At some remote book fair in Zaragoza I met Antonio Cabanas in one of the booths of the central bookstore in my city. And that's it, because we certainly didn't exchange conversation. Him in the corner of him signing books and me doing what I could on the other side. If anything, a cordial greeting because neither he would know about my work nor I then knew about his.
Today I could already tell you something about his novels, or I could ask him for the current heading for one of his copies from my collection. But that's how things and circumstances are. Although surely the fact of having met him encouraged me with his novel about Isis. And then the others arrived. Another author fascinated by that Ancient Egypt, which could be the real cradle of the world. Terenci moix o Jose Luis Sampedro They offered us their vision of that legacy flooded by the Nile and its myths. Antonio Cabanas is in charge of writing with a more popular point, between very lively plots but always devoted to the cause of the highest possible fidelity.
Top 3 recommended novels by Antonio Cabanas
Isis's tears
The undeniable importance of ancient Egypt means that its consideration as a historical narrative in the hands of so many good novelists becomes a powerful sub-genre of its own that runs parallel to an Egyptology always caught up in discoveries and interpretations of the fascinating discoveries. for a civilization whose origin is lost more than 5.000 years ago.
Of course, Isis, whom Antonio Cabanas recovers on this occasion for a new novel with aspirations to be one of the most complete fictionalized biographies, is a fascinating historical character, a woman who has come to power in the glorious empire in the face of all kinds of setbacks. But above all, the cradle and personification of the myth of life after death, of the immortal pharaohs, of the funeral rites and of their theatricality and great architecture that has survived to this day.
This is the story of a woman who challenged the established order to become the most powerful pharaoh in Egypt. She ruled at the time of the country's heyday, when her army was the strongest in the world and the kingdom enjoyed great prosperity. And she left an immense legacy in the form of architectural works that continue to fascinate us today.
With rigor and a style as magical as the time he portrays, Antonio Cabanas immerses us in his life: his childhood, marked by the influence of his grandmother Nefertary; her early youth, in which she suffered the preeminence of her brothers over her; and her later stage when, convinced of her qualities to rule, she pursued her ambitions with the help of the royal priest and architect Senenmut. He was her accomplice in the palace intrigues and together they lived an exciting love story that has transcended to this day.
Tutankhamun's dream
When one evokes a pharaoh, the good old Tutankhamen comes to mind immediately, for whose tomb discovered in 1922 all kinds of legends awoke. But few of us know the true significance, more or less measured by his legacy. This book is the best way to get closer to the pharaoh par excellence...
After the despotic and chaotic reign of his father, the young Tutankhamun tries to bring order to a divided country. Pharaoh is barely a teenager and the ruthless struggle for power has plunged him into absolute solitude, but everything changes when a humble fisherman named Nehebkau appears in his life, who has the incredible gift of attracting cobras and enchanting them with his single presence. This is how the deep friendship that will mark the lives of both begins and will be the common thread of this story that transports us to a fascinating time.
With the rigor and rhythm typical of a great master of the historical novel, Antonio Cabanas plunges us into the convulsive Egypt of the XNUMXth century BC. C. Figures like Akhenaten, Horemheb or the powerful Nefertiti parade through the pages of this work that also reveals to us the intrigues hatched in the shadow of Pharaoh, the secrets kept in the tombs, what life was like for those who built them and the scope of the curses of the gods
This great novel reaches readers coinciding with the anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. Since the mythical discovery by archaeologist Howard Carter, the most famous and at the same time most unknown pharaoh of Ancient Egypt has always has aroused enormous fascination. Finally, in the pages of this novel, Antonio Cabanas reveals to us the man hidden behind the great historical enigma.
The way of the gods
The most environmental novel of all that Cabanas offers us. And undoubtedly a great intrahistory slipped between what happened in what was the world when the unknown loomed plus ultra any sea. Experiences that exude deep humanity and that allow us to enjoy very authentic experiences. The future of Amosis catches us in the different places where he seeks his space. While Amosis grows, the world advances towards new horizons.
Through the life of Amosis, the reader will go through the turbulent years in which the three great classical civilizations, decadent Egypt, Greece and the emerging Rome, turned the Mediterranean into a fascinating melting pot of cultures. His odyssey will take us from Upper Egypt to the distant deserts of Nubia, and from Alexandria to the islands washed by the Aegean. Accompanied by extraordinary characters such as the slave Abdú, the fascinating Circe or the bookseller Teofrasto, he will have to face the worst and the best of the human being: excessive ambition, the desire for power, betrayal, authentic friendship and the regenerative force of love.
