Gill Harvey - Egyptian Chronicles:The Horned Viper Book Review

Book synopsis:
The Horned Viper is the second in a new series of four books set in Ancient Egypt. The Spitting Cobra, the first in the series, was published in August 2009. Two further instalments will be released in 2010. Each book is a well researched and atmospheric evocation of Egyptian life encased in an exciting adventure story. The boy and girl characters, Hopi and Isis, feature in each book and readers will be intrigued to follow their struggles for existence and adventure in Egypt circa 1150 BC. In this story, The Horned Viper, Isis and Hopi find themselves on the banks of the River Nile, pitting their wits against dangerous servants. 


Mr Ripley's Book Review
The authors love for Egypt is evident and allows the reader to feel and sense the events clearly, even without any prior knowledge of ancient Egypt. The book is written in the same vein as the debut book "Orphan of the Sun" which sets the characters headlong in to the world of Egypt, circa 1150 BC. The book develops around an adventure, following the characters of Hopi and Isis, overcoming dangerous enemies and their fears. The story flows like the River Nile; the historic culture of this book makes it an enjoyable read, with much more to be developed within the next few books. 
The other great feature of this book involves the factual and detailed notes which are included, these will help younger readers to enhance their understanding and interest of ancient Egypt. 
I give this book three out of five - only due to the short nature of the story, I wonder if some of the stories could have been compiled into two books rather than four?


Another recommended read is Marissa Moss - The Pharaoh's Secret - See book review. 


Egyptian Chronicle Series:
Book One     The Spitting Cobra  Published by Bloomsbury 3 August 2009
Book Two     The Horned Viper    Published by Bloomsbury 5 October 2009
Book Three   The Sacred Scarab  Published by Bloomsbury 1 February 2010
Book Four     The Deathstalker    Published by Bloomsbury 5 April 2010


About the Author
Gill Harvey studied French and Philosophy at Oxford. After experimenting with a number of careers, she eventually got a job as a writer/editor at Usborne Publishing in 1994. Five years later, and having reached the position of Senior Editor and completed an MA in Modern Literature, Gill decided to go freelance. Since then, writing has become a way of life. Her love of horses has resulted in eight of the Heartland titles for Scholastic Inc under the name of Lauren Brooke; she has also written a couple of Hodder Children's Books Animal Ark series as Lucy Daniels. A year spent commuting to Egypt led to the writing of Orphan of the Sun, Gill's first book for Bloomsbury.

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