I didn't think I will finish this book so quickly. I thought it was one that I would take in stages. It is a heavy subject and the storyline gets a bit complicated but it was very intriguing and I had to finish it fast. This book was a win from the author himself.
We have a young Prince with his older drunkard father and the proverbial wicked step mother and a half brother. She naturally wants the throne for her own son and does her damnedest to put obstacles and problems in our Young Prince's way. Nothing works and he eventually does get to the throne as King Narmer with the love of his life as his Queen. We also have a powerful priest behind him who is father figure, guide, philosopher and teacher rolled into one who looks for Narmer's best interests at whatever cost.
The stories of the Kings (and later the Pharoahs) of Egypt are stories of fantasy and drama. Along with a lot of bloodshed we have triumphs of engineering, architecture, scholarly pursuits, agricultural innovations and some Kings who felt for their people and sought a way of uplifting people especially the poverty stricken ones. We also have Kings who were megalomaniacs who thought they were not quite human, who believed in an afterlife where everything was smooth sailing and beautiful and were so far removed from reality that today we would call them unstable.
King Narmer was everything a king should be. Young enough to be open to change, strong minded but not obstinate, guided by his teacher the story brings this part and era of Egypt alive. You are constantly cheering for King Narmer hoping against hope that he will be victorious in all his endeavours. Such detail in a story can be sometimes boring - it was not so in this one. It brought it all so very much to life.
I hope I can get to the other books in this trilogy.
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