The Egyptian: A Novel Paperback – 1 April 2002

my boyhood fav book ever, based on an ancient Egyptian legend, a gripping story that contains a round trip of the Ancient world, Mycenae, Syria, Babylon all come to play before return to Egypt for the grand finale

Originally read this as a teenager. It's set at the time of the heretic pharoah, Akenaten. The style of writing may not be to everyone's taste being a little "dated" but a good story nevertheless.

This book is a journey through one man's life in ancient Egypt. It's enthralling and immersive. It made the time of the Pharaoh's come alive in this reader's imagination. Wonderful from start to finish.

The journey of Egyptian doctor from his birth to his death. Can’t stop reading

I'm halfway through and losing the will to carry on. I usually always see a book through,even if I find it a struggle, but I'm afraid this one has beaten me for now. I might revisit it when my insomnia returns.

This book is just wonderful. It is full of adventures and historical detail. One of the most enjoyable books I have ever read and completely under-rated.This book was forbidden in Spain for many years (not anymore but it was during Franco times), and it is not published in the UK nowadays.I have lent this book to a number of people and every single person has completely fallen in love with it.Great entertainment and a lot to be learnt from it

I am happy with the book but didn't expect that it would travel all the way from the USA so it took quite a while to arrive. Not really a problem if you are not relying on it as a last minute present.

Historical novels come in various types: for example the Bodice Ripper, the Anachronistic, and the Immersive. Waltari's novel is in the last category, he endeavours, and successfully I feel, to immerse us in a real Egypt which has an understandable taxation, religious, social, and military system. His hero, the marvellously ambiguous Sinuhe, speaks in "ye olde Egyptian" which effect can often by risible but works splendidly here. Sinuhe is a doctor (a most useful device as it gives him transferable skills) with whom we journey through school and training into a very varied adulthood. In the course of the novel we visit Syria, Babylonia, Hatti and Crete. At every stage I got the same feeling as reading the accounts of 19th century travellers - of fully formed realities not some two dimensional reconstruction of ancient lives.Sinuhe lived in interesting times serving the "heretic" Pharaoh Akenaten, his successor Tutankhamun and the last Pharaoh of the Dynasty, Horemheb.If you enjoyed Gore Vidal's CREATION then I think you will enjoy this one. But if you enjoy the blood and sandals genre there may be a bit too much talking for you.