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    Raiders of the Nile: A Novel of the Ancient World
    Raiders of the Nile: A Novel of the Ancient World
    Raiders of the Nile: A Novel of the Ancient World
    Audiobook11 hours

    Raiders of the Nile: A Novel of the Ancient World

    Written by Steven Saylor

    Narrated by James Langton

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In Egypt during the late Roman Republic, the young Gordianus finds himself involved in a raid to steal the golden Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great In 88 B.C. it seems as if all the world is at war. From Rome to Greece and to Egypt itself, most of civilization is on the verge of war. The young Gordianus-a born-and-raised Roman citizen-is living in Alexandria, making ends meet by plying his trade of solving puzzles and finding things out for pay. He whiles away his time with his slave Bethesda, waiting for the world to regain its sanity. But on the day Gordianus turns twenty-two, Bethesda is kidnapped by brigands who mistake her for a rich man's mistress. If Gordianus is to find and save Bethesda, who has come to mean more to him than even he suspected, he must find the kidnappers before they realize their mistake and cut their losses. Using all the skills he learned from his father, Gordianus must track them down and convince them that he can offer something of enough value in exchange for Bethesda's release. As the streets of Alexandria slowly descend into chaos, and the citizenry begin to riot with rumors of an impending invasion by Ptolmey's brother, Gordianus finds himself in the midst of a very bold and dangerous plot-the raiding and pillaging of the golden sarcophagus of Alexander the Great himself. New York Times bestselling author Steven Saylor returns, chronicling the early years of his detective, Gordianus, before he assumed the title of The Finder. Raiders of the Nile is the latest in his much-loved series of mysteries set in the late Roman Republic.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 15, 2018
    ISBN9781501981999
    Raiders of the Nile: A Novel of the Ancient World
    Author

    Steven Saylor

    Steven Saylor is the author of the long running Roma Sub Rosa series featuring Gordianus the Finder, as well as the New York Times bestselling novel, Roma and its follow-up, Empire. He has appeared as an on-air expert on Roman history and life on The History Channel. Saylor was born in Texas and graduated with high honors from The University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics. He divides his time between Berkeley, California, and Austin, Texas.

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    Reviews for Raiders of the Nile

    3.5/5

    60 ratings8 reviews

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    • 3/5
      A disappointment. Also very artificial and unbelievable. The young Gordianus joins a bandit gang to rescue his slave, Bethesda, also his beloved. I have no desire to read upcoming volumes.
    • 3/5
      This is a well written book. It’s imaginative, but it’s really young adult fiction. I enjoyed it but couldn’t take it too seriously . The narration was excellent.
    • 4/5
      This is the second of the prequel novels featuring Gordianus the Finder as a young man, now living in Alexandria where he has met his slave and future wife Bethesda. Following the travelogue approach of The Seven Wonders, this novel is a more straightforward narrative involving kidnapping, bandits and turbulent Egyptian politics. I found the storyline and the eventual resolution of the plot strands a little far-fetched, though as usual Saylor's characters are all well rounded and believable, even quite minor ones. A good read, though again not up there with the best of the Gordianus novels.
    • 5/5
      The life and adventures of Gordianus as a young man,before his Roman investigations.It takes place in Alexandria and tells of his attempts to find Bethesda,who has been kidnapped in mistake for another girl.A very enjoyable romp through ancient Egypt.
    • 3/5
      It's nice to see Giordanus as a young man again. This is a good story about pirates in Egypt.
    • 4/5
      Another smashing adventure of Gordianus and his beloved Bethesda. This time they are visiting Alexandria. After watching a street show by mimes, they meet the actors and share a meal with them. Gordianus dozes off, the young woman of the troop disappears and Bethesda is kidnapped. Could she have been misidentified for the actress?His search take him the hideout of a bunch of bandits called the Cuckoo's Nest where a charismatic leader plans an audacious raid to steal Alexander's gold sarcophagus. Desperate to rescue Bethesda, Gordianus goes along on this dangerous raid.Saylor previously wrote a series about the older Gordianus who was a Finder, a kind of private detective, in Ancient Rome. Through his eyes we met many historical figures and witnessed many historical events. Not finished with the character, he has started a new series with a younger Gordianus taking us to other parts of the ancient world. These books are very well researched and just plain fun; a wonderful combination.
    • 4/5
      What an awesome and enjoyable story. I shouldn't be surprised because Steven Saylor is a wonderful author who knows his time and place very well. Gordianus is a wonderful creation. I read all of the Roma Sub Rosa series where we see Gordianus as a mature man of 50 or 60 years of age. I thought we were going to run out of books in his story because of his age, but Mr. Saylor has created a whole new prequel series which shows Gordianus as a young man. In this book he is 22 years old, and does he ever get up to some misadventures in this book. The time is 88 BC, and Gordianus is living in Alexandria Egypt with his slave girl/lover Bathsheba. All is exciting and new in Alexandria for two young people in love. But then Bathsheba goes missing and Gordianus must give up his fun-filled life and embark on a strange and dangerous journey to try to get her back. He meets all sorts of people on his travels - some good and some bad, but all wonderfully created by Mr. Saylor. Accompanied by a delightful young slave boy by the name of Djet, Gordianus travels into the dangerous Nile Delta. He must infiltrate a very well-organized gang of criminals called the Cuckoo Gang. Gordianus needs all his considerable intelligence to maintain his anonymity and disguise his real purpose for seeking out this gang. Once there Gordianus finds a strange kind of contentment and he finds that he enjoys life on the lam. But he never forgets his real reason for being there, and goes to great lengths to rescue his love. What great fun this book is!
    • 4/5
      Steven Saylor's novel, Raiders of the Nile, is the latest in his series featuring Gordianus the Finder, but this book takes us back to the Roman's early life, when, at the age of twenty-two, he traveled to Alexandria, Egypt. It was here that he acquired the slave Bethesda, who was later to become his wife.The book opens with the scene of Giordianus and a team of bandits attempting to steal the golden sarcophagus from the tomb of Alexander the Great. From there the author flashes back to an earlier point in the story, when Bethesda, with whom Gordianus has unwisely fallen in love against the advice from his father on relationships with slaves. When Bethesda is abducted in what appears to be a case of mistaken identity, Gordianus sets out to find her, with the company of a young slave boy named Djet. They follow the trail of a notorious leader of bandits to their lair, the Cuckoo's Nest, in the wildest part of the Nile Delta. But as the reign of Ptolemy enters its last days, chaos descends upon Egypt and Alexandria in particular. Giordanus must use all his astuteness to maintain his supposed loyalty to the Cuckoo's gang, led by the charismatic Artemon, known as the Cuckoo's Child, in order to retrieve Bethesda without losing his own life. Saylor paints a picture of the Nile Delta as a Wild West sort of place, with gangs of unsavory characters and criminals hiding out from the authorities. He sets this in the historical context of the events of the reign of the Ptolemys of Egypt, and as Rome, in its waning days as a republic, was spreading its tentacles through North Africa and eventual conquest of Egypt.Saylor has a gift for combining ancient history with an enthralling story. Gordianus is a multi-faceted human being whose wants, needs and fears are as real as those of any modern person. Raiders of the Nile, along with the rest of the series, are an exciting way for readers to glimpse life in the days of the Romans.