ESTHER FRIESNER PRINCESSES OF MYTH 2

 
I'm finalizing the book and doll arrangement for one of my historical fiction bookcases, so I'm working my way through some rereads (and a few first reads). I just finished My Story, so now I'm on to the Esther Friesner Princesses of Myth series. I tackled Helen of Troy months ago and then reread Sphinx's Princess here, but only just finished the sequel tonight. 

We know very, very little about the historical Nefertiti, so pretty much all of these two books is fiction. It was a fun read though. 

Sphinx's Princess begins with Nefertiti, who is very beautiful, leading her regular life. Her father is the brother of Pharaoh's Great Royal Wife, Tiye, and she sends for Nefertiti to become the wife to her son, Thutmose. 

Most of this series is palace intrigue. Nefertiti founds herself trapped in it. She and Thutmose don't really care for each other. Nefertiti's main friends are Henenu, the palace scribe who is a friend of her father's and became her writing instructor, and Nava, a young Hebrew (Habiru) slave. Nava's older sister saved Nefertiti from drowning but was killed for it by her master, so Nava ends up in Nefertiti's care. Eventually, Nefertiti and Sitamun, one of Amenhotep and Tiye's daughters, become friends. And then also Amenophis joins their little group. Amenophis is actually Amenhotep IV, who would become Akhenaten. 

The drama comes to a head near the end when Thutmose schemes to kill Nefertiti. She escapes with help from her friends.

Sphinx's Queen picks up with Amenophis, Nefertiti and Nava on the run. They're on their way to Thebes to get help from Amenhotep. So the first part of this book is adventure and rather fast-paced. The second half is right back into the land of palace intrigue. It drags on a bit too much. Amenophis and Nefertiti are in love, but Tiye still wants her to marry Thutmose, even though his multiple plans to kill Nefertiti have all failed. So Tiye schemes to keep everyone apart. Nefertiti eventually befriends Thutmose, though it isn't easy, and she, he and Amenophis end up as friends. Sadly, this doesn't last. Thutmose dies and it is only then that Tiye becomes human again. She wants Amenophis and Nefertiti to marry and even brings Nefertiti's family to finally see her after blocking their communication for ages. The book ends with Nefertiti and Amenophis happily married. Amenhotep is still alive, but Amenophis has plans for his eventual rule. There were hints throughout the book about the corruption of the priests and Nefertiti's constantly questioning religion. 

I enjoyed both of these and really loved the characters. Even Thutmose ends up decent, though the standouts to me are Sitamun, Amenophis, Nava, and Nefertiti herself. I do wish the plot had been a bit better in the second one though. I think they could have done more talking about Amenophis's plans and the corruption of the priests. Things that would have made it more clear that he planned major changes for Egypt. That would have been more interesting than endless palace intrigue. And it wouldn't have taken but a couple pages to make that improvement.