Raiders of the Nile

Raiders of the Nile (#500), Steven Saylor's latest novel, occupies a special place in my personal library.  Firstly, it marks a milestone for this blog.  Secondly, it was a gift from my husband, who knows my literary tastes to a "T".  How delightful that these two should coincide!  It's been sitting on my bookshelf since Christmas, where I could see it as I read through my coursework for EfM, keeping up with the newspaper and journals, holding out a promise of a particular treat to come.  I've finally had a chance to catch my breath and sit down with a book that carried no obligation of a swift return to a lender, to a group read or anything else of the sort.  The objective in reading Raiders of the Nile was pure pleasure, and it delivered in curl-my-toes-in delight style.

Gordianus, the young hero of Seven Wonders, has settled for the last three years in Alexandria, one of the most exciting and largest cities in the Ancient World.  Unlike his father, Gordianus the Finder, still plying his trade back home in Rome, the young Gordianus has found himself unable to settle to serious pursuit of anything resembling a career.  True, he now owns the slave girl Bethesda, around whom his life seems to center, but as a proper Roman any relationship between the two would not be possible.  He is content to live in the moment and put off resolving this thorny issue until some point in a hopefully far distant future.  That is, until the day that Bethesda is kidnapped for ransom by an organized gang of bandits who mistake her for a rich merchant's mistress.  Galvanized into action to rescue Bethesda with no money to his name, Gordianus soon finds himself in league with the pirates to carry off a daring heist in Alexandria as an invading army heads for Egypt.

Mistaken identities, peril at every turn, multiple villains, a witch, a tyrant and political plots - Raiders of the Nile has them all in spades.  It also presents an intriguing view of Egypt through a Roman's eyes before Rome conquered most of the Ancient World, all told with a light touch and plenty of page-turning action.  My favorite kind of book and a worthy addition to this blog!