“Magic has been slowly disappearing everywhere,” Mr. Hayes said. “And here in Egypt, the remnants of magical energy manifested in curious weather patterns—famines, desert storms, and so on—but we have also found that some items, pot shards and the odd sandal, also have the hallmarks of old-world magic. [p. 71]
Inez Olivera, a young woman of good family living in 1880s Buenos Aires, is nineteen when she receives a letter from her uncle, telling her that her parents -- who've spent half of every year in Egypt, doing archaeology -- are missing, presumed dead. Inez is distraught, and sets off immediately for Alexandria, leaving only a note for her upright aunt and beloved cousin. There, she finds that her uncle really doesn't want her around: he's sent his 'assistant', a handsome rogue known as Whit, to put her on the next ship back to Argentina. Inez confounds her uncle's plans, not once but several times. She's determined to discover what happened to her parents -- and why her father sent her an antique gold ring that seems to be imbued with magic, rather than entrusting it to her uncle or to a museum. But it turns out that Inez didn't know her parents as well as she thought...
This was such a promising premise, and the sample chapters hooked me: Inez is very much a modern heroine, with a backbone of steel and definite Ideas. But the novel flounders and becomes repetitive, and one can't help feeling that Inez' Tío Ricardo has a point when he repeatedly tries to send her away. Inez ignores vital letters; behaves inappropriately in public; sneaks around after dark on her own; and keeps secrets that are vital to her uncle's work. (In her defense, she believes -- on fairly flimsy evidence -- that he's a murderer...)
There is a strong thread of romance between Inez and Whit, though he too seems to find our heroine aggravating. But, given the promise of the premise -- the ancient magic and the ways in which it manifests in Egypt -- there is surprisingly little of the fantastic here. Inez does occasionally mention her visions of a woman she assumes to be Cleopatra, and magic comes in handy when Tío Ricardo and his allies are trying to locate her tomb: but this magic seems vague and incoherent, and doesn't abide by any rules. There are some irritating typos and inconsistencies: 'here, here'; 'shown' instead of 'shone'; 'I hardly doubt it' rather than 'I doubt it' or 'I hardly think so' . And there is a shocking incident, quite out of key with the rest of the book, very near the novel's end -- followed by a tantalising cliffhanger. I'll probably read the second part of the duology when it comes out, but I shall lower my expectations.
Fulfils the ‘Hybrid Genre’ rubric of the 52 books in 2024 challenge. Fantasy and romance and history...
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