ESCAPE FROM ANCIENT EGYPT
By A.K. Taylor
Purchase on Amazon
Book Details
File Size: 1447 KB
Print Length: 182 Pages
Publisher: Telemachus Press, LLC
Publication Date: December 19, 2012
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
Book Summary
Seeking his revenge on Neiko for exposing him, Francesco banishes Neiko into ancient
Egypt just like he did her friends eleven years ago. During her stay there, she unravels the
mystery of what happened to her four friends. Now she’s faced with a bigger problem—
how to get home. After a series of unfortunate events, Neiko is now entangled with
Pharaoh Ramesses II. Francesco also comes to make sure their fates are sealed. Can
Neiko and her friends beat impossible odds and return to Hawote and back to the present?
About the Author
A.K. Taylor grew up in the backwoods of Georgia where she learned about nature. She
enjoys hunting and fishing, beekeeping, gardening, archery, shooting, hiking, and has
various collections. She also has interest in music, Native American history and heritage,
Egyptian history, and the natural sciences. A.K. Taylor has been writing and drawing
since the age of 16. A.K. Taylor has graduated from the University of Georgia with a
biology degree, and she shares an interest in herpetology with her husband.
For more information about the author go to: http://www.backwoodsauthor.com
Book Review
Escape From Ancient Egypt by A.K. Taylor is an ambitious book with some important
messages, but also some structure challenges. It's important to note we are evaluating
Escape From Ancient Egypt as a stand alone novel despite it being the second book in
the Neiko Adventure Series as we have not read the series' first installment. However,
we have some basic knowledge of the first book as well as a cursory understanding of the
its plot and characters.
The author attempts to bring readers up to speed in the first chapter as Neiko updates her
personal journal—we read as she writes. This is a good idea in theory, but there is a level
of complexity to the author's fantasy which makes this background information difficult
to fully comprehend in a few digital pages. This makes the novel's beginning a little
confusing as there are a lot of characters and plot lines to explain. It takes a few chapters
for readers to get their bearings, but stick with it as it does get easier.
While this book is written for young teens and up, the subject matter at times is far too
mature for its intended audience. There is also an imbalance between the youthful tone
of the writing and the seriousness of the content. Readers observe Neiko experience a
range of emotions as she is transported back in time against her will to Egypt during the
reign of Ramasses.
The novel's villain, Francesco has schemed to remove Neiko from her position of power
and authority within the hidden Hawote tribal community by secretly sending her to
ancient Egypt using a magic crystal. When other leaders within the community discover
where she is, Francesco is commanded to bring her back. He returns to ancient Egypt not
to rescue Neiko and her warrior buddies Tito, Sito, Mactalon, Panthero, but to ensure her
permanent place 3,000 years in the past as an Egyptian slave. He also aims to become
Ramasses advisor and confident. Francesco's goal is to learn from the great Pharaoh and
then return to his own time to gain control of the seven tribes and that can't happen if
Neiko is around.
Francesco's plan seems to be going well—almost too well as Ramasses becomes
obsessed with 21 year old Neiko. The Pharaoh is determined to not only marry Neiko,
but appoints her to be his Great Wife ahead of Nefeteri and other unnamed wives. The
great honor brings with it the threat of immediate death to her in the event of Ramasses
own untimely passing. Apparently it was common in Egyptian culture for a great wife to
be either buried alive or killed once her husband has gone the way of all the earth—a
sobering thought at any age.
To say that Neiko is resistant to all that is going on around her without her knowledge or
consent is a gross understatement and yet many of her efforts to change her
circumstances don't seem logical and perhaps a bit immature and repetitive. Neiko is
essentially being abused mentally and emotionally by her fictional captor husband whose
primary goal in the context of this storyline is to make Neiko love him. This doesn't
seem to be appropriate subject matter for a young teen girl audience given the adult ages
of Neiko and we assume the much older Ramasses.
While Neiko won't give Ramasses the time of day despite their shot gun wedding of
sorts, an odd union between she and Nefeteri develops. Neiko's de facto sister wife is
sympathetic toward her. The women are more comrades than rivals. This is a nice
surprise and effective as it would have been easier to pit the two women against each
other, but then again our protagonist has enough on her plate with Ramasses.
The Escape From Ancient Egypt storyline is good conceptually with lots of action and we
did find ourselves anxiously wanting to know how the author resolved Neiko's dilemna.
Taylor also does a nice job of drawing the reader into the fictional world of ancient Egypt
literally with her fantastic artwork interspersed throughout the novel.
Our recommendation for this book would be for an older teen audience. That said, there
is a fair amount of slang and unorthodox dialog that is better suited for a middle school or
elementary age audience, hence the structure and balance issues we referenced at the
beginning of this review.
As a digital work, this book exceeds all primary requirements for a good reader
experience. What's great about digital publishing is the opportunity to resolve editing,
dialog, and character issues for subsequent book release updates.
Neiko has tremendous potential as a literary role model for young girls as she can teach
through her fictional examples how to take control of their own lives, but it has to be in
context with the appropriate story for the right age group. In that respect, we look
forward to future installments of the Neiko Adventure Series.
*This book was reviewed as part of the Wise Bear Digital Book Awards competition. Entry
fees associated with the contest are administrative in nature and do not influence our
honest, unbiased book reviews.