Author’s Note: Son of the Hittites

As with Queen of Egypt, this book is a blend of history and fiction. After spending so long immersed in this world, I’m starting to lose sight of where history ends and fantasy begins. Sometimes I catch myself thinking, wait, did that really happen or did I make that up? Hopefully, that means the elements of this world have blended together well.

Something I am certain I made up is the ouroboros (snake eating its own tail) symbol tattooed on the arms of Tutankhamun’s personal guard. Images of the ouroboros were found in his tomb and I wanted to incorporate this symbol into the book as a tribute to the boy pharaoh.

The Egyptians held many festivals to their gods and goddesses but the particular festival of Isis included in this book is my own creation and served as a way to start bringing Ankhesenamun and Intef closer together.

There are a number of other elements of the book which readers who are not intimately familiar with the 18th Dynasty might assume to be fiction but which are actually true. I can’t tell you what they are, though, without giving away spoilers for the next book!

Kylie Quillinan, December 2019