The Sleeper in the Sands

by Tom Holland

Egypt, 1922: the Valley of the Kings. After years of fruitless labour, the archaeologist Howard Carter discovers a mysterious tomb, sealed and marked with a terrible curse. But what is the nature of the tomb's deadly secret? And what is the web of strange connections spreading back through millennia, to the very heart of Egypt's fabulous past? In a glorious Arabian Nightmare of lost cities, treacherous priests and daring archaeologists, an ancient civilisation shimmers into life; colourful, magical, and unutterably strange. 'True adventure stories are all too scarce nowadays. And adventure stories that have the capacity to make the reader think and wonder are an even rarer commodity. Tom Holland's latest novel manages both with tremendous verve? a galloping page-turner' DAILY TELEGRAPH

Genres: Horror, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Egypt, Adventure, Mystery

444 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Tom Holland is an English historian and author. He has written many books, both fiction and non-fiction, on many subjects from vampires to history.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Holland was born near Oxford and brought up in the village of Broadchalke near Salisbury, England. He obtained a double first in English and Latin at Queens' College, Cambridge, and afterwards studied shortly for a PhD at Oxford, taking Lord Byron as his subject, before interrupting the post graduate studies and moving to London.

He has adapted Herodotus, Homer, Thucydides and Virgil for BBC Radio 4. His novels, including Attis and Deliver Us From Evil, mostly have a supernatural and horror element as well as being set in the past. He is also the author of three highly praised works of history, Rubicon, Persian Fire and Millennium.

He is on the committee of the Society of Authors and the Classical Association.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of the absolute highlights of the year! The author manages to tell the famous story about Howard Carter discovering Tut-Ankh-Amen's grave in a different, never read before light. The most brilliant part is the inset story about Tut's dynasty. It's so full of mystery, magic, murder, myth and female goddesses (like Nefer-Titit) you don't want it to end. What a firework of imagination and horror! This is the only true successor to the Arabian Nights. You'll find out many details about Egyptian mythology and endless life like you've never found elsewhere. Loved this book and am really sad it has ended. Isis, Osiris, Seth... were they extraterrestrial, jinns, gods, monsters or vampires? What about the females in this tale? Here you get an untold story of the Arabian Nights. Highly recommended and must read for every Egypt fan.

[Kris43 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's start by saying that this is a old-school literary horror. That means there are no cheap thrills here, like a bunch of mummy's jumping out of every corner jelling: "BOOO!!!ARE YOU SCARED YET???" None of that here.

Don't mistake that with this book not being scary, because its scary as hell, but in a subtle way. This is much harder to achieve, and once you build it up, it stays with you. The horror comes out of slow building suspense, when you know what is coming, you see it from 10km away, you see it coming closer with every step and you cant help but feel absolute paralyzing dread as suspense builds up and the moment of closure comes to its peak.
If the idea doesn't appeal to you, skip this one.

But if it does, you're going to have a unforgettable experience here. Author of this book is a historian, and is well versed in facts. I loved how all the little details are historically correct and you can see it in countless little details. This dude knows his stuff:) He does his magic well, and all the facts and history come to life. So that, as the intricate layers of the story unfold, they reveal a sinister message from the ancient past.

Do you believe that a man's own greed, curiosity. yearning for something more , his imagination is the source of the biggest horrors? Here, at the end, nothing is given. It was all said before, in the tales of the past. When those who came before us told their tales. Did we believe them? Did we learn from them? Are we destined to repeat their mistakes???

At the end, the terrible secret is revealed. We are left with even more horrible questions.... What if?

And all the lights is Cairo flicker...in the next moment all is shrouded in darkness. Then you come to your senses and you see something stir in the distance, but when you get to it, there is nothing there....And then you turn around to walk away. Think for a moment, what if it was all true? That would mean that HE is out there, somewhere.

Well, I hope he is, that they all are, out there, somewhere, because there are some thing that should never be revealed:))) Pleasant dreams, to you all. So that you may dream of all the ancient things that we have long forgotten.

Past is a desert filled with infinite buried things.

[Phil Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this in bursts, and maybe my lack of enjoyment was because I got the genre wrong in my head, I'm not sure. Basically, the book starts with an archaeologist finding a tomb he's been seeking all his life. Then he writes a letter to his sponsor explaining the background to this find, which quickly evolves into recounting the details of a manuscript he is given, which is more of a sort of ghoul/mummies/ancient Egyptian myth. I was expecting this to end and then the real story - the discovery of the tomb, to start. In fact, this myth basically is the real story, and the rest just gives a framework to give it in, and is never really resolved. So whether I was disappointed is because I was trying to get through what turned out to be the main story, to get back to what turned out to be purely framing; or whether I was disappointed because I didn't enjoy it, I'm not clear.

[Hella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dit boek - het zoveelste over Toetanchamon en de opgravingen in de Vallei der Koningen - begon zo veelbelovend, maar de historicus Tom Holland is duidelijk geen romanschrijver.

[Hugo's Mom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Indiana Jones meets Arabian Nights, with a few extra Jins.......I felt like the ending was pretty abrupt, and it was a little longwinded in parts, but I did enjoy the story. Holland is a talented writer who clearly knows his history.

[PJ Who Once Was Peejay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not find The Sleeper in the Sands as compelling as Holland's earlier novels, Lord of the Dead and Slave of My Thirst, but it was still a fairly engrossing adventure story with something of interest for admirers of his previous works (some character origins, for one).

Holland paints on a very broad canvas: this story is partly a sweeping Arabian Nights fable, partly an imaginative depiction of Howard Carter's search for the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen and his parallel attempt to unravel the mysteries of the heretic Pharaoh, Akh-en-Aten. Still, the novel managed to evoke the human dimension of these larger-than-life characters, making me care about them and the outcome of their stories.

My one complaint is that the technique of switching between several narrators which Holland used successfully in Slave of My Thirst is a bit off-putting in the first part of this book. At first, the revolving storytellers made it hard to hold onto the characters and relate to them. The novel picks up speed and personality as it goes on, however, and winds up being Holland's usual blend of intelligence and entertainment—and a very satisfying read overall.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was looking forward to this after reading and thoroughly enjoying 'the Vampyre' and two non-fiction books, 'Persian Fire' and 'Rubicon'. The narrative was interesting in layering a story within a story within a story, but it caused me to lose touch with characters from the first two layers of story, and ultimately not care about what happened to them. While the story was clever, it never really had a definitive twist as the unholy secret of the Ancient Egyptians had been slowly chiseled away at rather than definitively unveiled. Consequently, the final few pages were enormously anti-climatic.

[Tony Kane · Rating 3 out of 5]

It evokes the Conan Doyle style (Lost World rather than Holmes) for the century ago parts, and Arabian Nights for sections of medieval tale telling about ancient events. However, the latter became tedious with too much repetition. A clever story, but a bit too much hard work reading it.

[John Gossman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A fun historical-fantastic romp -- not to be dismissed just because the author crossed genres
I love Tom Holland's histories, Rubicon and Persian Fire are particular favorites, but all of them are excellent.

Sleeper in the Sands starts with Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen and then descends into a spiral of supernatural myth, largely (unsurprisingly) revolving around mummies, but pulling in vampires and tales from the Arabian Nights and Joseph from the Old Testament, hinting that Aheknaten really was descended from aliens, and explaining other ancient mysteries. It gets pretty outrageous at times, but like all good historical fiction, all of these threads can be traced back to things that really happened, or at least things were really said about things that might have happened. We are good at remembering stories, and the narrative in this book is not just fun, it cemented a lot of historical facts in my memory.
That said, the Matryoshka doll nesting of stories, though fun, and I wouldn't want to change it, becomes hard to follow after a while. I lost my place and couldn't remember who the narrator was anymore. And sadly, the story kind of crunches to a halt at the conclusion...once Holland has returned to the "present" (1922 and Howard Carter) it doesn't resolve itself: Carter just dismisses everything he's heard and the book ends. The supernatural aspects are dismissed in favor of the historical, which makes sense, but is anti-climactic.

So why did I put off reading Tom Holland's fiction for so long? Kurt Vonnegut and others have pointed out that there is a sort of literary snobbishness against science fiction and fantastical writing. Somehow it feels like a historian should not stoop to writing fiction, especially not a story about the undead. Mahfouz won a Nobel Prize and wrote stories about the Egyptian Gods, Marquez and Rushdie wrote what can only be called fantasy...are those books "lesser" somehow than if they had written non-fiction? And who better than a historian to write stories set in the past? If you like what you see on the back cover of "Sleeper", you won't be disappointed with the book.

[TheVampireBookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was younger, I was obsessed with ancient Egypt - I knew all (well, a lot of) the Gods, remembered the pharaohs and what they did or didn't do. Then I moved on to other mythologies and only revisited my once-favourite world with this book.
The story is simple - Howard Carter discovers King Tut's tomb. I've read many stories and fact books on this so I was expecting to be bored but I wasn't. Because, as there are many mysteries connected to the tombs of the old kings, Holland chose to elaborate on the "we are descendants of Gods" aspect. The story follows Tutankhamun's predecessors and family in search of their origin and in search of eternal future or just a future without tainted bloodline. This is where the story takes up supernatural elements (almost vampirish I must add) and it makes it so much more interesting!
The structure of the story is cool as well - the main plot line gets interrupted by letters and stories in tales but not confusingly so. Everything is clear and makes the reader turn the pages fast.

[The Idle Woman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Tom Holland is nowadays best known as a historian and translator of Herodotus, but he started his career, back in the 1990s, as a novelist, favouring eerie, rather supernatural historical themes. The Sleeper in the Sands ticks all those boxes with aplomb, as it tells the story of the ambitious archaeologist Howard Carter, who is on the brink of making the most fabulous discovery of his career. As he waits for the arrival of his patron Lord Carnarvon, Carter finds himself brooding on what he can expect to find behind the sealed doorway of this unprecedentedly undisturbed tomb. Great treasures, certainly, but also dark whispers of something else. For strange papers have come into Carter’s possession, warning him of a terrible curse and recording a story that has been lost to the sands for millennia: the tale of the heretic Pharaoh Akh-en-Aten…

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2018/10/14/t...

[tuuguide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okuması keyifli bir romandı. Tarih romanı okumayı sevdiğimi yeniden ve yeniden hatırlattı bana. Ama gerçekliklerle kurguların süper iç içe girmesi hali 'Kurgu-dışı' ve 'Araştırma' kitapları okumaya alışmış bünyeme biraz fazla kafa karıştırıcı geldi. Sanırım gelecek zamanlarda kurgu ve gerçeklikler ile ilişkilenmemi etkiyecek bir durum yaşattı bana kitap. Tasvirleri keyifliydi ve aslında romanın büyük bir bölümü Binbir Gece Masallarını andıran buluntu yazıyla geçiyor. Cervantes'in Don Kişot'u gibi anlatılar içerisinde anlatılar okumaktan keyif alanlar için eğlenceli bir yolculuk olduğunu düşünüyorum. Yazarın, çoğunlukla karanlıkta kalmış firavun, mısır tanrısı ve tarihsel olarak yeterince bilinmeyen kadın figürleri ile ve mitolojik anlatılarını çok sağlam birbirine bağladığını ve adeta kendi içinde nerdeyse tutarlı -kurgusal bile olsa- tarih yazımı yaptığına inanacak kadar kuvvetli bir hayal gücü olduğunu düşünüyorum.

[Bryan Wigmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Howard Carter discovers what he thinks must be Tutankhamen's tomb, he is reminded of a tenth-century manuscript handed to him (with dire warnings) in a deserted mosque by a mysterious guardian years before, and which concerns the bloodline of Akhenaten. The lion's share of the novel is taken up with a transcription of this manuscript, which itself contains several nested stories, and is a cracking tale. If you're interested in the apocryphal figure of Lilith, or Akhenaten, or want to learn the "truth" about the Egyptian gods, this is definitely worth a read. The only downside is that the Howard Carter sections felt at times little more than a framing device, but that might just be a reflection of my expectations that the book would be mostly concerned with Egyptology in the 1920s. Reads like a less literary Tim Powers. Recommended.

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

After watching the recent BBC show about Howard Carter with Max Irons, I was looking for a nice, creepily atmospheric tale of mummies and gods. This was not it. It starts out well, focusing on Carter and the finding of the tomb of Tutankhamen, but about 150 pages in, it all goes south as the narrative switches to a story, or series of stories, told almost Arabian Nights fashion, set in the distant past. I read about 100 more pages and literally was falling asleep. I skimmed for a while then jumped to the last 50 pages (our of 428). The past tale has a nice ending, but the Carter story ends anti-climatically. Very disappointing indeed. I can recommend the show, called simply Tutankhamen, though despite its marketing, it sticks (mostly) to the facts and not to any supernatural element.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked learning more about ancient Egypt, especially about Akh-en-Aten, but I felt as though the author didn't do him justice. Little mention was made of his monotheism, his art reform, or how he affected history. Also, the author was very critical of Queen Tyi, who is very intriguing to me. I really like what I know of her (admittedly not much) and the author made her out to be a seductive and power hungry person rather than a beloved wife. This book was a great disappointment as historical fiction, but is certainly a good horror slash thriller. What I also didn't like about it was the insertion of the perversions of the people whom the main character researches.
I didn't exactly hate it, but I don't think I will read it again.

[Anita Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

My new favourite book: it isn't what you expect, it leads you down a rabbit hole similar to that of 'Arabian Nights'.

I loved the mixture of fact with fiction. The sentence/ paragraph construction was done in a way that made the story easy to follow, while the word selection elicited an enormous imaginary response - it was easy to become lost in the world of the ancients, hear what they heard, see what they saw, etc.

This would make a great tv series, easily in the league of 'Game of Thrones'.

I am utterly blown away by my adventure of reading this story - having never heard of Tom Holland before, I now look forward to devouring all his other literature.

[ozgurluk kurdu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arkeolog Howard Carter uzun uğraşlar sonucu Firavun'un mezarına ulaşır. Ama o da ne! Kapıda "Kim Firavun'un mezarına dokunursa, ölüm hızlı kanatlarıyla ona gelecektir" yazılıdır.

Mısır'da Büyük Gize Piramidi'nden sonra en çok tartışılan mezar olma özelliğine sahip bu mezar kimilerine göre Kraliçe Tyi, Kiya ve Akhenaton'a ait; fakat yazara göre durum bambaşka.

Ölümsüzlüğün sırrını keşfetme yolunda iç içe geçen hikayeler ve masalsı anlatılar ile çok katmanlı bir roman.

Sahaflarda bulursanız mutlaka edinmenizi öneririm. Özelikle de eski Mısır'a dair okumalar yapmayı seviyorsanız.

Keyifli okumalar!

Kitaplarla kalın!

[Ne Na · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this. The author builds the story in several layers and the reader is like an archeologist revealing the layers, from the most recent one in Carter's 20th century, then the time of the 10th century Caliphate, the ancient Egypt times of the 18th dynasty (Tutankamen and his predecessors in 14th century BC), and finally time before time aka the myths of Isis & Osiris filled with magic, horror and mystery. Fluid twists and turns, powerful and interesting women, and the story gets more and more interesting the further you go.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an unusual book. Like a tale from “1001 Nights” (Arabian Nights) meets Hammer House of Horrors, bracketed by Howard Carter and the road to discovering Tutankhamen’s tomb! Fact and fiction interwoven throughout. It was easy to get into (the book, not the tomb!), but i found the “tales” part not so easy.

However, once I got into the swing of that, it drew me in and it raced by. Although I confess I would have liked a little more Carter, I enjoyed this book & almost subliminally have a better understanding of the
King Tut’s dynasty (albeit with a gothic horror vibe!)

[Nadia Gamarra C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

El libro inicia con mucha potencia, contando la historia de Howard Carter, de como nace su interés por Egipto y sus primeros años allá, aprendiendo sobre arqueología. Hasta ahí es una historia interesante, contanda de manera entretenida... luego, no sé porqué el autor le quiere impregnar un toque místico y termina siendo un sinfin de historias, historias dentro de historias, que hace todo muy confuso. Una fascinante historia se convierte en las mil y una noches.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

"'It will teach you,' he heard her whisper, "'how in love there must be hatred, and how in life there must be death. It will teach you, in short, what it means to be alone – not just now, not for a while, but for the eternity of time.' She paused; and he felt himself melting all the more into her kiss. 'Such would be the sacrifice. Such would be your fate.'"

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one had me captivated from start to finish. Set in Ancient Egypt, Holland's rich historical detail and atmospheric writing bring the era to life, while the supernatural elements add an intriguing layer of suspense. The seamless integration of historical accuracy with chilling horror makes this a standout novel. A must-read for fans of historical fiction and horror alike!

[Andrakuf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Legenda w opowiadaniu a całość w historii i do tego w książce tak można opisać głębię fabuły tej powieści. Warstwy fabuły niczym warstwy ziemi skrawające tajemnice faraonów. Pomimo tego, iż jest to powieść raczej z gatunku Króla Skorpiona i Mumii to czyta się naprawdę całkiem dobrze.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale within a tale within a tale. Very well-written just the right amount of unease.

[Silvia Moosh Ast · Rating 2 out of 5]

En castellano se llama "El sueño de Tutankamon", y al pobrecito lo nombran durante 5 líneas al final... No me ha convencido.

[Dipanshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
Very engrossing.

[Wendy Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just didn't get this book. was really looking forward to reading about Egyptian mythology but this seem to be more about

[Hilmar Rojas Erazo]

Comencé muy entusiasmada por el tema. Lo abandoné, no me atrapó y le di la oportunidad hasta el 18% de lectura digital.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love the music of this book

[EmBe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Der Roman beginnt in der gesicherten Welt der Fakten, Howard Carter steht kurz bevor der Ausgrabung des Grabes von Tutenchamun, ein Ereignis, das in die Geschichte einging. Durch Zufall war er darauf gestoßen, obgleich er danach suchte und wusste, dass dieses Grab womöglich einem anderen Pharao gehörte. Er macht jedoch beunruhigende Entdeckungen, er findet ganz in der Nähe die Mumie eines deformierten Menschen, riesiger Kopf, schmales Gesicht, offensichtlich eines gewaltsamen Todes gestorben, und eine , und eine kleine Statue, die die einheimischen Grabungsarbeiter in Furcht und Schrecken versetzt, denn sie zeigt eine Sphinx mit einem Kopf, der der Königin Teje sehr ähnlich sieht. In einem Brief erzählt Carter seinem Gönner Lord Carnarvon von der Vorgeschichte. Das Interesse an der ägyptischen Kunst führte ihn nach Ägypten als Zeichner bei Ausgrabungen, bis er bei einem bekannten Archäologen in die Schule ging und ein echter Ausgräber mit wissenschaftlicher Ausrichtung wurde. Als er mit anderen die Ausgrabungsstätte Tell el Armarna in Mittelägypten besucht, kommt er einem Geheimnis auf die Spur. Tell El Armana war die Residenz von Echnaton, der eine monotheistische Religion einführte, sie aber letztendlich nicht etablieren konnte, Er verehrte die Sonne Aton allein, Auch die Menschendarstellung wichen ab. Echnaton und seine Familie wurden mit ausladendem Hinterkopf wulstigen Lippen und ausgeprägtem Kinn. Die Glieder schmal. Das alles reizte den jungen Carter, er wollte die Wahrheit dahinter kommen, auch weil er die Sonnedarstellung mit in segnenden Händen auslaufenden Strahlen anders deutet.
Dicht webt Holland das Netz der Hinweise und steigert die Bedrohlichkeit, denn das Böse ist immer noch präsent. Man macht ihm deutlich dass er an dunklen Geheimnissen rührt. Doch er bleibt hartnäckig und endlich gewährt man ihm Einblick in schriftliche Dokumente, die Licht in diese geheimnisvoll, bedrohlichen Zusammenhänge bringen sollen. Es ist die Erzählung von einem Diener des wahnsinnigen Kalifen Al-Hakim. Für ihn soll er in der sudanesischen Wüste eine Stadt erobern, die ein schreckliches Geheimnis birgt, es ist auch eine Stadt von großem Reichtum und verrucht, dort lebt man ewig, Es gelingt ihm mit Mühen, er kann den Götzendienst zerstören. Dieser Kult stammt aus dem alten Ägypten, erfährt er. Danach schwört er dem Schwert ab und wird Arzt und Weiser. Dieser Passagen sind ganz anderem Stil erzählt, es ist ein Erzählton alter Chroniken, ohne die atmosphärischen Raffinessen, gerade heraus. Durch seinen und den Traum eines Juden und Christen findet er eine Frau, die er aus Liebe heiratet, doch damit beginnt sein Unheil, denn seine Frau ist kein menschliches Wesen, denn sie ernährt sich von Blut und übt einen mächtigen Zauber aus. Das bringt ihn in Konflikt mit seiner Lebenswelt.
Der Roman hat mir sehr gefallen, ein schönes Spiel mit Fakten, spannend und sehr unheimlich.