I usually stay away from books set in Ancient Egypt or based on it because they usually disappoint me. But somehow, His Face Is The Sun called to me and so I had to pick it up. I read it through the lens of an egyptologist, of course, I couldn’t help myself. To find out if it, too, disappointed or not, continue reading below.
Synopsis
Tensions run as hot as the Khamsin winds in the great kingdom of Khetara. Rumors of the pharaoh’s mysterious illness abound, and with them, murmurs of rebellion grow. Meanwhile, in the quiet desert, a forgotten oracle begins to unfold, setting a dark prophecy into action and drawing together four strangers…
Princess SITA lives in the abundance of the palace, and in a moment of passion, she unmasks a betrayal that will put her life―and the entire royal court―in grave danger.
A priestess-in-training, NEFF strives to understand her intense visions from the gods, except theirs is not the only magic at play in the grand temple.
As a farmer’s daughter, RAE knows how much the pharaoh’s men have taken from her land, her people. Still, who will step forward to confront the king?
KARIM was raised among the pyramids of the Red Lands and survives on the wealth of the dead as a tomb robber. But amid the spoils, an ancient evil awakens…
Bloodshed is coming. Only together do these four have the potential to save the kingdom from destruction. But when the dust has settled, who will sit on the throne of Khetara?
Book: His Face Is The Sun | Series: Throne of Khetara #1 | Author: Michelle Jabès Corpora | Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire | Published: 06.05.2025 | Format: Hardcover | Pages: 528 | Genre: Fantasy | Rep: Brown cast, wlw MC & LI | CN: death, blood, alcohol, vomit, murder, bodily violence
Review
I have so many feelings about His Face Is The Sun. I am both in love with this book and scrunching my nose over some things. The book is definitely off to a very intriguing start with the prologue which tells the story of the birth of one of the protagonists, Sita, and her brothers. I was immediately immersed in the story and wanted to know more – only for the story to continue with another character. And another. And another. Everytime I found myself wanting to know more about each character but always the POV changed again. That took a lot of excitement away, having to wrangle my way into yet another character’s mind. It also made for a bad pacing that dragged in some chapters while there was a lot happening in others. While all POVs were interesting, some chapters really did nothing to further the story, really.
I really did like all four protagonists and I especially liked Neff, a young priestess who’s only thirteen but is suddenly thrown into a place she knows nothing about and has to find her way there. Thanks to the gods and the friend she makes she is not entirely alone, though she has to grow up very fast. I liked her chapters best and loved reading about her experiences in the temple and with the gods.
While I do like female characters who like to fight and brawl, Rae was a bit too impulsive to my liking. Her chapters also seemed to run while the others’ chapters were much slower in pace. There was a lot of action in her chapters, usually because Rae apparently hasn’t used that head of hers to think things through once. Which makes for quite a tension in her story and kept me glued to the pages.
Listen. I studied egyptology and my main take away is this: tomb robbery = bad. Even in Ancient Egypt tomb robbery was frowned upon and severely persecuted. So, of course, I wasn’t inclined to like Karim very much. And though I do somehow like him, I wanted to hit him with a frying pan repeatedly. For robbing tombs, not telling the truth when definitely necessary. But I could also understand where he came from and why he is the way he is.
Sita’s chapters were the most uninteresting to me. They often dragged and I just wish she would have done *more*. There was so much happening around her, intrigues she knew of, love she could have followed, court life and politics but all she did was … nothing? I love court intrigues and there was so much of it in her chapters but she seemed to be detached from it all.
I liked that the different characters come together and that they are bound by a prophecy even though not all of them know it yet so I’m very excited to see how they all end up together! I’m excited to see where this is going in the end, too, since there was some stuff hinted and some really bad things happening. Especially with the ancient evil Karim awakens.
The book and its world were incredibly detailed and I loved that Michelle Jabès Corpora did not hesitate to throw around with an abundance of ancient Egyptian words and things. I hope other readers know what’s meant by all of these things (or look it up!! very interesting!!) but it definitely made my egyptologist heart happy! The author uses Egyptian terms to desccribe the world and doesn’t say “skirt” when she specifically means shenti, uses the correct unit of measurement for grain (heqat), describes the weaponry and symbols of power. I absolutely loved this because I just know how much research went into all of it: the political aspects, the mythology, the everyday life and objects used, the different occupations,… everything was so well described and not only could I imagine the world very well, I was just so happy to see words and terms I never could use with anyone outside my egyptologist bubble in a book.
I loved how real myths were used in His Face Is The Sun. How the gods are portrayed and how actual mythology is at the base of the mythology in the book, even with the changes religion underwent in ancient Egypt and how the centers of worship moved to other cities depending on who was the most important god at the moment. There are truly so many details one might miss but I’m so happy because I didn’t lol. I’m so happy my MA finally is worth something and even if it’s only to understand a fantasy book very well.
There were some things that irked me a bit, like how the nicknames work. They seemed like very modern nicknames and I don’t think Sitamun’s nickname would be Sita since her name is made up of Sit-Amun (“place of Amun”? idk the heiroglyphs used for the name). So the “a” would be the first letter of Amun and I can’t believe ancient Egyptians would have slandered a god’s name like that, especially in royalty. Anyways. Not the point. Just an example and I need to control myself.
Another thing I’m on the fence about it the Great Awakened Evil™. I don’t want to spoil anything and maybe it’s going into another direction I’m thinking of. I’ll just leave this standing and say I will die on the “Set can be bad but isn’t evil” hill, thank you very much.
All of that said, I can only urge you to read this book. If you ever had an Ancient Egypt phase, His Face Is the Sun is for you. If you had a crush on Brendan Fraser in “The Mummy”, this book is for you. If you just like intriguing historical fantasies, this is for you. It has fantastic world building and amazing characters. This is the first novel based on Ancient Egypt I truly enjoyed and that has to mean something. Please, please go read His Face Is The Sun.
Rating:
YOU MIGHT ENJOY HIS FACE IS THE SUN IF YOU LIKE…
Ancient Egypt | multiple PoVs | The Mummy | mythology | prophecies | historical fantasy | revolution | intrigues | cats & dogs | subtle magic | peasant to courtier | secrets | detailed world building
Do you want to read more historical fantasy? Then check out this list of books about history with a twist.
What mythology do you want to read a book inspired by? Have you ever read something inspired by Ancient Egypt and how did you like it? Do you plan to pick up His Face Is The Sun or have you done so already?
Until next time,
