I finished this book almost two weeks ago, and I’ve been sitting on it
instead of writing a review…mostly because I’m not sure what I think
about it. It’s an Amelia Peabody novel, but with a difference.
Heretofor, every book in the series has represented a chronological
advance. In this case, Peters has jumped back to the years prior to the
first World War–which is to say, back to those years when Ramses was
still stressing over whether to tell Nefret how he felt. Not a time
period I was with child to revisit.

And then, it’s a direct sequel to Peters’ homage to
H. Rider Haggard, the very odd
The Last Camel Died At Noon. It’s been about ten years, and
the Emersons and sundry go back to the Lost Oasis and the lands beyond.
There’s bluster, derring do, adventures, arch comments, surly villains,
and all manner of colorful atmosphere–all very promising.

But it takes a long time to get started. And though there were bad guys
galore, there was never any great sense of danger. And the denoument
seemed both too simple and a little contrived.

I dunno. I suspect Peters had fun writing it, and I found it mildly
entertaining, but she’s capable of better than this.