Napoleon's Pyramids - William Dietrich

2007; 380 pages. Genre : Action; Cri-Fi; Historical Fiction. New Author? : Yes. Overall Rating : 6½*/10.

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It's 1798, France is in the post-revolution doldrums, they're at war with all their neighbors, and one of their upstart generals, Napoleon Bonaparte, decides to invade Egypt. His stated aim is to bring cultural enlightenment to the poor, backward Egyptians. But he also wants to threaten British trade interests as far awaay as India.

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Accompanying the Little Corporal are a host of civilian professionals - chemists (yay!), mathematicians, zoologists, civil engineers, etc. One of them is our hero, Ethan Gage, who is the "electricity expert". But he's also along for protection. He recently won a strange medallion in a card game that lots of evil-doers seem to think is worth killing him for.

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What's To Like...

There's a kewl pic of the mysterious medallion right on the front cover for easy reference. There's lots of action, some puzzles to be fathomed, and if you're into Egyptian mysteries, this is a book for you.

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Frankly, what I liked the most about this book was its historical fiction. There are a bunch of books about the Reign of Terror, and a bunch about Napoleon meeting his Waterloo. But very few focus on the time in between. The guillotines have fallen silent, and Napoleon is still consolidating his power. How many books have you read about his campaign into Egypt?

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Ethan Gage is okay as our hero. On one hand, he occasionally misses when shooting - once trying to kill a Mameluke attacker, he hits a camel instead. OTOH, Ethan's luckier than all get out (which is attributed to Destiny), and apparently smarter than all the French, British, and Egyptians combined. Of course, he's American, which explains everything.

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Also, the Historical Fiction and the Cri-Fi genres don't blend well. We start with 50 pages of medallion madness, then switch almost exclusively to the war campaign for 250 pages, then drop it like a hot patootie and spend the last 100 pages back on the quest for the Ultimate Artifact.

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Kewl New Words...

Nostrum : a purported (but ineffective) cure-all; snake-oil. Flinders : (to break or fly into) splinters or fragments.

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Excerpts...

Was it any wonder that I'd taken the risk of returning to Paris? Who cannot love a capital that has three times as many winemakers as bakers? (pg. 4)

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...then again it was a dusky and colorful group, of vests and shawls and scarves and jewelry, including an ankh here and a figurine of dog-headed Anubis there. Their women might not be Cleopatra, but they certainly had an alluring beauty. What lovemaking secrets might they know? I pondered that question for some moments. I am, after all, a scientist. (pg. 56)

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"You're a bloody pagan."

"And what is a pagan? If you look at the origin of the word, it means country dweller, a person of nature who lives to the rhythm of seasons and the sun. If that is paganism, then I am a fervent believer."

"And a believer in what else, exactly?"

"That lives have purpose, that some knowledge is best left guarded, and some power sheathed and unused. Or, if released, that it be used for good." (pg. 171)

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There's always a chance to get rich during war. (pg.5)

I thoroughly enjoyed William Dietrich's treatment of Napoleon - his character, his comrades, his charisma, his conquests, and his catastrophes. I almost wish this had been a straight-up piece of Historical Fiction. The puzzles and mysteries seemed trite. How many times must we learn the secrets of the pyramids and the riddle of the Sphinx?

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Napoleon's Pyramids is the first half of a duology (I knew this going in), and ends awkwardly. There's a cliffhanger finale, but no "story within a story" is wrapped up. And consider that third excerpt again. I don't need to read the sequel to know the fate of the Ultimate Artifact. It's gonna be locked away so that guys wearing black hats cannot misuse its power. I'm very tired of that type of ending.

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So I may or may not get around to the concluding book, The Rosetta Key. I'm much more anxious to find some of Dietrich's "pure" Historical Fiction. He has a book about Attila the Hun called The Scourge Of God; and another called Hadrian's Wall. Those sound very kewl. We'll give this 6½ stars, because it's really not a bad read. But Steve Berry doesn't have to worry about being bumped out as my favorite Action author.