strange and random happenstance: The Sudan

The Last Camel Died at Noon, Amelia Peabody Book 6 by Elizabeth Peters
Published by: Grand Central
Publication Date: 1991
Format: Paperback, 430 Pages
Challenge: Valley of the Kings, Mystery and Suspense 2011
Rating: ★★
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Amelia and Emerson are all abuzz. Parts of the Sudan are once more under British control. All new archaeological sites are at their fingertips! All Amelia can think about is the pyramids. All those pyramids that have been not been studied due to political conflict and strife. But, never can the Emersons be allowed to just work, oh no. There must always be something more. That something more comes as a plea from a Mr. Forthright, who happens to pass out at Amelia's feet. Luckily Viscount Blacktower soon arrives to explain the situation in full, unconscious grandson and all. Over a decade ago, his eldest son, Willoughby Forth, set out to explore the Sudan with his new bride. They were never to be heard from again, until now. What with the conflict in the region there is a slim chance that a message might have taken this long to reach them. Now that England has reclaimed the land and the mysterious note has arrived scrawled on ancient papyrus, Lord Blacktower hopes that the rumors of the Emersons going to the Sudan are true and that they can help in his cause. Despite having known Willoughby, Emerson does not hold out hope for the Forths. The unique message and map drawn on a page from one of Emerson's own journals, does not raise Emerson to the bait. He is for pyramids and pyramids alone, but if he should hear of something, well then... he'll pass along the information.

Soon the Emersons are ensconced near the British regiment in Napata with a whole plethora of pyramids and Mr. Reggie Forthright. Thinking that perhaps he should be on the scene if news of the Forths reach them he has brought himself all the way to the Sudan. Things start to escalate, as they always do. Ramses is almost kidnapped, Reggie is attacked and then decides to head off into the dessert in search of his uncle, against the better judgement of everyone, where he soon disappears. Whence Reggie went, Emerson and Amelie feel it their duty to go. The mysterious map they follow appears to be eerily correct. Could the Forths still be alive in some secret oasis? As time passes it looks as if they will never know. Not only do their men desert them, but soon the last remaining camel dies. They are miraculously saved and awaken to find themselves in the secret oasis that the Forths discovered years ago. Ancient Egypt is alive and well in the secret land. Time has stood still for thousands of years. It's an archaeologists dream come true. If only they were treated as honored guests and not as well maintained prisoners. Embroiled in the fight for the crown between two brothers, one of which was secretly working at the Emersons' site, they must find out what truly happened to the Forths and then make good their escape. The natives seem a little too keen on keeping them in their hidden valley with their masked maidens waiting on them forever. Biding their time, the mysteries start to unfold, but hopefully, this mystery won't end in death or imprisonment.

Going in an entirely different direction than her previous novels, this is Amelia Peabody does Indiana Jones, or, as the author herself says, H. Rider Haggard. Only, it's more like the crappy forth Indiana Jones movie then the wonders of the earlier films. It's all just too far fetched having them stumble upon this "lost tribe," but thankfully it wasn't aliens. There has always been a grounding in reality with the Amelia Peabody stories. The ghosts aren't ghosts, the mummies don't actually walk amongst us, despite all evidence to the contrary leading up to Amelia's Scooby Doo reveal. But here, here it is like the mummies walking amongst us. It's just silly and stupid all at once. So the Forths found this secret place by accident and then lived out their days there, and now it appears the same thing has happened to the Emersons. So? I really couldn't be bothered to care. They sat around all day in a house with a nice courtyard which occasionally had a cat. The cat was the high point, they mainly sat around. So what if Mrs. Forth is still there? Once they finally get to the good part, it's convoluted and nothing is openly resolved. It's a mess of a novel which I pushed through. I'm just hoping we never end up in this bizarre Never-Neverland of the Peabody cannon again. Please, I want this series back on track, not meandering with dead pachyderms in the desert.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Amelia Peabody, Elizabeth Peters, Emerson, H. Rider Haggard, Indiana Jones, Lord Blacktower, Napata, Pyramids, Ramses, Reggie Forthright, The Last Camel Died at Noon, The Sudan

The Basilisk's Lair: Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist Book 2 by R. L. LaFevers
Published by: Houghton Mifflin
ARC Provided by a Friend
Publication Date: June 7th, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 150 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Preorder

The official patter:
"Nate Fludd, Beastologist, is back in the camel saddle in hot pursuit of a missing, deadly Basilisk—the King of Serpents. As if saving an entire Dhughani village from the Basilisk’s poisonous gaze isn’t difficult enough, Nate and Aunt Phil must begin to piece together the mystery of his parents’ disappearance and protect the lone copy of the Fludd Book of Beasts from a sinister man who always seem to be one step ahead of them. Pack your goggles, rue, and an extra pair of gloves and join Nate on another unbelievable adventure—there’s no rest for the world’s youngest beastologist-in-training!"

Nate can't believe it... they're lost. And it's all his fault. Aunt Phil relied on him to get them back to the plane with the compass she entrusted to him and he goes and gets them lost. But his navigation lessons are cut short by a band of men on the horizon. There is a telegram for Aunt Phil from Bamanko. The Basilisk has escaped! They are on the move again, but Nate feels not just the hesitation steaming from the fact he feels incompetent, but from the fact that the Basilisk, unlike the Phoenix, is very dangerous, or so he and Greasle learned from sneaking a look in the book. After a stop over in Egypt, where Nate attempts to jump ship, or plane, as it were, they are on their way to the Sudan. The villagers, as can be expected, are very afraid of the death and destruction that the Basilisk might bring... not only that, but if the creature gets to the river the water will be poisoned and all could die. Also, could the Basilisk's escape have anything to do with the mysterious red headed stranger who wishes to pilfer the Fludd's family secrets?

The second installment of R. L. LaFever's new Beastologist series picks up literally moments after the first book ended. Being more conventional than the first, I thought it was a wonderful bridge book, but lacked the originality of the previous installment, yet built up even greater expectations for the next. The first book set up Nate's past and the new journey and new friends he would make in this path his life was taking since the disappearance of his parents. He learned of the wonders of his family heritage and of the value of friends and relatives. He also learned of the dangers that his legacy contains and the threat from outsiders, particularity of red headed men. In this book, we don't get any further revelations, we don't learn any more about his mysterious nanny or about who the red haired man might be, but we do get a great adventure. While I'm a fan of the story arc, the greater movements of the pieces to come to the endgame, sometimes I know you need an interlude, a break from this, and that's what this book felt like.

Even though it is, or perhaps because of it being, only the second book, you can't have too much revelation, you can't have all the secrets revealed and the curtain lifted, because otherwise this would be a very short series, and that is something I don't want. Instead we have Nate learning that the Beasts can be not only very beautiful, but also very dangerous. Here we have a Basilisk, something slightly different, but still familiar to readers who loved Harry Potter. It's the immediate threat of the Basilisk that must be attended to, no matter how much I wanted them to be on their way back to England to get to the bottom of the Fludd's disappearance. I think that this book will really appeal to the younger age bracket for which it is written, versus, say, myself. I have my eyes on the end, where a younger reader will have their eyes on the immediate struggle. And while the way the Basilisk is handled is unique and original I still felt that perhaps this beast is a little overplayed... but then again the Phoenix worked... so perhaps it's just the lack of secondary and tertiary plots that made it fall a little flat for me. But you can count me in as a reader for the next installment, I can't wait to see where Nate goes and see how his friendship with Greasle grows. I just can't get enough of that morally ambiguous, oil eating gremlin, who is always there when you need her most.