Khai of Khem

By: Brian Lumley

Narrated by: Joshua Saxon

Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Considered by many to be among Brian Lumley's greatest works, the exciting Khai of Khem is little-known in the US. This time-traveling adventure story spans centuries and cultures in Lumley's trademark mix of horror and science fiction, much like his internationally-best-selling Necroscope series. Like the Necroscope novels, Khai of Khem is packed with fast-paced action, hair's-breadth escapes, all-consuming love, endless horror, and, in the person of Khai himself, quick wits and bravery in the teeth of danger

Khai begins life in ancient Egypt as the son of Pharaoh Khasathut's chief architect. Believing Pharaoh to be a god, Khai is stunned to learn that the supposedly great and wise leader is a shriveled, ancient fossil of a man whose chief desires are to deflower young virgins and achieve eternal life through the powers of his black magicians. When Khai dares to raise a hand to Pharaoh, he is condemned to be a slave.

Escaping, Khai flees to neighboring Kush where he earns the rank of general in the army of Queen Ashtarta...and a place in Ashtarta's bed. In the heat of battle against Pharaoh's armies, Khai is betrayed by his best friend and falls victim to the evil spells of Khasathut's magicians, who send his soul winging centuries into the future.

In modern America, Khai searches for the reincarnated souls of his love, Ashtarta, and of his betrayer. Khai is amazed by many of the wonders of the modern world-television, air conditioning, and especially guns, bombs, and other weapons. Returning to his own time, Khai uses the technologies he saw in the future to rewrite the past. But will he and Ashtarta be in time to prevent Khasathut from attaining immortality and using newly-gained alien powers to destroy all of Khem and Kush?

©2007 Brian Lumley (P)2020 David N. Wilson

An Excellent Throw-Back To Classic Sword & Sorcery

I have to admit my bias: I'm a life-long Lumley fan. I think the thing I appreciate most about him is the cadence of his story telling. His characters are complex and compelling, without having to invest endless hours in pointless dialog or extraneous backstory.
Khai of Khem is somewhat removed from the standard Lumley fare. Less of the gory horror--though it has its gory moments--and more of the heroic tragedies of 20th Century pulp fiction. It certainly felt like a Robert E. Howard or Michael Moorcock story, to be honest--which, from me, is quite sincere praise. I wish this were part of a larger series, as I think Lumley's style is a perfect fit for this particular flavor of fantasy.

Not Sure of the Point

This is a long and rambling sort of Egyptian history story with some modern flashforwards. Quite graphic and bloody it feels like a Robert E. Howard swords and sorcery attempt. Certainly not Lumley's usual stuff.
It almost feels like a historical alternative history.
Joshua Saxon does a good job of narration with this lengthy tale.
I was given this free audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

An odd foray into a (very) fictionalized pre-Egypt

Before I get too far into this review, let me just say first that I feel the back cover description is misleading. The Cthulhu references in this book are very slight and vague, and not nearly enough to draw any sort of parallel. If you enjoy Lumley's work mainly for his Mythos stories you may want to skip this one.

With that being said, however, this is an interesting Sci-fi/fantasy/horror/time travel/historical/#HardToClassify story that draws together several different timelines and when all is said and done tells a really interesting story of pre-Egyptian times.

About the audiobook narrator:
Joshua Saxon has a pleasant, eminently listenable voice and an impressive ability to draw multiple distinct voices and accents. He has excellent control of vocal inflections and his tempo shifts throughout the text are spot on.

Now, I found the structure of this novel to be quite... unusual. It begins in a very different place and time than I would have expected, considering the focus of the story. And I can't help feeling that it was a bit rushed. There are a lot of parts where the detail is less than I would have expected and just seems to jump from one major event to another.

With the way the story is put together, it makes sense that it would do so. But I still feel it would have done much greater justice to the material if it had been split into a trilogy rather than a single novel.

That aside, however, I have to admit that there are a few things throughout the novel that I absolutely did not see coming, which is always refreshing.

Although the historical period is very obviously fictionalized (hence, not terribly accurate), it is a well-drawn version of Egyptian history that couldn't help but feel extremely compelling.

The characters are all well-crafted in typical Lumley fashion, each with their own unique quirks that make them feel like real people. Larger than life people in this case, of course, but real nonetheless.

Now, apart from the odd structure that was a bit jarring, my only real complaints are the same ones you'll see in numerous reviews on this book. The sheer level of racism, sexism, and sexual violence is a bit staggering. However, most of it also feels authentic to the setting. The one exception being the number of women throwing themselves at the protagonist. I found that bit a little absurd.

All that aside, however, in the main this book is entertaining and thought provoking.

Which leads us to the ending.
I can't say I got the ending I wanted, but this is a Lumley book. Things rarely work out the way we would like. What I can say, however, is that the ending comes together in a very Lumley way, in which it is both satisfying and frustrating and incorporates details that I really should have seen for what they were but didn't.

Loved it

I love gross stuff and lovecraft, def a lovecraft tie in and def a few really gross parts!

Joshua Saxon does another amazing job.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A STUNNING MASTERPIECE

One of Brian Lumley's finest work. A stand alone masterpiece unlike any of his other stories.

Joshua Saxon's performance was SUPERB, and frankly, one of his best...Mr. Saxon only gets better and better.

Nice

I loved this book years ago when I read it and now it was an excellent experience to hear it come to life!

excellent

Joshua's voice softly wraps around the words of Master Lumley and you are transported to an ancient world where a complex love story is told and then you are transported to a future world wearing ageless Love story continues.

listening to Joshua is a treat his soft voice and his vocal I notations add to the thrill of listening to master lumley's works

Most Epic!

Very much original.
Fantastic journey through time , with ancient horror.
Great Story Great Narration.
Thank you both.
Highly recommended

Epic Fantasy with an outstanding Narrator!

Khai of Khem is set in ancient Egypt. Brian Lumley is known for his work in the horror genre and I am not normally a fan of horror but there is enough action and magic to satisfy many readers. There are definitely grim and horrific scenes that are aptly described that was chilling. I do have to recommend Joshua Saxon's outstanding narration - his diction is precise and clear. Terrific narration that kept the story flowing. The only reason I can give the story 4 stars is that there were some disturbing scenes to me but definitely well done if horror is your favorite genre. The central character, Khai, is heroic and sympathetic.

Note:
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

GOOD READ!

I enjoyed it! The narration was good. The author did a good job with the character builds and plot! I look forward to reading more books by this author. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.