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The Book of Coming Forth by Day #2
Storm in the Sky
Libbie Hawker’s saga of Amarna-era Egypt, The Book of Coming Forth by Day, continues in Part 2: Storm in the Sky.
By sheer force of the Pharaoh’s will, the City of the Sun rises from hot, barren sands. But as this monument to his strength flourishes, the king’s ties to sanity begin to fray. His religious zeal and unchecked power lead him to commit one atrocity after another, and soon those who dwell in the throne’s shadows must enter into a fatal conspiracy to prevent Egypt from crumbling altogether.
Nefertiti believes she has found a way to repay her father for his many wrongdoings. But her vengeance will cost what she holds most dear. Tiy, cast off from the court but still grappling for power, re-emerges to face the Pharaoh with a weapon unlike any he has encountered before. The burden of the throne’s security falls on young Baketaten—but she is not as fragile as she seems, and she will play a deadly game of deception to obtain what Egypt needs most: an heir to the throne. And Horemheb, tormented by love for a woman he can never have, will risk his own damnation when he swears to avenge an unimaginable loss.
The corrupted court of Akhenaten’s Egypt comes to life in this epic novel of secrets and intrigue.
By sheer force of the Pharaoh’s will, the City of the Sun rises from hot, barren sands. But as this monument to his strength flourishes, the king’s ties to sanity begin to fray. His religious zeal and unchecked power lead him to commit one atrocity after another, and soon those who dwell in the throne’s shadows must enter into a fatal conspiracy to prevent Egypt from crumbling altogether.
Nefertiti believes she has found a way to repay her father for his many wrongdoings. But her vengeance will cost what she holds most dear. Tiy, cast off from the court but still grappling for power, re-emerges to face the Pharaoh with a weapon unlike any he has encountered before. The burden of the throne’s security falls on young Baketaten—but she is not as fragile as she seems, and she will play a deadly game of deception to obtain what Egypt needs most: an heir to the throne. And Horemheb, tormented by love for a woman he can never have, will risk his own damnation when he swears to avenge an unimaginable loss.
The corrupted court of Akhenaten’s Egypt comes to life in this epic novel of secrets and intrigue.
303 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 31, 2015
About the author
Libbie Hawker
34 books475 followersLibbie was born in Rexburg, Idaho and divided her childhood between Eastern Idaho's rural environs and the greater Seattle area. She presently lives in Seattle, but has also been a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah; Bellingham, Washington; and Tacoma, Washington. She loves to write about character and place, and is inspired by the bleak natural beauty of the Rocky Mountain region and by the fascinating history of the Puget Sound.
After three years of trying to break into the publishing industry with her various books under two different pen names, Libbie finally turned her back on the mainstream publishing industry and embraced independent publishing. She now writes her self-published fiction full-time, and enjoys the fact that the writing career she always dreamed of having is fully under her own control.
Libbie's writerly influences are varied, and include Vladimir Nabokov, Hilary Mantel, Annie Dillard, George R. R. Martin, songwriter Neko Case, and mixed-media storyteller Chris Onstad, to name but a few.
She previously wrote under the pen name L.M. Ironside (historical fiction).
After three years of trying to break into the publishing industry with her various books under two different pen names, Libbie finally turned her back on the mainstream publishing industry and embraced independent publishing. She now writes her self-published fiction full-time, and enjoys the fact that the writing career she always dreamed of having is fully under her own control.
Libbie's writerly influences are varied, and include Vladimir Nabokov, Hilary Mantel, Annie Dillard, George R. R. Martin, songwriter Neko Case, and mixed-media storyteller Chris Onstad, to name but a few.
She previously wrote under the pen name L.M. Ironside (historical fiction).
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 17, 2018
The literary gods giveth, and the literary gods taketh away. Just when I thought I could look forward to a sublime series, the second book falters and crumbles in the worst possible way.
Where did it all go wrong? Well, it’s not the writing style. Carrying over from the previous book, Storm in the Sky is still awash in lovely descriptions and vivid imagery; exactly what I’ve been wishing for from Libbie Hawker for a long time. However, the problems this time are centred around missteps in story-telling devices, and unfortunately they are at the point where they overshadow the linguistic flair.
The first sign of trouble came early on. There’s a chapter where Sitamun reveals an important secret to Kiya, but Kiya doesn’t seem to respond at all. A few pages later – same chapter, same scene – Sitamun reveals the same secret again, and Kiya responds as if she’s never heard it before. I honestly think that the author accidentally mashed together an earlier draft with a later draft and forgot to erase one of the two conversations. If it was intentional then boy oh boy did it come over poorly, because it was confusing as heck. Okay… weird but, no biggie.
Then, in the seventh chapter, we get the dreaded summarising chapter from Ankhsenamun. It signals a huge time skip, which throws the established pacing right off. The previous book did have a time skips, but they were few in number and never jumped more than a year ahead. Up until this point in the second book, the action has unfolded over the course of a handful of days. Suddenly we’re thrown ahead four years, and what’s worse is that we skip over interesting action to do it, and those important and exciting events are told, not shown, to us by Ankhsenamun. The fallout from Sitamun’s death and the attempt on Akhenaten should be one of the most fascinating scenes! Likewise, the attacks at the borders of Egypt’s empire and the serious consequences of Akhenaten’s mismanagement beginning to pay off, Tiy’s attempts to bring them to Akhenaten’s attention and his dismissal, strong points highlighting his incompetence and madness, the rise in power of Ay, Tiy’s secret schemes, a mass revolt of the traditional priesthood – why is all this action tossed aside?! Argh! It’s painful. So much good drama and gripping story material going to waste!
What’s worse is that this skip-ahead chapter invalidates much of what came before. I assumed that Sitamun was one of the four POV characters in the first book because she was going to play an important role going forward. Instead she is killed off, her death doesn’t achieve anything, and it renders her perspective rather pointless – as I said in my review of the first book, instead of having Sitamun as a protagonist, we could’ve had a more significant character: Akhenaten, Ay, or perhaps Smenkhkare. And this is not the only instance of characters ending up underused and ultimately purposeless in this book.
After the time skip we’re re-introduced to Nebetah who has now become Baketaten. We’re told that Tiy has trained her tirelessly to infiltrate Akhenaten’s court and enact some kind of solid plan at last to get rid of the mad king. Wow, she sounds important. She begins by charming the pharaoh, becoming his wife, and then secretly slipping away to conceive a royal son with Smenkhkare, returns to give birth to Tutankhaten (wait, wasn’t his mother Akhenaten’s sister? Okay, let’s just say I’ll let that one slip for now). Excellent, the royal family has an alternative heir to the throne… although didn’t they already have one in Smenkhkare? So why was Tutankhaten needed? (Stop asking questions! You’ll upset the house of cards!) Anyway, so, now that’s been done, it’s time to take Akhenaten out, right? Oh, I hope he gets his just deserts, he’s really been built up over the past one and a half books, this is going to be good!
... Um…? Nothing’s happening. Really? Everyone’s just going to keep living under the status quo. I don’t get it. What was Tiy and Baketaten’s plan? There has to be more to it than just give birth to Tutankhaten, surely? If you’re thinking that maybe they’re just playing the long game for inexplicable, yet-to-be-revealed reasons – nope! Later in the book Baketaten is randomly killed by the petty jealousy of Meritaten, and that’s the end of that. Wait, are you serious? That’s all Baketaten existed to do – give birth to Tutankhaten – despite being told that she’s been trained to be a whip smart infiltrator who can bring down a regime, she doesn’t get to do anything exciting like that at all, and then she dies?! What was the point? We might as well have followed the history after all and had Sitamun be Tutankhaten’s mother, at least it would have been accurate.
About the same time as Baketaten is introduced as a perspective, we get Horemheb as a POV too. Great! That was just the thing I was asking for in my review of the previous book – a perspective from one of the key men of this time period. Be careful what you wish for. This Horemheb is unrecognisable as the historical Horemheb. Although both the character and the historical Horemheb began life as a commoner, he was taking on top military and diplomatic appointments under Tutankhamun and depicted himself as a scribe, so he most likely spent Akhenaten’s reign climbing the ranks as a junior officer with valuable scribal skill – not as a lowly guardsman. While I did genuinely appreciate that, for once, an author distinguished between Nefertiti’s sister Mutbenret and Horemheb’s wife Mutnodjmet, it couldn’t make up for the rest of the portrayal. What I’m referring to is the insta-love that Horemheb falls in with Baketaten. I groaned out loud when this happened. All it takes is one look at her and Horemheb’s obsessed. It is based purely on the fact that they are both good looking people. What makes it worse is that Horemheb is married. Sure, he struggles a bit with ‘doing the right thing’, but ultimately discards his values and the fact that going ahead would really hurt other people, because Baketaten is hot. I’m just going to say it – that’s a straight up scummy move. The fact that their mutual attraction is never consummated isn’t due to the integrity of the characters, but the fact that Baketaten has to keep focused on birthing the royal heir, Tutankhaten, and so can’t get involved with another man. Also – Baketaten is 13 years old. I understand perfectly well that the ancient Egyptians married much younger than we tend to now, that the concept of ‘teenagerhood’ is a relatively modern one and that several ancient societies tended to declare children immediately adult as soon as they hit adolescence, and that age of consent was not a law or a solid concept. Despite these facts, I have a very hard time imagining Horemheb, an adult man, falling in love at first sight with a 13-year-old girl, and not holding himself back at the very least on the grounds of waiting a couple years – unless we’re supposed to infer that he has certain predilections. I might possibly have bought into this particular storyline if Horemheb had been roughly the same age – that way it wouldn’t be creepy, and also, while I loathe insta-love as a plot device, I can totally buy two young teenagers falling for that kind of delusion. And after all that – it doesn’t even pay off. Baketaten is killed abruptly so their insta-love comes to nothing and the whole storyline is rendered meaningless. All my excitement over Horemheb getting his own perspective feels wasted because he does literally nothing except fall in insta-love with Baketaten, something which goes nowhere and I suspect was thrown in just to give these two characters something extra to do. Horemheb’s entire character could have been easily cut, and I think he was only put in because the author wanted to throw him out early so that when he becomes important later in the third book the reader will have already met him. As a Horemheb fan, I am deeply disappointed.
Worryingly, Storm in the Sky seemed to get sloppier and sloppier the closer to the end I got. I thought we’d left the whiny bitch-fighting between royal women behind with the Hatshepsut quartet, but it’s resurrected when Meritaten becomes a perspective character. I could almost palpably feel my interest plummet through the floor when that happened, and remember thinking to myself; “I could not care less.” Characters are dropping like flies, but they do so without rhyme or reason beyond they need to be killed off because the historical record says they’ve got to be killed off by a certain date. So, for example, one character will suddenly decide to get rid of another on the spur of the moment, with no real planning or build up, and in my opinion no strong reason to do so. And surviving characters don’t care! This doesn’t just happen once, but twice! Kiya is killed off, though everyone just thinks she’s fled or gone missing, and everyone’s reaction is: “Eh, whatever.” Are you kidding me?! A King’s Wife goes missing and everyone just shrugs their shoulders? No one investigates at all? I’m pretty sure the ancient Egyptian royal court would’ve taken such an occurrence way more seriously. And then it happens again with Nefertiti, who really does go missing – “Eh, whatever. We’re not going to bother looking for the primary queen.” I have no words.
We end the story with an impressive body count, but none of the dramatic action or scintillating political manoeuvring that goes along with it. It felt like almost every scene was either the royal family striding out to the Aten temple again or the King’s Wives having a chat in their homes. The plague of Akhetaten is mentioned at a distance, and when characters move through the poorer quarter it’s observed in a sheen of sweat on the peasants and merchants – but we never see the fallout, we’re told it’s a crisis but none of our characters witness horrors of it or suffer unduly. Nefertiti’s youngest children die of it as they did historically but we’re told about this in summary, we don’t go through the trauma. We’re told of the borders of Egypt’s crumbling, but don’t see that either. We don’t even see audiences with foreign dignitaries begging for aid, or the treasurer noting a restriction in supplies, or skilled quality craftsmanship drying up. We don’t see Akhenaten’s agents going out into the rest of Egypt to destroy Amun’s monuments, the uprising of sentiment against them, the clashing of these groups. It’s all held at a distance remote from the reader. Like I said in my review of the first book – put us in the throne room with Akhenaten! Show us the hottest debates, the key flashpoints, the most dramatic and devastating twists of Akhenaten’s reign!
The first book covered the years before Akhenaten became known as such. The third book covers the struggle for the throne in the aftermath of his reign. This second book should have been the peak of the trilogy; maximum drama, a darkly compelling storyline, the power of the throne, and the horrors of battle and plague, with clearly defined, strong characters who scare us, enthral us, and fascinate us as part of a tightly woven, sophisticated plot. Instead we got poorly used or wasted characters, thin or nonsensical motivations, hair-pulling cat fights, reliance on tired old tropes like insta-love, and skimmed over the very best bits of Akhenaten’s time. This is doubly disappointing because the first book was very impressive, only really lacking a few alternate perspectives and more time spent in political rather than domestic drama. The improved linguistic skill is still there – but the story-telling has gone out the window. When Libbie Hawker is on her game she writes a great book, but when she's not she seems to swing and miss hard with me. I’m very sad.
Where did it all go wrong? Well, it’s not the writing style. Carrying over from the previous book, Storm in the Sky is still awash in lovely descriptions and vivid imagery; exactly what I’ve been wishing for from Libbie Hawker for a long time. However, the problems this time are centred around missteps in story-telling devices, and unfortunately they are at the point where they overshadow the linguistic flair.
The first sign of trouble came early on. There’s a chapter where Sitamun reveals an important secret to Kiya, but Kiya doesn’t seem to respond at all. A few pages later – same chapter, same scene – Sitamun reveals the same secret again, and Kiya responds as if she’s never heard it before. I honestly think that the author accidentally mashed together an earlier draft with a later draft and forgot to erase one of the two conversations. If it was intentional then boy oh boy did it come over poorly, because it was confusing as heck. Okay… weird but, no biggie.
Then, in the seventh chapter, we get the dreaded summarising chapter from Ankhsenamun. It signals a huge time skip, which throws the established pacing right off. The previous book did have a time skips, but they were few in number and never jumped more than a year ahead. Up until this point in the second book, the action has unfolded over the course of a handful of days. Suddenly we’re thrown ahead four years, and what’s worse is that we skip over interesting action to do it, and those important and exciting events are told, not shown, to us by Ankhsenamun. The fallout from Sitamun’s death and the attempt on Akhenaten should be one of the most fascinating scenes! Likewise, the attacks at the borders of Egypt’s empire and the serious consequences of Akhenaten’s mismanagement beginning to pay off, Tiy’s attempts to bring them to Akhenaten’s attention and his dismissal, strong points highlighting his incompetence and madness, the rise in power of Ay, Tiy’s secret schemes, a mass revolt of the traditional priesthood – why is all this action tossed aside?! Argh! It’s painful. So much good drama and gripping story material going to waste!
What’s worse is that this skip-ahead chapter invalidates much of what came before. I assumed that Sitamun was one of the four POV characters in the first book because she was going to play an important role going forward. Instead she is killed off, her death doesn’t achieve anything, and it renders her perspective rather pointless – as I said in my review of the first book, instead of having Sitamun as a protagonist, we could’ve had a more significant character: Akhenaten, Ay, or perhaps Smenkhkare. And this is not the only instance of characters ending up underused and ultimately purposeless in this book.
After the time skip we’re re-introduced to Nebetah who has now become Baketaten. We’re told that Tiy has trained her tirelessly to infiltrate Akhenaten’s court and enact some kind of solid plan at last to get rid of the mad king. Wow, she sounds important. She begins by charming the pharaoh, becoming his wife, and then secretly slipping away to conceive a royal son with Smenkhkare, returns to give birth to Tutankhaten (wait, wasn’t his mother Akhenaten’s sister? Okay, let’s just say I’ll let that one slip for now). Excellent, the royal family has an alternative heir to the throne… although didn’t they already have one in Smenkhkare? So why was Tutankhaten needed? (Stop asking questions! You’ll upset the house of cards!) Anyway, so, now that’s been done, it’s time to take Akhenaten out, right? Oh, I hope he gets his just deserts, he’s really been built up over the past one and a half books, this is going to be good!
... Um…? Nothing’s happening. Really? Everyone’s just going to keep living under the status quo. I don’t get it. What was Tiy and Baketaten’s plan? There has to be more to it than just give birth to Tutankhaten, surely? If you’re thinking that maybe they’re just playing the long game for inexplicable, yet-to-be-revealed reasons – nope! Later in the book Baketaten is randomly killed by the petty jealousy of Meritaten, and that’s the end of that. Wait, are you serious? That’s all Baketaten existed to do – give birth to Tutankhaten – despite being told that she’s been trained to be a whip smart infiltrator who can bring down a regime, she doesn’t get to do anything exciting like that at all, and then she dies?! What was the point? We might as well have followed the history after all and had Sitamun be Tutankhaten’s mother, at least it would have been accurate.
About the same time as Baketaten is introduced as a perspective, we get Horemheb as a POV too. Great! That was just the thing I was asking for in my review of the previous book – a perspective from one of the key men of this time period. Be careful what you wish for. This Horemheb is unrecognisable as the historical Horemheb. Although both the character and the historical Horemheb began life as a commoner, he was taking on top military and diplomatic appointments under Tutankhamun and depicted himself as a scribe, so he most likely spent Akhenaten’s reign climbing the ranks as a junior officer with valuable scribal skill – not as a lowly guardsman. While I did genuinely appreciate that, for once, an author distinguished between Nefertiti’s sister Mutbenret and Horemheb’s wife Mutnodjmet, it couldn’t make up for the rest of the portrayal. What I’m referring to is the insta-love that Horemheb falls in with Baketaten. I groaned out loud when this happened. All it takes is one look at her and Horemheb’s obsessed. It is based purely on the fact that they are both good looking people. What makes it worse is that Horemheb is married. Sure, he struggles a bit with ‘doing the right thing’, but ultimately discards his values and the fact that going ahead would really hurt other people, because Baketaten is hot. I’m just going to say it – that’s a straight up scummy move. The fact that their mutual attraction is never consummated isn’t due to the integrity of the characters, but the fact that Baketaten has to keep focused on birthing the royal heir, Tutankhaten, and so can’t get involved with another man. Also – Baketaten is 13 years old. I understand perfectly well that the ancient Egyptians married much younger than we tend to now, that the concept of ‘teenagerhood’ is a relatively modern one and that several ancient societies tended to declare children immediately adult as soon as they hit adolescence, and that age of consent was not a law or a solid concept. Despite these facts, I have a very hard time imagining Horemheb, an adult man, falling in love at first sight with a 13-year-old girl, and not holding himself back at the very least on the grounds of waiting a couple years – unless we’re supposed to infer that he has certain predilections. I might possibly have bought into this particular storyline if Horemheb had been roughly the same age – that way it wouldn’t be creepy, and also, while I loathe insta-love as a plot device, I can totally buy two young teenagers falling for that kind of delusion. And after all that – it doesn’t even pay off. Baketaten is killed abruptly so their insta-love comes to nothing and the whole storyline is rendered meaningless. All my excitement over Horemheb getting his own perspective feels wasted because he does literally nothing except fall in insta-love with Baketaten, something which goes nowhere and I suspect was thrown in just to give these two characters something extra to do. Horemheb’s entire character could have been easily cut, and I think he was only put in because the author wanted to throw him out early so that when he becomes important later in the third book the reader will have already met him. As a Horemheb fan, I am deeply disappointed.
Worryingly, Storm in the Sky seemed to get sloppier and sloppier the closer to the end I got. I thought we’d left the whiny bitch-fighting between royal women behind with the Hatshepsut quartet, but it’s resurrected when Meritaten becomes a perspective character. I could almost palpably feel my interest plummet through the floor when that happened, and remember thinking to myself; “I could not care less.” Characters are dropping like flies, but they do so without rhyme or reason beyond they need to be killed off because the historical record says they’ve got to be killed off by a certain date. So, for example, one character will suddenly decide to get rid of another on the spur of the moment, with no real planning or build up, and in my opinion no strong reason to do so. And surviving characters don’t care! This doesn’t just happen once, but twice! Kiya is killed off, though everyone just thinks she’s fled or gone missing, and everyone’s reaction is: “Eh, whatever.” Are you kidding me?! A King’s Wife goes missing and everyone just shrugs their shoulders? No one investigates at all? I’m pretty sure the ancient Egyptian royal court would’ve taken such an occurrence way more seriously. And then it happens again with Nefertiti, who really does go missing – “Eh, whatever. We’re not going to bother looking for the primary queen.” I have no words.
We end the story with an impressive body count, but none of the dramatic action or scintillating political manoeuvring that goes along with it. It felt like almost every scene was either the royal family striding out to the Aten temple again or the King’s Wives having a chat in their homes. The plague of Akhetaten is mentioned at a distance, and when characters move through the poorer quarter it’s observed in a sheen of sweat on the peasants and merchants – but we never see the fallout, we’re told it’s a crisis but none of our characters witness horrors of it or suffer unduly. Nefertiti’s youngest children die of it as they did historically but we’re told about this in summary, we don’t go through the trauma. We’re told of the borders of Egypt’s crumbling, but don’t see that either. We don’t even see audiences with foreign dignitaries begging for aid, or the treasurer noting a restriction in supplies, or skilled quality craftsmanship drying up. We don’t see Akhenaten’s agents going out into the rest of Egypt to destroy Amun’s monuments, the uprising of sentiment against them, the clashing of these groups. It’s all held at a distance remote from the reader. Like I said in my review of the first book – put us in the throne room with Akhenaten! Show us the hottest debates, the key flashpoints, the most dramatic and devastating twists of Akhenaten’s reign!
The first book covered the years before Akhenaten became known as such. The third book covers the struggle for the throne in the aftermath of his reign. This second book should have been the peak of the trilogy; maximum drama, a darkly compelling storyline, the power of the throne, and the horrors of battle and plague, with clearly defined, strong characters who scare us, enthral us, and fascinate us as part of a tightly woven, sophisticated plot. Instead we got poorly used or wasted characters, thin or nonsensical motivations, hair-pulling cat fights, reliance on tired old tropes like insta-love, and skimmed over the very best bits of Akhenaten’s time. This is doubly disappointing because the first book was very impressive, only really lacking a few alternate perspectives and more time spent in political rather than domestic drama. The improved linguistic skill is still there – but the story-telling has gone out the window. When Libbie Hawker is on her game she writes a great book, but when she's not she seems to swing and miss hard with me. I’m very sad.
September 6, 2019
Libbie , this is my second trilogy of yours that I’ve read. Your books are amazing!! I feel as though I’m right there in Egypt as I read your books! I highly recommend your books to anyone who loves historical fiction xx
April 3, 2017
Good second volume taking place in the Amara period. Like the varying viewpoints.
August 3, 2015
And so the horror show continues...
I actually finished this the day it came out, but I've been putting off my review of it. This was a very hard read because I came to care pretty deeply about how this series characterized its historical figures. And this is a book that doesn't sugarcoat what it was probably like in Amarna. Strip away all the gilt, and historical intrigue, and you basically get a situation that sure sounds like a cult leader taking his family and followers into an isolated compound. This is more like a Jonestown in the desert, rather than a cozy period drama, and everyone is scrambling to just survive every day. Every single relationship suffers. And I do appreciate how unflinching it was. Really. Though that being said I often found myself missing The She-King: The Complete Saga. That series was no picnic, but there were quite a lot of moments of light and hope. The relationship between Hatshepsut and her step-son, for example, was complex but always loving. And even though things end terribly for the title character and her personal relationships, I remember that the country itself, at least, seemed better for her having been leader. You pretty much aren't going to find these comforts in this series of books.
And now for a spoiler section:
I'm going to need to read this one again, and maybe that will effect my rating of it. You see, I was under the impression the whole time that this was a duology. So when I was getting into the 80% mark and the Smenkhare reign wasn't happening I was so confused and a little sad because I was sure it would end before some of the stuff I find most interesting about this era. Now that I know that there's going to be more, I need to see if my view of things changes at all.
This book has a breakneck speed. Something major happens on nearly every page, and a couple times I actually said "well that escalated quickly" out loud. There's nothing wrong with that, and there was a lot of set-up for the crazy things that happened, but I think a few quiet chapters would have been welcome. For example
Pretty excited for the next book, even though I fully expect it to be as devastating.
I actually finished this the day it came out, but I've been putting off my review of it. This was a very hard read because I came to care pretty deeply about how this series characterized its historical figures. And this is a book that doesn't sugarcoat what it was probably like in Amarna. Strip away all the gilt, and historical intrigue, and you basically get a situation that sure sounds like a cult leader taking his family and followers into an isolated compound. This is more like a Jonestown in the desert, rather than a cozy period drama, and everyone is scrambling to just survive every day. Every single relationship suffers. And I do appreciate how unflinching it was. Really. Though that being said I often found myself missing The She-King: The Complete Saga. That series was no picnic, but there were quite a lot of moments of light and hope. The relationship between Hatshepsut and her step-son, for example, was complex but always loving. And even though things end terribly for the title character and her personal relationships, I remember that the country itself, at least, seemed better for her having been leader. You pretty much aren't going to find these comforts in this series of books.
And now for a spoiler section:
I'm going to need to read this one again, and maybe that will effect my rating of it. You see, I was under the impression the whole time that this was a duology. So when I was getting into the 80% mark and the Smenkhare reign wasn't happening I was so confused and a little sad because I was sure it would end before some of the stuff I find most interesting about this era. Now that I know that there's going to be more, I need to see if my view of things changes at all.
This book has a breakneck speed. Something major happens on nearly every page, and a couple times I actually said "well that escalated quickly" out loud. There's nothing wrong with that, and there was a lot of set-up for the crazy things that happened, but I think a few quiet chapters would have been welcome. For example
Pretty excited for the next book, even though I fully expect it to be as devastating.
August 28, 2020
“What are my wishes? I wish I had been born into a different family. I wish my brother were not a viper, who used me for his own ends. I wish I had never laid eyes on Amunhotep the Pharaoh. I wish I had smothered Akhenaten in the cradle, and spared Egypt this horror.” – Tiy
“I know, we’re all demons already, all mad—each of us in the royal family. Every one of us is vile, in one way or another. But some of us are viler than others.” - Sitamun
“The gods no longer dwell here in the City of the Sun. Why should they remain? They were so cruelly banished, their priests stripped of their incomes and all their attending power. And all to glorify an uncaring ball of fire. All to glorify the Pharaoh—my own husband.” – Nefertiti
“What have I done, to bring my daughter into such a world? Oh, how I wish I’d never left Mitanni. Egypt is a terrible place. For all the brightness of the sun, it’s darker here than the bottom of the deepest, coldest well.” - Kiya
2nd in The Book of Coming Forth by Day trilogy kicks off two years after where House of Rejoicing left off. Pharaoh Akhenaten's City of the Sun had finally risen from hot, barren sands. But as this monument to his strength flourishes, his ties to sanity begin to fray and his religious zeal and unchecked power lead him to commit one atrocity after another. Since not a single wife could have given him his heir, now his lustful eye falls on his own daughters, but king's wives -- Nefertiti, Sitamun, and Kiya who wants nothing other than to keep their distance from their deranged husband would go to any length to protect their daughters. However, destiny has its own plan. As Tiy, King's mother cast off from the court re-emerges with her weapon, Baketaten a deadly game of deception will be played to obtain what Egypt needs most: an heir to the throne. But will this correct the Maat? Or pushes Egypt into ignoble darkness?
🆁🅴🆅🅸🅴🆆:
👑The book is based on the Amarna-era of Egypt, about which very little is known now. Libbie had done a commendable job in filling the gaps in history and simultaneously recreating the era as authentic as possible in her writing, based on the most recent historical researches, DNA evidence, and theories.
👑Libbie's writing is vivid and elegant. She had narrated the entire story from the female POVs of Nefertiti, Tiy, Sitamun, Kiya, and Ankhesenpaten. In this list Meritaten, Baketaten and Horemheb are newly added. My only issue is that if Horemheb POV can be added then why not Akhenaten after all the entire story is crafted around him.
👑There is no dichotomy of good/ bad; the characters, caught up in complex and intricate relationships, feels real. As one generation departs, next-generation, each one of them more ill-equipped than their predecessor takes over their place. The incest relation makes me sick but their helpless situation also understandable.
👑The ending is excellently done. It sets the stage for a post-Akhenaten power struggle when the city of Akhet-Aten is going to fall and a new game of succession will begin. I'm pretty excited about reading the next book.
Overall Storm in the Sky is an engaging read for me. I feel as though I’m right there in Egypt as I read the books! I highly recommend the book to anyone who loves historical fiction based on Egyptian history.
𝑴𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐
September 29, 2015
Storm in the Sky, the second instalment in Libbie Hawker's series on Ancient Egypt's Amarna period, kicks off two years after where
House of Rejoicing: Part 1 of The Book of Coming Forth by Day
left off. Akhenaten's dream of a city dedicated solely to the Aten is now realised in the city of Akhet-Aten, but for his fellow-dreamer, sister and wife, Sitamun, Akhet-Aten is the rude awakening that his other wives have already suffered. Akhenaten's corruption spreads, dragging more innocents into his web.
One of the things that surprised me most about Storm in the Sky is how little a role Akhenaten seems to play in it. He's at the centre of everything that happens, but he is shrouded by the shadows and the reader is rarely given the chance to see him in any sort of detail. In a way, it seems fitting for Akhenaten to be this shadowy figure that affects and controls everything but is rarely understood or seen. I certainly don't want to get too close to him.
The cast of characters expands in Storm in the Sky, introducing some more of the most well known and iconic figures from this time period – Tutankhaten, Ankhesenamun, Meritaten, Horemheb. But as these characters enter, we bid farewell to some others. It is hard to say goodbye – Hawker has created such vivid, realistic characters that it's sad when they shuffle (or leap) off the mortal coil.
Once more – and I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record every time I review one of Hawker's books – I have to draw attention to the author's skill with characters and settings. Her characters feel real, caught up in complex situations and intricate relationships. There's no simple dichotomy of good/bad, only the sense of real people who are trapped in difficult circumstances. They don't know who to trust, they are trying to survive and protect their loved ones. Hawker also recreates an authentic Ancient Egypt in her writings – Akhet-Aten feels so claustrophobic and dangerous that it's not hard for a reader to feel as trapped and unsafe as its inhabitants do.
But I did have some little issues with the Storm in the Sky. I didn't really care for the seventh chapter, in which Ankhesenamun-from-the-future interrupts the flow of the book to narrate – it reminded me a little of a proposed film treatment of Lord of the Rings that saw the Moria storyline replaced by a voiceover along the lines of "so, anyway, we lost Gandalf in the Moria..." It wasn't as ridiculous as that, but it was jarring and a little strange for my liking. I also didn't care for Horemheb's chapter of insta-love for Baketaten, but then it's a trope I have a knee-jerk reaction to.
It's actually quite interesting to see how Hawker uses the history. What is actually known about this time period is very little, but the fragments of evidence and the multiple theories resemble something of a jigsaw puzzle. It's up to the historical fiction author to decide how these pieces fit together and what picture they make. Hawker's account of this time is one of the more recent, able to draw on new research and theories, and also one of the most unique. It's very clear that Hawker is well-versed in the history and theories about these personalities and as someone similarly well-versed, it's fascinating to see the hints of the picture she's building.
Altogether, Storm in the Sky is a strong instalment in Hawker's The Book of Coming Forth By Day. It's a great read, even with my small quibbles with the text, and I eagerly await the next volume.
One of the things that surprised me most about Storm in the Sky is how little a role Akhenaten seems to play in it. He's at the centre of everything that happens, but he is shrouded by the shadows and the reader is rarely given the chance to see him in any sort of detail. In a way, it seems fitting for Akhenaten to be this shadowy figure that affects and controls everything but is rarely understood or seen. I certainly don't want to get too close to him.
The cast of characters expands in Storm in the Sky, introducing some more of the most well known and iconic figures from this time period – Tutankhaten, Ankhesenamun, Meritaten, Horemheb. But as these characters enter, we bid farewell to some others. It is hard to say goodbye – Hawker has created such vivid, realistic characters that it's sad when they shuffle (or leap) off the mortal coil.
Once more – and I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record every time I review one of Hawker's books – I have to draw attention to the author's skill with characters and settings. Her characters feel real, caught up in complex situations and intricate relationships. There's no simple dichotomy of good/bad, only the sense of real people who are trapped in difficult circumstances. They don't know who to trust, they are trying to survive and protect their loved ones. Hawker also recreates an authentic Ancient Egypt in her writings – Akhet-Aten feels so claustrophobic and dangerous that it's not hard for a reader to feel as trapped and unsafe as its inhabitants do.
But I did have some little issues with the Storm in the Sky. I didn't really care for the seventh chapter, in which Ankhesenamun-from-the-future interrupts the flow of the book to narrate – it reminded me a little of a proposed film treatment of Lord of the Rings that saw the Moria storyline replaced by a voiceover along the lines of "so, anyway, we lost Gandalf in the Moria..." It wasn't as ridiculous as that, but it was jarring and a little strange for my liking. I also didn't care for Horemheb's chapter of insta-love for Baketaten, but then it's a trope I have a knee-jerk reaction to.
It's actually quite interesting to see how Hawker uses the history. What is actually known about this time period is very little, but the fragments of evidence and the multiple theories resemble something of a jigsaw puzzle. It's up to the historical fiction author to decide how these pieces fit together and what picture they make. Hawker's account of this time is one of the more recent, able to draw on new research and theories, and also one of the most unique. It's very clear that Hawker is well-versed in the history and theories about these personalities and as someone similarly well-versed, it's fascinating to see the hints of the picture she's building.
Altogether, Storm in the Sky is a strong instalment in Hawker's The Book of Coming Forth By Day. It's a great read, even with my small quibbles with the text, and I eagerly await the next volume.
May 6, 2018
Entertaining
I loved the strong female characters in this series. I feel Neffertiti’s strength and resolve and it inspires me.
Although how many real historical facts are in these books, I wonder? I think the author does a phenomenal job of filling in gaps where history has nothing. It was such a long time ago, and she does well with giving no qualms to all her characters truly worshipping the gods as real. Highly recommend.
I loved the strong female characters in this series. I feel Neffertiti’s strength and resolve and it inspires me.
Although how many real historical facts are in these books, I wonder? I think the author does a phenomenal job of filling in gaps where history has nothing. It was such a long time ago, and she does well with giving no qualms to all her characters truly worshipping the gods as real. Highly recommend.
June 24, 2018
I didn't like this book as much as the 1st in the series. It was choppy and abrupt. The characters fell flat, and all of the day-to-day Egyptian life education that appeared in the first book was missing here too. It seemed as though the author threw everything she had into the first book and didn't have much else left for this one.
I'll probably eventually read the 3rd installment of the story, but with low expectations.
I'll probably eventually read the 3rd installment of the story, but with low expectations.
January 11, 2023
There is something satisfying in reading about hot sun and bright landscapes as cold winter rains come down.
Still, despite the gorgeous setting, the drama of this royal soap opera ratches up the ick factor to 11 - even knowing about it going in, the descriptions of the incest made my skin crawl. And then one of the characters casually stating: 'oh yeah, madness runs in the family, must be the gods' blessing.' Umm, no, it's the insect! >shudder<
May 10, 2018
The author wasn't joking when she referred to this series as "A Game of Thrones" in Ancient Egypt with death, incest, and betrayal around every corner. Basically no one is in a good place in this book, and things just keep snowballing from bad to worse. Both Kiya's and Sitamun's fates were depressing, although hopefully Kayet managed to escape to a normal life.
January 12, 2020
Stretched my suspension of disbelief to the limit. One-dimensional characterization and bizarre plot choices. Especially had trouble with modern social mores being applied to characters’ reaction to events. Extra star for competent writing.
November 21, 2017
Had a bit trouble with book one, but I am really pleased I stayed with the books. Now completed all three books, and super excited about them.
January 27, 2018
Couldn't put it down.
June 18, 2019
I am on to the final book in the series. So far I really like.
March 23, 2016
Libbie Hawker continues her take on the Amarna period in Storm in the Sky, Part 2 of The Book of Coming Forth by Day.
The cast shrinks, but then grows with new members. Sitamun gets two chapters in the beginning and Kiya only one. I liked Kiya best and while I knew she wasn't going to get a happy ending or make it to the last book, I think we could've gotten at least one more perspective from her. However, I do understand the decision as her character does become superfluous to the plot. (*edited as tiny-librarian on Tumblr pointed out, I completely misremembered the identity of Tutankhamun's mother in Stephanie Liaci's Last Heiress, original text below).
Tiy only gets one perspective in the first half of the book, but she returns to play a bigger role in the second half. Joining the cast of perspectives are Baketaten, the soldier Horemheb, and Nefertiti's eldest daughter, Meritaten. Ankhesanamun begins the story again, reflecting from the historical future, and attains a present perspective later in the book.
While I enjoyed Horemheb's perspectives and don't care on principle that a man entered the story previously told only from female perspectives, I did feel the female-only perspectives in the first book gave it more unity and cohesion.
However, since the author chose to include a male perspective, why not also Ay or Akhenaten? (I snuck a peak at Part 3: Eater of Hearts and apparently Ay will get perspectives in it.) Akhenaten remains an evil figure with little explanation as to why. Other characters frequently refer to his madness, but this doesn't really seem to explain it. It seems more that he's obsessed with his one goal and doesn't think much about the effects it has on his family, his people, and his country. Ankhesenamun recounts a glimpse of his grief in the seventh chapter and it made me want some insight into his twisted mind.
Nefertiti grows increasingly power-hungry, but then falls apart. Her outburst toward Akhenaten, while understandable in general, seemed out of character for the plotting Nefertiti.
The ending sets the stage for a post-Akhenaten power struggle and I look forward to reading it. I'm critical above, but they're really just quibbles. Libbie Hawker delivers another great book.
*In another book, Stephanie Liaci's "The Last Heiress" Kiya did not appear, but was identified as Tutankhamun's mother. Libbie Hawker's choice of Tutankhamun's mother comes from recent DNA evidence. I appreciate that the author used this information, but without adding any other significant role for Kiya, the character disappointingly becomes superfluous to the plot. (text changed above, mistaken info)
Cross-posted on Gemna's Book Gems
The cast shrinks, but then grows with new members. Sitamun gets two chapters in the beginning and Kiya only one. I liked Kiya best and while I knew she wasn't going to get a happy ending or make it to the last book, I think we could've gotten at least one more perspective from her. However, I do understand the decision as her character does become superfluous to the plot. (*edited as tiny-librarian on Tumblr pointed out, I completely misremembered the identity of Tutankhamun's mother in Stephanie Liaci's Last Heiress, original text below).
Tiy only gets one perspective in the first half of the book, but she returns to play a bigger role in the second half. Joining the cast of perspectives are Baketaten, the soldier Horemheb, and Nefertiti's eldest daughter, Meritaten. Ankhesanamun begins the story again, reflecting from the historical future, and attains a present perspective later in the book.
While I enjoyed Horemheb's perspectives and don't care on principle that a man entered the story previously told only from female perspectives, I did feel the female-only perspectives in the first book gave it more unity and cohesion.
However, since the author chose to include a male perspective, why not also Ay or Akhenaten? (I snuck a peak at Part 3: Eater of Hearts and apparently Ay will get perspectives in it.) Akhenaten remains an evil figure with little explanation as to why. Other characters frequently refer to his madness, but this doesn't really seem to explain it. It seems more that he's obsessed with his one goal and doesn't think much about the effects it has on his family, his people, and his country. Ankhesenamun recounts a glimpse of his grief in the seventh chapter and it made me want some insight into his twisted mind.
Nefertiti grows increasingly power-hungry, but then falls apart. Her outburst toward Akhenaten, while understandable in general, seemed out of character for the plotting Nefertiti.
The ending sets the stage for a post-Akhenaten power struggle and I look forward to reading it. I'm critical above, but they're really just quibbles. Libbie Hawker delivers another great book.
*In another book, Stephanie Liaci's "The Last Heiress" Kiya did not appear, but was identified as Tutankhamun's mother. Libbie Hawker's choice of Tutankhamun's mother comes from recent DNA evidence. I appreciate that the author used this information, but without adding any other significant role for Kiya, the character disappointingly becomes superfluous to the plot. (text changed above, mistaken info)
Cross-posted on Gemna's Book Gems
August 25, 2015
I did miss some of my favorite characters, but I knew they wouldn't around if the author did the right thing and followed historical records and DNA-which she did! I was ecstatic! She brought this civilization to life. I can't wait to continue!
February 12, 2016
Excellent
This is better than the previous volume of this serial. The ending is excellently done. This generally follows my read of the history of Amarna period, except for King Tut. According to some Egyptologists Tut was the son of Kia.
This is better than the previous volume of this serial. The ending is excellently done. This generally follows my read of the history of Amarna period, except for King Tut. According to some Egyptologists Tut was the son of Kia.
September 19, 2015
Can't wait for the last one!
March 23, 2016
Nooit gedink dat Egiptiese geskiedenis my so sou boei nie. Hierdie skrywer maak karakters léwe!
February 29, 2016
Really good, can't wait for the next book! I really enjoy reading about these women.
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