Good book. Recommend. It's not got any sci-fi and is historical, so do not go in expecting any big hidden aliens. The ending is a bit Vincent and The Doctor, but I like the way they did it. I like the characters and would like more of them. Full disclaimer, this is my first Erimem and I have not heard any of her audios yet and this fully convinced me to hear them.

This is an engaging book that I didn't want to stop when reading and would love to discuss with people. Memory has been overtaken by other things due to the lack of an outlet, however.

You can tell much research was put into the book and I enjoyed the historical accuracy, to the point that many people assumed I was reading an actual history book about a real pharaoh. () I think this book would have had a mass effect as such on the general (un-pharaoh-knowledge having) public, if handled by a larger publisher and / or in less specialist cover, like Sweeney Todd's 1993 book, which was by another Doctor Who writer, or those Da Vinci Code books, or that other book series that's currently escaping my mind.

I also plan to read the further books in her series as I look forward to seeing more of these characters, no matter their fate in later audios. (Also, when the time is right, I hope to hear The Veiled Leopard as that sounds interesting and is free.)

Luckily, the story that happens soon* after this one is The Eye of The Scorpion, which is free on Spotify. During my reading of this I started to it see as more of a Doctor Who crossover than source material.
*Soon is of course, relative.

Spoiler section: Also, disappointing that we don't get to see her as Pharaoh for long in the book; I'd like to find out her internal monologue and how she was as Pharaoh but I assume that's in the Doctor Who crossover or saved for her solo series. Please do not tell me otherwise, I prefer to remain unspoiled. I hope Antranak lives. And Hanek. And I can fully envisage The Doctor bluffing their way into the courts by accident, despite me still not being convinced at the efficacy of adding Doctor Who to this book's universe. Also, the twists in the book were expertly done. I would greatly enjoy more "false historicals" ala Empress of Mars and this book convinced me that Doctor Who should do them in the main show and commit, much like I assume Big Finish has, and the wider EU has acquiesced.

Queen Nefertiti in Dinosaurs on A Spaceship surely helps with this, as does the fact that the order and linage of Pharaoh is never mentioned in the show or anywhere else. As indeed, why would it be? All in all, reference Erimem in the show. It's not even that hard; it could even be a dual reference. I don't see it happening in RTD2 however. Maybe a Faction Paradox. And if any Who writers are reading this, please do not take this as an opportunity to invalidate her by doing an "Order of the Pharaohs" segment in your next Who work that's set after the prologue/epilogue of this book, which is to say all New Who companions should have at least heard something about Erimem, or there being a "missing Pharaoh" for the worldbuilding of the show to work. Oh, and if you do read this, please mention me in the acknowledgments. I'd like that. Closest I'll get to writing for a Doctor Who. Even an Obverse. I'd love to do an Obverse. How do you get to write for Obverse?

Big complaint about this is people going "No aliens, bad." and I go "No aliens, woo! This is good." Twists were good and I wish the show took more from this. Or at least had the gumption to do a consistent fake historical every so often and stick with it. There's a lot that could come from sticking to chronology. Ahem, RTD2 side-eye. Maybe Doctor Who could even do a historical with, gasp, no aliens. Or, get this, Empress of Mars 2. 

Sorry for not commenting much on the state of the Erimem franchise and instead going on about this niche science-fiction show called Doctor Who and their books. Also, sorry for my hard stance on spoilers. To be fair, you don't know what'll completely tip someone off to a reveal, or an event. Back to the book now. Read it. Worth the money. If you want sci-fi, maybe don't bother, though. Background historical knowledge optional, you can guess at who is a real historical character if you want/don't know. You might be surprised at who shows up.

Anyway. This book is good. I don't want to give much away. The blurb is accurate. In everything except calling it a science fiction book. Come on, kayfabe, people. Penguin would never break the kayfabe like that. Anyway, bye. I will maybe do more of these in future.