Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
EAN num: 9780140258714
ISBN number: 014025871X
Label: Penguin
Manufacturer: Penguin
Page Count: 416
Printing Date: 1997
Publishing house: Penguin
Sale Popularity Level: 1570772
Studio: Penguin
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Rated by buyers 
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In ancient Egypt, at the time of the Pharaoh Ramses, Kamen, a young officer in the army meets a madwoman in a small stop along the Nile. She is known to importune travelers to the capital, asking them to bring something to the Pharaoh. Kamen takes the package, a manuscript telling her story, against his better judgment. Back in the city, he brings the package to his superior, General Paiis, a man the madwoman had told him not to trust. This opens up an old scandal, a plot against the Pharaoh's life, and old enemies move once more to protect themselves and kill those who get in their way. [This book is a sequel to _Lady of the Reeds_, also titled _House of Dreams_, but can stand alone.]
Gedge makes daily life in Egypt come alive, from young Kamen with his nights out with friends and his comfortable life with his wealthy merchant father, to Kamen's fiancee who is a daughter of nobility concerned with dressing up and attending lavish parties, to the hard and simple life of the madwoman who tends the village temple, to the corridors of power where factions plot and intrigue, to the confining life of the royal women of the harem. The characters were interesting and sympathetically portrayed, and the story suspenseful in parts, although somewhat leisurely in pace, overall. I enjoyed the read and will likely look for more books by this author.
Rated by buyers 
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House of Illusions is another one of Pauline Gedge's ultimate novels of ancient Egypt. She puts you there with the characters. Having read just about every author who writes of ancient Egypt, she does it best. Her writing is descriptive down to details only an egyptologist would know. In this story, the peasant woman, Thu has been banished to Aswat after being a pharaoh's concubine. Circumstances lead her to discover her son Kamen, and uncover many truths 17 years later. Gedge does not let this story get monotonous for one minute, but keeps pace with the adventure this woman encounters, trying to exact the revenge she desperately needs, right up to the end. It is difficult to put this story down once it begins.
Rated by buyers 
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If you ask me, this book should barely have been written. I read Lady of the Reeds and thought it was (pretty) good, but flawed. I only read the sequel because I happened to run into it at the library.
*****SPOILERS*:
There are barely any surprises in this book. The young soldier is, obviously, of course, Thu's long-lost son (never mind that we never even get to have a nice, proper reunion between the two of them). Then, of course, Thu manages to get out of exile. Of course, she is successful in getting revenge (although why Ramses was so "in love" with her, I haven't found out, and when she loved him, I haven't a clue). Oh, and the final "suspenseful surprise?" Please. I knew what was going to happen about 100 pages before it did.
I think the entire novel is a bit dragged out. Gedge seems to have written it just to write a sequel. I really think she could have condensed it and included it in a "Part 2" part of the very first book.
The fact that the book is basically carried along only by constant allusions to the former book is one such example. There are few new characters, none of which end up being important. The entire book is spent concluding the plot that should have been tied up at the end of the very first book. I thought the novel was very drawn out, and the fates of the plotters didn't feel particularly vindicating. Also, I was resignedly disgusted with Hui's fate.
It's a risky thing to write a book about a character who can be disliked; in my opinion, Thu didn't necessarily redeem herself in the reader's eyes. She has no brilliant qualities to redeem her flaws. She's still a double murderess.
So, I think Gedge just created this book for the sake of it.
Rated by buyers -
I read Lady of the Reeds a couple of years ago, my very first Pauline Gedge novel, and couldn't put it down. I didn't realize that there was a sequel and given the way the very first book ended I was eager to read about how the author would vindicate her main character. Letting the characters Kamen, Kaha and then Thu tell the beginning, middle and closing of the story was genius. I couldn't put this book down either. Gedge takes the reader on a non-stop journey of intrigue as she fills in more details about what was actually going on behind the scenes that prompted Thu to assassinate the Pharaoh in the very first book. Anyway, forgive me if my critique of "House Of Illusions" isn't as articulate as others of this genre. I just loved this book and I will definitely read Ms. Gedge's other books, every single one of them if I can get my hands on them. She is right now my favorite fiction author.
Rated by buyers -
Pauline Gedge is a wonderful writer. I would not have finished this book past the very first few chapters had I not read Lady of the Reeds. That book was so good that I absolutly needed to know what would happen to Thu, so I stuck with it. It got a bit better, but I will not even compare it to the first. It seemed very forced, like Gedge was pressured to provide a sequal so she racked her brain and wote it in a week. I would recommend reading it if you were as captivated with Lady of the Reeds as I was, but if not, don't waste your time. Also, I didn't appriciate the changing speakers. Once I finally got used to her son speaking, the scribe does, which is painfully boring and irrelevent. I was relieved when she finally began to narrarate. I only cared about her story, and not the subplot involving her son which we were forced to endure. She even neglects to finish the story of her son and leaves us hanging on the conclusion to her own story. While I admit it left me thinking about it for hours, I would have preferred a solid ending instead of one that left me on edge. It was as though she was preparing for yet another bad sequal. How did everyone feel about Hui? Come to terms with that before you read this.
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