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There are currently 19 member reviews
for City of the Sun
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Becky H. (Chicago, IL)
CITY OF THE SUN by Juliana Maio
This book started as a good, well thought out war time spy thriller with a little romance thrown in. Then three fourth of the way through a couple of needless hot and heavy sex scenes appeared that seemed out of character for Maya and unnecessary for the story line. Then the ending just got unbelievable. It seemed as though the author ran out of steam and did a quick and dirty ending with coincidence and unreal situations abounding.
The characters – Maya, a Jewish refugee trying to get to Palestine with her scientist brother; Mickey, an American newspaperman turned spy; Kesner, a German spy looking for the brother, and a host of minor characters - were well fleshed out with clear voices and actions. A number of historical persons and organizations played minor parts (Anwar Sadat, King Farouk, the Muslim Brotherhood) appearing realistically as needed for the plot. Cairo in 1941, festering with a desire for independence and drowning in refugees and foreign soldiers, was a great setting for the story line. It is too bad the ending was so unsatisfying.
I enjoyed the book as a whole but not the ending.
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Amy W. (Annapolis, MD)
Did not live up to potential
I had very high hopes for this novel. Having visited Egypt a decade ago I really fell in love with the country and could vividly picture the cities described in the book. I also love historical fiction and am especially interested in the WWII era. Unfortunately, this book fell short. Billed as a spy novel set against a dramatic backdrop of Egypt in WWII before America entered the war with a love story thrown in to tie it all together the novel didn't really come together for me. All three portions were just ok. I found it hard to believe that the scientist they were looking for was so difficult to be found- but just happened to be the brother of the love interest unbeknown to Mickey was too coincidental. The story also was tied together too neatly to be believable for me.
On the plus side I think the author did a good job of describing the political situation in Egypt during that time period. I think if she had developed the story a bit more the book would have been better. I did enjoy the book and will pass it on to my friends but I was hoping for a novel with more depth.
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Helen M. (Petaluma, CA)
City of the Sun
It would be difficult for me to recommend this book generally. Who might enjoy it are people who love historical fiction about both WWII and the middle east. The city of the Sun is Cairo, the time is 1941. The players I found confusing. Many religious factions and many nations all have a stake in the world events occurring. It was difficult for me to keep them straight as the history of this part of the world is not familiar to me.
The mystery and romance part of the book was too predictable. For that reason I gave the book an average rating.
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Duane F. (Cape Girardeau, MO)
City of the Sun
I am ashamed to say it took me 3 months to finish this book. It had great promise... WWII, spies, Jewish refuges, love, Egypt and a promise of insight into the current Middle Easter crisis. It just never lived up to its promises. It's biggest fault was it seemed the dialog and character descriptions were geared to a younger audience. The plot had incredible potential, but was not complicated or realistic enough for me. The love story seemed stunted an then suddenly very explicit as though the author thought that perhaps she should throw it in to hold our interest. By the time it was presented, I had lost interest in the characters. The whole story line could have been much more developed. I felt as though the author was afraid to give her readers a real taste of what went in at that time period, location and political environment. Perhaps that she felt we could not handle real fact and it was presented like a fairy tale for middle schoolers. The author has potential... But needs to take into account, "The reason we read fiction based on fact is we wish fact with our fiction."
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Ann W. (New York, NY)
lost and misplaced in time
I had a very mixed reaction to this book. The chronology is wrong, even through the author acknowledged some of this in an afterword. Characters are not very interesting. The novel was filled with information, not always relevant to the story. The author alludes to Velodrome d"Hiver which occurred in 1942. Yet what actually happened was buried until after the war. The French have yet to really acknowledge what occurred. Maya deceit about herself was unrealistic. All Arabs are not Moslem yet that was the implication. The research gave some interests tidbits but ignored other people. Nasser and Sadat were close. He was in Cairo when Lamson incident occurred in 1942.
The end was also unrealistic but formulaic.
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