Thursday Tea: Guardian of the Horizon by Elizabeth Peters

The Book: Guardian of the Horizon is the 11th book chronologically in the Amelia Peabody mystery series by Elizabeth Peters, but it is the 16th book published. This book takes place before the The Falcon at the Portal, which I wrote about last month. Thanks goes to SuziQOregon from Whimpulsive for letting me know about the proper order in which to read this series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure, in which the Emersons--famous Egyptologists working in the early twentieth century--return to the Lost Oasis in Sudan. Their first visit took place ten years and five books earlier, and it was then that they met and rescued Nefret and took her into their family.

In Guardian of the Horizon, we learn a bit more about Nefret's background and see a new aspect of Ramses's personality. Meanwhile Emerson and Peabody are up to their usual tricks as they figure out the real reason they've been lured back to the Lost Oasis. The plot includes double-crossings, young love, plots and plans, kidnappings, and sword fights.

There was less archaeology in Guardian of the Horizon than in the other Peabody and Emerson books, but I barely missed it because the story kept my attention. The plotting was complex enough that I had trouble figuring out the ending, and that's always a good thing. On the other hand, because I know what happens down the line (in The Falcon at the Portal) some aspects of the story didn't have quite the impact they could have had if I had read the books in the proper order.

I can't really say more without spoiling multiple books--the sad and difficult thing about trying to write about a long series. I listened to the bulk of the unabridged audio edition (Harper Audio, 14 hr 14 min) on the train to and from New York last week, and Barbara Rosenblatt, the narrator, was a great traveling companion. She is brilliant in this series and is the perfect Amelia Peabody.

The Tea: Now that the days are hot, I'm drinking my tea iced. This week I made an old favorite: Stash Tea's Chai Spice Black Tea, which the company describes like this: "Our interpretation of this classic Indian drink blends rich, flavorful Indian black teas with cinnamon, clove, ginger and cardamom. The brewed tea is very aromatic, with a flavor that is slightly sweet, strong, and penetrating, with lingering notes of almond." It's wonderful hot and quite good cold. As always, I drink it unsweetened.

The Assessment: The Emersons, being English, do indeed drink tea. They are adventuresome enough that they might even be inclined to give chai a chance. But truth be told, they prefer coffee at breakfast, and Amelia would take a whiskey over a cup of tea on most afternoons. So I'm going to have to declare chai spice tea and Guardian of the Horizon to be a semi-mismatch.

What About You? Are you drinking anything interesting these days? And what are you reading this week?

Buy Guardian of the Horizon at an Indie, Powell's, Book Depository, or a bookstore near you. These links lead to affiliate programs.
Thursday Tea was the brainchild of Anastasia at Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog.
Published by William Morrow 2004 (several other editions are available)
ISBN-13: 9780066214719
Source: Bought (see review policy)
Rating: B+
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)
FTC: I buy all teas myself, I am not a tea reviewer.