Review: Not much respect for the reader
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2012
I wanted to like this book -- I was in the mood for a light, fast historical action novel -- but Treasure of Egypt simply has too many flaws.(On a personal note, I've picked several disappointing books lately. I hope to remedy that soon.)First there's the worst editing I think I've ever seen. In the first 12 percent of the book, I highlighted and counted more than 80 obvious editing errors. Use of the wrong word is rampant: "petty coat" for petticoat, "Misses" for Missus (meaning Mrs.), "fiancé" for fiancée. "feint of heart" for faint of heart, "stretched taunt" for stretched taut, "ladies of the ton" rather than ladies of the town, and so on.A particular irritation was the frequent incorrect punctuation of quotes. For example, "`This indicates a tomb,' Sir Richard pointed to a symbol." This should either be two separate sentences or punctuated this way: "This indicates a tomb," said Sir Richard, pointing to a symbol.More troubling than the mechanical errors, however, is the obvious lack of research and the inability to stay within the confines of the 1860s time period. I'll give a few examples:1. The best friend, Samuel, saying "Com'on man." (C'mon man is just too modern.)2. Referring to cuneiform as "an ancient language" rather than an ancient writing system.3. The protagonist, Alec, says: "Tell me. How do you really feel?" after Samuel complains. (This joke is simply too modern.)4. The author says Alec looked "more like a cowboy of the American West than an English lord." It's doubtful anyone in 1863 would think this. Buffalo Bill didn't organize the first Wild West show until 1872 and Karl May, who almost singlehandedly popularized Western dime novels (penny dreadfuls) in Europe, didn't publish his first book about the Old West until 1879.Sadly, in my opinion, the lack of crucial historical research translates into a lack of respect for the reader. However, this book deserves 1.5 stars for having a good idea and executing it in a way that would have been fun except for all the errors.