The Flaming Sword

La Reine Liberté #3

by Christian Jacq

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 has been killed in combat and her elder son, Kames, was mysteriously poisoned. Ahhotep refuses to be crowned pharaoh and prepares her second son, young Amose, to take power instead. Thanks to her, the Egyptians are now ready for the final battle. They lay siege to Avaris, the Hyksos capital -- and once the city is taken, nothing can stop them. After 100 years of occupation and thousands of violent deaths, it looks as though the Egyptian empire may at last rise from the ashes.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Egypt, Fiction, Historical, Ancient, Fantasy, Egyptian Literature

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 2002

About the author

Also writes under the names Célestin Valois, J.B. Livingstone, and Christopher Carter.

Christian Jacq is a French author and Egyptologist. He has written several novels about ancient Egypt, notably a five book suite about pharaoh Ramses II, a character whom Jacq admires greatly.

Jacq's interest in Egyptology began when he was thirteen, and read History of Ancient Egyptian Civilization by Jacques Pirenne. This inspired him to write his first novel. He first visited Egypt when he was seventeen, went on to study Egyptology and archaeology at the Sorbonne, and is now one of the world's leading Egyptologists.

By the time he was eighteen, he had written eight books. His first commercially successful book was Champollion the Egyptian, published in 1987. As of 2004 he has written over fifty books, including several non-fiction books on the subject of Egyptology.

He and his wife later founded the Ramses Institute, which is dedicated to creating a photographic description of Egypt for the preservation of endangered archaeological sites.

Between 1995-1997, he published his best selling five book suite Ramsès, which is today published in over twenty-five countries. Each volume encompasses one aspect of Ramesses' known historical life, woven into a fictional tapestry of the ancient world for an epic tale of love, life and deceit.

Jacq's series describes a vision of the life of the pharaoh: he has two vile power-hungry siblings, Shanaar, his decadent older brother, and Dolora, his corrupted older sister who married his teacher. In his marital life, he first has Isetnofret (Iset) as a mistress (second Great Wife), meets his true love Nefertari (first Great Wife) and after their death, gets married to Maetnefrure in his old age. Jacq gives Ramesses only three biological children: Kha'emweset, Meritamen (she being the only child of Nefertari, the two others being from Iset) and Merneptah. The other "children" are only young officials trained for government and who are nicknamed "sons of the pharaoh".

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first book in the trilogy and actually got really into it. The series as a whole has many good points although I would say the second and third books didn't seem to keep me as engaged as the first. I think what put me off was (in the editions I read at least) there were a lot of typographical errors which once I came across spoiled things a little bit as it snaps you out of the narrative.

I also felt that the ending fell short a bit - almost like Jacq realised the climax of his story wasn't as good as he thought half way through and so a lot of it was just filling it out to try and delay the disappointment at the fact there was no major good vs. evil battle at the ending. In fact the evil Emperor of Darkness Ahhotep has been battling against all the way through gets popped off by one of his own men! It felt like there was loads of filler about the siege on the Hyksos bases but all the battles were dealt with all too quickly. I needed more battle scenes!!!

I do think there were some more positive development of the other characters in this novel though. This one wasn't all about Ahhotep. I also liked that there was a lot more focus on the mystical elements of the Egyptian culture and their beliefs in the magical powers of their gods. Obviously it is a fictional account but it still portrayed how important that belief system was to them.

Obviously with it being a fictional text Jacq has taken liberties with what we know about this period of history in order to flesh out his narrative. Having said this he does still clearly know his stuff and some of it does correlate with the archaeological records left behind. I like the fact that Jacq points this out in little side notes to the text as well. One issue I don't think should have been altered was what we know about Ahmose's wife - it was actually an incestuous relationship and she was his sister! However Jacq completely skirts around this issue by suggesting Ahhotep only ever had two children - the two sons she so desperately wanted.

It hasn't put me off reading other books by Christian Jacq as I have the Ramses series on my shelf as we speak but it wasn't as powerful a trilogy as I was expecting.

[Maru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tercera y última entrega de la historia de La Reina Libertad  

Ahotep sigue luchando contra los hicsos y prepara a su hijo menor para que tome el poder, los egipcios están listos para la batalla final. Tras cien años de ocupación y miles de muertos, el imperio renacerá por fin de sus cenizas, gracias al valor y la determinación de una mujer

Final de esta trilogía que a grandes rasgos nos ubica en una época crucial para lo que vino después en el desarrollo de esta civilización que impulsó tanto conocimiento 

Si bien es cierto al principio no me convencía la manera como estaba narrada, poco a poco he ido asimilando el estilo del autor y me ha sorprendido para bien. 

Si la has comenzado no te quedes a medias, vale la pena acabarla y tener la visión global de toda la historia 

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Given 2 stars because I managed to finish it. The subject had real potential which was not realised because of poor writing. I did learn a bit of history, but the magical scenes were not even good fantasy. Even if the Egyptians believed such things were possible, to write them as fact damaged the achievements of the main character.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mantiene el ritmo del primer libro, aunque me decepcionó un poco la muerte de Apofis, me esperaba un enfrentamiento más directo con el faraón. En general diría que los personajes secundarios (igual que en el segundo libro) mueren demasiado deprisa, no te da tiempo a conocerlos. Pero me encanta poder leer aunque sea en novela algo sobre períodos de Egipto que no sean el imperio nuevo.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si avvicina la fine della storia e dell'impero Hyksos… Con finale a sorpresa. Ad essere sincera ci sono rimasta un po' male. Vittoria finale per dare il via al Nuovo Regno, per una saga piuttosto piacevole, con qualche picco di romanticismo e azione senza dubbio da ricordare, ma non raggiunge altri mostri sacri del romanzo storico egizio.

[Mélaine BRDYS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meilleur trilogie de l'auteur même si le tome 1 restera un coup de coeur. Ce dernier opus fini une magistrale épopée sur une reine guerrière inspirante. L'écriture est fluide et mêle à merveille réalité historique et éléments oniriques issus de la mythologie égyptienne. Vive la reine Liberté !

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

End of a fantastic trilogy .great historical fiction about saving Egypt from the Hyskos.

[Jase · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great finale to an outstanding trilogy!

[J. Else · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were satisfying aspects of this book but also extremely disappointing aspects which just barely balanced each other out. The biggest disappointment would be the fact that Ahhotep did NOT have a face off with Apophis. In fact, Apophis kinda died like a chump before the big clash between two leaders/magicians could come to a head. It made me feel as if the buildup in the three books was just filler! The chase for Khamundi also led to nothing. They chased him only to find a corpse at the end of it. It seemed like there was years of conflict, then a quick clean up at the end. Is it that Jacq likes to write about sieges but avoids 1:1 battles?

There was some more emotional pull in the book. While it is still pretty shallow waters, I felt more from Ahhotep. She wasn’t completely focused on the war. Throughout the series, the character I’ve felt the most growth in has been Moustache. He was a very down & out, easily depressed rebel without direction in the first book to a confident, never doubting his cause as well as willing to die for it leader of an army regimen in the last book. I think this character was the most interesting to follow. You saw another side of the rebellion which was more dynamic and emotional than Ahhotep’s view of things.

I also really enjoyed how the realms of magic and reality seemed to blur. Things were very clear cut in the first book, and it was mostly deus ex machina resolving problems. In this book, things could have been seen either way. Was it the god who made the volcano to erupt which lead to their conquering of Avaris or was it just a natural phenomenon? There were hints here and there that an eruption was coming. I think this added a lot of intrigue to the storyline along with mysticism to the ancient world which was so rooted in its religion.

I could not guess “the spy.” Jacq cleverly put in twists here and there that would put different characters under suspicion. I knew I’d be saddened by the discovery too! Unfortunately, the final confrontation of this person needed so much more depth to it than was written. The spy spared a life as he died, but you never really saw the person’s emotion in it. Jacq just kind of mentions, “he could have slit his throat, but didn’t.” I think it was too quick and did the character a disservice.

I found it interesting that while Jacq took liberties with Ahhotep’s life, her son Ahmose’s storyline was mostly on the mark with the historical evidence left to us. His father and brother died at the right age in Ahmose’s life in the book, Ahmose founded the 18th Dynasty, his first son was Amenhotep, he overtook large building projects, etc. Only the origin of his wife was changed from being his sister to a commoner he met randomly. I’m sure Jacq avoided this with both Ahhotep & Ahmose because of the issue of incest, but it was a part of the royal lifestyle back then and is something that can be explained to the reader to ease the thought of it in the plot. There are ways to get around it, but Jacq decided to void the issue altogether which does take you out of the story if you know the history of these actual historical figures. Historical figures should be handled with great care and kept in line with what history tells us about them. I appreciate the personalities he gave them, but the storyline veered a bit off.

Conflict wise, this was the most disappointing of the three books. But the landscape and people gave the reader satisfaction in their growth and beliefs. So while still an enjoyable read, Jacq could have given us at least one head to head with Ahhotep and the emperor of the Hyksos. It seemed like the battles he narrated ended rather easily either by act of god or a give up by a character. I will read more from this author, but I do hope he gives more characterization as well as depth in conflict resolutions.

[Anny The Bookish Va 📚🇮🇹 · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'Egitto è invaso ormai da molti anni da guerriglieri che si fanno chiamare Hyksos comandati dall'imperatore Aphophis, eurasiatico sanguinario che ha ridotto il popolo egiziano in schiavitù. Chiunque si opponga al suo regime del terrore, viene barbaramente torturato e ucciso. Gli egiziani sono rassegnati a questa invasione e non osano ribellarsi, temendo terribili ritorsioni.
Ma la giovane principessa Ahotep brama la libertà dal giogo Hyksos, più di ogni altra cosa. È convinta che l'Egitto un giorno rialzera' la testa e combatterà per riportare il paese al suo antico splendore. Prima fra tutti voterà la sua vita alla liberazione del paese, e in questi tre libri conosceremo la sua storia, i suoi tanti sacrifici e quelli della sua stessa famiglia e degli alleati che la seguiranno nei duri anni di lotta.
Ahotep inizierà la battaglia per la libertà in sordina, assieme alla madre e al marito Sequen, creando appena fuori Tebe, in territorio abbandonato, una base militare segreta dove la resistenza addestrera' pian piano un nuovo esercito.
Aphophis ha dalla sua un esercito numerosissimo e alleati sadici come il suo braccio destro Khamudi e l'ammiraglio dell'esercito Jannas che anche in Anatolia, Siro Palestina e Creta, imporranno la legge Hyksos schiacciando ed epurando chiunque provi a ribellarsi.
Ma Ahotep non demorde, l'esercito di liberazione cresce sempre di più e ottiene le prime vittorie. Chi non si è assoggettato al regime e combatte come può per fomentare la resistenza, ha sentito parlare della Regina Libertà e del suo coraggio, e comincia davvero a credere che l'Egitto un giorno verrà davvero liberato.
Ahotep è forse uno dei personaggi più incisivi che ho incontrato leggendo i tanti libri di Jacq. Una donna forte, coraggiosa e indomita che non si è mai lasciata scoraggiare di fronte alle tante avversità che l'hanno colpita anche personalmente.
A chi vorrà, consiglio vivamente la lettura di questa trilogia, per conoscere questa regina straordinaria che è stata moglie, guerriera, maga e madre di un intero popolo.

[Iset · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely poor writing and complete historical inaccuracy. The characters are all zero-dimensional, which is the number of stars I'd give this book if I could, and utterly unbelievable. The series does not improve in the final book from the first and second instalments, but remains consistently terrible throughout. The writing is wooden and frankly, awful. If you thought the dialogue was repetitive in book one, you're in for a mind-numbing time here as, yes, they're still having the same conversations in this book as they did in the first one! Almost word for word in some cases. The characters consist of annoying Ahhotep and her bland buddies, plus supervillain Apophis and his creeping minions. They had no depth, no pathos, not remotely resembling a complex, living, breathing real person at all. Much of the action is pure fantasy, and badly written fantasy at that. I like to write more in my reviews usually, but there was literally nothing I could find to praise about this book. I would warn people interested in ancient Egypt away from this book.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #3 of the "Queen of Freedom" series. Queen Ahhotep is fighting to free her country (Egypt) from the barbaric Hyksos who have occupied and dominated her land for 100 years. This queen was a warrior, freedom-fighter, wife and mother of two sons. This queen actually lived and was honored and awarded many times over for her courageous acts during the struggle (her tomb has been found along with her mummy, coffin and mementos and awards from her life. She lost her husband and oldest son in the war but lived to see her second son become a mighty Pharaoh and start a proud dynasty that would create the golden age of Egyptian culture. Queen Ahhotep lived to about 90 years of age.

[Ignacio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fin de la serie (y menos mal). Christian Jacq es una referencia indudable para leer sobre el antiguo Egipto y, aunque el tema del libro prometía mucho, la ejecución deja bastante que desear. No me malinterpreten: el libro es ameno y se lee del tirón. El problema es la banalización y el recurso permanente a los 'superpoderes' de la protagonista, su burro o hasta su perro. La historia de Ahotep me parece fascinante, pero el trato que le da Jacq es infantiloide y ayuda poco a darle el respeto que merece.

[Angel Serrano · Rating 4 out of 5]

El último bastión de los Hyksos se ubia en el Delta del Nilo. Solamente copiando y mejorando la técnica de guerra enemiga, los egipcios tendrán oportunidad de ganar. Sin embargo, no sólo los egipcios luchan: el cielo se alía con el ejército de liberación en forma de terremoto.

[Michelle Choi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is quite interesting in this book because some parts are interesting and some parts are boring

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok.

[Ellie Whittaker]

I have read this trilogy before - still a good second read!

[Patri]

Christian Jacq