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dangermousieIn honor of her newest book.
Does anyone else like them? They are set in late 19th early 20th century and are mysteries involving a female Egyptologist (Amelia), her hot-tempered, archeological nut of a husband Emerson, their precocious (and now remarkably grown-up) son Ramses (birth name “Walter”), their “adopted” daughter Nefret (in reality a young girl they discovered in a King Solomon’s Mines-like situation, their arch-enemy known by his soubriquet of Sethos and a large cast of recurring characters.
I am not a big fan of mysteries (as I am the type who reads the last page first) so for me to like a mystery, there has to be something extra. And Peters’ books are not much of a mystery. But they are wonderful, hilarious, exhilarating novels. Her earlier books (I believe the first 8 or 9) that start with Amelia meeting Emerson in the 1880s or ‘90s and continuing though when Ramses is about 13 are light-hearted sparkling tributes to those pulpy 19th century adventure novels I used to love when I was a kid. Last Camel Died at Noon would have made H. Rider Haggard very happy. And they are delightfully tongue-in-cheek. Amelia is also a wonderful narrator: she is fun and strong-willed (one might say domineering), but she is often blind-sided, adores arguing with her husband as much as she likes ogling him, and is remarkably unsentimental (one might say unattached) to her son.
The four books after that really form a coherent quartet that you have to read together. The books skip over a number of years, and the first of the quartet “Seeing a Large Cat” begins when Ramses is about 16. These four (Cat, Ape who guards the balance, Falcon at the portal, He shall Thunder in the Sky) are my favorites. They cover about 10 years and are focused (besides the inevitable mysteries of course) on grown-up Ramses’ feelings for Nefret (in an Anakin fashion, he saw her when he was 10 and was smitten ever after, but she treats him merely as a friend and brother), exciting spy stuff (World War I is near) and mucho mucho angst (he’s loved her in silence for all that time). To deal with the whole Ramses-Nefret-David (Ramses’ best friend who marries his cousin) story, Peterson splits the narrative, with the delightful fun of Amelia’s narration contrasting with the omniscient (and soooo angsty) “Manuscript H” one.
I’ve read the one after Thunder and it was OK, but there was something missing. And I am reading the one after that one (The Golden One) and once again, it’s OK but the spark is gone (I only remember the Nefret-Ramses parts of that one). She should have stopped after Thunder as it was the logical place to stop. The Emersons found out the identity of Sethos, who finally died. Nefret and Ramses finally got their act together (though for Ramses’ sake I hope it won’t require being whipped almost to death every time they want to get mushy). And even though Ramses is a huge literary crush of mine, I think she should have stopped the series right there. Great place to stop. But she didn’t.
But there is not much interest left. Sethos coming back to life again is annoying. It was OK in earlier books because they were written as funny tongue-in-cheek occurrences. His death in Thunder (and the Quartet itself) are more realistic. And while Nefret and Ramses make a lovely couple, there isn’t as much dramatic interest there any more. The angst potential is much smaller now that Ramses has his heart’s desire. And emotionally nothing can top the angst of Falcon: the day after she finally reciprocated, due to a villainous plot she believes the worst and comes back married so he knows he’s lost her forever. And then she has a miscarriage and he is left to wonder if it’s his. And physically the angst of Thunder. So yeah, they are nice but dramatic tension is gone, and she can’t return to her funny pastiche style. Plus Amelia and Emerson are getting a bit long in the tooth. I think she should just stop and write more Vicky books or something else.
Does anyone else like them? They are set in late 19th early 20th century and are mysteries involving a female Egyptologist (Amelia), her hot-tempered, archeological nut of a husband Emerson, their precocious (and now remarkably grown-up) son Ramses (birth name “Walter”), their “adopted” daughter Nefret (in reality a young girl they discovered in a King Solomon’s Mines-like situation, their arch-enemy known by his soubriquet of Sethos and a large cast of recurring characters.
I am not a big fan of mysteries (as I am the type who reads the last page first) so for me to like a mystery, there has to be something extra. And Peters’ books are not much of a mystery. But they are wonderful, hilarious, exhilarating novels. Her earlier books (I believe the first 8 or 9) that start with Amelia meeting Emerson in the 1880s or ‘90s and continuing though when Ramses is about 13 are light-hearted sparkling tributes to those pulpy 19th century adventure novels I used to love when I was a kid. Last Camel Died at Noon would have made H. Rider Haggard very happy. And they are delightfully tongue-in-cheek. Amelia is also a wonderful narrator: she is fun and strong-willed (one might say domineering), but she is often blind-sided, adores arguing with her husband as much as she likes ogling him, and is remarkably unsentimental (one might say unattached) to her son.
The four books after that really form a coherent quartet that you have to read together. The books skip over a number of years, and the first of the quartet “Seeing a Large Cat” begins when Ramses is about 16. These four (Cat, Ape who guards the balance, Falcon at the portal, He shall Thunder in the Sky) are my favorites. They cover about 10 years and are focused (besides the inevitable mysteries of course) on grown-up Ramses’ feelings for Nefret (in an Anakin fashion, he saw her when he was 10 and was smitten ever after, but she treats him merely as a friend and brother), exciting spy stuff (World War I is near) and mucho mucho angst (he’s loved her in silence for all that time). To deal with the whole Ramses-Nefret-David (Ramses’ best friend who marries his cousin) story, Peterson splits the narrative, with the delightful fun of Amelia’s narration contrasting with the omniscient (and soooo angsty) “Manuscript H” one.
I’ve read the one after Thunder and it was OK, but there was something missing. And I am reading the one after that one (The Golden One) and once again, it’s OK but the spark is gone (I only remember the Nefret-Ramses parts of that one). She should have stopped after Thunder as it was the logical place to stop. The Emersons found out the identity of Sethos, who finally died. Nefret and Ramses finally got their act together (though for Ramses’ sake I hope it won’t require being whipped almost to death every time they want to get mushy). And even though Ramses is a huge literary crush of mine, I think she should have stopped the series right there. Great place to stop. But she didn’t.
But there is not much interest left. Sethos coming back to life again is annoying. It was OK in earlier books because they were written as funny tongue-in-cheek occurrences. His death in Thunder (and the Quartet itself) are more realistic. And while Nefret and Ramses make a lovely couple, there isn’t as much dramatic interest there any more. The angst potential is much smaller now that Ramses has his heart’s desire. And emotionally nothing can top the angst of Falcon: the day after she finally reciprocated, due to a villainous plot she believes the worst and comes back married so he knows he’s lost her forever. And then she has a miscarriage and he is left to wonder if it’s his. And physically the angst of Thunder. So yeah, they are nice but dramatic tension is gone, and she can’t return to her funny pastiche style. Plus Amelia and Emerson are getting a bit long in the tooth. I think she should just stop and write more Vicky books or something else.
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no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 05:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-01 11:21 pm (UTC)From people's comments I've understood that the Ramses books are better than the Amelia ones, so would it be worth it to read more of the books in you opinion?
no subject
Date: 2005-04-04 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-05 02:43 am (UTC)