Paneb the Ardent is the third book in the Stone of Light series. Contrary to the slowness of the second book, the Wise Woman, I read this book with excitement and started the fourth book as soon as I finished it. While things were getting more and more heated in the Square of Truth, I can say that Christian Jacq helped me to memorise Egyptian culture and history. In fact, after this series is over, I am already thinking about which series of the author should I start.
Paneb the Ardent was a book where events accelerated, and unexpected things came to light one by one. While the artists are dealing with the traitor inside the Place of Truth, Egypt is trying to take its guard against foreign attacks. Of course, the division within the country also brings great sadness to both the Place of Truth and all the people.
While Pharaoh Seti II is considering how to deal with his son, who is about to rise up against him, General Mehi is also gaining strength, trying to steal the Stone of Light that keeps the Place of Truth alive. While Mehi and his wife Serketa cause plenty of intrigue and death in this book, Paneb the Ardent tries to find his own way as an artist.
Christian Jacq is a terrific Egyptologist. As in every other book, you get immersed in people’s lifestyles, cultures, customs and traditions while gaining new information about Egyptian history. It is possible to find yourself in Egypt all of a sudden, with a thousand and one details, from the clothes you wear to the food you eat. If you’re interested, don’t miss Paneb the Ardent. Enjoy!
Paneb the Ardent (Stone of Light, #3)
Paneb the Ardent: The author of the international triumph “Ramses” returns to the passion and mystery of ancient Egypt in this third volume of the “Stone of Light” saga. Inside a forbidden village deep in the mountainous desert, Nefer the Silent crosses paths with Paneb, a farmer’s son who harbours the lofty dream of entering the fabled Place of Truth. Can these fledgling young heroes save the Pharaoh from a murderous plot? Paneb the Ardent is the third book in the series.
Christian Jacq
Christian Jacq is a French author and Egyptologist. He has written several novels about ancient Egypt, notably a five-book series about pharaoh Ramses II, a character whom Jacq admires greatly.
Born in Paris, Jacq’s interest in Egyptology began when he was thirteen when he read History of Ancient Egyptian Civilization by Jacques Pirenne. This inspired him to write his first novel. By the time he was eighteen, he had written eight books. His first commercially successful book was Champollion the Egyptian, published in 1987. As of 2004, he has written over fifty books, including several non-fiction books on the subject of Egyptology.
Jacq has a doctorate in Egyptian Studies from the Sorbonne. He and his wife later founded the Ramses Institute, which is dedicated to creating a photographic description of Egypt for the preservation of endangered archaeological sites. Between 1995 and 1997, he published his best-selling five book suite Ramsès, which is today published in over twenty-five countries. Each volume encompasses one aspect of Ramses’s known historical life, woven into a fictional tapestry of the ancient world for an epic tale of love, life and deceit.
Jacq’s series describes a vision of the life of the pharaoh: he has two vile power-hungry siblings, Shanaar, his decadent older brother, and Dolora, his corrupted older sister who married his teacher. In his marital life, he first has Isetnofret (Iset) as a mistress (second Great Wife), meets his true love Nefertari (first Great Wife) and after their deaths, marries Maetnefrure in his old age. Jacq gives Ramses only three biological children: Kha’emweset, Meritamen (she being the only child of Nefertari, the two others being from Iset) and Merneptah. The other “children” are only young officials trained for government and who are nicknamed “sons of the pharaoh”.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
