Set in 1907, The Antiquity Affair is a historical fiction novel full of adventure, puzzles, decoding ancient texts and Egyptian History/Myth. As is evident, it promises to be an excellent premise offering insight to ancient legends & myths as well as the excitement that accompanies the Dan Brown style codes and their decoding.
The story revolves around two sisters – Tess & Lila – The Fearless Fords as they call themselves, but both with contrasting personalities. Their father, Warren Ford is an archaeologist. The centre of all focus (and the cause of all that follows) is an ancient Egyptian relic The Serpent’s Crown which is believed to possess supernatural powers that enables it’s owner to control people’s minds and in effect become all powerful. It’s supposed location being Tomb KV55. In events that follow, we have one sister being kidnapped, some perilous situations, attempts to escape, solving the puzzles and texts in a bid to reach The Serpent’s Crown and the two sisters ultimately reuniting to achieve the seemingly impossible task.
There is no dearth of adventure in this book. Infact, at the later stages it sometimes feels like emulating a video game full of obstacles & dangers, completing a level and moving up to the more difficult one. Kudos to the authors for giving the readers a thrilling, fun-filled ride beginning to end.
The book also has an underlying romance theme with both sisters along their love interests. At points this did seem a bit misfit and unnecessary to the main theme of the book and the situations that these bunch of people were in.
Coming to the puzzles and ciphers, that is the selling point of this book along with the very intriguing Serpent’s Crown. My only problem here was, this whole scrolls thing that the two girls keep solving, it was a bit too complicated to get the true sense of it. Yes, you get the main gist of it – that they are succeeding with it, but it seems there are only 2 people who actually understand what’s with the scrolls – Lila and Tess. Considering I enjoyed the book thoroughly despite it, I can only imagine what an impact it would have if you truly understand each bit of the puzzle falling into place. What a thing of beauty it would be!
Conclusion
The Antiquity Affair is an excellent read for historical fiction fans. It had been touted as the female Indiana Jones. It had everything I expected and hoped to find. A fascinating, adventurous read with peeks into Egyptian history and myth. My most favorite part of the book was ofcourse the legend of The Serpent’s Crown. Also so satisfying was to see it get it’s rightful place. I loved how the authors describe it as “A powerful object, powerful symbol, no question. But perhaps more powerful as a myth. A mystery.” What was also heartwarming was to see the 2 sisters come together at last. In the most frightening of situations, they manage to sneak out humor. They have each other’s backs and reaffirm their belief in their childhood phrase The Fearless Fords. The Fearless Fords are barrelling ahead, The Fearless Fords are dashing to victory!
The Antiquity Affair Ending Explained (Spoilers)
This is a book surely recommended if you like historical fiction and adventure novels. Get your copy here.
If you loved this book, you would probably also enjoy a similar themed book based on a Parsi backdrop The Magicians Of Mazda: Bharat Series Continues To Intrigue