Amarna: The Complete Series

Amarna #1-3

by Grea Alexander

"An impressively ingenious reframing of the chaotic domino effect caused by King Tut's death & the tantalizing possibility of his line's survival."

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This compilation edition includes all three books in the Amarna Series: Ida, Hawara & Raia.

AMARNA I: Book of Ida

The last living male descendant of the Amarna line, Pharaoh Tutankhamun, has died suddenly under mysterious circumstances. His wife, Queen Ankhesenamen, is left without a male heir. The ambitious vipers Ay and Horemheb are nipping at her heels in their bid to seize power. Queen Ankhe has but one hope to maintain her hold on the throne - an alliance with the Hittites.

AMARNA II: Book of Hawara

King Mursili II’s only hope to restore his own Hittite Kingdom to greatness is to restore the Amarna line to power in Egypt, to atone for the sins of his father. Yet, with those closest to him being sacrificed in the process and the tide continuing to rise against them, how far is King Mursili prepared to go to see the prophecy fulfilled?

AMARNA III: Book of Raia

Hell hath no fury like a spider caught in its own web. It’s all or nothing. Either the prophecy is fulfilled and both Egypt & Hatti find salvation or Mursili and his allies fail - plunging both kingdoms into indescribable darkness. Behold, even in the terrible deafening silence of their abandonment, the gods had never been more clear. The time has come for judgment.

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Amarna is a ridiculously, historically accurate drama set in Ancient Egypt, Hattusa & Syria that is centered around the strange but true events surrounding the battle for the throne of Egypt following Pharaoh Tutankhamun's death and the interconnected events that took place in the Hittite empire.

It includes an end matter feature that details what did and didn't really happen (at least as far as historians believe).

Genres: Historical Fiction

347 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Grea (pronounced Gray) Alexander is a female writer of African American, Native American and Caucasian...American descent who does not write her profiles in the 3rd person.

Born and raised in Houston, TX, I have successfully wormed my way across many a border and have, in effect, managed to infect all that I survey with my particular brand of grea-ness. My books are very character-driven with a focus on flawed, dynamic, culturally-diverse characters and strong, smart female protagonists.

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Also, please note: I do not write children's books. My books are for adults. My books contain adult themes, adult situations, sexual situations, cursing, intoxication and violence. Some books have more than others. Some characters engage more than others. If you find such offensive, you might not want to read my work. Then again, you just might feel naughty and want to read them anyway. (wink)

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Goodreads: 200+ ratings/reviews with an average rating of 4.xx and over 21,000 books shelved: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list...

Bookbub: where they begrudgingly email notifications of my new releases to my followers https://www.bookbub.com/profile/grea-...

LibraryThing: 36 reviews with an overall rating of 4.11: https://www.librarything.com/author/a...

Seamonkey Ink: It's where I live...online. Ok, so it's a seedy, faux physical address store front where I get my mail. www.SeaMonkeyInk.com

Barnes & Noble: It’s where I ride around in heavy armor and charge at windmills with my quill…Don Quixote style. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/”Gre...”

Amazon: It’s where I take steamy, slow-motion river baths with tall, warrior women and sweaty, well-muscled, male sex slaves. www.Amazon.com/grea-alexander/e/B00HV...

SeaMonkey Sores…es: Other retailers that I pick at as much as possible – to hell with the consequences. www.greaalexander.seamonkeyink.com/gr...

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Q: How do you pronounce Grea?

Like the color gray. Or as an admirer once pointed out, like great without the t. (grin)

Q: Why the name SeaMonkey Ink?

Why not? (grin) What's not to love? I mean it's Ink squirting out of a Seamonkey. I mean sure no one has ever witnessed such a phenomenon, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. (laugh)

Seriously, when I was in school (high school and beyond) I used to play pranks under various code names - one of which was Seamonkey. I also have always enjoyed writing and back when I started to do so, I used to write everything by hand (which requires either lead or Ink) even long after I got my first word processor and computer. After I finally started typing directly, it still took ink to print.

Hence SeaMonkey Ink.

Q: Have you ever actually owned Seamonkeys?

Actually, I have and I'm pretty well convinced that there is a wanted poster with my name and likeness up somewhere in the SIA (Seamonkey Intelligence Agency) headquarters for mass genocide. (laugh) I try but I fail.

Q: Are any of your characters based on people you know/knew in real life?

Not really. Most are composites. However, I will say that more than a little of my own personality/thoughts/expressions pop up in my stories and among my characters.

For instance, in Rebellion Book I: Book of Quay, Phong Quay makes a statement that one day he is changing his name and not telling anyone what he changed it to. I've said that to people since I was like 5 - particularly when I get agitated at being disturbed.

So, if any real life person is used as a template for some of my dialogue and character behaviors it would be myself.

Reviews

[Ash P Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review of Amarna: The Complete Series by Grea Alexander

5 out of 5 stars

I initially read these books individually so this review will reflect that.

Amarna Book 1: Book of Ida

I won this eBook from the LibraryThing Members Giveaway. And boy, am I glad that I did. I am hooked! An ancient story that is written in a contemporary style but captivating all the same. Amarna Book 1: Book of Ida, follows the trials of Idaten, a slave girl, a childhood playmate and sweetheart of two well-known characters from ancient Egyptian history. The book's language may be modern but the story is as ancient as time itself, conspiracy, murder, spying and plotting and in all this betrayal, love still manages to survive. So glad I won this book and eagerly awaiting the next in this series.

Amarna Book 2: Book of Hawara

Aaaaaarrrrggggghhhhh! Grea Alexander! you leave me hanging once again! Tragedy just won't let up on Ida, Mursili and Nac, Gosh I want to strangle every one of those gods and especially the villainous, power hungry idiots! But I still loved this installment, it's even better than Book I and now I have to wait for Book III........ looks like some of this tragedy is leaking out into my reading life :-(


Amarna Book 3: Book of Raia

What a tangled web this is. King Mursili's unshakable faith in the prophecy and his single minded focus on the big picture disregarding every loss, Nacamakun, almost mad with the grief of what he has lost in the quest to place the Amarna bloodline back on the Throne, Idamun's maternal instincts screaming at her to keep her son safe from the vengeance of his enemies and of course the various gods executing their own plans. The fate of Egypt and Hatti hang in the balance.

This concluding installment in the Amarna series will take you on a journey of turmoil, betrayal, doubt, and madness. And the end will make you either smile or then as in my case, thirsting for more.

This is a great set for people who like history and contemporary fiction

[Grea Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMARNA I: IDA

In an paradoxical twist, I am a novelist who reads/studies far more nonfiction (particularly history) than fiction. As I learned more and more about "King Tut" and his royal line, I found myself becoming more and more intrigued by the period and its people. You have Tutankhamun's father, Akhenaten, who decides to transform Egypt into a monotheistic state and who is married to Nefertiti (arguably one of the most beautiful women in history) who then produces among his spawn Pharaoh Tutankhamun - hands down probably the most famous pharaoh of all times. Immediately following Akhenaten's death you have this mad clamor for control first of Tut and then of the throne. Following Tutankhamun's death, the throne quickly changes hands - falling into the hands of men of various stations and capabilities. In addition, there is this tremendous effort to try to erase Akhenaten and his descendents from all of history and to revert Egypt back to polytheism.

During the same period, you have the Hittite King Suppiluliuma who commits these great sacrileges against his kingdom's charters and the gods (including murdering his brother for the throne). Among this king's spawn is Mursili II who is deeply religious, claims to be receiving messages from one of their goddesses and who vows to atone for the wrongs of his father no matter the cost.

After Pharaoh Tutankhamun's death, Queen Ankhesenamen really does send for one of King Suppiluliuma's sons to secure power. The Prince he sends, however, is murdered en route and so begins war with Egypt (after some letters back and forth trying to get to the bottom of it). Through a series of unfortunate but favorable events, Mursili II (who no one expects and is still a boy) ends up King. Under Mursili II, not only does the Hittite kingdom recover from a series of epic disasters but peace is finally made with Egypt under both Horemheb and Ramesses the Great.

The Amarna Series explores this period and its figures. The series is in three parts. Casting the Egyptian slave Ida and the Hittite boy Prince Mursili II as the protagonists, the series spans from the period after Akhenaten's death all the way through the reign of Ramesses. It speculates about the how and the why both the fates of the Egyptian kingdom & the Hittite kingdom seem so intimately intertwined during this period.

Book I follows this time period through to the final year of Pharaoh Ay's reign. While the main focus of this book is on Ida and Tutankh's relationship, the fallout from that relationship and the struggle to hide Ida's continued existence from their enemies - particularly Horemheb and Suppilu, we see an emergence of a new relationship - that of Ida and the then Prince Mursili - 6th in line for the throne at the time.

AMARNA II: HAWARA

In book II, we pick up where book Book I left off - at the end of Pharaoh Ay's reign. This book covers the period all the way through Year 11 or so of Mursili's rule in Hatti.

In this book, the fight continues to hide the continued existence of Ida as well as to protect King Tutankhaten's legacy from not only their enemies but from those who would martyr them in order to challenge Horemheb's rule or for their own personal gain.

King Mursili continues to try to help Ida in this regard in addition to trying to deal with the weight of his own destiny. Although once the most unlikely to ascend the throne, Mursili is charged with not only restoring his famine and disease-ridden kingdom to glory but with making amends to the gods for his father's transgressions against them and with fulfilling a prophecy which ties the success of restoring the Amarna line to power with the future of his own kingdom.

AMARNA III: RAIA
The overarching theme of this installment is Hell hath no fury like a spider caught in its own web. And boy there are a lot of webs & quite a few spiders! (wink)

In this, the final explosive installment of the Amarna trilogy, everyone's hand is revealed - the gods', Lord Bietek's, Ida's, Pharaoh Horemheb's, Mursili's, Nacamakun's.

Mal-Nikal makes an even more powerful ally and Mursili a new enemy with the power to destroy him and his from the inside out.

Lies, suspicions, insecurities are exposed. Long seething hatreds resurface.

It’s all or nothing with each side clamoring for ultimate control of the Egyptian throne. Either the prophecy is fulfilled and both Egypt & Hatti are saved or it is not.