeks to be Pharaoh and will let nothing stand in his way. The author does a splendid job of describing the trip's scenery along the way and the Hittite court's animosity to Egypt. So far, so good.
But on the return journey the plot stumbles. Rahotep and his fellow travelers are abducted and end up in the valley of the poppy (the origin of the opium trade that's ravaging Egypt). From this point on I lost interest in the story. I can't explain without revealing the outcome but I found the bandit leader a bit ridiculous and the book ending a foregone conclusion. IMHO, books 1 and 2 were much better.
What I had problems with was the journey forced upon him by Tut's widow. He's tasked with going to Egypt's enemy--the Hittites--to convince their king to send one of his sons to her so she can marry and continue ruling the country. She has limited support and Horemheb (head of the Egyptian armies) is all powerful and very ambitious. He seeks to be Pharaoh and will let nothing stand in his way. The author does a splendid job of describing the trip's scenery along the way and the Hittite court's animosity to Egypt. So far, so good.
But on the return journey the plot stumbles. Rahotep and his fellow travelers are abducted and end up in the valley of the poppy (the origin of the opium trade that's ravaging Egypt). From this point on I lost interest in the story. I can't explain without revealing the outcome but I found the bandit leader a bit ridiculous and the book ending a foregone conclusion. IMHO, books 1 and 2 were much better.
July 13, 2025
El título y su descripción generan mucha expectación para lo que uno encuentra, rápido de leer y sin grandes aportes históricos…. Siendo muy generosos
Una lectura liviana
Una lectura liviana
March 11, 2012
So we reach the end of Drake's Egyptian trilogy. It's an odd sort of series, an Ancient Egypt the way Raymond Chandler would write it, and a bit too modern and a little bit historically inaccurate.
In this instalment, Drake tackles the "Dakhamunzu" letter, wherein an unidentified Queen of Egypt wrote to Egypt's arch-nemesis, the King of the Hittites, and asked to marry his son. Drake equates the unnamed Queen as Ankhesenamun, which is fair enough since she's been a common suspect. However, while the theory generally runs that Ankhesenamun writes this letter in the immediate aftermath of Tutankhamun's sudden death, here she writes it while her new husband, Ay, is dying.
Because so little in that time period is known for certain, it's possible that this is what really happened. But it's incredibly doubtful. Ankhesenamun disappears from history around the same time as Tutankhamun dies, and any marriage with Ay was superseded by his first wife, Tiy. So the scenes where Ankhesenamun acts as the Great Royal Wife and then attempts to rule as Pharaoh in her own right ring false.
The other major plot point in this book is the opium trade. Again, this seems dubious – while opium was present in Ancient Egypt, it wasn't necessarily a street drug. More likely, it was used by physicians as a painkiller . The mummy of Ramesses II, for instance, contains traces of opium and it is believed that opium was used to relieve the considerable pain Ramesses was in at the time of his death.
I couldn't help but feel the emotional scenes fell flat – all the carry on over Khety felt unnatural. The way that Rahotep treated his wife, too, left me cold. I was pleased when Horemheb was revealed to be a "Good Man", but the revelation happened way too fast when throughout the entire series, Horemheb has been a suspicious figure. But then, I am biased towards Horemheb so I'm not going to complain too much.
Furthermore, the plot twist right at the end, came out of nowhere, and I felt like it would've been more powerful if the readers had been given time to digest it properly.
I feel like, in some way, that the story Drake really wants to tell is constrained by historical fact, and the story we get is a bit of a hot mess: fun to read, but difficult to take seriously.
In this instalment, Drake tackles the "Dakhamunzu" letter, wherein an unidentified Queen of Egypt wrote to Egypt's arch-nemesis, the King of the Hittites, and asked to marry his son. Drake equates the unnamed Queen as Ankhesenamun, which is fair enough since she's been a common suspect. However, while the theory generally runs that Ankhesenamun writes this letter in the immediate aftermath of Tutankhamun's sudden death, here she writes it while her new husband, Ay, is dying.
Because so little in that time period is known for certain, it's possible that this is what really happened. But it's incredibly doubtful. Ankhesenamun disappears from history around the same time as Tutankhamun dies, and any marriage with Ay was superseded by his first wife, Tiy. So the scenes where Ankhesenamun acts as the Great Royal Wife and then attempts to rule as Pharaoh in her own right ring false.
The other major plot point in this book is the opium trade. Again, this seems dubious – while opium was present in Ancient Egypt, it wasn't necessarily a street drug. More likely, it was used by physicians as a painkiller . The mummy of Ramesses II, for instance, contains traces of opium and it is believed that opium was used to relieve the considerable pain Ramesses was in at the time of his death.
I couldn't help but feel the emotional scenes fell flat – all the carry on over Khety felt unnatural. The way that Rahotep treated his wife, too, left me cold. I was pleased when Horemheb was revealed to be a "Good Man", but the revelation happened way too fast when throughout the entire series, Horemheb has been a suspicious figure. But then, I am biased towards Horemheb so I'm not going to complain too much.
Furthermore, the plot twist right at the end, came out of nowhere, and I felt like it would've been more powerful if the readers had been given time to digest it properly.
I feel like, in some way, that the story Drake really wants to tell is constrained by historical fact, and the story we get is a bit of a hot mess: fun to read, but difficult to take seriously.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2015
Have not read the previous 2 books in this trilogy but this one stands up OK on its own. While it would have been nice to see how protagonist, Rahotep, fell from his position as a prominent Seeker of Mysteries ( detective) in the police corp to where he is now relegated to essentially a beat cop, it wasn't necessary to this story.
Focus of this was the problem of Royal succession for present Queen. Rahotep is part of a secret mission to the enemy Hittite King requesting a royal son to seal a peace treaty by marrying the widowed Queen. Rahotep has a personal side mission to find the head of a new, powerful drug cartel that murdered his best friend.
The journey through the early Middle East was fascinating. Lots about the politics and power shifts which overall pretty much mirror events of today. Not much changes.
Parts of the book were somewhat graphically violent and while I had guessed the identity of the drug lord a few chapters before Rahotep, the end was still satisfying. One underlying theme- that "commercial" interests can be a stronger force even to the point of manipulating politics for its own benefit - was similar to another recent read, The Water Thief by Ben Pastor which was also set at least in part in Egypt.
Focus of this was the problem of Royal succession for present Queen. Rahotep is part of a secret mission to the enemy Hittite King requesting a royal son to seal a peace treaty by marrying the widowed Queen. Rahotep has a personal side mission to find the head of a new, powerful drug cartel that murdered his best friend.
The journey through the early Middle East was fascinating. Lots about the politics and power shifts which overall pretty much mirror events of today. Not much changes.
Parts of the book were somewhat graphically violent and while I had guessed the identity of the drug lord a few chapters before Rahotep, the end was still satisfying. One underlying theme- that "commercial" interests can be a stronger force even to the point of manipulating politics for its own benefit - was similar to another recent read, The Water Thief by Ben Pastor which was also set at least in part in Egypt.
February 16, 2013
This is a cross between a mystery and an action/adventure story. There is a mystery here - but most of the book is about a trip from ancient Egypt to the land of the Hittites.
Now for me, that wasn't a bad thing.
For someone who is looking for a straight mystery - you might get bored (if you don't like history).
It takes place in the late 18th Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. King Tut - Tutankhamun - is dead. His wife/half sister is on the throne with Ay, former royal adviser. Horemheb, the great Egyptian general, is planning to take over. And in the middle of all of this is the opium trade and chief detective Rahotep.
Did I mention the Hittites? They have a big role in this as well.
Now for me, that wasn't a bad thing.
For someone who is looking for a straight mystery - you might get bored (if you don't like history).
It takes place in the late 18th Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. King Tut - Tutankhamun - is dead. His wife/half sister is on the throne with Ay, former royal adviser. Horemheb, the great Egyptian general, is planning to take over. And in the middle of all of this is the opium trade and chief detective Rahotep.
Did I mention the Hittites? They have a big role in this as well.
October 1, 2012
The last book in a trilogy mystery set in ancient Egypt. Enjoyed the story, especially the historical details.
February 12, 2013
Totally did not expect the ending to the mystery of the character, "Obsidian"! This trilogy got better as the story moved along from book one to three.
February 6, 2016
Great look into the world of Ankhesenamun at the time of General Horemheb's move for Pharaoh. I didn't like the treatment Rahotep received near the end.
June 19, 2012
I have now finished Nick Drake's Egypt trilogy. After finishing Egypt: The Book of Chaos, I do feel that Drake saved the best for last. I have previously reviewed volumes 1 and 2 in this blog and readers will see that I am a fan of Drake's work. However, he greatly expands the scope of his interests and the novel itself travels far beyond the comfort of home in recounting the final mystery and adventure experienced by Rahotep, the Seeker of Mysteries.
In this volume, Drake takes his readers into a world that is in transition and has fallen on hard times. I don't know if he intended the parallel or not, but I cannot help but make comparisons between our present 21st century world that is also full of problems and the end of the 18th dynasty of Egypt that found itself on similarly slippery footing. Rahotep is still working for the Medjay, but politics (his bureuacratic boor of a boss, Nebamun) and economics (he still needs to support his family) lead Rahotep into the world of being a hired gun. Of course, working for his dear friend and mentor, Nakht, who we met in the first book and who figured more prominently in the second, is not the worst possible situation Rahotep could find himself in. Drake describes this new dynamic: "Once upon a time, I had been an invited guest at Nakht's famous social functions. Tonight I was here because I was working. Nakht had started to employ me occasionally as his personal bodyguard, saying he could trust my discretion in a way he could trust no one else. With his customary tact, he had made it seem as if it was I who was doing him the favour. And given the unreliable and ever-diminishing payments from my Medjay work, and the spiralling costs of even the most basic of foods, I was absolutely desperate for any means to provide for my family."
Still, the book opens with Rahotep at a crime scene where he discovers a mysterious piece of papyrus in the mouth of one of the murder victims. When Nebamun arrives on the scene to shoo away Rahotep, Rahotep keeps the papyrus a secret from his "boss."After finishing his security work for Nakht, Rahotep seeks refuge in a bar where he happens to encounter his former assistant, Khety. Khety has been promoted and no longer works for or often with Rahotep. However, he has discovered some important facts about a new gang of opium smugglers who are terrorizing other gangs and seem intent to corner the market on opium in Thebes and elsewhere throughout Egypt. Though Rahotep is intrigued, his cynicism keeps him from agreeing to help Khety work on this new development in the Theban drug trade.
The next day while accompanying Nakht to a meeting that turns out to be at the Malkata Palace, Rahotep confides in Nakht about his meeting with Khety. This narrative thread is overshadowed however when Rahotep learns of the true reason that Nakht asked him to accompany him to this meeting. Rahotep finds himself before the King, the villainous Ay, and the Queen, Ankhesenamun, who befriended Rahotep in Volume 2, where she had previously been the wife of Tutankhamun. Once again, the marital affairs of the queen are of the highest concern. Ay, who had been so important and powerful in the previous two volumes of this trilogy is dying. With the imminent death of her husband, Ankhesenamun is concerned with the aftermath of Ay's death. The figure of Horemheb who so desperately wanted to be made king in the previous volume looms even larger now. He still controls the armies of Egypt and there does not seem to be any other Egyptian suitor who makes sense for Ankhesenamun. However, she and most of the royals and the bureaucrats fear what life would be like under Horemheb, so the queen has come up with a most daring plan to circumvent the designs of Horemheb.
Egypt had been engaged in a long and seemingly unsuccessful war with the Hittite Empire to the North. Ankhesenamun decides to send a letter to the Hittite King asking for him to send one of his sons to Egypt to become the new King of Egypt. In one stroke, the war would end and both Empires would gain by such an alliance. However, this mission cannot be conducted openly, so Nakht, the Hittite ambassador, Simut, the leader of the Palace Guards, and Rahotep will make a secret journey to the Hittites to bring the offer of marriage to them. The queen personally asks Rahotep to go on this mission and he feels that he must accept such a request, if you can call it that. To sweeten the offer, the Queen has authorized for Rahotep to succeed Nebamun as the Chief of the Thebes Medjay. Furthermore, Nakht offers to allow Rahotep's family to live in his mansion during the duration of this trip. If Nakht does not return, Rahotep and his family will inherit Nakht's house and his wealth. Sounds like a great offer, but Rahotep, after his last adventure with Tutankhamun had promised his wife Tanefert that he would never leave his family again. Now he must confront her with news that he is breaking his promise and under strict orders from the Queen, he cannot reveal what he is doing or where he is going.
As he did with his previous two volumes, Drake does a superb job with the dynamics of married couples. In keeping with the more somber tone of this book, Drake shows how Rahotep's marriage has suffered over the years too. "A little distance had opened between us, almost unnoticed, rarely acknowledged. We made love infrequently. The couch was for sleep at the end of exhausting days. I confided in her less often. Perhaps that is the fate of all marriages."
Rahotep did not mention the offer from the Queen, but goes into work the next day. Here he discovers that his friend and former assistant Khety has been brutally murdered in the same manner as the victims from the crime scene that opened the narrative. Rahotep is full of remorse, anger, and bitterness that Nebamun exacerbates when he arrives on the scene. He tells Rahotep that someone else will investigate this crime, but Rahotep demands to be given this case. The argument ends with Rahotep punching Nebamun and losing his job because of it.
This gives Rahotep little choice but to go on this mission, though it causes a rift between him and his wife. Rahotep learns that the leader of this new opium gang is called "Obsidian" and the opium source is high in the Bekaa Valley of what is present day Afghanistan. Once Nakht learns of Khety's death, he forcefully tells Rahotep that he cannot do anything that would jeopardize their mission to the Hittites. However, as they are traveling north towards the opium and going through many trading posts, Rahotep does try to do some investigating. After almost getting killed in an opium house, Rahotep has the following vivid dream: "Later that night, when I had finally drifted off to sleep, I dreamt a thin cord, clotted with blood, had been stitched into my mouth and tongue, and then down my throat, into my heart, where a thick black knot held it tight. And the knot was feeding on my heart's black blood, and growing bigger. And no matter how hard I pulled, no matter how much agony I tolerated as I pulled, I could not loosen that knot." This is but one instance of some of the phenomenal writing that Drake has in this gripping novel.
The group goes on and eventually confronts the enigmatic Army of Chaos that controls the opium growing region. On their return journey from the Hittite Empire with one of the Hittite princes, Rahotep finds himself in a situation where he must betray his marital vows to save his life and potentially the life of Nakht and Simut. In the course of this betrayal, he becomes an opium addict. He is rescued from the Army of Chaos by the Egyptian Army and finds himself face to face with Horemheb. Simut is imprisoned and Nakht is seemingly lost in the battle with the Egyptians. Rahotep bargains with Horemheb in a plea to investigate the corruption within the Egyptian Army, who Rahotep has discovered is part of this new opium cartel.
Rahotep returns to Thebes in the course of his investigation, but is surprised by the reception he gets from the Queen and others. They and even Rahotep's family had been told he had died in the battle. The novel concludes with a masterful unveiling of the identity of Obsidian. Nick Drake does justice to the world and characters he has created in this tremendous trilogy. I don't know if there is much more he can do with Rahotep after the conclusion of this trilogy, but I would gladly accept more stories of his continuing adventures. I would highly recommend this book to those of you who like historical fiction, detective fiction, and good old fashioned mysteries.
In this volume, Drake takes his readers into a world that is in transition and has fallen on hard times. I don't know if he intended the parallel or not, but I cannot help but make comparisons between our present 21st century world that is also full of problems and the end of the 18th dynasty of Egypt that found itself on similarly slippery footing. Rahotep is still working for the Medjay, but politics (his bureuacratic boor of a boss, Nebamun) and economics (he still needs to support his family) lead Rahotep into the world of being a hired gun. Of course, working for his dear friend and mentor, Nakht, who we met in the first book and who figured more prominently in the second, is not the worst possible situation Rahotep could find himself in. Drake describes this new dynamic: "Once upon a time, I had been an invited guest at Nakht's famous social functions. Tonight I was here because I was working. Nakht had started to employ me occasionally as his personal bodyguard, saying he could trust my discretion in a way he could trust no one else. With his customary tact, he had made it seem as if it was I who was doing him the favour. And given the unreliable and ever-diminishing payments from my Medjay work, and the spiralling costs of even the most basic of foods, I was absolutely desperate for any means to provide for my family."
Still, the book opens with Rahotep at a crime scene where he discovers a mysterious piece of papyrus in the mouth of one of the murder victims. When Nebamun arrives on the scene to shoo away Rahotep, Rahotep keeps the papyrus a secret from his "boss."After finishing his security work for Nakht, Rahotep seeks refuge in a bar where he happens to encounter his former assistant, Khety. Khety has been promoted and no longer works for or often with Rahotep. However, he has discovered some important facts about a new gang of opium smugglers who are terrorizing other gangs and seem intent to corner the market on opium in Thebes and elsewhere throughout Egypt. Though Rahotep is intrigued, his cynicism keeps him from agreeing to help Khety work on this new development in the Theban drug trade.
The next day while accompanying Nakht to a meeting that turns out to be at the Malkata Palace, Rahotep confides in Nakht about his meeting with Khety. This narrative thread is overshadowed however when Rahotep learns of the true reason that Nakht asked him to accompany him to this meeting. Rahotep finds himself before the King, the villainous Ay, and the Queen, Ankhesenamun, who befriended Rahotep in Volume 2, where she had previously been the wife of Tutankhamun. Once again, the marital affairs of the queen are of the highest concern. Ay, who had been so important and powerful in the previous two volumes of this trilogy is dying. With the imminent death of her husband, Ankhesenamun is concerned with the aftermath of Ay's death. The figure of Horemheb who so desperately wanted to be made king in the previous volume looms even larger now. He still controls the armies of Egypt and there does not seem to be any other Egyptian suitor who makes sense for Ankhesenamun. However, she and most of the royals and the bureaucrats fear what life would be like under Horemheb, so the queen has come up with a most daring plan to circumvent the designs of Horemheb.
Egypt had been engaged in a long and seemingly unsuccessful war with the Hittite Empire to the North. Ankhesenamun decides to send a letter to the Hittite King asking for him to send one of his sons to Egypt to become the new King of Egypt. In one stroke, the war would end and both Empires would gain by such an alliance. However, this mission cannot be conducted openly, so Nakht, the Hittite ambassador, Simut, the leader of the Palace Guards, and Rahotep will make a secret journey to the Hittites to bring the offer of marriage to them. The queen personally asks Rahotep to go on this mission and he feels that he must accept such a request, if you can call it that. To sweeten the offer, the Queen has authorized for Rahotep to succeed Nebamun as the Chief of the Thebes Medjay. Furthermore, Nakht offers to allow Rahotep's family to live in his mansion during the duration of this trip. If Nakht does not return, Rahotep and his family will inherit Nakht's house and his wealth. Sounds like a great offer, but Rahotep, after his last adventure with Tutankhamun had promised his wife Tanefert that he would never leave his family again. Now he must confront her with news that he is breaking his promise and under strict orders from the Queen, he cannot reveal what he is doing or where he is going.
As he did with his previous two volumes, Drake does a superb job with the dynamics of married couples. In keeping with the more somber tone of this book, Drake shows how Rahotep's marriage has suffered over the years too. "A little distance had opened between us, almost unnoticed, rarely acknowledged. We made love infrequently. The couch was for sleep at the end of exhausting days. I confided in her less often. Perhaps that is the fate of all marriages."
Rahotep did not mention the offer from the Queen, but goes into work the next day. Here he discovers that his friend and former assistant Khety has been brutally murdered in the same manner as the victims from the crime scene that opened the narrative. Rahotep is full of remorse, anger, and bitterness that Nebamun exacerbates when he arrives on the scene. He tells Rahotep that someone else will investigate this crime, but Rahotep demands to be given this case. The argument ends with Rahotep punching Nebamun and losing his job because of it.
This gives Rahotep little choice but to go on this mission, though it causes a rift between him and his wife. Rahotep learns that the leader of this new opium gang is called "Obsidian" and the opium source is high in the Bekaa Valley of what is present day Afghanistan. Once Nakht learns of Khety's death, he forcefully tells Rahotep that he cannot do anything that would jeopardize their mission to the Hittites. However, as they are traveling north towards the opium and going through many trading posts, Rahotep does try to do some investigating. After almost getting killed in an opium house, Rahotep has the following vivid dream: "Later that night, when I had finally drifted off to sleep, I dreamt a thin cord, clotted with blood, had been stitched into my mouth and tongue, and then down my throat, into my heart, where a thick black knot held it tight. And the knot was feeding on my heart's black blood, and growing bigger. And no matter how hard I pulled, no matter how much agony I tolerated as I pulled, I could not loosen that knot." This is but one instance of some of the phenomenal writing that Drake has in this gripping novel.
The group goes on and eventually confronts the enigmatic Army of Chaos that controls the opium growing region. On their return journey from the Hittite Empire with one of the Hittite princes, Rahotep finds himself in a situation where he must betray his marital vows to save his life and potentially the life of Nakht and Simut. In the course of this betrayal, he becomes an opium addict. He is rescued from the Army of Chaos by the Egyptian Army and finds himself face to face with Horemheb. Simut is imprisoned and Nakht is seemingly lost in the battle with the Egyptians. Rahotep bargains with Horemheb in a plea to investigate the corruption within the Egyptian Army, who Rahotep has discovered is part of this new opium cartel.
Rahotep returns to Thebes in the course of his investigation, but is surprised by the reception he gets from the Queen and others. They and even Rahotep's family had been told he had died in the battle. The novel concludes with a masterful unveiling of the identity of Obsidian. Nick Drake does justice to the world and characters he has created in this tremendous trilogy. I don't know if there is much more he can do with Rahotep after the conclusion of this trilogy, but I would gladly accept more stories of his continuing adventures. I would highly recommend this book to those of you who like historical fiction, detective fiction, and good old fashioned mysteries.
October 22, 2024
I will also do a video review here at my channel: http://www.youtube.com/magicofbooks
"Egypt" is book 3 in the "Rai Rahotep" series by Nick Drake. Desperately needing a new husband, Queen Ankhesenamun once again hires the help of Rai Rahotep. Egypt and the Hittites are enemies, but the Queen is willing to forge a new alliance by marrying the son of the king. Rahotep and a group of advisors head into enemy territory to collect the prince, but along the way discover the criminal world of the opium trade that poses a serious threat to the future success of Egypt.
This was a pretty satisfying conclusion to this trilogy. I still think book two is my personal favorite, followed by the first book, and then probably this last book. I think what this book was lacking for me was the murder/mystery element. Yes, Rahotep is dealing with some murders at the start of this book, and then has to deal with an even more personal murder, but at the core of this book, it's much more focused on the criminal underworld of the opium trade. Both aspects, the murder and the opium conspiracy, do bind together quite nicely by the end, and there is a hugely shocking reveal that I did not see coming until literally maybe a few pages before it happened. More than anything, I think this final book did a great job of characterizing Rahotep. The first two books you got a fairly good idea of who Rahotep was and what made him tick, but this novel definitely explored him in further detail that I was impressed with. The book ends in a rather bittersweet, melancholic manner, and you're left unsure of the future, but it's done deliberately by Nick Drake. Rahotep goes through a lot (and I do mean a lot) in this novel that really pushes everything he thought he knew and what he was capable of. Things get dark and dramatic, and as the reader, you are in shock by some of the things Rahotep does and witnesses.
Again, I really enjoy the extended cast of characters. Love and adore characters like Khety and Nakht. There's a lot more of Horemheb in this novel, which was great. Simut has become a personal fave. I do wish there could have been more done with Ankhesenamun since she featured so prominently in the second book. The few chapters she did have in this book though, I loved.
As I said in my previous reviews, I am no expert on ancient Egypt, but I still continued to appreciate Nick Drake's research and his own spin on how historic events could have played out, considering that this time in Egyptian history is very vague and records lost over time. So Nick Drake can only guess and assume how things might have played out, and I found all of it believable. The trilogy is not perfect and it may not be everyone's cup of tea, depending on what you are looking for, but I was pretty satisfied with this trilogy, had fun, enjoyed the characters, and am a bit sad that it's over. If Nick Drake wrote some more books, I certainly would not complain.
"Egypt" is book 3 in the "Rai Rahotep" series by Nick Drake. Desperately needing a new husband, Queen Ankhesenamun once again hires the help of Rai Rahotep. Egypt and the Hittites are enemies, but the Queen is willing to forge a new alliance by marrying the son of the king. Rahotep and a group of advisors head into enemy territory to collect the prince, but along the way discover the criminal world of the opium trade that poses a serious threat to the future success of Egypt.
This was a pretty satisfying conclusion to this trilogy. I still think book two is my personal favorite, followed by the first book, and then probably this last book. I think what this book was lacking for me was the murder/mystery element. Yes, Rahotep is dealing with some murders at the start of this book, and then has to deal with an even more personal murder, but at the core of this book, it's much more focused on the criminal underworld of the opium trade. Both aspects, the murder and the opium conspiracy, do bind together quite nicely by the end, and there is a hugely shocking reveal that I did not see coming until literally maybe a few pages before it happened. More than anything, I think this final book did a great job of characterizing Rahotep. The first two books you got a fairly good idea of who Rahotep was and what made him tick, but this novel definitely explored him in further detail that I was impressed with. The book ends in a rather bittersweet, melancholic manner, and you're left unsure of the future, but it's done deliberately by Nick Drake. Rahotep goes through a lot (and I do mean a lot) in this novel that really pushes everything he thought he knew and what he was capable of. Things get dark and dramatic, and as the reader, you are in shock by some of the things Rahotep does and witnesses.
Again, I really enjoy the extended cast of characters. Love and adore characters like Khety and Nakht. There's a lot more of Horemheb in this novel, which was great. Simut has become a personal fave. I do wish there could have been more done with Ankhesenamun since she featured so prominently in the second book. The few chapters she did have in this book though, I loved.
As I said in my previous reviews, I am no expert on ancient Egypt, but I still continued to appreciate Nick Drake's research and his own spin on how historic events could have played out, considering that this time in Egyptian history is very vague and records lost over time. So Nick Drake can only guess and assume how things might have played out, and I found all of it believable. The trilogy is not perfect and it may not be everyone's cup of tea, depending on what you are looking for, but I was pretty satisfied with this trilogy, had fun, enjoyed the characters, and am a bit sad that it's over. If Nick Drake wrote some more books, I certainly would not complain.
March 12, 2021
This is the third in a series of books featuring Rahotep, but I don't think you need to have read the others to enjoy this one. I had only read the first one and didn't have any trouble understanding this third one.
The setting of ancient Egypt is interesting by itself and the author notes that some of the plot is based around historically documented events - Queen Ankhesenamun really did send a letter to the Hittite King asking if she could marry one of his sons to try and help secure her throne, which was under threat. Historians are not sure what happened after that, other than knowing that Horemheb did eventually come to power. This uncertainty allows the author to create his own version of what might have happened - and weave it in with a murder mystery.
The drug gang aspect gives the novel a very modern feel - after all, such issues are still with us thousands of years later - but we know that people have been using such substances since our prehistoric ancestors first started collecting plants and exploring what they could do with them.
There are several different plot threads, but they never get confusing or hard to follow. And you do feel emotionally connected to Rahotep, trying to do his job in uncertain times when everything seems like it could come crashing down at any moment. The author does a good job portraying the attitudes and beliefs of the characters - you really feel like you get to understand them and the way they saw their world.
You don't seem to see much historical fiction set in ancient Egypt, but I'd happily read more.
The setting of ancient Egypt is interesting by itself and the author notes that some of the plot is based around historically documented events - Queen Ankhesenamun really did send a letter to the Hittite King asking if she could marry one of his sons to try and help secure her throne, which was under threat. Historians are not sure what happened after that, other than knowing that Horemheb did eventually come to power. This uncertainty allows the author to create his own version of what might have happened - and weave it in with a murder mystery.
The drug gang aspect gives the novel a very modern feel - after all, such issues are still with us thousands of years later - but we know that people have been using such substances since our prehistoric ancestors first started collecting plants and exploring what they could do with them.
There are several different plot threads, but they never get confusing or hard to follow. And you do feel emotionally connected to Rahotep, trying to do his job in uncertain times when everything seems like it could come crashing down at any moment. The author does a good job portraying the attitudes and beliefs of the characters - you really feel like you get to understand them and the way they saw their world.
You don't seem to see much historical fiction set in ancient Egypt, but I'd happily read more.
May 4, 2021
I didn’t finish this. I had enjoyed the first two books, though I read them a good few years back so actually hard to remember them, but if I read two they must have been good.
I thought the violence was horribly graphic in places, that put me off and the minute one bloke (Spoiler here) said he and his wife were expecting, well you just knew.
I also thought Nakht’s plan to go and talk with the Egyptian’s sworn enemies about a marriage of convenience with the Egyptian Queen needed a bit more thought. Sounded a bit flaky to me.
And, finally, Rahotep was a bit too miserable about everything, so I packed it in.
I thought the violence was horribly graphic in places, that put me off and the minute one bloke (Spoiler here) said he and his wife were expecting, well you just knew.
I also thought Nakht’s plan to go and talk with the Egyptian’s sworn enemies about a marriage of convenience with the Egyptian Queen needed a bit more thought. Sounded a bit flaky to me.
And, finally, Rahotep was a bit too miserable about everything, so I packed it in.
December 10, 2018
Totally Believable
What happened to the young Hittite prince sent to marry a widowed Egyptian queen? He died en route, almost certainly murdered. What happened to the queen, generally believed to have been Ankhesenamun? She drops from the record as completely as if she had never lived.
Drake provides an unlikely, but believable in the context of this novel.
Drake does his homework. His story spreads brilliantly across the ancient world and shows the reader what was and what might have been.
Recommended for all readers.
What happened to the young Hittite prince sent to marry a widowed Egyptian queen? He died en route, almost certainly murdered. What happened to the queen, generally believed to have been Ankhesenamun? She drops from the record as completely as if she had never lived.
Drake provides an unlikely, but believable in the context of this novel.
Drake does his homework. His story spreads brilliantly across the ancient world and shows the reader what was and what might have been.
Recommended for all readers.
October 27, 2019
Each book gets better in this series
I really enjoyed this book. Rahotep is a lovable hero. He’s brave, honest, and above all else loyal. I was very impressed with how the author showed the similarities between ancient Egypt and present day, both at the international level down to criminal activity and drug addiction. I loved the series, especially the second and third book which I couldn’t put down. I hope the author continues the series l, or at least keeps writing about ancient Egypt!
I really enjoyed this book. Rahotep is a lovable hero. He’s brave, honest, and above all else loyal. I was very impressed with how the author showed the similarities between ancient Egypt and present day, both at the international level down to criminal activity and drug addiction. I loved the series, especially the second and third book which I couldn’t put down. I hope the author continues the series l, or at least keeps writing about ancient Egypt!
August 4, 2018
Not quite as good as books 1 and 2 but ok
It was a turbulent and brutal time Egypt's history. Drake takes what little we know of that history, adds some twists and turns to make a plausible story. Rahotep, the seeker of mysteries, has a final mystery to solve and it could cost him more than his life.
It was a turbulent and brutal time Egypt's history. Drake takes what little we know of that history, adds some twists and turns to make a plausible story. Rahotep, the seeker of mysteries, has a final mystery to solve and it could cost him more than his life.
May 9, 2021
Corruption and diplomacy.
The best book of the Rahotep trilogy. Rahotep is tasked with accompanying a delegation to the Hittite empire to obtain a husband for the queen and a truce between the empires. His best friend is murdered investigating opium trading. Rahotep faces a complex mystery and his most deadly mission for the queen. Surprise twist in the plot earns five stars.
The best book of the Rahotep trilogy. Rahotep is tasked with accompanying a delegation to the Hittite empire to obtain a husband for the queen and a truce between the empires. His best friend is murdered investigating opium trading. Rahotep faces a complex mystery and his most deadly mission for the queen. Surprise twist in the plot earns five stars.
December 26, 2021
Bloody, gory, I would not have bothered to finish, except it was the last of the trilogy. The whole premise was unbelievable, and even Rahotep's thirst for vengeance was uncharacteristic. Normally, I would have kept this trilogy to re-read at a later date, but this third book has just spoiled the whole series for me.
January 1, 2018
Interesting time period to read about. This last? Rahotep mystery was probably the quickest to read, quite violent and he kind of stumbles and loses his way. I would love to read more and see him prosper at the end. The mystery was solved but Rahotep needs a better ending.
December 9, 2020
Gripping storyline but a very slow start
As with the other novels in this series, it’s a really slow start. However bearing with the start there is a gripping storyline full of twists & turns
As with the other novels in this series, it’s a really slow start. However bearing with the start there is a gripping storyline full of twists & turns
February 23, 2021
Really enjoyed this - an interesting and imaginative approach to the detective story based on historical facts. Added interest for me was that I studied Mesopotamian history/archaeology about 50 years ago so recall the names of Hurrians, Hittites, Sumerians, Assyrians etc. - adds life to it.
January 19, 2022
Intriguing story.
Good use of real characters with their fictional counterparts. Not sure if the ending of the queen is a bit too Cleopatra and Horemheb in the end found a new dynasty. Looking forward to another from this author.
Good use of real characters with their fictional counterparts. Not sure if the ending of the queen is a bit too Cleopatra and Horemheb in the end found a new dynasty. Looking forward to another from this author.
June 27, 2017
Bit of a slow burner, although the big reveal was well hidden. It's part of a series, but works well enough as a stand alone tale as well, and the afterword was pretty educational, to me at least.
August 31, 2018
Awesome
Excellent use of history to tell a story, I usually only read sci fi, but I gave this a try, and found it so interesting. If you love ancient Egypt this book is great.
Excellent use of history to tell a story, I usually only read sci fi, but I gave this a try, and found it so interesting. If you love ancient Egypt this book is great.
November 13, 2020
Excellent read
Great read from start to finish. It’s been a while since I read a book that I didn’t want to put down.
Great read from start to finish. It’s been a while since I read a book that I didn’t want to put down.
January 8, 2022
Didn’t hate it, but I enjoyed the other 2 books in this series more than this one. This one felt stitched together, too wordy, and not enough plot.
July 26, 2022
A powerful conclusion for the Seeker of Mysteries. What a ride!
February 25, 2023
Amazing 👏 Gripping. It seemed more graphic than his other two books in this trilogy but I just jump past the gore and continue reading. I loved all three of his books.
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