Tras siglos de gloria, Egipto se halla sometido al yugo de los hicsos —a quienes los egipcios denominaban setiu—, un pueblo bárbaro llegado del norte para imponerse sobre la corrupta XII dinastía faraónica. Sin embargo, Apepa, el temido rey de los setiu, no puede disfrutar con plenitud de su poder porque al sur, en una pobre y lejana provincia a orillas del Río de la Vida, se encuentra Seqenenra Tao, Príncipe de Weset, descendiente del último faraón, encarnación de Horus e Hijo del Sol. Recluido en sus remotos dominios, Seqenenra es en apariencia un súbdito fiel, pero ante los ojos del monarca invasor es un desafío a su omnipotente autoridad soberana. Así pues, cuando el rey de los setiu lo sometea una serie de humillaciones indignas del sucesor del gran Sesostris, conquistador del Nilo, Seqenenra decide poner fin al vasallaje de los suyos, a sabiendas de que el precio a pagar será desmesurado.

I was a bit disappointed by this book. One of my favorite Goodreads reviewers reread the series a few months ago, and had very good things to say about it. I immediately purchased the book on Amazon after seeing that the author had also written [b:Child of the Morning|296570|Child of the Morning|Pauline Gedge|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312023396s/296570.jpg|1526292], which I read a few years ago and enjoyed very much. The Hippopotamus Marsh is about an incredibly exciting time in Egypt's history, when the Theban royal house rebelled against the Hyksos, invaders who ruled in Lower Egypt. The first half of the book focuses on Seqenenra, who led the first rebellion, and the second half focuses on his son, the future Pharaoh Ahmose I. Pauline Gedge understandably takes some liberties with the historical details in order to shape her story, and adds some insight to the unknowns that have been lost to history. However, my overall impression is that the book is too long. The plot drags quite a bit and I am unsure if i will be reading the rest of the series. ( )

As a would be Egyptologist, I am entranced at her historical fiction based on Egyptian history. ( )