Researching Ancient Egypt: Development of Symbolum Venatores: The Monster Hunter
After the release of 2022’s Symbolum Venatores: Twilight of the Gods, the title set during the Viking Age, plans went into motion for the next prose title of the dark-fantasy/historical-fiction monster hunter series.
Next in line was Ancient Egypt and research had begun during the early portions of 2021 and into the latter part of 2022. Going through the histories of Ancient Egypt, one crucial decision was to decide which era would suit the story best.
Avoiding many of the known periods of Egypt, thus regarding Cleopatra and Ptolemaic Egypt and the reigns of Ramesses and Tutankhamen, the decision was made to choose the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, preferably when Queen Hatshepsut was in power.
Hatshepsut’s reign in Egypt is very rare when it comes to fiction books or anything entertainment-related. Such an opportunity was chosen for the next Symbolum Venatores prose title.
Three reference books were used during the research of the New Kingdom. The first of these three was Warfare in New Kingdom Egypt by Paul Elliott.
This book was used to describe the details of war during the New Kingdom period. From weaponry to chariots, invasions, and conflicts. This book proved well in detailing the ongoing surroundings of Ancient Egypt during Hatshepsut’s reign.
The second book was New Kingdom in Ancient Egypt: A Captivating Guide To The Egyptian Empire and The Pharaohs Who Ruled by Captivating History.
This reference book presented details into the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom and the works they accomplished. Hatshepsut’s reign is detailed greatly in this book in explaining her duty during her time as Pharaoh as well as her descendants, such as Thutmose III.
The third and final book is The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt by Helen Strudwick. This book was mostly used in learning about Ancient Egypt as a whole and seeing what worked best for the upcoming story. From the formation of the New Kingdom from the Old and what came after.
Symbolum Venatores: The Monster Hunter releases on October 13th in paperback and eBook wherever books are sold.