Reviews for The Hidden Oasis

The average rating for The Hidden Oasis based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-03-06 00:00:00 Daniel Hilger I expected to like this book, I tried to like this book, really I SHOULD have liked this book. Unfortunately, I didn't like this book. I pretty much knew by page 20 that I wasn't likely to like this book, but I really wanted to give it every opportunity to change my mind so I kept reading until page 80, but when I was still not liking it, I gave up. I'm not even quite able to put my finger on exactly WHY I didn't like this book, because on the surface it has all kinds of things that normally add up to a good read for me. It's set in Egypt, a location I usually like, the main character is a strong, capable woman, there's the promise of a lot of thrilling plot twists, danger, mysteries and nasty bad guys. Like I said - I SHOULD have liked this book. I think part of the problem is that there's a substantial amount of set up. There are clearly a large number of characters, so I guess that is necessary, but when I got to page 80 and almost nothing of import had yet happened, it made me wonder how much actual STORY there would be and how much of the nearly 500 pages in the total book I'd have to wade through to get to it. There's also a bit too much extraneous description in this book for my tastes. I understand that, especially when a book is set in a foreign location, some explanation of pertinent details is necessary and even helpful to set a mood and get the reader into the story. However, I don't need to know what every kind of tree the character pass on a drive is, or that there are manure clumps on the road someone is walking along to a building, just give me what is necessary to put me there and then GET TO THE PLOT! I'm sure some people adore having tons of detail and getting every possible item's description and position, but I'm more about the story, so anything that keeps me from knowing what's going on is a distraction and an unwelcome irritant. Bottom line: when I'm reading a book and find myself constantly drifting off and thinking about what I have to do tomorrow, or whether I should have chicken or fish for dinner, that book is NOT a keeper for me and it's time to take it back to the library and go on to the next one on my to-be-read list. So that's what I'm doing.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-01-28 00:00:00 indermohan singh I loved this book. I bought it casually at a drugstore and I'm glad of it. I love Egypt, so i loved the setting, and I loved to hear of its history (fake and not). I was captured by the research for Zerzura and very intrigued by the matter of dealing ancient artefacts and also how it all entertwined with contemporary history. I think it was a nice thing to add. Also, the whole time I kept seeing it in my head as a movie, I could see characters, I could see things. I got really attached to the characters and was rooting for them to make it. Definitely worth the re-reading and even better the second time. Almost forgot to mention how hmorous could be the dialogues at times.