"The river lay heavily upon the desert, bright as a spill of molten metal from a furnace." page 1

"She would grow more beautiful as the years passed, become more poised and regal, but never again would that glow of virgin womanhood radiate from her so overpoweringly." page 1

"Although I had heard it so many times before, I never could harden myself to the sounds of the children, and I felt a familiar pang of pity." page 34

"I watched Rasfer approach now at a trot that was surprisingly swift and agile for those heavy, tree like legs and the swell of his hairy gut, and I was transported back over the years to the day that my manhood had been plucked from me." page 39

"However, we Egyptians are a civilized people and we worship wise and just gods, not blood crazed monsters." page 55

"Tanus had struck exactly the right...