The Awakening Aten

History was a favourite subject at school so I do enjoy a historical novel every now and then. Unsurprisingly history novels are very much of their time, so while there's always been an abundance of mediaeval set novels from the Victorians onwards, in the latter part of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries, given the interest in political structures and democracy, there has been a veritable flood of Rome-based novels. Novels based in ancient Egypt however have fared much less well, I suspect the reason for that is that white Westerners mostly struggle to find some way of identifying with ancient Egypt. Off the top of my head I can only recall two novels set in Egypt, Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer, and Sinhue the Egyptian, by Finnish novelist Mika Waltari. I would never recommend Ancient Evenings to my friends, I don't know what Mailer was on when he wrote it, but I wouldn't like to share that either. Sinhue, on the other hand, is a veritable classic and when I read it in high school I could simply not put it down. The Awakening Aten is set in roughly the same time period as Sinhue, as its title indicates, in the time surrounding the reign of the heretic King Akhetaten (in the introduction the author informs us that the Egyptians never themselves used the term Pharaoh). This shared setting is no coincidence, Akhetaten boldly attempted to break with centuries of religious tradition and establish a new more streamlined cult of a single god rather than the confusingly multifarious deities traditionally worshipped in the land of the two Niles, thus the era has an enduring appeal to the modern mind. The story begins with four men awaiting execution for different offences, an artist, Kha, a thief, Pernab and an exile, Yusuf (later Yuya). The story follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the three men once they manage to dodge their fate and their families which become inextricably intertwined with the story of Egypt at that time and that of the Royal family itself in a time of upheaval. This is an interesting novel because it is based very closely on archaeological findings, this has both advantages and disadvantages, the advantages are that you will learn a great deal about the Egypt of that time, tomb painting and architecture, religion, crime and punishment, the priesthood, military campaigns, the Royal family et cetera the disadvantages are that sometimes the book loses itself in description rather than advancing the plot. There are all some sequences of extreme brutality. Overall it was quite a compelling saga, although occasionally the characters sound very cardboardy, but be warned, it ends on a cliffhanger.

I was given a ARC by Netgalley in exchange for a fair review The Awakening Aten is a sweeping drama centered on the Rise of Atenism and the decline of Egypt's old religion. I imagine that Yuya himself was an Israelite Jew pressed into the service of the Hittite Army. Aidan has done a huge amount of research within this novel, faithfully creating what is essentially a diary of daily Egyptian life. My main point for improvement was that not much happened in between the novels, we were moving scenes from Kha's son, Djoser to see how he becomes a man and transition himself into a political life that makes GOT looks very amateur. Egyptian Royal Politics was so inter-wound with their tombs, you'd be hard-pressed to find another culture that puts so much emphasis on its tombs. Now I understand why Egyptians kept building them so much. The tomb was your way to the afterlife. A word of warning, the action is meaningful enough with a battle with the Hittites, and Aidan produces a fantastic sentence describing the fluttering of the flag across the wind as bodies are piled onto the floor. He also shows how Egypt's royal monarchy falls in corruption as the High Priests are basically what caused Atenism to erupt. That was my general impression. But if the Priests of culture get corrupt, then people like Martin Luther did in Germany with raising his new Protestant religion. King Thutmose also doubts the nature of the Gods, for if the Gods are not controlling the sins of men, then what use are they? Could one God give all of that? However, I disagreed with this point of view. The main point there should have been a character who worshipped the Gods but hated that the Priests had made themselves rich and corrupt. He would have a solid counter-argument to Atenism, arguing that it was the will of the Priests to choose. If the Gods created this world, then it was human will that led to wars and massacres. It was humans after all that split away from Ra from becoming too rebellious. If we see another character like this in the next novel, I will be pleased. Many times I thought the author described too much effort into explaining a lot of detail about Egyptian life. While helpful, I felt this is a problem with historical fiction novels as authors have to often describe the details you don't know about. Aidan is an Egyptologist so that makes me envious of him. Although there were many scenes which dragged on, and it felt like a family drama sometimes. This is not a fault, this is more of the fact that you're describing an army scene for example. Aidan showed Kha on the chariot and then he's asking the Officer what an army is. The officer went into a lot of detail, but I would have wanted to see the descriptions of the Medjay Guard in an action for example. Rather than describing it. But how can you balance both of show and tell in a scene like this? Kha is a scribe and thus he's never heard or seen an army in his life. Now say you wrote a Napoleonic story, it would be much easier to describe French Bluecoats and the Imperial Guard marching onto the battlefield, drums waving, and their muskets glinting in the sunlight as cannons roar around them. Whereas say with an Egyptian battlefield, I would have wanted a more active description, more cinematic action, more details of soldiers crushing their clubs into each other. My feedback would be is to balance between describing, showing and telling. Sometimes I felt it was more of a history book, so the pace was slow in between. However, in the next sequel, I would like to see more emphasis on more political intrigue, more maneuvering, more action and less describing and telling. Overall, I'd give this 4/5 for a solid effort. Aidan has done more research than anyone ever could, and I think he's done more of a fantastic job with this novel. Although I would say that in the next novel he focuses the story in the Pendulum genre and make the story more important while keeping the main aesthetic of the historical detail at hand. If you like Egyptian court politics, and drama this is for you. This is like Steven Saylor's Empire, only in much more detail. Worth the recommendation and thank you, Aidan, for creating a work of art!

The Awakening Aten is a sweeping drama centered on the Rise of Atenism and the decline of Egypt's old religion. I imagine that Yuya himself was an Israelite Jew pressed into the service of the Hittite Army. Aidan has done a huge amount of research within this novel, faithfully creating what is essentially a diary of daily Egyptian life. My main point for improvement was that not much happened in between the novels, we were moving scenes from Kha's son, Djoser to see how he becomes a man and transition himself into a political life that makes GOT looks very amateur. Egyptian Royal Politics was so inter-wound with their tombs, you'd be hard-pressed to find another culture that puts so much emphasis on its tombs. Now I understand why Egyptians kept building them so much. The tomb was your way to the afterlife. A word of warning, the action is meaningful enough with a battle with the Hittites, and Aidan produces a fantastic sentence describing the fluttering of the flag across the wind as bodies are piled onto the floor. He also shows how Egypt's royal monarchy falls in corruption as the High Priests are basically what caused Atenism to erupt. That was my general impression. But if the Priests of culture get corrupt, then people like Martin Luther did in Germany with raising his new Protestant religion. King Thutmose also doubts the nature of the Gods, for if the Gods are not controlling the sins of men, then what use are they? Could one God give all of that? However, I disagreed with this point of view. The main point there should have been a character who worshipped the Gods but hated that the Priests had made themselves rich and corrupt. He would have a solid counter-argument to Atenism, arguing that it was the will of the Priests to choose. If the Gods created this world, then it was human will that led to wars and massacres. It was humans after all that split away from Ra from becoming too rebellious. If we see another character like this in the next novel, I will be pleased. Many times I thought the author described too much effort into explaining a lot of detail about Egyptian life. While helpful, I felt this is a problem with historical fiction novels as authors have to often describe the details you don't know about. Aidan is an Egyptologist so that makes me envious of him. Although there were many scenes which dragged on, and it felt like a family drama sometimes. This is not a fault, this is more of the fact that you're describing an army scene for example. Aidan showed Kha on the chariot and then he's asking the Officer what an army is. The officer went into a lot of detail, but I would have wanted to see the descriptions of the Medjay Guard in an action for example. Rather than describing it. But how can you balance both of show and tell in a scene like this? Kha is a scribe and thus he's never heard or seen an army in his life. Now say you wrote a Napoleonic story, it would be much easier to describe French Bluecoats and the Imperial Guard marching onto the battlefield, drums waving, and their muskets glinting in the sunlight as cannons roar around them. Whereas say with an Egyptian battlefield, I would have wanted a more active description, more cinematic action, more details of soldiers crushing their clubs into each other. My feedback would be is to balance between describing, showing and telling. Sometimes I felt it was more of a history book, so the pace was slow in between. However, in the next sequel, I would like to see more emphasis on more political intrigue, more maneuvering, more action and less describing and telling. Overall, I'd give this 4/5 for a solid effort. Aidan has done more research than anyone ever could, and I think he's done more of a fantastic job with this novel. Although I would say that in the next novel he focuses the story in the Pendulum genre and make the story more important while keeping the main aesthetic of the historical detail at hand. If you like Egyptian court politics, and drama this is for you. This is like Steven Saylor's Empire, only in much more detail. Worth the recommendation and thank you, Aidan, for creating a work of art!

This is the first time I've read a novel set in Ancient Egypt. The story takes us through the reign of successive Pharaohs and their Queens, including Nefertiti, one of the more familiar names from that era. The two main characters, historically based, are a Joseph-like commoner who rises to become Regent to a child Pharaoh, and a freed slave who is destined to be a famous tomb-builder, his work surviving to this day. The lives of these two men, their wives, their children and their Rulers are vividly brought to life. Aidan Morrissey has clearly done meticulous research into the wars and the rituals of 1400 BC. Some of the battles and many of the rituals are brutal in the extreme. Ill-starred lovers and the life of Kings – Morrissey's themes are, like those of GAME OF THRONES, grandly Shakespearean. THE AWAKENING ATEN would make epic and enthralling television. An exhilarating read, especially for fans of ancient history and legend.

This was a fantastic read! I love learning about Egypt and while many of the characters are real historical figures, their personality, motivations, and desires are fictional. The author weaves a fascinating family saga throughout multiple generations of kings, queens, royal family, and commoners to give us a history that is rich and full of interesting people. I really enjoyed the way Morrissey weaves religion, political power, family and tradition into a seamless story told from multiple perspectives. This book is the first in a series so I'm excited that there will be more in the future.