The Son of the Light by Christian Jacq (Rant Warning!)

[Andersson]

I’ve been reading The Son of the Light by Christian Jacq and it's just awful.

Ramses (Ramses, #1)

The writing is a bit flat but that might be a result of the translation from French so I’m not going to judge it that harshly. Besides, it works well enough and I’m not one to be too concerned with a lack of great writing (which is subjective anyway) as long as there’s a good story. However, the story is the real problem with this book as far as I’m concerned.

SPOILERS BELOW

Ramses, the main character, is wish fulfillment at its worst. He is the most athletic, handsome and smartest person around. The most beautiful women throw themselves at him. He is the best at everything he does and always succeeds, even when he shouldn’t (despite not preparing for it he gets a perfect score on an official exam, placing ahead of everyone else who have studied for it). Despite all of this he feels sorry for himself for not yet having found his true purpose in life (he’s about 18 years old at this point) and spends a lot of time sulking, even locking himself in his room and refusing to eat or talk to anyone. He frequently ignores his friends and takes them for granted (shortly after there has been an attempt on his life he just takes off for no good reason without telling anyone, leaving them to wonder if he is dead or alive for several weeks). Despite this everyone, except his evil brother, loves him and no one ever gets angry or criticizes him.

Ramses brother Shaanar, his main rival, is a horrible caricature. He is fat, weak, ugly, cowardly, effeminate, vain, deceitful, selfish, jealous and cruel. He is basically the anti-Ramses and only exists to show how great Ramses is in comparison. Even their mother makes it very clear that Ramses is her favorite. Despite this Shaanar is somehow seen as the better choice to become the future ruler by their father and given every advantage while Ramses is forced to prove himself (which of course he does over and over again). It feels like a cheap trick just to make Ramses seem like the underdog even though it is clear that he is superior to his brother in every way and will eventually surpass him.

Iset, Rameses lover, is extremely one dimensional. Her only characteristics are that she is beautiful and in love with Ramses. She is supposed to be headstrong and independent (she chooses Ramses over his brother despite his supposedly poor prospects) but as soon as she has had sex with Ramses (which is shortly after they meet) she does nothing but pine for him and worry about him when he is gone. In pretty much every scene Iset is in she’s having sex with Ramses and telling him how great he is. It is mentioned several times how hopelessly in love she is and that she wants/expects them to marry. Ramses on the other hand confides to his friends that he doesn’t really love her and is content to string her along just to keep having sex with her until something better comes along. This would actually make his character more interesting (a flaw in his perfect personality) except that no one, including Ramses himself, seems to find anything wrong with this attitude.

Ramses father, Seti, is this mythical figure who shows up from time to time in order to depart “deep wisdom” (a ruler must serve his people and not himself) and test Ramses in various stupid ways. For instance, Seti asks Ramses to kill his cherished dog and when Ramses refuses his father congratulates him on understanding that he must protect those that are loyal to him (Oh, I see. I’m not supposed to kill my friends and loved ones for no reason. Thanks dad, that’s a great life lesson).

All this is only from the first 3rd of the book but I don’t think I will keep going as it’s just pissing me off more and more. In the interest of fairness, I will say that the ancient Egypt setting is different and interesting, Jacq has clearly done his research (apparently he is a pretty serious scholar as well as a writer).

I know I shouldn’t let it bother me, just move on to something which I’ll enjoy more, there’s plenty of other books out there. But reading on his Amazon profile that Jacq has sold 27 million books I can’t help but to feel frustrated. Is this really what people like and want to read? I know it’s an old discussion, this book came out 1995 and there are many more recent examples of bestsellers of questionable quality (Dan Brown, Twilight, 50 Shades and so on), and I don’t have anything new to say on the subject. I’m not sure what the point of this post is except to vent my frustration and I’d probably be better off deleting it (except that it’s the most I’ve written in a while ). Of course I’m jealous of Jacq’s accomplishments, he’s an extremely successful writer and his books have been read by millions of people. Who am I to say that his book sucks? But it does, it really, really does.

Rant over.

 

[Andersson]

I’ve thought further on this story and have come to the conclusion that my first take on it was dead wrong, it’s actually a brilliant depiction of the world as seen by a mentally challenged young boy. No one can be as extraordinarily gifted and talented as Ramses appears to be, the only explanation is that it’s all in his head. I now see Ramses as being “touched in the head” and everything makes so much more sense. All the amazing things he does is just his imagination and people indulging him since he is the Pharaoh’s son.

Let me explain.

Ramses keeps saying how brilliant he is but that might not be the real reason he has a private “tutor” to instruct him. He also says how he went through several tutors before one was found that could put up with his “insatiable appetite for life and boundless imagination” (I guess that’s one way to describe a mental illness).

When Ramses gets a perfect score on the scribe’s exam he is helped by a magical monkey (I know it sounds weird but it’s in the book), this is clearly a metaphor for him cheating, probably in some very obvious way but, again, since he is a prince and “special” everyone goes along with it.

He is then given a position as a royal scribe but from what I can tell he never actually seems to be entrusted with any work. Instead it is his best friend and “personal assistant”, Ahmeni, who seems to be running things and looking after Ramses (including making sure he does not forget to eat and packing his clothes when they are going on a trip).

Ramses’ infrequent meetings with his father, who takes him on trips to different places and tries to teach him things, is simply the Pharaoh taking time out of his busy schedule to spend time with his idiot son (who he still cares for), but Ramses sees the silly games they play as his father testing him to become the future ruler of Egypt (maybe his father even indulges this delusion to make his son happy?).

The portrayal of the horrible brother is clearly a distorted view resulting from a young boy’s jealousy of his “normal” sibling and the plot to assassinate him is just another part of the intricate delusion that make up Ramses’ life. The brother is probably a really nice guy who is doing his best to prepare himself to shoulder the responsibility of running the country one day (with no help from his idiot younger brother).

Iset who, according to Ramses, is the most sought after girl in Memphis, is more likely a pretty slave girl who has been told to keep the prince happy and content and therefore showers him with praise for every little thing he does. This would explain why Ramses, a virgin boy of 15, turns out to be the greatest lover ever (yeah, she’s definitely faking it). I actually feel sorry for Iset but hopefully she is well compensated for the duties she performs.

I predict that the story will take a dark turn when Ramses, convinced that his brother is out to get him, decides to strike first and kills Shaanar. Everyone will feel terrible for indulging his fantasies for as long as they did and Ramses is locked up in a hospital where he is kept comfortable but not allowed to leave. It's a clever commentary on the lack of proper care for mental health patients in our modern society.

Overall, it’s a fascinating read in the vein of Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island (which is one of my favorite books) and I recommend everyone to read it.

 

[Andersson]

To my horror I'm becoming strangely fascinated by this book. Can it really be as simplistic and fatuous as it seems or is there something else going on? Is it in actuality a clever subversion of the archetypal hero portrait in western epics?

About two thirds into the book Ramses has now gone from being merely supremely gifted to having developed real super powers, he can commune with animals and see through solid rock.

Leaving that aside the really fascinating thing with this story is that we are supposed to view Ramses as the hero and sympathize with his "struggles" to become the next Pharaoh while Shaanar is portrayed as an evil schemer. But reading between the lines a different story can be found.

Shaanar, the older brother, has been raised since birth to be the heir. He has worked tirelessly as a diplomat and civil servant, learning statecraft, gaining experience and helping his father govern. His plans for the future is to open Egypt up to trade with other nations in the hopes that this will increase the country's wealth and foster closer ties with other kingdoms which could prevent wars. He also wants to modernize and get rid of old superstitions that he feels holds the country back.

Then one day, without warning or explanation, Shaanar's father decides to name his younger son Ramses as not only the new heir but also co-regent (a position that Shaanar had been hoping to be given one day).

Ramses has led a life or ease and frivolity. He has absolutely no political experience. While he has had a ceremonial position at court he has never done any real work. Instead he has spent his time at parties with beautiful women, playing games with his friends or traveling to country estates. His only real achievement is taking part in a battle that was over in a manner of minutes since the enemy was completely unprepared (this apparently makes him a war hero). He is however very good looking, charismatic and, most importantly, shares his father's deep religious devotion.

In fact, his religious aspirations seems to be the only thing that Ramses cares about after becoming co-regent. He takes part in lavish ceremonies and dreams of one day building great temples since he believes that is the most important thing that a Pharaoh can do for his people (as opposed to, I don't know, keeping them safe and fed ). He expresses a desire to preserve the customs and honor of Egypt without specifically detailing what that means. He also promises to greatly honor his father after he dies so that his spirit can live on.

Of course, a skeptic may question whether Ramses religious fervor is real or simply a way to ingratiate himself with his father? Either way it allows Ramses to supplant his more worldly brother who was always more interested in discussing politics than theology with their father.

Apart from his religious activities Ramses takes no political initiatives and leaves all administrative duties to his personal secretary so that he can have more free time to attend parties. At these parties Ramses likes to tell people that ever since he was a child there has been a fire burning inside him, a deep desire to become his father's heir (presumably so that he can brag about it at parties because he sure isn't doing much else with his newfound position ).

Meanwhile, Shaanar, who was very publicly humiliated when Ramses was made heir, is asked to continue performing much the same duties as before except that now his position is that of Chief of Protocol. Basically, Shaanar does all the work and Ramses gets all the glory. That Shaanar might find this situation a bit unfair does not seem to enter the minds of either Ramses or their father. Nor do they ever express any gratitude or appreciation for his work.

Even their mother makes no secret of the fact that she prefers the handsome and "active" Ramses over the effeminate and rotund Shaanar. Iset, the girl that Shaanar is in love with, rejects his offer of marriage in a very cruel way by calling him ugly and repulsive. Instead she is content to be the plaything of Ramses who never makes her any promises of commitment or fiedlity (and frankly treats her like she's only good for one thing ). Is it any wonder that Shaanar hates his brother and decides to stage a political coup against him? The case could be made that he is justified, both personally and politically, in doing so.

I can imagine the above being the true story while the book is the "official" story as written down by Ramses' scribes after he has become Pharaoh in an attempt to justify his own position while vilifying his brother who was the true heir (and would most likely have made the better ruler). This would certainly explain Ramses being shown as having god like abilities and being universally loved and admired.

The question then becomes did Christian Jacq see it this way when he wrote it or did he simply want to write "Ramses the Superhero of Ancient Egypt"?

 

[Andersson]

Well, I finished it, mostly out of a morbid curiosity. If I was expecting some clever twists at the end (I really wasn't) I was disappointed, it ended exactly as you would suspect (with a big cliffhanger to get you to read the next book in the series).

I can make fun of the book as much as I want but in the end the joke is on me, I bought and read it cover to cover. It's too late for me but to anyone who reads this, please, don't make the same mistake I did. Stay away from this book.