Let me start by saying that I throughly enjoyed this book, I found it very intriguing, beguiling even. However, all through it I was never quite sure what I was reading. Is it mystical involving Egyptian legends? Is it a love story? Is it about attaining enlightenment and self awareness? Is it about Charlatanism? Is it about illegally smuggling ancient artefacts? Is it about blind ambition to the exclusion of all else?
The answer is that it's all of these things, and just when you think that you've understood what you're reading the plot veers along a different trajectory.
Clearly Bruce McAlpine has written a novel that kept me involved and guessing right to the last page, without though me understanding who was the principle character, or without me being emotionally tied to to any of the principle protagonists.

The egypt mythology was my favourite aspect of this book. The mystery added to the intrigue and the writing was almost whimsical in a sense. The way that the writing created such a rich immersive experience highlights the authors own experience and knowledge about the culture. This really adds to the story and creates a compelling atmosphere and enjoyable reading experience. Reading this book felt like my own journey throughout Egypt yourself.

Ancient Egypt is a subject of great interest to me, so I thought it would be an interesting read. It's a story that lets you learn more about the culture, all paired with mystery and adventure featuring an unexpected cast of very different characters. Clearly, this is a well-researched book that made me learn more about Akhenaten, and it is interesting that the Egyptian landscape is so well described. Thoroughly enjoyed the way the story was woven with realistic depictions and mythology showing both the beautiful and the not so beautiful.

DNF - I had high hopes this would be a great read but it just wasn't for me. This isn't to say that it's a bad book, on the contrary. I think many readers will devour this.

Full of mystery and suspense the story had me gripped from the very first page. The author's vast knowledge of Egyptology and the Ancient World was absolutely fascinating and his perfectly polished characters added realism to a plot that brought to life the myths and legends surrounding the fate of the heretic Pharoah Akhenaten.
This is a magnificent epic, utterly compelling, combining the corruption of tomb-robbers and a government determined to protect the tourist trade at any cost, with ancient beliefs that have survived many centuries and might yet harm our contemporary adventurers.

Egypt, Egypt, Egypt and more Egypt! Having traveled there I was very interested to read how the country was displayed. While there are human characters, the land of this country is also a major player. And the intrigue is exquisite! Get your hands on this one if you have a love for Egypt in your blood....and even if you don't.

I very much enjoyed the plot of These Millions of Years. It had a good sense of adventure mystery and I loved the setting. It has Indiana Jones in Egypt vibes and I love that.

The thing that I had the most difficulty with was the perspective shifts. The book is told in third person, but the character focus shifts frequently throughout each chapter with no indication that it has done so. One paragraph, we are following one character’s thoughts, and the next paragraph is a different character. It was very jarring and I had to keep rereading parts to figure out whose perspective it was.

Thank you to NetGalley, Matador, and Bruce McAlpine for the e-arc of These Millions of Years in exchange for an honest review.

For a long while I couldn't make heads or tails of this book. An esoteric journey into Egypt that ends up at an ancient burial side, nobody questioning the split from the tourist trail, nobody apparently missing its meandering group members.
I kept going simply because the pace was good, the writing almost poetic at times. Like a river flowing softly, moving to an unknown destination. Filled with likeble characters, mysterious Egyptian landscapes, brotherhood bathed in moonlight.
Only when nearing the end did I truly appreciate the story.
A strangely captivating read.

3.5 stars actually.

The premise for this book is what attracted me in the first place. I find Ancient Egypt interesting in that we still do not seem to understand their culture or technology that well. So a story that pulls all that together with a little human interest thrown in seemed to be just the ticket.

There were times when I found it difficult to set this book aside but there were other times when I sighed and huffed and rolled my eyes.

Okay, so the storyline is that three people meet on an organised trip led by an intriguing man who seems to delve deeper into his attendees psyches better than anyone. The three - Finn (an antiquities dealer), Lara (a woman struggling with self knowledge( and Edward (a relatively recently bereaved psychotherapist) are instantly drawn to each other.

However the story is much more complicated than just a treasure seeking love story. Finn is led to believe there is a tomb still to be discovered that will give him instant riches; Lara is looking for answers to a life that no longer makes sense and Edward is searching for a way out of his self imposed loneliness.

There are so many different strands that I frequently got lost with the characters and it seemed as though the author was throwing other storyline simply to fit with the basic plot.

However, the only parts that really had me irked were the "love" scenes. They were pure Wilbur Smith. The men were either educated but sensual or sexy but smart; the women were all willowy, fabulous, long legged, smooth skinned and fiery. They were all caricatures. There was also no need for any of it, which made me wonder whether someone had encouraged the author to chuck in a bit of titillation in for good measure. The story did not need it.

In the main I enjoyed this book. It is obviously well researched and I know a bit more about Akhenaten now plus the added interest of the extremely well described Egyptian countryside. A deep love of the country and its culture was plain.

I'd certainly check out more by Bruce McAlpine and I'd recommend this to anyone interested in antiquities or travel who liked a story along with the facts.
Edit Review

Unfortunately, I found this copy that was for pre-release very hard to read! I was enjoying the story and would have blown through it, but the pages did not have large enough text and when i went to magnify them, the page would automatically scroll forward. It drove me mad! Of what I was able to read, it was very interesting and I would get this when it comes out in order to read the rest in a better format. Sorry this review is more about the format than the actual story!

These Millions of Years wove an intriguing story across an epic ancient land. The authors descriptions of the lands of Egypt made me want to jump on a plane immediately. The mystery pulls you in immediately, and the building relationships between the characters keeps you engaged.

3 strangers become fast friends with a surprisingly strong connection after they meet on an unusual travel tour. Secrets and motives become exposed as the author weaves together a complex tale of antiquities smuggling, astrological mysticism, political intrigue, and Egyptian mythology.

I highly recommend this book, and can't wait to see what the author gives us next.

I had high hopes for These Millions of Years by Bruce McAlpine. I was intrigue by the setting being in Egypt and a historical treasure hunt but I wound up becoming bored. For me the story moved too slowly.
I do think as a writer Bruce McAlpine shows promise as a writer. I will be definitely be interested to see what he writes next. These Million Years just didn’t work for me at this time.

Super adventure! It was interesting to think of the illegal antiquities dealers and why they pursue a dangerous trade. I enjoyed the characters as well. A fun read.

A cinematic book if ever there was one, These Millions of Years gives us a look at Egypt that was both fascinating and terrifying.

From the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor we see all of Egypt, her glory and her failures.

A group of seemingly random people on tour in Egypt find their pasts and futures intertwined from the very beginning.

Our characters each have their reasons for making this journey, the physical and the emotional, seeing it all fall into place was an extraordinary experience.

The last few pages, seeing who ended where, it was gratifying to say the least.

There's so much more than meets the eye to this one, every time I thought I knew what was going to happen I was surprised, in a good way.

If I had to wrap this into one sentence I'd say breathtaking visuals that had me walking along the Nile and among the pyramids, feeling transported back to the days of Pharaoh while living in a modern world.

If I could give this one 4.5 stars I would. Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I reflected longer than I should have on how to rate this book.

To start, the author writes beautifully. Although it can sometimes drag a bit, the vivid descriptions and imagery create an atmosphere that truly transports you to Egypt. The story is (usually) an exciting adventure that kept me really engaged in the book. It was also clear that the author had his research, and I would assume he spent a great deal of time on his work.

However, I really am struggling to understand if the author has spent more than a day with a woman… ever. The two female characters were written in a way that had me cringing and rolling my eyes throughout the book. Not only were they portrayed as either helpless or highly emotional, they were both consistently sexualized. There is a sexual assault that could have been completely left out- it added nothing to the story. There was also a physical assault on a woman, where the author made it seem as though the character’s action was justified. Both of these instances happened to the same woman, who was then villianized in the end. It was bizarre and painful to read.

This book could have been an easy 5 stars for me, and could have been easily 50 pages shorter without his portrayal of females. I hope the author (and publishers) can reflect on how this book could have been easily edited to better portray the women, and give less praise to the terrible main male character.

465 pages

4 stars

I love the title of this book. After I read the novel, I understood how the title came about.

The astrological subplot in this book plays a supporting role in the lives of the three main characters: Finn Connors, a buyer and seller of artifacts, Edward Cavanaugh, a psychoanalyst, and Lara Rostock, a woman who was running away from her marriage and herself.

Finn is an old Egyptian hand. He has been there several times and has friends and acquaintances. Edward and Lara are first-timers. Through a series of chance meetings, they become fast friends. Their bond is very strong, surprising all three.

They have all signed up to attend astrologist David Mountjoy’s series of rituals. He travels around the area surrounding Cairo holding ceremonies.

Lara is fascinated, Edward is interested and Finn thinks it’s a bunch of hokum. There is much more to Finn than meets the eye. Finn is there because everywhere Mountjoy holds a ceremony, there seems to be a huge and spectacular archeological find in that same area.

Finn would love to find the tomb of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten.

So the reader is led on a journey of politics, artifact smuggling, Islamic fundamentalism, fear and extreme danger.

This book is fairly well written, perhaps too wordy and off the track in places. The plotting is very good. The book moves along at pace and is easy to read. I found it very entertaining. I will definitely keep an eye on Mr. McAlpine’s works of fiction.

I want to thank NetGalley and Matador for forwarding to me a copy of this very nice book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Before reading this, I read a nonfiction book about the lives of Ahkenaten and Nefertiti. So I felt like I had all the background I needed for this story. Well, I did for the egyptology, but there was so much more. There were politicians, terrorists, antiquities dealers, tourists, and even an astrologist to fill out the pages. It was a fascinating ride! There was so much going on and so many descriptions of Egypt (the good and the depressing parts) that it was hard to put down the book.

One of the very interesting books how this author tied mentioned the ancient Egypt's To story about these 2 people based on the pyramids Now the author passport in modern times how these 2 people were based on this story. It has a lot of twist in terms in this story and it kept me on edge. FIN N CONN ONS Person who dealt in ancient Egypt objects and sold them for lots of money. Somehow gets caught up and it's crazy idea and decides to take a trip and And they have a lot of problems. The police chief does not like them There's a woman named Linda And another man name Dave. They all had interesting story behind him as well. So they have the slight crazy adventure in Egypt. Then then then N ATI E Russell shows up He was a person who worked ancient Egypt things for museums. She also had her professor with her as well. This whole group somehow gets all tangled together. Connor has an old friend who dealt in in tequeries It's supposed to be Egypt. They were trying to find the last tomb of the following who was disgraced. So they go on this crazy thing trying to find it. They also mentioned they are Arab Spring This resulted in terrorists getting hurt things for bombs were going off and military was running around. They had to leave the country but There's a twister that is well. The Egypt's were cracking down Down and Antiques being taken out of the country. It's also a film documentary heat was also part of the problem as well. I like having author ties everything together nicely

I could not leave a review for this title. I didn't realize it was only in PDF format. The text is too small for me to see. Sorry.

I was enjoying this story, but then the author used the word "retard" in a way that I think was highly unnecessary. I did not continue reading the book and I highly recommend removing that word before the final version is published.