Thebes of the Hundred Gates by Robert Silverberg

Thebes of the Hundred Gates

by Robert Silverberg

Form: Novel

Year: 1991

ID: 1143

Publication history:

Blurb:

(from Bantam 1992)

At twenty-seven, Edward Davis was a promising rookie in the Time Service. He had already made jumps into the past of two, three, and six centuries, but not even the most rigorous training could prepare him for a leap of 35C all the way back to Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt. In the blink of an eye, he finds himself in a world of temples and tombs, pharaohs and pyramids, jackal-headed gods, mummies, and talking beetles. For it is here in the heat and bustle of the teeming ancient city of Thebes that he must rescue two members of the Service lost in time. Taken in by a mysterious temple priestess and befriended by a beautiful Egyptian slave girl, Davis is sent across the Nile to the City of the Dead to learn the trade of the embalmers. But as the hour of his scheduled rendezvous with his own age rapidly approaches, Edward Davis comes face-to-face with the shattering truth behind the fate of his former comrades—and the intoxicating, seductive allure of Egypt.

Comments:

This is quite an enjoyable read, fascinating in historical detail and character development. The time travel scenario is reminiscent of The Far Side of the Bell-Shaped Curve. The cover blurb is pretty accurate, though I don't remember talking beetles (maybe I wasn't paying attention).

Other resources:

[None on record]