Thank you for an e-arc of this book. I requested it because I wanted to see a unique fantasy book inspired by Egypt and it didn't disappoint.

The story was captivating and intriguing. I believe it takes place during the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt. The pacing and atmosphere was exactly what I was expecting and I highly appreciated it. I was pleasantly surprised by the main character.

Reading review :

The Khopesh of Ramses was an enjoyable read. I love Fantasy or fiction, inspired by Egypt. So I was very found about the story.
The pacing is great and I liked Maher the main character !
The story takes place during the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt and I loved it !!
I don't know if a sequel will follow but I will read it for sure

While the characters themselves were enjoyable, and the mystique surrounding the primary antagonist gave me a reason to keep reading, much of the resolution felt deeply underwhelming. From the culmination of the intrigue surrounding the plotting and scheming, the the relationships between characters, to the rather speedily achieved way that the protagonist uncovers the web of deceit plaguing his land, it ultimately felt unfinished and unrefined, like there should have been between fifty to one hundred extra pages of content to better flesh out the story's climax.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's set in Ancient Egypt which was really fun and had a lot of mystery and intrigue.

Maher is the main protagonist, and we follow him as he battles against discrimination and Xenophobia to reach his dream goal of becoming a royal guard for Pharaoh Ramses II. Coming from a family of pirates, also known as Sherdens, his ancestors have had it tough. After being defeated by the Pharoah, all hope seemed lost, until he pronounced that he would enlist the best warriors among them into his royal guard, one of which was Maher's father. Growing up within the walls of the palace was a privilege not given to many of the Egyptian population, but Maher was granted such a feat, growing up beside the Pharoah's daughter Samira, who he became thoroughly enamoured with, only adding further motivation to Maher's plight to become a member of the royal guard.

After fighting for several years, Maher , who is both revered and despised for his abilities and strength, becomes recruited by Vizier Rahotep, one of the most influential people of Egypt. Him and a few other recruits are charged with guarding the Vizier and his house, after a creature is seen visiting noble's houses and killing their children. From there, mystery's unravel, the people are starving, with someone turning the Nile red, and everyone is blaming one another, with war brewing and innocents dying, Maher is thrown into the thick of it and nothing is as it seems.

I was gripped with this one from the start, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. I loved that it was multiple POV's as there was so much happening and each person was seeing the devastation, corruption and panic in a different light, which was really engaging and showed a lot of depth to the story.

Maher was a really strong protagonist, headstrong, brave and aspirational. I really enjoyed seeing his strength, abilities and personality develop throughout the book. It really highlighted the strength of love and hope and it's ability to drive people in times where there is constant pain, anguish. His hope was quite inspirational, in spite of all the setbacks he faced.

I also really loved the strong bond between Maher and Setau. Their both complete polar opposites but they still manage to bring out the best in one another, and even when they disagree, their unwavering loyalty and support for one another through every obstacle or challenge they face was really heart warming to read.

This was just an incredibly surprising book that I'm really glad I picked up, full of adventure, mystery, twists, heartbreak, betrayal, love and friendship, that left me wanting more, if there's another book in this series, you best believe I'll be running to pick it up!

I rarely read military aspects of Ancient Egypt from historical fiction genre. That's why the description about young soldier's journey to save his country and combine with this beautiful cover very appealed to me. The Khopesh of Ramses actually offer me very promising story. The pace is very fast, combine with complex but easy to follow plotline. The characters likeable but feel generic and less development. Ancient Egypt as setting supposed lavish and rich with details, but we only get glimpse about it. It is like we can replace this setting in different name, and with remove few details and the story still going fine.

This story offered many things in very short timeline. We started with missunderstood by society but strong minded hero, childhood love interest versus triangle love, crime murder mystery investigation, loose adaptation from Moses story and bloody political intrigue at Pharaoh court. And with all good components to make this book standout, why this book feel average?
For me personally this book feel like sampler cookies, offer all but in small portion. All goodies was there but plenty amount and lack depth. The ending feel hanging and unfinished.

Thank you Netgalley, Marco Galimberti and BookBuzz.net publisher for let me read this copy. I am grateful and my thoughts are my own. The Kopesh of Ramses was released at 4 June 2022.

"Don't rely on your weapons. Use what you know about your opponents. Use it to your advantage. This is how you will defeat them."


Thanks to Netgalley and the editor of ARC
This story was very good, had great character development and a well-structured mystery. And the whole investigation was really interesting, but I was hoping for a little more action.
For my taste, the style was a little too slow because I like the action more than the collection of clues

I was immediately drawn in by the cover and description for this book. As a former student of Ancient Near Eastern History this was RIGHT up my alley. Unfortunately for me, I didn't look at when the archive date was set for this book. I requested and was approved the same day it was archived and did not get a chance to read this work. That said, I am still HIGHLY motivated to read this and have ordered it to add to my non ARC TBR this year.

Maher has recently become a part of the Royal Guard. Because he is a saving his fellow recruits kept setting him up for failure and despite all their efforts he still remained the best. In the days where plagues are visiting Egypt his first mission is to get rid of the only plague they can destroy and that is the monster that is eating whole villages. He excepts the mission and insist his best friend Satere go with him, but before they set off he wants to see the princess one last time. He knows his first mission may be his last karma but he has the spirit of his father and all the gods to back him. I thought this was a great book about friendship overcoming the impossible and doing your best to reach your dreams no matter how big anything is possible. I love that Moses made a cameo this is just an all-around great story. I totally recommend this book if you love battle royals and fighting to the death and the underdog winning you Will love this book. I receive this book from NetGalley for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.

This had great character development. I really enjoyed the characters and mystery. I had hoped for a little more action, but the resolution at the end justified the lack of interactions with the "angel of death". It was important that they investigate things. With superstitions of the time, it all ends up making sense. I would recommend this book. 👍

This one was hard to rate because there's a lot about this book that I really liked. The setting was interesting, the plot as a concept was really good, and I liked how fast-paced the story was for the most part. The cast of characters was surprisingly large for how short the book is, which made it hard to really develop any of them, but what we do see of the characters is interesting in general. The book is a mystery set during the reign of Rameses II, more specifically during a time where Egypt is facing a crisis. The Nile has turned red, there's a famine threatening the population, and the first born sons of many rich families have been murdered by what looks to be a terrifying creature. The main character is Maher, who finds himself investigating the murders after failing to make it through the test to become a royal guard. Where things fell apart was in the pacing and conclusion. The book being short wasn't a huge problem, but the plot became more about quickly setting things up instead of actually doing the investigation, which makes the conclusion lackluster as there's not alot of hints to what is actually happening. The conclusion itself was the biggest letdown, I didn't like the solution and felt like it could've been done much better. This one ends with an obvious hook for a second installment, and while i'm interested enough to read more, I do hope some of the technical issues get resolved in the sequel.

This story appealed to me because I love Egyot as a setting. Unfortunately, this wasn't for me. I felt the writing needed edited. There were numerous run on sentences and the dialogue felt very stilted. I didn't connect with the characters and it was a struggle to push through.

The cover and the description intrigued me. I found The Khopesh of Ramses interesting and I liked the twists that occurred. The ending left me wanting the next book. The characters were interesting and I liked following them through Egypt.

I thought it was going to be one of those mix of fantasy and Ancient Egypt historical characters. It's a good historical fiction with some paranormal side.
I wasn't a fan of Maher, I found him a bit obsessed, but I enjoyed the story and would be glad to read any follow up.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Maher wants to join the Royal Guard so that he can be near Princess Samira the Pharaohs daughter. But prejudice and a mysterious creature stand in his way. An interesting story set in ancient Egypt

The Khopesh of Ramses by Marco Galimberti was an interesting and enjoyable read.
I honestly was expecting more of a B horror movie-style novel and was pleasantly surprised to find something closer to Wilbur Smith's River God.
Having the story take place during the Israelite's attempt to flee Egypt was also an inspired idea as it allowed the author to use parts of the Biblical narrative as red herrings for what was going on.
The character of Maher was interesting in that his single-minded pursuit of one thing seemed to make him seem a little shallow at times but set up the ending rather nicely.
The biggest issue I had with the story was the creature and descriptions of his "superhuman strength and speed" gets lost by the reveal at the end.
I am guessing there will be a follow-up to this novel. :) But perhaps not as the ending is also a cautionary warning.
Thanks to #NetGalley, and #BookBuzz.net for the ARC of Marco Galimberti's #TheKhopeshofRamases.

Thank you NetGalley and Marco Galimberti for letting me read “The Khopesh of Ramses” in exchange for an honest review.

I loved examining Ancient Egypt. Exploring the past through the eyes of the characters really brought the story to life.
The book left me wanting more!

Thank you NetGalley, BookBuzz.net and Marco Galimberti for letting me read “The Khopesh of Ramses” in exchange for an honest review. An honest review you will get. I fear in this case it might be too honest.

In my teens, I wanted to be an Egyptologist. Very badly. I could read some hieroglyphs l, knew all the Pharaos by name and time period of reign and read everything to do with Egypt. So I was really excited when this book popped up! But boy, I was disappointed. The potential is there, but the execution of the story disappointed me. More about that later.

The cover first, as always. The background colour is beautiful. Hieroglyphs in the background, screams Egypt at you in a very subtle way. In Ancient Egypt blue (irtyu) was the colour of the heavens and hence represented the universe. I like that.

The book was on the shorter side, hence a quick read. The author was unknown to me until now. The story sounded interesting, especially since I always rooted for the underdog (Maher) and Ramses II has been my favourite Pharaoh.

Maher, born to not full blooded - now deceased - Egyptians, joins the Royal Academy to look for greatness. He aspires to join the ranks to be stationed at the royal palace, where princess Samira lives, one of the many daughters of Ramses II. Her also being the girl Maher fancies. Due to his background, his dreams are shattered.
Then we hear about the mysterious creature who kills guards and children, turned the Nile red, released frogs and what all other plagues there where. Maher is called to investigate, alongside his friend, palace scribe Setau.

The ending… not everything is as it seems. All the suspense and supernatural had a very simple solution. Meh. If you go the route, go it all the way?

Me not being very religious, I totally forgot that Moses and Ramses II are supposed to have lived around the same time. There was a mention of a Pharao, but I did not connect them to Ramses II immediately.
The identity of “Pharaoh” in the Moses story in the Bible has been much debated by many scholars, but these scholars are apparently inclined to accept that Exodus has Ramses II in mind. So there we go… lesson learned for today, children!

The story is a loose interpretation of the Ramses II/Moses telling. I am conflicted here. It’s too less historical for my taste and a tad too focused on the “supernatural”. Then it goes a whole another way in the end. The author seems confused to me. It does not fit the context, at least not for me. I did enjoy the basics of the story, but it was off, for mw.

I don’t want to nag, but the book could use some research, I am probably nitpicking now. A wall was described as being 3 meters high. But Ancient Egyptians didn't measure things using centimetres/meters/inches, like we do today. They used cubits, spans and fingers. As said, I am nitpicking now.
While I did enjoy the concept of the story, I found the writing to be a tad juvenile. My pet peeve is repetition of certain words. Here it was “realm” and “supernatural”. Some expressions did not fit the historical setting, in my eyes, I might be wrong though. Example: The word “Gentleman” (used at 28%) is a term with its origins around 1200 BC. Still it’s used here. I know this is fiction, I know I am being annoying, but these tiny details really ruined the reading experience for me. But yes, nitpicking.

So yeah, I can not rate this higher than 2⭐️, sorry. 🫥

If you want to brush up on the story of Moses and Ramses II, I came across this link that helped me remember: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Moses-Hebrew-prophet/Moses-and-Pharaoh