Pillar of Fire Audiobook By Judith Tarr cover art

Pillar of Fire

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Pillar of Fire

By: Judith Tarr
Narrated by: Anna Fields
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This monumental novel of ancient Egypt is set during the turbulent reigns of the Pharaoh Akhenaton and his successors, including Tutankhamen.

Egypt's long history has no more mysterious reign than that of Akhenaton, disciple of the One God, the Aten. Akhenaton abolished the worship of all other gods in Egypt and built a city devoted to the Aten, ruling for a decade of increasing civil unrest. Without a son of his own, he was forced to accept his brother, Smenkhkare, as co-pharaoh.

The story unfolds through the eyes of Nofret, a slave girl, who comes to know more of the king and of his city than most.

©1995 Judith Tarr (P)1995 Blackstone Audiobooks Historical Fiction Middle East Fiction Science Fiction

Critic reviews

"Anna Fields' narration is consistently fresh, bringing immediacy to the novel's events, while at the same time creating personas for a large cast of characters who develop and grow as they gain age and experience....This is a well-produced, intriguing story that makes the hours fly by." (AudioFile)
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This book was great - it spanned the many lives on the throne of Egypt. The main character Nofret is a strong woman who I admired.. Although the narrator was slightly boring, I found I listened to the book twice.

I enjoyed it~!

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A beautifully written story, which unfortunately blends true history with outright speculation. By putting wild theories on the same footing as direct quotations from the Armana letters, the story gets muddled and feels stretched. There were several places where an out-of-place statement was added, perhaps to satisfy a skeptical editor. The author's note at the end might have been better placed at the beginning, even if it did "ruin" the non-surprising plot twist, if only to make it abundantly clear that the author chose to pick and choose fact and fiction, for the sake of a more dramatic narrative.

Narration was superb, each character stood out distinct from the others.

Alternate history, not historical fiction

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Very believable well resered as it might have been read this and keep the story alive

Amaizing, love the Exodis

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Covering the time prior to, during and after the pharoah we know as King Tut, the book does a wonderful job of bringing to life the religious complexities of the day. One of the earliest known instances of monotheism, imposed by King Tut's elder brother, caused major disruption in Egypt and was ultimately rejected by the people and priests. An entertaining way to absorb the details of a fascinating period in history!

King Tut's Time

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The book starts out with a description of the Pharaoh's court as seen through the eyes of Nofret, a girl who was sold into slavery. I found the beginning somewhat interesting, although, with the exception of Nofret, the characters never quite came to life and the description of places and events lacked detail.

The surprise came with part 3 of the book when it turned into a retelling of the biblical story of Israel's Exodus from Egypt, complete with parting of the sea, etc. Where is the suspense in that?

The narrator's attempt to give color to the characters did not help either, especially with the male parts. All in all, its so, so. I've had better.

So, so

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