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S.W. Lothian is a funny and cool guy from Australia. His kids call him ‘Phil Dunphy’, because he reminds them of the dad from Modern Family. He isn’t sure whether this is a compliment or not, but he takes it as a compliment.
As an imaginative kid he dreamed of creating exciting worlds and funky characters, and thought he’d be the most famous person to ever do this. He loved to draw and was dux of Art in High School. Top of his dream list was to be an animator. Along with his friend (who went on to be a semi-regular in an Aussie TV Soapie) they would make their own comic books – it kept them entertained and out of trouble (most of the time).
He loved watching all those classic cartoons on TV - Scooby Doo, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Road Runner (surely, Coyote would win one day), Wacky Races, the list goes on and on. All he wanted to do was to create cool characters and stories by hand. He was sure his animation dream would happen - It was to be the perfect career.
BOOM! Then reality hit. As weird as it may seem there were not a lot of opportunities for world famous animators in his home city. The dreams were parked as reality and the corporate world beckoned.
Reviewed by Lee Ashford for Readers' Favorite
The Fallen Pharaoh by S.W. Lothian is the third book in this marvelous series, following The Golden Scarab (Book 1), and The Cursed Nile (Book 2). All three stories are good enough to stand alone, but they really are better read in order. Various references in the later books may not make a lot of sense if you read them out of order. In all three stories, the same characters are the heroes. JJ, whose father works at a museum, and his joined-at-the-hip friend Linc, found a portal through time inside an Egyptian display at the museum, and travelled back to ancient Egypt. Joining them there was Rani, an Egyptian native from an undisclosed time between ancient Egypt and modern time. These three, with the sometimes help of Patra, a friend of Rani, and assisted by various people, gods, statues, and royalty in ancient Egypt, have thus far averted three major crises to the benefit of the ancient Egyptians.
In The Fallen Pharaoh, their friend Khafre, son of the pharaoh, has been elevated to the position of pharaoh, following the strange death of his father, Khufu, who was bitten by an asp at the market place. Khafre has invited them to witness his coronation. But two short years later, the three are called back to ancient Egypt just before Khafre also dies in a suspicious manner. The three, plus Patra, who shows up just at the right time, battle the Uberdiles again, as well as “giant” scorpions and other unidentified enemies, as they help solve the puzzle of the two deaths, and take affirmative action to prevent another untimely death: that of Khafre’s younger twin brother, Djedefre, who will become the next pharaoh. Only by finding the original ankh can Djedefre be saved from an untimely end.
The Fallen Pharaoh is another example of S.W. Lothian’s very entertaining talent for creating fascinating stories out of history and his imagination. Lothian has another, as yet unnamed, adventure for these remarkable kids, due out sometime in 2014. That gives you at least 6 months to buy, download, and read the first three books in this series, so you will be ready for number four. These tales are written for middle graders through high school, but there isn’t an adult in the country who wouldn’t also thoroughly enjoy reading this series. Believe it or not, they are more than simply entertaining; they are educational as well. I highly recommend the whole series for your reading pleasure. It’s an exceptional adventure series.
