The Queen Of Freedom Trilogy - Christian Jacq

***** A powerful true story 

Grandiose trilogy that traces one of the darkest period in the history of ancient Egypt: the Hyksos domination. These three books narrate the story of Queen Ahhotep, who was the architect of the liberation of Egypt and the defeat of the invaders, in a period of more than forty years.

 Dutifully fictionalised, partly because of the relatively smaller amount of finds relating to this dark epoch, which reached us, the story, however, often refers to real facts and actually found objects, thanks to the expertise of a renowned Egyptologist, Jacq that can only bring joy to an egyptophile reader.

 Even the introduction of magic is in line with the reality of a period in history when the ordinary man, not just the reigning one, really believed in the existence of supernatural elements that governed any event of their world. And these elements are included in the full respect of that part of the Egyptian religion that has come down to us. In this context, the presence of the supernatural element in the story becomes somehow historically acceptable.

 The plot that is narrated in the three books together is complex, given the length of the period described and the number of its protagonists, but extremely smooth thanks to the author's ability to simplify the story (the individual novels are relatively short), giving more emphasis to the historical-religious aspects, which are also the very essence of ancient Egypt.

 As a result, reading this trilogy not only entertains, but also allows anyone, in a simple way, to study a topic of history that has always been characterized by considerable charm.

 While reading this saga, the confrontation with the Egyptian one by Wilbur Smith is inevitable, especially for people like me who loved it (except for the last novel). The narrated period is the same, but it seems almost totally different. Here you can see the difference between the hand of an expert of the "Ancient Egypt" genre, i.e. Jacq, and that one of an expert of the "adventure" genre, i.e. Smith, who may have done extensive research, but can never compete with a real Egyptologist and who, consequently, gives a completely different cut to the narrative, creating long novels made more by the individuality of the characters than by the very power of historical facts.

The Queen of Freedom Trilogy on Amazon.com.