Summary
Summary of Morning Star
Key ideas
Key idea 1
Ambition meets a warning from the stars
Prince Abi arrives near Thebes with soldiers and a hunger for power. When his astrologer Kaku predicts that divine stars will swallow his own, Abi rejects the warning and considers killing his childless brother, Pharaoh. His advisers stop him, but the secret has already escaped through Merytra, a slave girl who overhears them.
By morning, Pharaoh knows enough to force Abi into a sacred oath. The struggle begins with a ruler whose ambition is stronger than his respect for warnings, family or the gods.
Key idea 2
Two births bind love to danger
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Key idea 3
Royal power cannot choose love freely
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Key idea 4
Tua protects the man she loves
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Key idea 5
A royal visit becomes a trap
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Key idea 6
The double demands faith and obedience
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Key idea 7
Exile brings helpers and fresh threats
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Key idea 8
Songs and visions carry the story
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Key idea 9
Love and justice face repeated tests
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
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 this book is
Morning Star is a romance of ancient Egypt by H. Rider Haggard, who dedicated it to the Egyptologist Wallis Budge. Haggard wrote it as a traveler and a student of Egyptian records, and he tells readers in a note that its theme is the triumph of true love over great danger. The tale draws on Egyptian beliefs about the Ka, the double that lives beside every person, and on real accounts of wax images used in plots against kings.
You meet Neter-Tua, called Morning Star of Amen, a princess whose birth is promised by the god himself. She grows up beside Rames, the son of the captain of the temple guard, who comes from an old royal line that the law has barred from the throne. A scheming uncle, a crafty astrologer, a clever spy and several unwanted suitors close in on her, and she answers them with wit, music and a will of her own.
The story crosses the Nile, the desert and the far south, and it moves from palace feasts to magic, battle and prophecy. Let us begin with a gloomy prince on a barge outside Thebes, who has a plan that the stars warn him against.
In this summary
- 1A prince plots against PharaohFree
- 2A child is promised by Amen
- 3Two children and a sacred crocodile
- 4A queen summons a god
- 5The feast, the song and the sword
- 6A trap is sprung at Memphis
- 7Siege, curse and a double
- 8The false bride and the fallen obelisks
- 9Abi learns the truth
- 10The wanderer and the king of Tat
- 11What the story is really about
- 12How the story is told
Key point 1 of 12
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.
Kaku and the captain of the guard talk him out of it. They warn him that the gods themselves would fight against such a deed, and they swear to keep the secret. Abi rewards Kaku with a gold cup and with the slave girl Merytra, whom he had struck for a clumsy fan. But Merytra has hidden nearby and heard everything, and she is gone.
The next morning Abi stands before Pharaoh in a great hall full of nobles and guards. Pharaoh is small, thin and gentle, but he already knows about the plot, because Merytra has told him. He forces his brother to swear an oath on a sacred name.
That’s 1 of 12 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
Why does the law stand between Tua and Rames?
Right. “Tua is a royal heir, and Rames comes from an old royal line that is barred from the throne, so the law stands between them.”Not quite. “Tua is a royal heir, and Rames comes from an old royal line that is barred from the throne, so the law stands between them.”
What does the Ka propose while Tua and Asti are trapped?
Right. “The Ka will take Tua's place as Abi's wife, and the two women must trust themselves to the Nile from the high window.”Not quite. “The Ka will take Tua's place as Abi's wife, and the two women must trust themselves to the Nile from the high window.”
What do Tua, Asti and Rames repeatedly have to trust?
Right. “Tua, Asti and Rames are asked again and again to trust in a god who stays silent, and the story answers that trust.”Not quite. “Tua, Asti and Rames are asked again and again to trust in a god who stays silent, and the story answers that trust.”
Questions about Morning Star
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.
Is Morning Star a true story?
No, it is a romance invented by Haggard, though it uses real Egyptian ideas such as the Ka and wax images used in a plot against a king. Queen Neter-Tua is fictional, but the book recalls the real queen Hatshepsut.
Is Morning Star easy to read?
Yes, the story moves through vivid scenes: a feast, a duel, a siege, a desert march. Short chapters, clear villains and a warm heroine make it easy to follow, and the humor of Merytra and Kaku keeps it lively.
