Rating: 
Summary: Reasonable, if flawed.
Review: The basic message of the forebodingly titled "The Orion Mystery" is that the ground plan of many, if not all, of the Egyptian pyramids, as well as their basic architecture, was intentionally designed to reflect the positions of stars in the sky. The most basic pattern to which Bauval calls attention is the correlation between the three pyramids at Giza with the positions of the three belt stars in the constellation of Orion. Bauval's hypothesis is reasonable, and though it may be difficult to test, it may provide some insight into the precepts that underlie the construction of these massive monuments. In particular, it is refreshing to read a book on the subject of pyramid-star correlations that is relatively free of the sort of pseudoscience practiced by the likes of Graham Hancock and others. The prospective reader should be warned, however, that the extension of the correlation of ground plan to star positions at Giza to other pyramids in Egypt has been effectively discredited, as I understand even Bauval admits; it would appear that there was no grand plan to draw Orion/Osiris across such a large region. This essentially reduces the useful portion of the book by half, but the remainder is still worthwhile. The writing fails to win awards, but is serviceable. I would assign three different recommendations: for those who plan to eventually take the plunge into the mystical fringes of pseudoscientific archaeology, this is a good gateway book; for those who have already dived in, this is tame stuff that will probably only bore you; for everyone else, this is speculative, but still rational.
Rating:
Summary: Reasonable, if flawed.
Review: The basic message of the forebodingly titled "The Orion Mystery" is that the ground plan of many, if not all, of the Egyptian pyramids, as well as their basic architecture, was intentionally designed to reflect the positions of stars in the sky. The most basic pattern to which Bauval calls attention is the correlation between the three pyramids at Giza with the positions of the three belt stars in the constellation of Orion. Bauval's hypothesis is reasonable, and though it may be difficult to test, it may provide some insight into the precepts that underlie the construction of these massive monuments. In particular, it is refreshing to read a book on the subject of pyramid-star correlations that is relatively free of the sort of pseudoscience practiced by the likes of Graham Hancock and others. The prospective reader should be warned, however, that the extension of the correlation of ground plan to star positions at Giza to other pyramids in Egypt has been effectively discredited, as I understand even Bauval admits; it would appear that there was no grand plan to draw Orion/Osiris across such a large region. This essentially reduces the useful portion of the book by half, but the remainder is still worthwhile. The writing fails to win awards, but is serviceable. I would assign three different recommendations: for those who plan to eventually take the plunge into the mystical fringes of pseudoscientific archaeology, this is a good gateway book; for those who have already dived in, this is tame stuff that will probably only bore you; for everyone else, this is speculative, but still rational.
Rating: 
Summary: a must read!
Review: the best and most convincing book about the mystery of the pyramids i've ever read
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: The best I have ever read about Egyptology and the Pyramides. The theories presented in this book are so simple, yet so convincing. How is it possible that Egyptologists never discovered the real secret of the pyramides before? This book is a must read for everyone interested in Egyptology, in the pyramides and in history in general.
Rating:
Summary: A nice try to upset egyptologists
Review: The nature of the pyramids is still a mystery, no matter how much the official Egyptology believes in its tomb theory and in the dates when the Fourth Dynasty built those enormous constructions. You just have to visit Giza to realize there is something very strange, very impressive and so much beyond our understanding about Khufu, Khefren and Menkaure pyramids. You can even go to Meidum, Saqqara, or visit the Bent pyramid and the Red one to strenghten the impression about the Giza pyramids: they are simply unique, and that is really difficult to answer the questions like when and why were they constructed. The Bauval's theory is well-shaped and rather smart enough. It may be one to entertain readers, or it may be true - one can hardly find out the truth right away. But it is really strong and explains so many things that were never explained before. The importance of the theory, and the book as the whole, however, is in the different field: it shakes up the mainstream Egyptology, it wakes it, as well as other people, up, and it opens our eyes making us see that there is always a place for an alternate reality, and there is always a chance to explain what the official science fails to explain. The book places a lot of evidence again that the ancient egyptians, or the people lived there before them, possessed the knowledge so much underestimated by modern egyptologists, the knowledge that was really huge and comparable with a today's one. That makes the book another breakthrough in the process of discussing the history of humankind. The book will remind you now that it is not an easy way to argue with, or contradict the established scientific theory. The saddest story of all times is Gantenbrink's tries to solve some of the Great pyramid's puzzles: since 1994 nobody, including egyptian egyptologists, has ever let him continue his investigations, no matter how hard he tried to get the permission, or how perfect his robot finally became. The Orion Mystery may be considered another brick in the building of the real science. A must-read for everyone who does not feel indifferent to the problems of history and modern science.
Rating:
Summary: A nice try to upset egyptologists
Review: The nature of the pyramids is still a mystery, no matter how much the official Egyptology believes in its tomb theory and in the dates when the Fourth Dynasty built those enormous constructions. You just have to visit Giza to realize there is something very strange, very impressive and so much beyond our understanding about Khufu, Khefren and Menkaure pyramids. You can even go to Meidum, Saqqara, or visit the Bent pyramid and the Red one to strenghten the impression about the Giza pyramids: they are simply unique, and that is really difficult to answer the questions like when and why were they constructed. The Bauval's theory is well-shaped and rather smart enough. It may be one to entertain readers, or it may be true - one can hardly find out the truth right away. But it is really strong and explains so many things that were never explained before. The importance of the theory, and the book as the whole, however, is in the different field: it shakes up the mainstream Egyptology, it wakes it, as well as other people, up, and it opens our eyes making us see that there is always a place for an alternate reality, and there is always a chance to explain what the official science fails to explain. The book places a lot of evidence again that the ancient egyptians, or the people lived there before them, possessed the knowledge so much underestimated by modern egyptologists, the knowledge that was really huge and comparable with a today's one. That makes the book another breakthrough in the process of discussing the history of humankind. The book will remind you now that it is not an easy way to argue with, or contradict the established scientific theory. The saddest story of all times is Gantenbrink's tries to solve some of the Great pyramid's puzzles: since 1994 nobody, including egyptian egyptologists, has ever let him continue his investigations, no matter how hard he tried to get the permission, or how perfect his robot finally became. The Orion Mystery may be considered another brick in the building of the real science. A must-read for everyone who does not feel indifferent to the problems of history and modern science.
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting theory, but an average book.
Review: The Orion theory is very compelling and explains a lot of mysteries surrounding the Pyramids. But the book never gets really exciting for the ordinary readers, especially those who are not too familiar with egytological terms and history. There are many illustrations which is good, but they are not always placed on the pages where they are referred to in the text and that makes it a little confusing. I think Bauval should have kept the story more strictly chronological, to make it a better research/detective story.
Rating: 
Summary: Great reading material
Review: This book is about a theory that the pyramids of Egypt are alined to the exact positions of the constellation of Orion. The shafts in the pyramid are used as a star clock going back to at least 10450BC using precession. The shafts in the pyramid are alined, pointed towards specific stars. This is a great theory on the pyramids and worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: History revised
Review: This book not only takes apart the basic history of Egypt you learned in school, it introduces the radical concept that the Eygyptians weren't a). stupid, b). primitive, or c). superstitious twits. Bauval shows how the pyramids were arranged so precisely because they were creating a heaven on earth--they reflect the patterns of Orion's belt on the ground. This had deep significance to a race of people who believed ''as above, so below.'' The reader who claims that Bauval now refutes his own Orion theory is sadly misinformed. Anyone who is interested can go read Bauval's letter to the BBC at www.grahamhancock.com. Apparently, the ''Horizon'' program, in its zeal to knock both Hancock (not a pseudo-scientist but a talented journalist)badly mis-represented Bauval's theories to the British viewing public. But read it for yourself. I think the sequel, ''The Message of the Sphinx,''is even better.
Rating:
Summary: Those were smart Martians who built them there triangles
Review: This book was intriguing to say the very least. It was a fresh topic for me that drew me in to its concept. The author takes the Giza pyramids, long believed by the textbooks to be based on a Solar Egyptian religion, and establishes that they were in fact constructed after a Stellar religion. It explains the design of the Great Pyramid and what purposes its features served in the Star religion of the kings. The line of the 3 Giza pyramids are modeled after Orion's belt, which becomes obvious after a simple comparison. Also, it analyzes the oldest religious documents ever recovered, "The Pyramid Texts".. which are about 4000 years old. This is a interesting look into the world of the enigmas of Egyptology. Though it finds some satisfactory answers to age-old questions, not to mention re-dates ancient chronologies, still many questions remain unanswered even by the end, including the biggest of all... How were they built ??
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