I cannot bear to give this book any higher rating simply because of how atrociously this book treated its female characters. They were static through the book and only used as love interests or to show how powerful the men had gotten. Despite the large cast of characters in the book, there were only three woman of import, all princesses, whom the author spent an egregious amount of time describing by the development and visibility of their breasts and ass. Anytime they excelled at anything, the men were always better, and even the bravest, smartest, and strongest of the women was often reduced to screaming and crying if things went bad.

There was even a moment when I though the author had given one of the female characters a moment of redemption; she drew the enemy forces to her and into the waiting trap, then delivered a fatal blow to the man that murdered her father, forced her into marriage, beat her and attempted to rape her. But even that was revealed to be the workings of the Magus; she couldn’t even have the agency to stand on a rock as bait.

The final straw on the camels back for me was the ending of the book. When the dust settled, of the three main women, only the protagonists lover survived. The two other princesses, who had been sisters, had died in the worst way possible; the eldest sister, driven mad with power and grief, had raped her younger sister to death with a spear. After that she was captured, still raving mad, and put to death.

I can not recommend this book to anyone who has any respect for women. It’s atrocious, and if you are interest in ancient Egyptian fiction, there are plenty of other books out there.