Guardian of the Horizon

Rating:
Summary: Ramses Did What?!
Review: If you're like me, and I know I am, you were waiting with bated breath for this book to be released. I am a loyal and true Amelia Peabody Emerson fan. I tend to run right out and buy these books in hardcover and then clear my calendar for the rest of the day. Having said that, I did not like this book. Oh, sure, the main characters were all there and bigger than life, as usual. But as for the plot... it was like being served leftovers with a few nasty surprises hidden inside. In particular I despise and revile the sordid little affair Ramses has halfway through the book. For someone supposedly head over heels in unrequited love with Nefret, he sure didn't seem to mind getting friendly with the locals. It seemed cheap, perhaps even out of character, and certainly unnecessary. I have always thought that the long, slow romance between Ramses and Nefret was charming, and now I have to weave this little bit of tawdry unfaithfulness into their story.
All in all, I wish I had not read this installment of Peabody family history.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent characters - again!
Review: In some of the latest Amelia Peabody's, the characters are a bit wooden. But here we get depth, unpredictibility, uncertainity and compromise. As well as the humor, excitement and smarts that are in all the books.

If you haven't read all the previously published books in the series, make sure you save this one till at least after "He Shall Thunder in the Sky".

Rating:
Summary: Not the best, but still good
Review: More so than usual, this was quite a book to keep up with. The plots upon plots and intricate character web were a bit difficult to follow, and even though I've finished I still feel as if there are several storylines that weren't resolved.

Even though Ramse's romance with Daria bothered some people (including me, to an extent), it's really not that big of a deal, especially considering that it's never mentioned in the rest of the series.

A lot of people complained about this book, but I though all and all this was a cute, well-written read. Like many other fans, I was just happy to find out that Ms. Peters had written another one!

Rating:
Summary: "Conquer by confusion, I always say"
Review: There comes a time in every series that covers a large number of years when it isn't possible to go further without the main characters discovering the secret of eternal life. Elizabeth Peters' Emersons - Egyptologists, amateur sleuths, and eccentrics par excellence - have reached a point where the era they chronicle is gradually coming to a close. Trust Peter's to find a solution, though, a new cache of papers that document the 'missing years' of the family's madcap career across the tombs and monuments of Egypt.

Set just previous to the blossoming of Ramses' relationship with Nefret, 'Guardian of the Horizon' documents the return to the 'Lost Oasis,' a last hidden survival of ancient Egypt - the Meroitic civilization that the Emerson's first discovered in the Sudan ('The Last Camel Died at Noon'). Readers will recall that the Holy City was where the Emerson's found Nefret, whom they late adopted. Now, ten years later, Merasen, a young noble, appears in England with a message from Tarek, king of the Lost Oasis, and a close friend of the family. There is illness in the Sudan and it threatens the survival of this hidden civilization. Amelia, Emerson, Ramses, and Nefret quickly set out.

For Amelia and Emerson, setting out on a secret journey means that only half of Egypt knows that something is up. As soon as word gets out that they intend to return to the Sudan to 'excavate,' a whole host of shady characters a drawn by the legends of hidden treasure that are rumored to be at the Lost Oasis. Of course, that means trouble, and the journey to the Sudan is marred by violence, intrusion, and countless twists and turns as the Emerson's carry out one elusive maneuver after another.

When they finally arrive at their destination they discover that nothing is as they expected. Instead of a sick king, they find themselves embroiled in a series of adventures that mix politics, religion, and, of course, just a bit of treasure. While a bit slow in developing, the book builds to a classic Peters' finish, with the Emerson's concocting on scheme after another as they try to extricate themselves unharmed and save the kingdom at the same time.

Elizabeth Peters does a fine job of returning the reader to the Emerson's past without recreating what was originally one of the family's most irritating periods. Instead, the writer allows Amelia and company just enough additional maturity to keep the story interesting without the extreme vaudeville that marked her work at that time. While any reader knows that a certain amount of the experience of reading one of the Emerson stories is rolling one's eyes at some of the more hysterical displays, that has been kept to a low roar. I enjoyed the book, and think that any other fan will do so as well.

Rating:
Summary: Amelia's at it again
Review: This bood fills in one of the "missing years" in the Amelia Peabody series. The Emersons are headed back to the lost Oasis to rescue an old frien, but nothing's quite as it appears. This is another delightful installment in a wonderful series!

Rating:
Summary: A Poor Shadow of a Book
Review: This book is an attempt to return to the success of "The Last Camel Died at Noon" but Peters has lost the characters and their voices. Nefret, normally a strong-willed, competent young woman becomes a frightened, timid creature. Sethos, our charming, masculine, romantic hero becomes a very minor character and fairly impotent in terms of heroism. Commonly used expressions by Peabody and Emerson are replaced with expressions they don't use in other books. There are a variety of disconnects with facts as they appearin later series books--this book doesn't really fit well. If you are not a die-hard Peabody fan, this book may be sufficiently entertaining. To one who is a Peabody fanatic, this book is very disappointing--what did Peters do with the real Emerson clan that we know and love?

Rating:
Summary: Interesting addition!
Review: This series has long been one of my favorites and, while this is not the best of her works, it's a good addition. I've known the characters for so long that it is always a pleasure to read more about their lives; like welcoming back old friends. Contrary to how a few other reviewers feel about Ramses, he was always one of my favorites and I love the way the series has evolved to include more of him and of the rest of the cast of characters instead of staying moribundly the same year after year. No real person lives in a vaccuum and, thankfully, Amelia doesn't either.
As to Nefret not being herself in this book; unfortunately for her she doesn't seem to have a very stable personality. She acts against established character in Falcon At The Portal, as well; a book that nearly put me off reading more of the Emersons' adventures for good and which I know has in fact put others off the series altogether. Here, Peters tries to explain where some of her personality flaws come from and, while the explanation isn't entirely convincing, I love the series enough to let it go at that.
Ramses and Daria's relationship made sense to me. They were attracted to each other (and you can be attracted to people other than the person you love) and so they got together. Would Ramses have done that if he had been with Nefret? No. Was Ramses betraying Nefret? No. He loved her, but she thought of him as her brother; at this point they had nothing between them and were not likely to, so no harm there. Did Ramses really love Daria? In as much as he is a well brought up young man of his class and he had already given the best of his heart to another, yes he did. He had to; he had compromised a young woman over whom he had power -- totally unacceptable to him, if to no one else, otherwise. It was another display of Ramses as a human who can make mistakes and yet is person enough to do what was right, rather than the godlike Ramses that can do no wrong that other readers complain of. Thank goodness they didn't marry.
On the whole, I thought the book was quite good and definitely worth the read. As to why this visit to the Lost Oasis never showed up in books that happened after this period -- It hadn't been written yet. Not every writer carefully maps out every last little thing about the books they are working on before they write them. Within the universe of the characters, they put the trip out of their heads as completely as they could for reasons of secrecy and were too busy with their lives to bother with it. Has Amelia told Emerson that Sethos was the "friend"? How do we know she hasn't? Just because it hasn't been written?

Rating:
Summary: I'm torn on this one
Review: Usually, when I finish a new Amelia Peabody novel, it either leaves me horribly depressed or giddy as a 5-year-old. This one definitely left me feeling depressed.

Overall, I liked this book. It was great fun to read, especially the sections dealing with Amelia and Emerson's antics. The two of them are absolutely priceless in this story, having fallen once more into the role of "magicians" fighting for the common good.

The problem I have, like others, is with the character of Ramses. The affair with Daria just seemed so out of character for him that it made me uncomfortable to read it. Maybe it's a little too idealistic to entertain the notion that he was still a virgin when he finally won Nefret. But it's like being married to someone for ten years or so and suddenly finding out that they were married once before, but had neglected to tell you. It just doesn't fit.

First, I can't imagine him sleeping with a woman he barely knows, much less claiming to love her; and even if it's as simple as a case of transference, it'd be as bad as hiring a prostitute in order to vent some of his frustration, something we know he'd never do.

Second, the whole affair begins and ends too easily. Just think, if Nefret had come to the window instead, perhaps he would have run off with her. (Or hell, one of the other handmaidens, perhaps? If he can sleep with Daria, then it would seem he doesn't need to know more than her name and that she's easy.) And the end of the affair isn't nearly traumatic enough for someone who believes they're in love. I want him to throw the flowers at her. I want him to rail and rage and break down and cry, not just kiss her and walk away.

Third, why wouldn't there be any other mention of her? Unless E.P. plans to do some serious wrapping up in future books, this won't work for me. If Ramses believed he loved her, I can't imagine that he'd simply never think about her again, or at least mention her to David. There'd have to be an emotional struggle. If he really isn't sure what love is anymore, then he'd have to spend a lot of time sorting out his feelings. I don't think he could go on loving Nefret with the same intensity after such a world-shattering event as falling in love with Daria.

Also, perhaps I'm reading too much into things, but when Ramses is catching up with Tarek's people late in the book, he mentions that he's unmarried and childless - "to the best of his knowledge." Are we to take it, then, that Daria isn't his first affair? Who else is there? The mind boggles; perhaps that summer with the sheik found our boy acting like a bit of a cad, after all. Or maybe Layla (or did she come in later? I'm too confused to remember).

I still love the book, and highly recommend it. It's a lot of fun. But if you've got a horrible crush on Ramses (as I have ever since Seeing a Large Cat), proceed with caution. Our hero is not exactly what he always seemed to be.

Rating:
Summary: Good except for Ramses
Review: While I found Guardian of the Horizon one of the better recent books in the series and closer to the charms and cheekiness of the earliest books, I still don't like Ramses. Why did Peters let this series become the Ramses Adventure serial? The end of chapter 11 made me put the book down for a good half hour of eewing. I don't want to know about Ramses love life. I'd rather he be seen and not heard. He's never been a well written or likeable character but had fortunately been nicely toned down for most of this book. I just wish that Peters had resisted the urge to write those "document H" fragments. The series is written from Amelia's POV and it should remain that way. Nothing is accomplished from those smoochies with Daria unless to spawn a "son of Ramses" book in the future. I shudder at the thought.

So for the good bits version -- the tongue and cheek jabs at the state of Egyptology in the early 20th centure were delightful to read. I've noticed in recent Egyptology books/movies (ever since Stargate) that Budge has gone from demigod to pariah and this book takes the pariah stance. I really must find a biography of him to make up my own mind.

Then there's the extreme silliness of Sethos -- another character that I'm not sure the series needs but I tolerate him. He's sort of there to poke fun at the dastardly villains of books from the turn of the 20th century. He's just there for the "Scooby Doo" ending although it would be fun to just once have a different villain.