[.ca] Children of the Storm CD (ISBN 0060527854)

The Children Will Carry On.:
Elizabeth Peters has been one of my favorite mystery writers for many years now. Her Amelia Peabody series is so well written and documented. She's an archeologist, as is her husband, who loves to explore tombs in Egypt. she has a rather long listing of books, many containing hundreds of pages each. She is prolific. None are hard to read. All are interesting. I think perhaps my favorite is "Night Train to Memphis" or could be "The Love Talker." This one follows Ms. Peabody and entourage again to Egypt. She not only explores antiquities in strange places, she is also a Master Investigator which gets her in 'hot water' on occasion. Like me, she indulges in the daily horoscopes. The title for this Peabody/Emerson episode comes from an ancient Egyptian horoscope: "The day of the children of the storm. Very dangerous. Do not go on the water this day." This is the 15th published "journal" of Amelia encompassing three generations of an amazing family saga (35 yrs. of turbulent history) including a diary of son Ramses, named after a pharaoh. Amelia was called by the natives, "Lady Doctor" while Emerson was "Father of Curses." Ramses accompanied his uncle Sethos as a secret agent because of his use of disguises and fluency in languages. Justin had tormented Charla, young daughter of Ramses who'd waited to talk until she got ready, like her dad. Like Eric. Ms. Peters who loves cats almost as much as I do, educated at the University of Chicago like my son Geoffrey, never ceases to amaze me with her knowledge. This is another page turner, always an exciting "adventure" in store. You are kept in suspense about the happenings until the danger is at hand. She is just plain marvelous with her writing abilities and subject matter.

Slow Paced:
Not one of her better Peabody books, the first 3rd of this book is very slow paced. It is a great series, and she's a strong writer, but you have to be a dedicated fan to slog through the beginning of the book. If you are new to reading this series, I would recommend starting off with one of her earlier books. There are a lot of characters to follow, and a long history to each character, so it's not an easy series to jump into part way through. Having said that, once you start to read the series, you'll enjoy the family and their travels and tales. It's more of a beach read, than any type of serious intellectual pursuit, but you'll still pick up some interesting trivia along the way.

She just keeps getting better...:
I found Elizabeth Peters in Victoria Magazine and am so happy I did.With each of her books she is so skillfull in the way she weaves the characters together. "Children of the storm "is no different. I find I have a very hard time putting her books down. This book kept me right on the edge of my seat the entire time. I think when I read her books that "Oh , That was the best book by far!"But not so, the next one is just as good as the last one was. She really does keep getting better and you won't be sorry you read this one if you have read the others in the series.

Children of the Storm:
I've read most of the reviews and I have mixed feelings about them. I thoroughly enjoy the Amelia Peabody books - in fact, I usually howl with laughter. "Children of the Storm" was no exception. Some reviewers are correct - it shouldn't be the first book in the series that a new reader reads. Guess what? Neither should any other book in a seriers be the first one read - except for the intended first book! I thoroughly enjoyed "Children of the Storm" as well. It was more detailed with family detail. Well, what do readers expect? Amelia has a larger family (extended and friends and "blood" family) than when she started the books. THIS IS REAL LIFE, PEOPLE! This is what happens when people have kids and then grandkids and their kids have friends and the protagonists collect friends through their lives. I, for one, really enjoyed the thought of Amelia/Emerson being grandparents. I loved the part about the 'motor-car' and all the 'discussions' that went on about Emerson and the men putting it together in the courtyard.... I must admit I couldn't stop laughing @ the thought of what would happen if we tried that @ home.... Yep - the number of people were complicated to follow and the storyline was perhaps improbable, but isn't this escapist fiction? I just enjoyed the ride! Anyhow - I'm not at all disappointed in the amount of money I paid for this book. It was money well spent in terms of enjoyment and laughter!

A bit of a let-down:
I am a huge fan of the Amelia Peabody books and would give every other one a 5-star rating. However, this one just wasn't up to Amelia's usual standards. It was slow-moving, empty of the witty lines that normally have me laughing hysterically every other sentence, and the characters were a bit flatter than their usual, exciting and individual selves. The funny traits, such as Amelia's list-making and Emerson's loud and oftentimes rude outbursts were more rare and written in less amusing ways. After being excited about reading another of Amelia's journals, from editor's note through the end it was mostly a let-down. I'm very happy that everything with the Peabody-Emerson family seems to be resolved, and the book is worth-it to read if you are a fan. However, I hate to say it, but I think that there's nowhere else to go. Amelia's generation is in their sixties, the Master Criminal has reformed, Ramses's generation is trying to settle down and become responsible parents, and Davy's generation is too young to do anything exciting. The war is over and Sethos has reformed... I think it's time to be happy with re-reading all the books we have and with the knowledge that everything worked out well. After all, if every year there continues to be "another dead body", I don't think there will be any more amusing people left in Egypt!