Published October 1, 2024

Book 2 in the Raiders of the Arcana Series

Summary

It’s 1898 and Ellie Mallory, a scholar, has arrived in Egypt along with her handsome companion, Adam Bates. They have just completed a dramatic exploration for a magical artifact in British Honduras, and they are now on the trail of the staff of Moses. It is critical that they find it before Professor Dawson and Mr. Jacobs, who seek the staff for nefarious purposes. 

Ellie plans to seek help from her childhood friend, Constance, who is now living in Cairo, and her brother Neil, who is on a dig at Saqqara, but time is not on their side.

My Thoughts

I enjoyed this book very much! I hadn’t read the first in the series, and while that would have given me some helpful background, it wasn’t critical for my appreciation of the story. 

This book had a little of everything. There was romance, adventure, humor, mystery, dangerous secret societies, and magical objects. The pacing was perfect, the characters were diverse and interesting, and the plot was well-crafted. The author’s writing was very engaging. She painted beautiful pictures of Egypt, the homes, the archaeological sites, and even the train stations.  

While the book was a lot of fun, it didn’t ignore issues of sexism, racism, and colonialism. I loved that women were allowed to be heroes, not just intellectually, but in physical combat. I also appreciated that Saddiq and other Egyptian characters were given roles beyond silent, subservient sidekicks. The characters discussed the issues of injustice in the school systems in the UK and Egypt, the ways archaeology discriminated against female and Egyptian scholars, and the theft of Egyptian antiquities by other nations.

My favorite character was Constance. I love that Neil referred to her as the Danger Gnome, the childhood nickname he’d given her, and which still seems to apply to the adult Constance. 

Three very minor points (that bugged me, but don’t impact my appreciation of the book)

• The camels stood up backwards. Camels stand up with their back legs first. These camels stood up front legs first.  

• Ellie’s distress at Connie’s desire to take a lover before marriage seems inconsistent with Ellie’s position on women’s rights, and I didn’t understand it.

• When one is fleeing gunmen, it is never the best time to discuss relationship issues. 

My Rating 4/5

I am very much looking forward to book 3 and will go back and read Book 1.

My thanks to NetGalley for the  complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover! I saw this book on NetGalley and knew I needed to read it before I’d even read the description. It was a great call!

Do you ever pick up a book just because it has a great cover?