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Guardian of the Horizon

Guardian of the Horizon

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $15.72
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Disappointing addition to a great series
Review: I buy the new Peters books in hardback and gobble them up immediately. This one, however, couldn't hold my interest. It felt separate from the rest of the books because there is no hint in the rest of the series that they ever went back to the oasis. The characters were acting--well, out of character. I felt like I had to have missed something, because suddenly Ramses was in love with a woman that he had barely spoken to. While I like the idea of going back and adding the "missing" journals, especially since the characters are aging and the wonder of the hunt will quickly be ruined by technology--and someone else finding Tut's tomb--this book was not a satisfying addition to the series and ongoing storyline. Maybe Peters could write a new Vicky Bliss next time instead?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I don't know why the others didn't like it -- sordid romance? Please. It made Ramses human instead of so perfect, and made me like him even more. I've been disgusted with Nefret since Falcon at the Portal for not trusting him; but after this book, I understand her actions. Thanks for that, Ms. Peters. A fun, interesting setup for future action, dare I hope!?

If you want a extra treat, buy the recorded book as well.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Guardian of the Horizon
Review: I don't understand what went wrong! I realize that there must be conflict and struggling with others or self to make a book gripping... but Ramses falling in love with another woman? How could he talk of fidelity to his mother in "He Shall Thunder in the Sky" and then have this happen in "Guardian of the Horizon"? Doesn't Peters remember what she wrote? Sex and lust for another person I understand, but falling in love...come on! I hope her next books in this series (if any) don't fully degrade into inane reading, especially if Peters, intends to have a child come out of Ramses' and Daria's...um abberations.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not one of her better efforts
Review: I get the impression that EP wrote this book(and set it in the past) because the Amelia Peabody series may be losing some of its appeal. After all, Amelia and Emerson are now getting old (hard to believe that Emerson can still be an ageless 'hunk' in those later books). So is EP trying to recall the 'glory days' of this series?

I found the story and characters to be 'small' compared to her other books. This book was simply not up to the usual EP standard.

On a more personal note. After ready all of the books in this series I am starting to grow weary of the pretentiousness, superiority and pomposity of the entire Emerson family.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: An Amelia Fan
Review: I looked forward to this book because I have thought for awhile that it would be a great idea to discover some of those lost journals and fill in some time gaps. However, this book was not satisfying at all. I loved Ramses as a child. However, the grownup Ramses I find a dull bore. Please Ms. Peters, for future books with lost journals find some further back in time when the focus can be on Amelia and Emerson whose relationship is the heart and soul of these stories. The later books focus too much on Ramses and Nefret.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Renewing Old Acquaintances
Review: I must put The Guardian of the Horizon among my favorite of the Amelia Peabody series. I was delighted to find out what had happened to the denizens of the Holy Mountain introduced in The Last Camel Died at Noon. I was strongly attracted to them when reading Camel and have wondered over the years how they faired.

For me the characters of Nephret and Ramses became more understandable in this book. I must admit that I had been puzzled by the length of time it took Nephret to recognize the romantic and sexual nature of her feelings for Ramses. And, I was puzzled by Ramses extreme reticence to push her in this area. This book gives some explanation for this phenomenom. I know some readers were disturbed by Ramses relationship with Daria. But, to me it seemed perfectly in character for a romatic and frustrated young man such as Ramses.

The only slightly false note in the book for me was that Amelia seemed a little too at ease with Sethos for this point in their history.

But, all and all, a grand read.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good Amelia Peabody
Review: I thougt this was a good book in general in the Amelia Peabody series. I've read all except for the middle three in the series. This book while it left some unanswered questions, and brought up others also left me with the feeling that I want another story from Peters. The author does a great job with character developement and though I felt that Nefret and Ramses where a little on the whinning side of things where still interesting to read. I would have like more of a romance thing with Amelia and Emerson- after all really she is the main or should be the main character in these books. That seems to be the only thing I would like to see more off in this book and the series in general is more Amelia and less of Nefret and Ramses - give them there own series if you must but please leave Amelia.
I did like this book because it seemed to visualize more of the Egypt that I like - mysterious and interesting. But this book had passages and places that I wonder if I would have found more interesting if I had read the one where they got Nefret (that is one of the three I've yet to read).
Anyway- if you like Peters works then you should enjoy this book, but don't be to critical on certain things as the author did leave a lot of holes and questions. Just sit back and enjoy the read.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Far from her best effort.
Review: I was looking forward to this book, as I do with all of EP's works. I was so disappointed with this book, I had to read it again just to make sure I hadn't imagined it. It felt as if she had written most of this book some time ago, got stuck, and decided later to slap an ending onto it and release it for publication. As another reader noted, there was no reference to the events in this book in any of the other books that followed this one chronologically. I thought that odd, since surely Amelia would have told Emerson at some point later that Sethos was the 'friend'.

The idea to return to the Lost Oasis was a good one, but the execution left something to be desired. Unlike other readers, I was not shocked nor disppointed with Ramses' involvement with Daria (he is human, after all) but I thought her character was not developed enough for me to care about her one way or the other. A little more information on her history would have helped there. I also thought Nefret acted out of character; she is more strong-willed than this book would indicate.

Go ahead and buy this book if you have the rest of the Amelia Peabody series. If you pick and choose only the best of Elizabeth Peters, you can safely skip this one, as it adds nothing to the overall series.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: if this is the best you can do...
Review: I was very disappointed in this book. For the last several books, she's been getting farther and farther away from the flavor of the Emerson books that appealed to me: they were clever, funny, light, and rather innocent- even the villains had scruples. The world she created was an alter universe that was very appealing. It's not real life, but if I wanted that I'd read the newspaper.
I've been tired of the references to Ramses' sex appeal and prowress for a while, and now she's fleshed him out as a full-blown, immoral tramp. The Emersons failed miserably in their parenting, and Nefret probably had trouble conceiving because of what they called at the time a "social disease" given her by Ramses, picked up from his consorting with various prostitutes (although he didn't have to pay for it!)At least now we know why she didn't trust him in "Falcon at the Portal!"
Peters has taken her characters in all the wrong directions, as far as I'm concerned. Her last great book was "He Shall Thunder in the Sky." After having read the customer reviews for this one, I wasn't thrilled to read it, but I did for the same reason I saw "Jaws 4- The Revenge": I wanted to see just how bad it was. I don't think I'll bother with the next Emerson book. Peters is a great writer, but maybe she should write a new type of book, and freshen up her idea fountain. She can just do much better than she's been doing.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: We Know Where You're Heading
Review: I've been a fan of the Peter's series for a long time and have read them in chronological order. And for a while, I felt that she was moving her characters along too quickly timewise. When one first met Amelia Peabody and her archeologist husband Emerson, they were in their twenties, and were, thus, in their prime to battle the arch-thief Sethos. Then the books appeared to have been set in the 1880's. Books in the middle of the series carried them along in time and gave them a loquacious son Ramses who turned into a taciturn man a few books later. But by her last book, "Children of the Storm," the family had passed through WWI, the teenagers were grown, married, had children of their own, and Peabody and Emerson must have been pushing sixty. Therefore, it seems that Peters felt that she needed to return to a period when everyone was younger for this book and its adventures. It was kind of a let down to read because, since I had been following the series, I knew that the lovestruck Ramses would finally win the love of his seemingly indifferent stepsister Nefret. When you know that everyone is going to come out all right, what's the suspense?


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