Synopsis
In 336 b.c., Egypt lay under the yoke of Persia, ruled by Governors appointed by the King of Kings in Persis. And in the Temple of Amon in Thebes dwelt the only living child of Nectanebo, the last fully Egyptian Pharaoh, who had been defeated in battle and slain by Darius's servants.
But from the north a spirit of fire was moving across the World. A great warrior and general, the king of Macedonia, had risen to rule the Hellenic city-states. Now he was determined to challenge the might of the Persian Empire, to engage Darius himself in battle, and to defeat him. He was called Alexander, and the priests of Amon in Egypt saw that he was destined to rule their ancient land. They saw, too, that if Alexander did not come into the Two Lands soon, the servants of Darius would despoil Egypt beyond recovery.
So they sent Meriamon, Beloved of Amon, daughter of Pharaoh, Singer and Priestess of the God, up from Egypt to the Plains of Issus, where a great battle had been fought, and the Persian king defeated. There she was to find Alexander, and persuade him to turn from the straight Eastward road and come south - where the double crown of Egypt awaited him.
But as history teaches us, Alexander the Great was not a man to leave his enemies in safety behind him. The throne of the Pharaohs was a powerful lure, but on the way to Egypt he must conquer unbreachable Tyre, and take the ancient city of Gaza.
LORD OF THE TWO LANDS is firmly based in the history of Alexander the Great, and then steeped in the rich, sun-drenched magics of ancient Egypt. It is a novel that will transport you back to the time of heroes, when one man changed the face of the world.
Reviews
Although Tarr ( Alamut ; The Dagger and the Cross ) brings her customary depth of research to her topic--Alexander the Great in Egypt--and although the tale of Alexander's conquests carries a certain measure of ingrained drama, her efforts here fall flat. Meriamon, priestess and daughter of Egypt's rebel pharoah, comes to Alexander's camp after his first decisive victory over the Persians. She insinuates herself into his circle and, bit by bit, cajoles him into liberating her country from the hated Persians before he advances into Persia proper. At the same time she slowly falls in love with Niko, one of Alexander's soldiers. But circumstances and their contrary natures keep them apart for most of the book, and their turgid romance takes up too much space for too little purpose. The march toward Egypt generates little tension, save for a few moments during the sieges of Tyre and Gaza. Even Alexander seems merely to be going through prescribed motions, and Tarr strangely ignores what many readers will readers will surely know--that Alexander will not live long after his Egyptian adventure. Having for the most part downplayed the fantasy elements that added a welcome wrinkle to her previous historical novels, Tarr has yet to replace them with something to hold her readers' interest.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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