Napoleon's Pyramids (Ethan Gage Series #1)

Author In Search of a Series

Dietrich has tried to create an 18th Century Indiana Jones (with, no doubt, visions of sequels dancing in his head) but, alas, in the early going at least he lacks the Spielberg panache to pull it off. However, if one can wade through the awkward verbosity of the beginning chapters - which only help the reader regard some of the early plot twists as ludicrous - the pace picks up in later chapters and one can get into the enjoyment which Dietrich hopes to provide his readers. It is as though it has taken half a book for the author to find his style - and for the most part,an amusing and pleasant one it is. Unfortunately, for this reader at least, there's quite a bit of drudgery at the beginning which numbed my mind to the point that I didn't realize I was actually enjoying the quite outlandish tale until it was almost over. If, as I suspect, Mr. Dietrich plans further episodes in the adventures of his hero Ethan Gage, I think they will be far more readable than this initial work now that the author has found the voice for his character, the times and the events encountered.

16 out of 17 people found this review helpful.

Doesn't Capture It

I really wanted to like this book, and for the first couple chapters I really did. But the plot slowed and just didn't capture me, and the characters were developed surface level at best. Doubt I go on with the series.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

A worthy Free Friday Download

Have read the whole series. The hero is a cad. Humorous and engaging.

3 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

terrific heroic late nineteenth century thriller

Four years have passed since Robespierre and the Reign of Terror ended. In Paris, though the aristocracy may have changed from blue blood to revolutionary blood, France seems back to normal as war, corruption, and pleasure rule. While observing this trend back to normalcy, American expatriate Ethan Gage wins a seemingly valuable trinket at cards, but it almost cost him his life. This is the story of how Ben Franklin¿s former apprentice learns a life lesson that gambling is a vice. Ethan won the Egyptian medallion in a card game. Afterward one of the other players offers money for the item, but Ethan turns him down. Just before leaving he warned no one refuses Silano and besides the medallion is cursed. Soon afterward thieves attack Ethan who realizes quickly they want the medallion. He survives their assault and keeps his newest asset, but now learns the gendarme seek him as a murder suspect. His luck turns at this point when he is attacked again, but gypsies and a mysterious Brit save his life. He joins Napoleon's Egypt expedition to get out of France and to learn why the medallion is so coveted. Instead in Egypt, malevolent assassins willing to kill him for the medallion come after Ethan. --- Gage is a sort of a late nineteenth century Hans Solo as he is a bit of a rogue. The story line is fast-paced whether it is in Paris or the Sahara as it seems that every turn that the hero makes and under every grain of sand he steps on lead to danger from someone coveting the medallion. The use of real historical persona and a strong support cast augments a terrific heroic saga that equates to a night of no sleep for readers. --- Harriet Klausner

3 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Quartermain Updated

This book, underneath its modern trappings of sex and violence to spice the plot, actually reminded me of a H. Rider Haggard yarn. The orthodox should be warned that the "solution" to the puzzle might offend their sensibilities. It is entertaining, but it does not rise to the heights of historical thrillers like those written by Owen Parry, Philip Kerr, Caleb Carr, etc.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

To slow

Story line was good but to rambling.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Historically correct fiction

If you like history, you'll like this book. All the events are accurate. The author weaves a nice story around these events. From the very beginning, I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The violence is necessary, but not overdone (no gore). The war is just the backdrop, not the main event.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Very POOR!!!

I struggled through about 50 pages, then I deleted it!!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Good

It wasnt bad

1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Long-winded sentences leads to breathless readers, in a bad way.

While I enjoy reading a lot of literature, I found myself having trouble getting into this particular story. Something I've come to adhere when starting a new book is to read the first twenty pages, and if I don't like it, move on. (Something I got from a book I enjoyed in high school, no less.)

With this one, I couldn't make myself get past the first five pages. The paragraph structure seemed to be running sentences with unnecessary descriptions over-detailing everything mentioned. Unless there's a character change when written from first person, which there doesn't seem to be after reading other reviews, the story will most likely continue in this fashion. Something that I don't feel I can put up with. Perhaps in the future I might be able to come back to it and soar through it, which wouldn't be th first time.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

What

Not mi type of book bro !!! (Chill out)

1 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

Wandering in the desert for 351 pages

Rent the movie National Treasure. You'll have lots more fun in lots less time.

1 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

A throughly fun adventure

Ethan Gage is a late 18th century Indiana Jones. On a quest to keep himself out of a French jail, and solve the mystery of a pendent he won in a card game, Gage ends up attached to Napoleon's army as they attempt to conquer Egypt. Along the way Gage survives various attacks upon his person in unique ways, gets the girl, (kind of) and acquires a sidekick. I loved some of the dialog between them. "You told me I would only need one shot!" "You didn't tell me you were going to shoot the camel." Great fun.

Good book..

This was a pretty good book. I enjoyed the history & would recommend to anyone interested in history.

OK, so I did genuinely like the book. I enjoyed a lot of the hi

OK, so I did genuinely like the book. I enjoyed a lot of the historical facts and the historical "facts" in the book. I learned some interesting things about the math of the pyramids in Egypt that I didn't know and a fair amount about Napoleon's invasion of Egypt (although this was largely from Wikipedia while doing some 'fact checking' - I'm always curious with historical fiction titles what is real and what isn't). I found the characters to be largely likable, mostly believable and generally well rounded.

I took issue with the card counting Ethan employed at the beginning of the book. Card counting was first 'discovered' in 1962 (although used in the early 1950's). Unlike other mathematical ideas that were 'discovered' in western civilization and the believed to have never existed before then (addressed in the book to a degree), card counting had the same limitations to discover as Bayesian statistics did for Rev. Thomas Bayes in the 1700's (a contemporary of the books) - that is, the math behind card counting is complex enough that simulations are required to demonstrate it's feasibility. While it's plausible that an exceptionally bright individual could have theorized the benefit of counting cards, tested that hypothesis through play and had it confirmed, it would not be reasonable for that person to expect all other players at the table to be equally versed in this advantage. The main frustration of this was the later discussions between savants about the origins of things such as Pascal's numbers and the 'impossibility' of them having existed pre western discovery - clearly the author has some feelings on the subject that are not consistently applied. The philosophical implications of mathematical 'discovery' (do we discover things in math [suggesting that they exist innately] or do we invent them [suggesting that math is a societal construct useful in describing the natural world]?) in the book aren't deeply delved into, but they got me thinking. This was the thing that most made me enjoy the book - the thinking it made me do. I should note that I'm a statistician by profession and my wife is a math teacher, so these are regular discussions we have, the book provided a nice catalyst for some of them.

A lot of the book was repetitious and dry - the same basic scenario being rehashed, over and over again. A lot of time was spent explaining things that had little bearing on the story. If this is an Indiana Jones type adventure (which it very much seems like) then I spent too much time reading about the origin of his hat and whip and not enough about the big boulder rolling toward me.

The book was very Masonically heavy at the beginning, and thankfully it faded to a pathetic whimper by the end of the book, with only passing references to Masonic symbols. I'm as tired of Masons in books as I am of zombies and vampires.

My last gripe about the book has to do with the inclusion of pictures. Pictures were included to help the reader visualize the Fibonacci sequence and how it related to nautilus shells. If this was included, for something so incredibly unimportant to everything in the book, why was no picture of the medallion or the calendar device included? I got tired of reading half-written descriptions of what they looked like.

OK - so I've just complained a lot about the book, but please remember, I spent more than a month reading it (This was a 'fun' book to read, so I take my time enjoying the experience rather than rushing through it), so it wasn't terrible. There was just lots of room for improvement.

This book is a good read, but at times formulaic. An interestin

This book is a good read, but at times formulaic. An interesting look at the Egyptian Campaign that single handedly created Egyptology and the craze that continues today with Ancient Egypt.

It's a fun little romp. Historical fiction about Napoleon meets

It's a fun little romp. Historical fiction about Napoleon meets Indiana Jones and National Treasure. There are plenty of true facts, and even more fantasy. If you aren't looking for something deep, this could be a could choice.

Lots of fun

I enjoyed the mix of history and fiction throughout the book, as well as the descriptions of Egypt.

In the Wrong Place at the Right Time?

Ethan Gage has been wandering through life with little purpose. He is a reluctant hero after winning a historical artifact in a card game. In an attempt to escape a murder charge, he joins a team of scientist who go with Napolean to Egypt. In Egypt he continues to fight for his life while learning about the mystery of the artifact which he feels compelled to protect from others who want it for evil purposes. His fellow scientist, many of whom are historical figures, explain to his the theoretical science behind the building of the pyramids, and love-interest/slave teaches him about the Egyptian Gods.

great read

If you like James Rollins or Steve Berry you will probably like this story as well. It took me awhile to get into it and I didn't like the main character at first but he grows on you. I think that is the point though as the story develops he starts to mature as a person and become the hero he thinks he is. I will read others in this series.