Guest Reviewer: Jay Graham
Title: Napoleon's Pyramids
Author: William Dietrich
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 978-0-06-084832-3 & 0-06-08432-4 (Hardcover)
Release Date: February 2007
Genre/Sub-genre: Historical Mystery
Year/Setting: Late 18th Century Egypt
Overall Rating: 5.0
Sexual Content Rating: Subtle with 1 very appropriate and well done Sensual scene
Language (Profanity/Slang) Rating: Moderate
Violent Content Rating: Intense, especially during battle scenes
William's Website:
www.williamdietrich.com
It’s often said the biggest shortcoming of history is that we fail to learn from it. To my sons in high school it seems the dry and tasteless memorization of places and dates is of bigger concern. Real history, the telling of stories that connect those anchor points to the lives of real people is compelling, it is fascinating. And William Dietrich uses Napoleon’s Pyramids to make mystery, and history come so much alive as to crowd out all else. These chapters melt away as the reader experiences a fabulous ‘expedition’ through the eyes of the men and women making the journey.
In the telling, William Dietrich enlists us in the expeditionary forces of France in their ‘liberation’ of Egypt and we understand both the miseries that follow, and the excitement of the quest. This is a search for something hidden for centuries, a treasure hunt to be sure, but it is amped up by how much you increasingly care for the central characters, and how much they must continually overcome. The pace is frenetic, so much so that at times you have to re-read a section to capture it all.
The villains here are really vile, and while the hero’s have real faults, you love them anyway. Most surprisingly, before you even finish the story you find yourself pulling up information on the internet to check, ‘did any of this really happen?’
To say William Dietrich did his homework for this novel is a lot like saying a woman’s body undergoes a few changes before childbirth. So much of this story is actual history, from places and sources the author personally researched (he actually laid in a sarcophagus inside the Great Pyramid) it is written with the authority of someone who has been there. At times the reader has to step back and remember this is a work of fiction, and the people involved are long gone. The best story tellers teach while they work their craft, and even if you knew nothing of ancient Egypt, 18th century France, Napoleon or mathematics, you would come away well schooled. This is a terrific tale. I highly recommend it.
Jay
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