Rating: 
Summary: Loved this book!
Review: I loved this book! I've read almost all the Amelia Peabody books. I love the way Amelia and Ramses' relationship is developing. It is just as funny as the other books and I love the developments with... well... I won't say who or what but you'll get a BIG surprise.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun in the Next Generation
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed "The Lord of the Silent." The Emersons are in excellent form, getting in each other's way as they each try to solve everything themselves. Once again, no one can resist dabbling in the war or pursuing some highly effective tomb robbers, although they all disclaim loudly. As has become usual, the Emersons senior are "protecting" the Emersons younger, and vice-versa. Not surprisingly, important information is not shared, nearly (but of course, not quite) leading to disaster. Ramses and Nefret's encounters with a Master Cr-, uh, Spy are priceless, especially after Amelia gets into the picture. The plot twists and turns until the reader is quite dizzy. I confess to having dipped into the end of the book a bit early, just trying to keep my head on straight!I am very enthused about the next generation of Emersons, now that they're all grown up. Ramses, Nefret, and David are every bit as fun as Amelia and Emerson. Ramses, at least, was a bit annoying as a child, as I suppose most prodigies are. Thank goodness he turned out so well! The threesome live up to their elders' adventurous natures in every way. If they aren't dressing in horrible rags and infiltrating the Egyptian underworld, they are rescuing each other or being rescued from dire peril. I do think its rather sad that poor Lia doesn't get to do more. Maybe someday! I like the literary device of including letters and journals expressing different characters' points of view - very enlightening! I hope Ms. Peters keeps writing about the Emersons' descendants until she brings the clan into the 20th century! (If you don't mind, I'm going to climb onto my soapbox now. I won't mind if you skip this part.) Speaking of modern times, one of the things I really like about Peters is how she handles the "questions of the day" in this series. In this book alone, she reflects on war and pacifism, women's rights, the destruction of priceless artifacts by unscrupulous treasure hunters, and the mistreatment of Egyptian natives by the British government (and all the other Western powers). The wonderful thing is, Peters uses only what is necessary to the plot, so she rarely comes across as heavy handed. What I really like is that she tells it like it was, and lets her characters' disapproval express her opinion. Too many historical writers just force 20th century thought on a decidedly non-20th century civilization.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfunctory and boring
Review: There's no wit or charm here - just a plodding tale, the resolution of which comes out of nowhere, without suspense. Nothing for a reader new to this series, and precious little for the fan.
Rating:
Summary: Avoid this one at all costs
Review: Usually I am a fan of A. Peabody and the whole Emerson clan, but this book made me want to eat lead. It is not that I dislike it when the characters are happy, but such self-congratulatory behavior quickly wears thin. I found myself waiting (and wishing) some tragedy befall them. Missing from this publication was any confidence that the characters we had grown to love held the slightest bit of intelligence or reason. They all seemed too busy "in love" or "blissfully happy" which affected their ability to operate rationally. If this is what happens when they are happy, for the love of god, bring back the pain and suffering of unrequited love, betrayal, and subterfuge.
Rating: 
Summary: Thinnest plot to date, weakest character development
Review: Much as I love Elizabeth Peters, by the time I was more than twenty pages into the book I was wishing she'd spend a little more time on character development and plot and a lot less on telling the reader over and over how wonderful Emerson, Ramses, et al are. It didn't quite reach the level of being able to predict that, okay, it's been 20 pages, time for another description of Emerson's manly phsyique, but it came close. The book is still much, much better than most of the dreck being marketed by other 'authors' these days, but not up to the level of earlier books in the series.
Rating:
Summary: They Just Keep Getting Better!
Review: This is another work of Genius from Elizabeth Peters. Pure fun - you won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: At least 25% text has characters declaring their greatness
Review: Being on the lookout for new authors this series seemed very promising. The reviews were great mentioning mystery, Egyptologists, and a turn-of-the-century setting. Being enthusiastic I ordered "The Falcon at the Portal" and "Lord of the Silent". In both books, Amelia tells us over and over she is bright, clever, beautiful, etc. She tells us how her husband is the greatest Egyptologist of all time, he's brillant, he's strong and women cannot resist him. Rames is brillant, brave, master of disguise, and women cannot resist him. Nefret is brillant and beautiful. Now there is 6 year old Sennia who is well on her way to learning hieroglyphic's and become an Egyptologist. I do not mind having characters that are bigger than life what I object to is having the characters continuing patting themselves on the back telling you about it constantly.
Rating: 
Summary: Weakest in the series so far
Review: I preordered this book from amazon last year, and eagerly checked my mail every day for the follow-up to the spectacular, He Who Thunders. That book had been the culmination of so many great storylines, and featured some of the best Amelia-Ramses scenes to date. I was only afraid that the series would end there. Now I wish it had. I'm writing this review a year later because it has taken me that long to finish the dull Lord of the Silent. I'd pick it up and start again every few months, but was so disappointed that I inevitably tossed it back on the shelf. It's only the upcoming release of the next book in the series that finally spurred me on to read it (and also the fact that Anne Perry has produced a great Pitt mystery after a few lackluster entries). So why didn't I like it? Part of it was a nothing plot. But some past books in the series had slightly boring mysteries, and yet I never minded before because of how much I love these characters. No, the problem can be summed up in one word -- Nefret. I always wanted her and Ramses to get together for his sake, but until Amelia was shoved to the background to flesh out R&N's relationship more fully, I never appreciated how uninteresting she is as a character. With Nefret taking center stage, there is much melodrama, and less of the self-aware, tongue in cheek quality that have always elevated Ramses' and Amelia's narratives. Plus, I'm not a fan of having the family separated. More solidarity.
Rating:
Summary: Too much froth, not enough story
Review: This is a great series. However, this may be the weakest book in the group. The histroy and detail are truly great, you get a real feel for the time and place, and every other book in this series has been spectacular. THere wasn't enough adventure or mystery, which has never been a problem before. That being siad, I'm waiting for the next one in this series, and I can't wait until the series catches up with Howards Carter's find of King Tut's tomb. I can't wait to hear what Emerson has to say about that!
Rating:
Summary: Don't let this one get by you
Review: I truly enjoyed this book by Ms. Peters. it had "just enough" of political plot, mystery plot, and Ramses plus Nefret. After reading it, I found myself delving back in time to find more information on the development of the relationship between Ramses and Nefret. All in all, 200% enjoyable!
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