More Book Recommendations
The Exodus Quest
Will Adams
It's books like this that define what the words 'edge of your seat' really mean. It's like a James Patterson novel paced to the movie Speed with a dash of Indiana Jones and a hint of The Mummy without the magic and the curses. Truly one of the straightest action/adventure stories I've had the pleasure of reading in a long time. Who knew archeology could be such great genre material? Daniel Knox, our hero, is a British archeologist who has stumbled onto something big. Let's just say it involves Akhenaton, Nefertiti, Christ, Moses, the Exodus, Adam and Eve, an interesting theory involving Akhenaton might having been Moses (this theory is explored in full in the Judith Tarr novel Pillar of Fire) and that the Jewish Hebrew religion most likely having roots in the ancient Egyptian religion. Seriously, this has enough interesting scientific and theological theories to make Robert J. Sawyer proud. Anyway, what Knox knows is lethal, and it has a religious nut of a priest hot on his heels, a false accusation of murder on his head, the Egyptian authorities on his ass 24/7, and a woman he is desperate to reach in time to save. The female characters in this novel are very smart and very strong, especially Gaille and Lily, who have the classic bad timing of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every page is action packed and the peril is non-stop. You feel like the good guys are never going to win. I was shaking my head and exclaiming "It's one thing after another!" several times.
Calculating God
Robert J. Sawyer
What would you do if an alien came down to earth and asked to see a paleotologist? Why bring him to one of course! Like many other of Sawyer's science fiction novels, this novel is chock full of scientific blather between characters of the same persuasion, who use more numerical figures to make a point than in a single Obama speech. But I like the bonding between the main character, who is dying of cancer, and the alien Hollus. A very real genuine emotional bond forms between them and it's one of the major high lights of the novel. It's what drew me in and kept my attention throughout the whole thing. I love inter-species alien relations because science fiction literature always does them so damn well! Excellent stuff. I rec this one over Rollback because Rollback, while a wonderful read, didn't hit all of my buttons the way this one did.
The Heretic Queen
Michelle Moran
This is a sort-of sequel to Moran's previous novel, Nefertiti, except it's told from the point of view of that novel's main character's daughter, Nefertari. Historically speaking, Nefertari and Rameses II had a love story for the ages, and it's retold here ficticiously in a way that's made this book an instant favorite of mine. Nefertari suffers because of her dead aunt, Nefertiti, because she had been the wife of Akhenaton, a pharaoh everyone would sooner rather forget than remember. She lives under the black cloud of her family's heretic legacy, scorned by many, loved and admired by few. Well, except a couple of family members who want to help her out and make her Rameses' chief wife! It helps Nefertari is already in love with Rameses and wants to be with him, but she's not so sure as how to win him over... until of course she gets the help she needs. In my opinion, she really didn't need to do much: the novel shows on several occasions the guy has always loved her. One night at a festival he pulls her aside, tells her how he feels, and they wind up sleeping together before they even get married! XD I can't explain why I love this book just that I recommend it to those who like a good love story, court intrigues, and wickedly bitchy women getting one upped in classic fashion!
More to come. My book list is very long and I can't always get every book in a timely manner. XD