This was a very solid, fun, intriguing story! I loved the setting, and as someone who had not read book one yet, I loved finding out more about all the characters, their relationships and their shenanigans. As someone who loved Egyptian everything as a kid, this really hit the spot! There were some interesting themes discussed in this too, regarding the ownership of artifacts, feminism, and I just really enjoyed it!! I will definitely pick up book 1 now, and book 2 and join everyone in waiting for a possible book 3!!

This is a rare case of a sequel being even better than the first book!! Book two picks up right where we left off with Ellie and Adam in Egypt. We follow them on their journey to save one of the world’s greatest treasures along with their best friends . I was so surprised when we picked up Constance and Neil along the way. As well as a couple of other characters! I had an absolute blast reading this latest adventure. It makes my childhood heart happy to be reading a fun book that has so much Egyptian history in it! If you loved learning about Ancient Egypt, this is the book for you!!! The attention to detail is just ridiculous. What a great adventure! I hope you choose to follow Princess, the American, Stuffy and Danger Gnome on the next installment of Raiders of the Arcana.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for granting me early access to this novel!

Another swashbuckling adventure in the Raiders of the Arcana series! It was great to watch Adam and Ellie's relationship develop (although I could have used more of that) and meet the new characters in Egypt.

Personally, I think the Julian reveal could have been a little more dramatic, but he did make a great evil idiot. Now I need to know Jacobs' secret...

I have a degree in Egyptology so I went into this read with some trepidation, but it's incredibly well researched - it very cleverly fills in gaps in the historical record without disrupting what we know to be true. Ancient Egypt does feel magic sometimes, and Benson's additions slipped right in.

I loved this book and would 100% recommend it - especially to history nerds and fans of Indiana Jones / The Mummy.

Thank you crimson fox publishing, Jacquelyn Benson, and Netgalley for an arc of this book. I absolutely love this series! Looking forward to reading more from this author

I adored Empire of Shadows and I’ve been so excited to continue the series with this second book. It did not fail to deliver the same Indiana Jones crossed with The Mummy vibes I loved from book 1 but with the introduction of more characters and a reveal of the wider villain story.

Constance is the epitome of a pocket rocket and her nickname of danger gnome had me laughing every time. I loved adding her personality into the mix of characters. Neil was a bit so so but he lived up to his character expectations and I hope to see him becoming less “stuffy” in the next adventure.

One thing I was really impressed with is how much actual history is in this book. It reads like a fantasy in the sense you really think the author has embellished a lot but it’s all based off of real events and knowledge, and characters were inspired by real egyptologists. Knowing this gave me a whole extra level of respect for the author as I can only imagine how much research went into this to keep it close to the truth.

Overall I gave this book 4.5⭐️, I knocked off half a star purely because I actually did the audio for EOS and it was just hard to beat it. I would have enjoyed the audio here mainly to help with the dialogue which was in Egyptian and Masri so when that is released I’ll be saving for that another time.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Worldbuilding: 🏛️🏛️🏛️ (simple but well done)
Spice: 0.25 🌶️ (doesn’t need no spice ♥️)

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a light read, with plenty of humor and action and also many historical details, all very well crafted in the narrative.

This is the 2nd book in the Raiders of the Arcana series and I would recommend reading the first one first (that one is also 🧑‍🍳 💋).
We follow Ellie & Adam, along with some other key characters, investigating a lost magical artifact in Egypt. Very compelling topic for everyone who’s been watching Indiana Jones or The Mummy when they were kids (🙋🏻‍♀️).

On a more serious note, I felt the colonization aspects (British Empire vs the people of Egypt) were superficially but somewhat fairly described with some of the injustices it brought to the Egyptian people, especially in archeology. (This is my own opinion and you may feel differently !). That was important to me. On top of this, Ellie is my hero for all things anti patriarchy ♥️

Books 1 and 2 are complete stories by themselves (no cliffhanger at the end) but the 3rd installment is coming in 2025 with a new adventure for our heroes and I will definitely be reading it!

Raiders of the Arcana is quickly becoming one of my favourite series. This new instalment definitely lives up to the high bar that the first book set. This time Ellie and Adam are on the way to Egypt to head off Dawson and Jacobs in a race to a new arcana. There’s a few new characters introduced and they all add such wonderful qualities to the story. The multi POV is so well done, and the descriptions and setting make you feel so immersed. I liked seeing how Ellie and Adam were able to work on and grow their relationship without any miscommunication. However the romance definitely takes a backseat to the action. This was fast paced and super fun and again Benson has done a wonderful job blending history and adventure.

Thanks to Netgalley, Jacquelyn Benson and Crimson Fox Publishing for this e-ARC

Listen listen listen….
If you have added or read Empire of Shadows based on my review or rec, then you absolutely also have to immediately get Tomb of the Sun King , the sequel!!! Because Miss Benson has done it again and somehow added more characters that have grown equally if not more precious to me than Ellie and Adam and that's no easy feat 😌

In Tomb of the Sun King , we see Ellie and Adam racing against the clock, trying to get to Egypt and Ellie’s brother Neil before the villainous Jacob and co can get their hands on him and his archeological dig findings. On the way we meet many new characters and some old ones including Constance who was an utter delight!!!

I did have some minor issues with the pacing in the first half but the second half more than made up for it. I loved how the various relationships were explored, loved the banter and the utter chaos , it was both funny and nail biting somehow & I couldn’t get enough of the Egyptian history and in short I was 200% entertained from start to finish.

If I had a teeny tiny complaint it would be that I wish we had been given a bit more spicy scenes between Adam and Ellie. But that in no way should detract you from immediately picking this one up!!! I guarantee a breakneck(sometimes literally) adventure with an utterly chaotic found family like group that will have you in splits from laughter and tension both .

Listen listen listen….
If you have added or read Empire of Shadows based on my review or rec, then you absolutely also have to immediately get Tomb of the Sun King , the sequel!!! Because Miss Benson has done it again and somehow added more characters that have grown equally if not more precious to me than Ellie and Adam and that's no easy feat 😌

In Tomb of the Sun King , we see Ellie and Adam racing against the clock, trying to get to Egypt and Ellie’s brother Neil before the villainous Jacob and co can get their hands on him and his archeological dig findings. On the way we meet many new characters and some old ones including Constance who was an utter delight!!!

I did have some minor issues with the pacing in the first half but the second half more than made up for it. I loved how the various relationships were explored, loved the banter and the utter chaos , it was both funny and nail biting somehow & I couldn’t get enough of the Egyptian history and in short I was 200% entertained from start to finish.

If I had a teeny tiny complaint it would be that I wish we had been given a bit more spicy scenes between Adam and Ellie. But that in no way should detract you from immediately picking this one up!!! I guarantee a breakneck(sometimes literally) adventure with an utterly chaotic found family that will have you in splits from laughter and tension both .

The Tomb of the Sun King takes readers on another exhilarating ride through Egypt, with strong The Mummy vibes! This instalment not only builds on Adam and Ellie’s romance but also introduces new characters like Constance and Neil, adding depth to the story. The action is relentless, yet the characters get room to grow, especially Ellie and her friendships. Adam remains a standout favourite, but Neil's character arc was a pleasant surprise. With an intriguing villain plot brewing, I’m excited for the next adventure!

This was a fabulous cross between Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone. The story was an entertaining romp around Egypt's famous sites compete with a charismatic strong male, an underestimated intelligent female and traditional male - female viewpoints of the time period - what could go wrong.
It was the first time reading this author and I will be adding her to my to be read to list.

Jacquelyn Benson has done it again with Tomb of the Sun King! This second installment in the Raiders of the Arcana series continues to deliver on the adventure, historical intrigue, and romance that made the first book so captivating. If you’re a fan of Indiana Jones or The Mummy, this book is the perfect blend of ancient mysteries, magical artifacts, and exhilarating tomb raiding.

The relationship between Ellie and Adam is truly one of the highlights. Unlike many similar adventure romances, Ellie and Adam feel like equal partners, with unique strengths and complementary talents. Their chemistry is palpable, and their dialogue feels refreshingly real. The way they navigate both perilous situations and their evolving relationship is incredibly engaging—neither character is overshadowed, making their dynamic even more compelling.

Neil’s character development was another standout. Watching his growth throughout the book added depth to the story, and I’m excited to see where his journey leads. Constance, with her fearless personality and sharp wit, was an absolute delight, bringing even more excitement and feminist energy to the novel.

The story kept me hooked, and I’m eager to see what happens next for this adventuring team.

Overall, Tomb of the Sun King delivers exactly what I hoped for: a thrilling adventure with a side of romance and a dash of magic.

Let’s get something out of the way immediately: I LOVE THIS BOOK. THIS is the vibes I was looking for 100%. Everything about it was fabulous!! Perfect for fans of Indiana Jones/The Mummy; a great blend of adventure, historical fiction, and romance.

My friend, who also read this, and I agreed that one of the best thing about it was the relationship between Ellie and Adam. I adore them because unlike a lot of other books of a simile nature, these two feel REAL AND EQUAL. The dialogue is so refreshing and engaging. Both Adam and Ellie have different talents and strengths, and they complement each other! Neither is thought lesser or treated inferior, but rather both have something to contribute and I love it. They go through relationship trials and make their own path and do it out of love for each other.

The other newer characters are great too. Neil goes through a lot in this book, but I’m glad he did. His character growth was fantastic and something I greatly look forward to seeing more of in the next installment. Constance was so much fun to read, and the feminist takes throughout these novels is wonderful.

This book feels lived in and loved. I didn’t want it to end. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy! Can’t wait for the next one!

It’s 1898 and Ellie Mallory, a scholar, has arrived in Egypt along with her handsome companion, Adam Bates. They have just completed a dramatic exploration for a magical artifact in British Honduras, and they are now on the trail of the staff of Moses. It is critical that they find it before Professor Dawson and Mr. Jacobs, who seek the staff for nefarious purposes.

Ellie plans to seek help from her childhood friend, Constance, who is now living in Cairo, and her brother Neil, who is on a dig at Saqqara, but time is not on their side.

My Thoughts

I enjoyed this book very much! I hadn’t read the first in the series, and while that would have given me some helpful background, it wasn’t critical for my appreciation of the story.

This book had a little of everything. There was romance, adventure, humor, mystery, dangerous secret societies, and magical objects. The pacing was perfect, the characters were diverse and interesting, and the plot was well-crafted.

The author’s writing was very engaging. She painted beautiful pictures of Egypt, the homes, the archaeological sites, and even the train stations.

While the book was a lot of fun, it did still address issues of sexism, racism, and colonialism. I loved that women were allowed to be heroes, not just intellectually, but in physical combat. I also appreciated that Saddiq and other Egyptian characters were given roles beyond silent, subservient sidekicks.

My favorite character was Constance, and I love that Neil referred to her as the Danger Gnome, the childhood nickname he’d given her which still seems to apply to the adult Constance.

Three very minor points
The camels stood up backwards. Camels stand up with their back legs first. These camels stood up front legs first.

Ellie’s distress at Connie’s desire to take a lover before marriage seems inconsistent with Ellie’s position on women’s rights, and I didn’t understand it.

When one is fleeing gunmen, it is never the best time to discuss relationship issues.

My thanks to NetGalley for the complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ellie and Adam have finally arrived in Egypt with a very loose plan on how they are going to inform Ellie's brother and Adam's best friend that a group of murderers will be arriving at his dig site to acquire a legendary weapon of mass destruction, which seems a far less risky prospect than explaining their relationship to him. As soon as they arrive at Constance's home, though, Ellie discovers that maneuvering around her best friend is going to be even more difficult than convincing her brother that magic is real. Especially after Connie explains that gentleman caller who is at her home when the trio arrives is the man her mother has decided that Connie should marry. Julian Forster-Mowbray, who as soon as he opens his mouth, proves that he is everything that is wrong with the British ruling class. Ellie reluctantly agrees to have Connie accompany her and Adam because she is well aware of the horrible position her best friend has placed it.

The very next day the group sets off to Neil's dig site only to encounter the worst possible situation almost immediately; not only does Dawnson arrive within minutes of their group, but they determine that the Arcana they are searching for none other than the Staff of Moses one of the most dangerous weapons if in the hands of men like Dawnson and Jacobs. To make matters even worse, it appears that Julian is the one funding Dawson and Jacobs! Our heroes are immediately thrown into a race against a powerful organization that will stop at nothing to put the world's Arcana in the hands of the British Empire, which could only spell disaster for the world.

Very much like Book 1, Tomb of the Sun King was an absolutely amazing fantasy adventure with lovable characters and an edge of your seat story that hooks you within the first few sentences!

There are several "new" characters introduced that I absolutely fell in love with Constance being my favorite. Whatever I thought about Ellie being a tenacious and determined woman who was going to live life by her own means Constance just embodies that with a wonderfully reckless attitude that made her simply a joy to get to know.

While Constance was just a blast, Neil is probably the most important character in the book as he becomes a small microcosm of everything that is wrong with the world. Much of this book and really the series period centers around the systematic theft of important historical objects from the numerous countries that Britain colonized as a way to control these populations. Neil, being a man who has benefited from this and who is painfully oblivious to how much he has benefited from it is essentially slapped in the face time and again with the fact this his lack of action to try to change these wrongs he is in essence supporting a system he knows is wrong. From the clear and inherent racism that involved the system that allowed thousands of artifacts to be removed from Egypt, to the fact that Egyptians themselves were simply not allowed to lead these expeditions into the recovery of the own history, Neil admits that he is aware that this is wrong and simply chooses to do nothing. He takes this same attitude when it comes to Ellie's struggles to be seen as a legitimate historian due to her sex. He consistently hurts the people who care for by simply allowing them to be treated like second class citizens and it quite honestly I don't believe he fully comphrends just how much damage he's done by the end of the book even.

The romance is still well done here as well it doesn't overpower the story ever. It did, however, take me a bit to come around to having Neil and Constance moving towards a relationship. It genuinely felt like low hanging fruit in terms of a simple way to get Ellie and Adam off the hook with Neil. However, it never went that route, which I'm eternally grateful for. Instead of Constance and Neil being a simple plot device, Ellie and Adam have several open and honest conversations about the direction their relationship is taking, and it simply becomes a "Deal with it, bro" thing.

Honestly, though, this whole Staff of Moses thing and the route that took was definitely the best portion of the whole book. I love how this is wrapped up in feminism and the theory that Benson proposes is absolutely plausible. I genuinely don't even *like* books about the Egyptology craze of the the last 19th/early 20th century, I've rarely came across any books that I could say are wholly unique or brings anything new to this niche genre in adventure novels. This was definitely unique, I was actually *interested* in these bits of Egyptian history I had rarely heard of to the point where I found myself stopping and Googling many of the Pharoah's mentioned in the book. Btw don't do that. It will, to an extent, spoil some portions of the book. Benson not only makes this history fascinating, she brings it to life in brilliant detail, breathing existence into lesser known humans in history.

Overall, I most definitely recommend this series. It is genuinely just a lot of fun with a side dose of very serious conversations regarding social issues that still affect us today. While simultaneously making history not just fun but accessible, by taking these figures who for some many are just some fact they had to memorize and making them human.

As always, thanks to NetGalley and Crimson Fox Publishing for the eArc!

You can check out all of my reviews at my blog! <a href = "https://kellysbooknook.wordpress.com/"> Kelly's Book Nook</a>

Oh my goodness, Jaquelyn Benson did it again! This book was fun and fast paced, while also tackling some heavier topics with grace. We were thrown right into the action and it hooked me right away, making this book hard to put down. Ellie and Adam’s relationship and banter had me kicking my feet, and the addition of Neil and Constance was perfect for the dynamic. I enjoyed this book so much and cannot wait for more from this author!

It’s not often that a sequel is as good as the first book in a series, but this one was. I loved the adventure and the romance between Ellie and Adam. I also really enjoyed the addition of Constance and Neil. I hope we get more of them in the next book.

The mixture of history and fantasy is perfect.

Thanks for the eARC NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this book!! The plot was so interesting and full of adventure that I was never bored. The author did a great job with character development because I was full invested in there stories. I will be recommending this book to all of my friends and family.

This book was so good! If you are looking for a new cover read then this book is for you! This book was so good and the romance made it so much more enjoyable and I could not put it down!

Oh gosh, where do I start? This was magic. Pun intended. I thought I loved the first book in this series, and couldn't love another more but Jacquelyn Benson proved me wrong. The book has strong "The Mummy" vibes and the new characters involved in this one provide a lot more entertainment. I thought Constance would drive me nuts, but her pluckiness was perfectly done. Neil...the scholar grew on me, eventually...the fool. As for Adam and Ellie, I can't wait to see what the third book brings as soon as I can get my hands on it! So glad I got one of the ARCs from NetGalley, this was an amazing adventure!