9 h 34 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 34 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What can love hold onto when ambition rules the palace and the gods demand obedience?
In Morning Star, H. Rider Haggard takes you into the Egypt of the pharaohs: a world of temples, palaces, priests and old gods. A royal house stands under strain, and romance meets court intrigue. Love offers no quiet refuge here. It faces the hunger for power and the demands of duty.
The story moves from palace to temple to river, with danger never far away. In Haggard’s fictional Egypt, the gods are more than distant names: their worship shapes choices and fears. Adventure and romance unfold together, while a sense of fate hangs over a world where personal longing meets forces larger than itself.
What you’ll discover
- An Egypt of contrasts Enter temples and palaces where royal power and religious belief shape the story.
- Love under pressure Follow a romance tested by ambition, duty and the hunger for power.
- Gods close at hand Explore a fictional world where divine demands give worship a dangerous weight.
- A royal house strained Step into court intrigue where love must contend with the pursuit of power.
- Adventure with a shadow Feel the brisk pace and gathering sense of fate as the settings shift.
Who will love it
Readers who love adventure with a touch of magic, brave heroines, secret loves and royal intrigue, and anyone curious about pharaohs, temples, gods and the Ka of ancient Egypt told as a strong, colourful story.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A prince plots against Pharaoh
- A child is promised by Amen
- Two children and a sacred crocodile
- A queen summons a god
- The feast, the song and the sword
- A trap is sprung at Memphis
- Siege, curse and a double
- The false bride and the fallen obelisks
- Abi learns the truth
- The wanderer and the king of Tat
- What the story is really about
- How the story is told
Who’s who
- Neter-TuaThe young queen of Egypt, called Morning Star of Amen, who bears the Sign of Life and wants to marry the soldier she loves.
- RamesSon of Mermes and Asti and last of an old royal line, a brave captain who loves Tua and will risk everything for her.
- AstiTua's foster mother and a priestess and seer, whose magic and loyalty protect the queen through every danger.
- Prince AbiPharaoh's half-Hyksos brother, governor of Memphis, a fierce and greedy man who wants the double crown and Tua's hand.
- KakuAbi's astrologer and sorcerer, a vain and cunning schemer who helps him chase a throne and fears what the stars foretell.
- MerytraA sharp-tongued dancing girl turned spy, who plays Pharaoh and Kaku against each other for her own gain.
- PharaohTua's gentle, frail father, a kind king who hates bloodshed and trusts the brother who plots against him.
- KepherAn ancient desert beggar with a thornwood staff and no shadow, who appears when the two women most need help.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 9 h 34 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Stella del Mattino in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Stella del Mattino
by H. Rider Haggard · 1910
A queen of Egypt with a god's promise on her breast must outwit a scheming uncle to reach the soldier she loves.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Morning Star is a romance of ancient Egypt by H. Rider Haggard, who dedicated it to the Egyptologist Wallis Budge.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A prince plots against Pharaoh
The story opens at evening near Thebes. Prince Abi, governor of Memphis, is the son of Pharaoh's father and a Hyksos woman, and the Egyptians hate that foreign blood. He is a large, dark, hot-tempered man, and he has come to Thebes with three hundred soldiers.
He summons his astrologer Kaku and demands to know his future. Kaku reads the stars and says that the star of the god Amen, joined by the star of Hathor, will one day swallow Abi's own. Abi crumples the scroll and throws it back. Then he learns that Pharaoh has no child, and he thinks of killing his brother that very night.
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What is Morning Star by H. Rider Haggard about?
It tells of Neter-Tua, a young queen of Egypt promised by the god Amen, and her love for the soldier Rames. Her wicked uncle Abi plots to take her throne, and magic, a double and a mysterious wanderer shape the outcome.
What is a Ka in Morning Star?
In Egyptian belief, the Ka was a person's double, a spirit that lived with them and after death. In the book, Tua's Ka is given by Amen at her birth, and it takes on a body to act in her place.
Who is Kepher in Morning Star?
Kepher is an old, ragged wanderer of the desert who appears whenever Tua and Asti need help. He has no shadow and seems to know their secrets. The people of the desert call him their master and guardian.
The author
H. Rider Haggard
1856–1925 · English adventure novelist
Henry Rider Haggard (1856–1925) was an English novelist. He was born in Norfolk, lived in southern Africa from 1875 to 1881, and later settled in Norfolk. He wrote King Solomon’s Mines (1885), She (1887), and Beatrice (1890). He also wrote about agriculture and rural life. He died in London.
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