A Hititite and a Shaman at Queen Nefretari’s Service by Naveen Sridhr.
This fundamentally is a historical tale of royal intrigue during the era of Ramses II long reign with his beloved wife Nefretari. It is replete with the usual deceit, distrust, betrayal, deception and treachery among the kings and other heads of state, many branches of the same family. It also is a story whose history the author has stated he has attempted to follow as closely as possible. Fortunately for the reader he also has included a list of the characters and a glossary of terms. The plot follows the flight of a deposed Hitite King and his son to Rameses country, the possibility of the new king demanding his return for prosecution and the maneuvers in which Rameses, and more especially his Queen Nefretari, engaged the situation to obtain a peaceful conclusion to the affair.
Discussion: The author has provided a most interesting discussion with respect to how adroitly a Shaman and Nefretari managed to acquire a peaceful settlement for a burgeoning problem and the lasting effects its use by Rameses had for the good of his people. In general, a lesson is set forth with respect to the value of peace versus war and much is learned about both of these monarchs. The only disappointing feature of this book from this reviewer’s perspective, is the redundancy and repetition employed to describe Nefretari’s, the Shaman and each provider’s viewpoint of the subject under discussion. Granted, the discussions are pertinent. However judicial editing could have reduced this material substantially to provide a more enjoyable read.
4* 5* material; -1* for reasons noted.