Twilight in Babylon

Rating:
Summary: Twilight in Babylon
Review: A Treasure Trove of Historical Fact

In this fourth book of her trilogy the no less improbable Suzanne Frank leads us in her delightfully non-linear way to Sumer where we witness twilight for Chloe and Cheftu as civilization is just dawning.

Some may be saddened at this last novel but the time travelling couple become again the vehicle which allows us to see and touch Sumer as it must have been just as it was giving novelists their raison d'etre: written language. And while she pays homage to that event she deftly weaves a wealth of historically accurate fact into the fabric of this adventure.

I remember a reader taking her to task in an earlier novel because Cheftu addressed Chloe as "vous" and not the familiar "tu"and had to chuckle that, of course, Ms. Frank was correct in that there was no familiar "tu" in Cheftu's lifetime, only in Chloe's.

Similarly here we are immersed in a culture awash in beer, like some early keg party only to realize that beer was the preferred beverage with which people had a fixation much like the French have today with their wine. And while we may want to find this "obsession" laughable we should not take Ms. Frank too lightly for she is just leading us down the primrose path, infusing each scene with as much historical flavoriing as practical even if we fail to notice.

And how do we know any of this? Because they wrote it down; on clay documents protected in clay envelopes which happen to be on display today in the British Museum (Room 56).

Suzanne Frank's passion and respect for historical research is everywhere in this novel. It's in the details, if you look, and there are lots of them. Good book.

Rating:
Summary: Another series I wish wouldn't end!
Review: I am an avid reader and love ancient history, so when I stumbled upon 'Nile' I was hooked. I must say, this series is the only oen that I can read over and over again and be pulled in just as deeply each time. Each book is rich and complex, making you feel like you're living the adventure right along with the characters. I have to agree that I wish Cloe and Cheftu were together more in this final book. There were issues brought up at the end of the third novel and the prologue that just weren't resolved. I feel like Ms. Frank didn't take as much time with the last two as she did with the first two.

Also, I must say that I LOVE the characters and the writing style that Ms. Frank uses in this series. The time travel, romance with such a rich historical and cultural setting is SO going to be missed! I feel like there are many other historical questions and times that Chloe and Cheftu could visit as they continue their travels....

Rating:
Summary: Twilight for Chloe and Cheftu
Review: I was apprehensive about this one because I knew it was the last but-what a satisfying end to a long friendship! This last installment of the Chloe and Cheftu saga was one of those stay-up-all-night-and-read-till-your-eyes-hurt kind of books. Beginning with the fire it speeds along to plop down in the marsh then Cheftu appears and begins the search. (I always suspected Cheftu was a Sex God and here he actually was!) I have never read a story where beer was practically a character but it gave me a feel for a culture I know little about. By the end it all made sense to me- I know why she traveled and what all the trials were for. I know love can go on and on even without children and I know a sweet ending when I read one. I won't give it away here so go read it yourself!

So long Chloe and Cheftu, I will miss you but is has been a great ride!

Rating:
Summary: Strange partings
Review: It is always hard to judge the end of a series. They have their ups and downs but in the end the characters are what keeps me wanting more. After an abscence of several years, we meet Cheftu and Chloe again as disaster strikes in ancient Israel. I found it disappointing that the problems alluded to in the prologue were not explored. All we know is that the marriage is infertile and Chloe was not happy as she thought she would be. Her abrupt death and subsequent journey to Ur left many questions unanswered. Once there, I found the character in whose body Chloe exits interesting and wanted to spend more time with her. Alas that was not to be. Chloe takes over and settles into a comfortable life as a refugee in the house of a justice who falls in love with her. In her time in Ur, she inadvertently revolutionize writing and introduced co-ed schools. While this is interesting, we didn't hear from her voice but from that of other minor characters. This scattering of narration made the book fragmentary.
It wasn't until Cheftu shows up in a new body that the action starts with a breathless rapidity that leaves the problems in the relationship between the main characters unexplored. Wouldn't it be great that everytime you had a problem you can start off anew in another time and place. After their exodus from Ur with a contingent of citizens to settle a new city. The novel shifts to a travelog of cities in the Mesopetamia. This let the actually founding of Babylon become a footnote at the last chapter and a lot of interesting possible actions were untouched. It made me wonder if the author changed the focus of the novel as she wrote and at the end was unready to let the characters go.
I did enjoy meeting Cheftu and Chloe again, but they didn't spend enough of the book together. Nor were they dealing with problems that we were told of in the prologue but seperation and reunion seemed to cure all. While I'm a fan of external actions driving a novel I wanted to know more of what has happended since the last book. It is like meeting old friends and not being able to ask how they have been for the past years.

Rating:
Summary: Strange partings
Review: It is always hard to judge the end of a series. They have their ups and downs but in the end the characters are what keeps me wanting more. After an abscence of several years, we meet Cheftu and Chloe again as disaster strikes in ancient Israel. I found it disappointing that the problems alluded to in the prologue were not explored. All we know is that the marriage is infertile and Chloe was not happy as she thought she would be. Her abrupt death and subsequent journey to Ur left many questions unanswered. Once there, I found the character in whose body Chloe exits interesting and wanted to spend more time with her. Alas that was not to be. Chloe takes over and settles into a comfortable life as a refugee in the house of a justice who falls in love with her. In her time in Ur, she inadvertently revolutionize writing and introduced co-ed schools. While this is interesting, we didn't hear from her voice but from that of other minor characters. This scattering of narration made the book fragmentary.
It wasn't until Cheftu shows up in a new body that the action starts with a breathless rapidity that leaves the problems in the relationship between the main characters unexplored. Wouldn't it be great that everytime you had a problem you can start off anew in another time and place. After their exodus from Ur with a contingent of citizens to settle a new city. The novel shifts to a travelog of cities in the Mesopetamia. This let the actually founding of Babylon become a footnote at the last chapter and a lot of interesting possible actions were untouched. It made me wonder if the author changed the focus of the novel as she wrote and at the end was unready to let the characters go.
I did enjoy meeting Cheftu and Chloe again, but they didn't spend enough of the book together. Nor were they dealing with problems that we were told of in the prologue but seperation and reunion seemed to cure all. While I'm a fan of external actions driving a novel I wanted to know more of what has happended since the last book. It is like meeting old friends and not being able to ask how they have been for the past years.

Rating:
Summary: Religious propaganda, masquerading as romance
Review: This novel hides several agendas. For one thing, there is utterly no mention anywhere on the cover or interior that it's another installment of a published series. Since this is critical to the story, this omission, deliberate or accidental, is unforgivable.

Pushed as a 'romance,' there is little to none in this story in the popular definition of historical romance novels. There is little history, either. Instead, the author uses the second half of the novel to 'prove' the stories of the bible are literal and true, one after another, in quick succession. And the heroine is pivotal to all of them. If the aim was to promote spirituality and pseudo-history, the author should have been a bit less devious about luring unsuspecting readers with this tripe.

When the heroine is finally reunited with her husband, we discover they have no chemistry. If they do, it certainly isn't evident in the narrative. Don't bother with this one.

Rating:
Summary: exciting time travel tale
Review: Twentieth century time traveling Texan Chloe Kingsley and her soulmate nineteenth century Cheftu are in Jerusalem (see SUNRISE ON THE MEDITERRANEAN) when a fire leaves the former American near dead. Cheftu rushes Chloe to the Ark of the Covenant, but she is transported into another time, place, and body. Chloe finds herself occupying the body of a woman in Ancient Sumeria as a flood devastates the land.

With her usual aplomb Chloe journeys to Ur where justice is blind for men only and education is for boys. Applying her twentieth century values, Chloe challenges the patriarch society and opens up a fast food restaurant even while Cheftu arrives as a high priest in search of her.

The final tale in Suzanne Frank's time travel series, TWILIGHT IN BABYLON, is an exciting novel that for the most wraps up loose ends for readers of the previous books, but newcomers may struggle with connectivity. The story line is loaded with biblical era detail and some modern day anachronisms, but regardless moves rather quickly forward. The lead couple, as with the prequels, brings the plot to life though refreshingly yet surprisingly Chloe and Cheftu traverse separate subplots for much of the novel. Ms. Frank's provides a delightful conclusion that purists may dub more alternate history than historical.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: exciting time travel tale
Review: Twentieth century time traveling Texan Chloe Kingsley and her soulmate nineteenth century Cheftu are in Jerusalem (see SUNRISE ON THE MEDITERRANEAN) when a fire leaves the former American near dead. Cheftu rushes Chloe to the Ark of the Covenant, but she is transported into another time, place, and body. Chloe finds herself occupying the body of a woman in Ancient Sumeria as a flood devastates the land.

With her usual aplomb Chloe journeys to Ur where justice is blind for men only and education is for boys. Applying her twentieth century values, Chloe challenges the patriarch society and opens up a fast food restaurant even while Cheftu arrives as a high priest in search of her.

The final tale in Suzanne Frank's time travel series, TWILIGHT IN BABYLON, is an exciting novel that for the most wraps up loose ends for readers of the previous books, but newcomers may struggle with connectivity. The story line is loaded with biblical era detail and some modern day anachronisms, but regardless moves rather quickly forward. The lead couple, as with the prequels, brings the plot to life though refreshingly yet surprisingly Chloe and Cheftu traverse separate subplots for much of the novel. Ms. Frank's provides a delightful conclusion that purists may dub more alternate history than historical.

Harriet Klausner