A God Against the Gods

You are wrong to think that this book is not important to the cause of Akhenaten and his own personal Egyptology, especially for its faithfulness to the available facts. This Middle Kingdom house had many problems, not the least of which were religious in nature. But, possibly owing to some poor politics, Akhenaten's life may have been something more like Mr. Drury had believed. Anyways, his images really WERE defaced.What makes me cringe is the possibility that this book not be thought by all as one of our greatest.

The late Pulitzer Prize winning author Allen Drury in this novel, (and its sequel, "Return to Thebes") moves radically away from the genre which made him famous (the Washington Political Novel), and shares with his readers an historical novel based on the events of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt -- when the concept of monotheism was (possibly) first seriously considered. Readers of Drury's political novels will recognize his characteristic style of writing, character portrayal, and the like -- but the subject is one totally foreign to most Americans. Drury makes it come alive.I have no idea what possessed Mr. Drury to write this novel -- but I'm glad that he did.

Much, of course, has been written about ancient Egypt in non-fiction and in the past two decades an increasing interest in the fictional world of Egypt has spawned a number of excellent novels, especially mysteries. Allen Drury's "A God Against the Gods," published in 1976--timed well with the King Tut craze associated with the world tour of the late king's funeral treasures--undoubtedly is the "father" of this subject/genre. And well it should. Drury takes the time of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, some 3300 years ago, and proceeds to tell the story of this "horse-faced" king, husband to the beautiful Nefertiti and brother to the young King Tut. The time of the pharaoh is rife with struggle--and plenty of problems. Against the advice of many of his advisers, Akhenaten proceeds to change the Egyptian theological concept of multi-gods into a monotheistic concept. Needless to say, this does not go well with his subjects. Changing the tenor of the religion, however, is only one concern Akhenaten faces. With Drury's renowned patience for detail and historical research, the novel examines the numerous aspects of the pharaoh's life, especially his relationship with Nefertiti and of his zeal to produce an heir. He doesn't, of course, and therein lies many of his problems. "(Akhenaten) was perhaps the most human and touching of all the Pharoahs, for he greatly tried, and greatly failed, to bring to humanity a universal symbol of love." And it is the trials--and these failures--so poignantly presented that makes this book well worth the read, not just to Egyptologists, but to the layperson as well. Granted, not all authorities agree on Drury's interpretations (Drury points that out in his introduction), but the author's research and theories are academically acceptable, although there is disagreement in familial structure, relationships, pronunciations/spelling that experts may (or may not) recognize. Regardless, Drury's skill as an outstanding author carry the book along at an amazingly fast pace--almost if you were riding the current of the Nile itself. "Fascinating" is, indeed, an apt description of this book.([email protected])