Guardian of the Horizon
Sat., July 21, 12:02 PM
Did I read that? Authors have played tricks on me before, but this one is a doozy. And I mean it in a good way.
As my vision deteriorated, my quest for a plentiful source of large print books was less than encouraging. Not only were the books often expensive, but they were not the kind of books I wanted. So, for my birthday, U.D. began some online searches, calling out titles and asking whether I wanted a particular book. One of those was Guardian of the Horizon by Elizabeth Peters.
I love Elizabeth Peters' books, including those written under pseudonyms. As Peters, she has written a long series of novels about the adventures of some English archaeologists who are experts in Egyptology. The characters are educated, sensibly practical, and funny, most especially Amelia Peabody Emerson, who narrates the stories. Though I may not have read every book in the series, I know about the early years, when Peabody and Emerson were rivals, and I've followed the development of their son, known as Ramses, from early childhood to adulthood.
In any case, I said yes to Guardian of the Horizon. The title was not familiar to me, but I might have read it; even if I had, I was sure I would enjoy reading it again.
The first thing I noticed was that it was “out of order.” That is, it took place at least ten years earlier than some I had read, even though the copyright is recent. Oh, I see; the introduction said it had been a “lost document.” I was looking forward to their getting into post-World War I excavating. (I have some plot twists in mind.)
So with great anticipation I began to read, only to find that I seemed to know some of this stuff — or did I? Was I remembering material that had been reviewed in later books to bring the reader up to date? Or had I really read this book before?
Y'know, I've finished it, and I still don't know. There are sections I seem to remember — but Amelia often recaps earlier adventures. There are parts I don't remember at all, including some that I think would have stayed with me. For example, there is a section where Ramses is talking in German to fool his enemies; since I understand it all, wouldn't I remember?
You could omit reading this book and never feel you'd missed part of the series. Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading about characters I hadn't seen for a while. (It was kind of like the first “Star Trek” movie; not the best plot, but it was so nice to see them all again!) I'm looking forward to another season with Howard Carter, who was a real person. What if… Nope, I'll keep it to myself. Ms. Peters, can you hear me?
