The Empire of Darkness: A Novel of Ancient Egypt

by Christian Jacq

Book Overview

Christian Jacq, author of the international triumphs Ramses and The Stone of Light, brings the people and passions of ancient Egypt to life in an enthralling epic novel in three volumes.
Egypt is a shadow of its former self. An army of barbarians mounted on horse-drawn chariots has swept through the Empire, destroying everything in its path. Known as the Hyksos, these "leaders from foreign lands" have reduced the country of the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743476875
• ISBN13: 9780743476874
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Easy-Going Historical Fiction...

I often find myself mentally escaping to Hatschepsut's Temple and the Valley of the Kings and Queens in reading this book... This is easy-going beach/holiday fiction. His descriptions of how the historical characters looked aren't the quintessence of accuracy, but it is readable nonetheless. If you fancy Egyptology, historical fiction or a just plain easy read, go for this piece. And if you are mystified by this part of the world and trilogies, it makes it even better.

Perhaps Egypt?s Greatest Queen

Before the great Pharaoh Ramses II and the renowned Queen Cleopatra VII, Egypt was liberated by Queen Ahhotep of Thebes. Known as the Egyptian "Joan of Arc", Queen Ahhotep led the resistance that would restore Egypt to its former glory. Mounted with a new weapon of war the horse-drawn chariot the barbarian hoard known as the Hyksos lead by its Emperor Apophis would invade Eygpt and subjected it to a century of despair and slavery. A rich and prosperous country Egypt had known tranquility until the 18th century B.C. when it experienced its first major foreign invasion by a collaboration of peoples known as the Hyksos. The Hyksos were able to overrun Egypt by using an animal unknown to them at the time called a horse. In addition, the Hyksos used wheeled chariots that could carry up to four soldiers during battle and threw bronze-headed spears. Turning the Egyptian populace into slaves, the Hyksos displayed unfathomable ways of torture and cruelty bleeding the land dry of resources and wealth. With its military headquarters established in the Delta city of Avaris only the small island city of Thebes remained free of the ruthless tyrant Apophis's reach. Thebes under the rule of Queen Teti the Small was seen as unchallenging to the occupation. Unable to lead the battle of resistance herself her eighteen year old daughter Princess Ahhotep took up the reigns. Now as Queen Ahhotep established the resistance that would return freedom and reunification to Egypt. By her side in battle was her husband the Pharaoh Seqen-en-Ra whose head was horribly disfigured during an attack in war. Queen Ahhotep preserved the Pharaoh Seqen's memory of bravery by having him mummified without removing traces of his wounds. This is the first volume of the Queen of Freedom trilogy. Queen Ahhotep's sons Prince Kames and Prince Ahmose continue the battle of this true history.

My Other Review

I thought that this story was great. I really enjoyed the way this story was told. Out of all of the main characters, my favorite was Ahhotep. I liked her the most because she showed real power and courage. Eventhough life had put her through many hard things she never gave up. She showed real bravery. I also liked the way the author characterized the enemy. He told how awful they really were. The one thing that I disliked about the book was how detailed the author explained how the enemy tourtured his captives. I thought it was a little too graphic for me. But in an overall veiw i really enjoyed the book because it really showed how these people were smart and could defend themselves mentaly by thinking of strategies. I have this book in paperback...

My Review

I thought that this book was really great. I liked most of the characters except for the Hyksos. I, also thought that this book was thought out really well. The one thing that I didn't like was how Mr. Jacq would describe what the enemy would do to tourture people. I know that it might be true about what they used to do but he didn't need to be that graphic about it. There are not that many parts in the book that tell you about it, but the ones that do shouldn't be so graphic. Otherwise, I liked the courage and kindness of the main characters like Ahhotep and Seqen. I thought that they were very strong and courageous people and I like to read about people like that in my books. I also thought that the main characters were very smart and cunning. I liked the way they deceived the enemy. I read this in paperback and really liked it a lot. If you decide to read it I hope that you enjoy this book.