Golden Horus: A Novel of Ancient Egypt [Paperback]

It's not. It's a tanker. The plot is hideously choppy and written as if catering to a child. The antagonists are only mentioned when it's convenient for the storyline, and only pop up to further the 'story', or what little story there is. The characters are woefully one-dimensional, which is incredibly disappointing. The glimpses you have of them are promising ones, but they're not allowed to develop, because the author rushes completely through the story at a frantic pace, leaving you wondering just exactly how the plot managed to swerve past you so fast.

This book should not really be categorized under Egyptian Fiction, but rather under historical romance. Most of the story patterns around Susan's fling with Tutankhamen, and the rest of the time-travel shebang is just trappings.

I honestly recommend that if you want to read fiction on Ancient Egypt, you check out Pauline Gedge instead. I don't normally write a ton of reviews but this book was so disappointing to me I had to say something.

Shults' Tutankhamun is a very believable, assertive young man who is trying to comprehend his predicament. He is the ruler and living god of a long dead civilization whose remnants are found behind musuem glass. Religious worship, as he knows it, has been considered pagan for centuries. The societal hierarchy with which he has lived his whole life exists no longer - men and women as well as people at different socio-economic levels appear to treat each other with a degree of equality that Tutankhamun has never experienced. How should he both adjust and live in this new world? Tutankhamun turns to the three American friends he has made, Susan, a sucessful romance writer, John, a history professor, and Dr. Zenger, and Egyptologist, to guide him in his new life.

I would suggest this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. While the details are not entirely accurate, the vast majority of Ancient Egyptian history is correct (as best we know it...)Shults' characters are engaging and memorable and I can assure you that life for Susan and John (and the reader too!)becomes interesting when Tutankhamun decides that he must find a way for them to experience the Ancient Egypt in which he grew up.