“Stargate Meets the Mummy”: A Review of Ancient Civilizations (Book 1 of Lamentations and Magic), by Russell Cowdrey
“Stargate Meets the Mummy”: A Review of Ancient Civilizations (Book 1 of Lamentations and Magic), by Russell Cowdrey (Coppell, TX, USA: RPC Novels, LLC, 2023). ISBN: 978-1-960300-00-3. While standing solidly on its merits as historical fiction, Ancient Civilizations ’ supernatural aspects are what set this book apart. From the opening battle, set in Egypt in 321 BC, the author cues the reader that there is something greater than reality as we know it going on. By the end of the opening, Cowdrey has given us an intriguing JJ Abrams-esque Mystery Box. The narrative quickly shifts to the Louvre. It’s 1883. Educated antiquities expert Louisa Sophia is robbing the exhibit of Ramses III. Louisa is Evelyn Carnahan from The Mummy with very sketchy morals. We again change locations to Mosul Province in the Ottoman Empire to meet the hero—physician turned archaeologist and treasure hunter Ben McGehee. Like Quincy Morris from Dracula , he’s from Texas. From Louisa and Ben’s first meet...