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Ancient Egypt #4
The Quest
Wilbur Smith returns with the eagerly awaited sequel to his thrilling Egyptian series. Following on from River God, The Seventh Scroll and Warlock. The Quest continues the story of the Warlock, Taita, wise in the lore of the ancient Gods and a master of magic and the supernatural.
Egypt is struck by a series of terrible plagues that cripple the Kingdom, and then the ultimate disaster follows. The Nile fails. The waters that nourish and sustain the land dry up. Something catastrophic is taking place in the distant and totally unexplored depths of Africa from where the mighty river springs. In desperation Pharoah sends for Taita, the only man who might be able to win through to the source of the Nile and discover the cause of all their woes. None of them can have any idea of what a terrible enemy lies in ambush for The Warlock in those mysterious lands at the end of their world.
Egypt is struck by a series of terrible plagues that cripple the Kingdom, and then the ultimate disaster follows. The Nile fails. The waters that nourish and sustain the land dry up. Something catastrophic is taking place in the distant and totally unexplored depths of Africa from where the mighty river springs. In desperation Pharoah sends for Taita, the only man who might be able to win through to the source of the Nile and discover the cause of all their woes. None of them can have any idea of what a terrible enemy lies in ambush for The Warlock in those mysterious lands at the end of their world.
718 pages, Hardcover
First published April 6, 2007
851 people are currently reading
6210 people want to read
About the author
Wilbur Smith
320 books4,405 followersWilbur Smith was a prolific and bestselling South African novelist renowned for his sweeping adventure stories set against the backdrop of Africa’s dramatic landscapes and turbulent history. Born in 1933 in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), he grew up in South Africa, where his love for storytelling was nurtured by the rich environment and tales of African history. His early years were shaped by his experiences in the wilderness, which later became a defining element in his fiction.
After studying at Rhodes University, Smith initially worked as an accountant, but his true passion lay in writing. His breakthrough came in 1964 with When the Lion Feeds, a historical adventure novel that introduced the Courtney family saga. The book’s success led to a long-running series chronicling the exploits of multiple generations of the Courtney family, spanning centuries of African and world history. Alongside this, Smith wrote the Ballantyne series, focused on colonial Africa, and the Ancient Egypt series, which delved into historical fiction with a mythical touch.
Over his six-decade career, Smith authored more than 50 novels, selling over 140 million copies worldwide. His works were characterized by meticulous research, vivid descriptions of the African wilderness, and gripping action-packed narratives. Whether set in the colonial era, the world of pharaohs, or modern-day Africa, his books often explored themes of survival, war, power, and human ambition. He collaborated with co-authors in his later years to expand his literary universe, ensuring his stories continued to reach new audiences.
Beyond writing, Smith was an avid traveler and adventurer, drawing inspiration from his own experiences hunting, sailing, and exploring remote corners of Africa. While he was passionate about wildlife and conservation, some of his views—particularly regarding big game hunting—sparked debate. Nonetheless, his deep affection for Africa was evident in his writing, which celebrated both its beauty and its historical complexities.
Smith’s influence on adventure fiction remains significant, with his books continuing to captivate readers around the world. His legacy endures through his richly woven tales of exploration, conquest, and the enduring spirit of Africa.
After studying at Rhodes University, Smith initially worked as an accountant, but his true passion lay in writing. His breakthrough came in 1964 with When the Lion Feeds, a historical adventure novel that introduced the Courtney family saga. The book’s success led to a long-running series chronicling the exploits of multiple generations of the Courtney family, spanning centuries of African and world history. Alongside this, Smith wrote the Ballantyne series, focused on colonial Africa, and the Ancient Egypt series, which delved into historical fiction with a mythical touch.
Over his six-decade career, Smith authored more than 50 novels, selling over 140 million copies worldwide. His works were characterized by meticulous research, vivid descriptions of the African wilderness, and gripping action-packed narratives. Whether set in the colonial era, the world of pharaohs, or modern-day Africa, his books often explored themes of survival, war, power, and human ambition. He collaborated with co-authors in his later years to expand his literary universe, ensuring his stories continued to reach new audiences.
Beyond writing, Smith was an avid traveler and adventurer, drawing inspiration from his own experiences hunting, sailing, and exploring remote corners of Africa. While he was passionate about wildlife and conservation, some of his views—particularly regarding big game hunting—sparked debate. Nonetheless, his deep affection for Africa was evident in his writing, which celebrated both its beauty and its historical complexities.
Smith’s influence on adventure fiction remains significant, with his books continuing to captivate readers around the world. His legacy endures through his richly woven tales of exploration, conquest, and the enduring spirit of Africa.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 515 reviews
August 23, 2025
In the fourth of the Ancient Egypt series, The Quest, by the late great Wilbur Smith, like almost every other chain the quality dips not precipitously but enough to be noticed. Continuous stories in any medium will, since the first has almost all the best ideas, and the sequels though many of high value suffer the inevitable decline. The only ones that do not follow this pattern in my opinion are The Hobbit, and their other installments, The Lord of the Rings, which somehow get better. The plot here is uncomplicated the mighty Nile River becomes dry as the rest of the desert kingdom. Plagues devastate the land, death crushes the people and nothing is safe from the ravages of the evil by an unknown source. And Taita the magus has been away for many years in foreign parts if still alive. He is not alone, has his friend the loyal warrior Meren. Taita the sorcerer, a man of 156 years, of springing steps, but a eunuch nevertheless. Adventures in future India and Iraq will give him additional powers and knowledge with unbelievable pain for his troubles. At last home, the fictional Pharoah Nefer Seti is so glad to see him after seven years, immediately sends the magician, up the river (south) in a desperate "Quest" to uncover the mystery, why the flow of the longest stream on Earth is just a memory. Being circa 1,500 years before the birth of Christ transportation shall we say is primitive, rudimentary since the Nile has vanished. Walk 4,000 miles or hop on a tolerant animal to carry the tiresome burden. Months became years, strange territories visited, inhabitants and travelers killed, more by sickness, many of the 100 soldiers who started the journey for the king will never see Egypt again. Taita is amazed by the reincarnation of a long lost love, she appears along the banks living in isolation with a tribe of natives...can former Queen Lostris now called Fenn be genuine...maybe the cruel witch Eos is behind these machinations of pure evil. Wilbur Smith was a fine writer, but obviously his infatuations with the characters he created becomes an obsession, and changes them to accommodate his feelings, however this hurts rather than helps the narrative. An author should not get too close or he will cause confusion and the plot along with the book suffers. Too much love like any mania can cause trouble. As the world has shown numerous times but people have a short memory. A wonderful tale of adventure, romance, fighting, mystery and survival ...still excess is not a virtue.
February 21, 2021
Short description of plot:
This was about an elderly man using his power, influence, and benefits to groom a child in preparation for when she was old enough to have sex. While i liked the Egypt series, this key element began to make me uneasy and increasingly troubled me throughout the book.
While this book becomes more blatant in a magic and fantastical genre, carried on from "Warlock" i didn't mind it. This could be seen as either a reality that directly happened after "Warlock" or a made up story told in the aftermath of the first book "River God ".
I basically don't like where the series went after the first two books which were Amazing. The writing skill is still there with the ups and downs that can keep you engaged but when you look forward for a book to finish you know it's not a good sign.
I wonder how the event's of this story impacts the book Seventh Scroll, which was set in the present day.
This was about an elderly man using his power, influence, and benefits to groom a child in preparation for when she was old enough to have sex. While i liked the Egypt series, this key element began to make me uneasy and increasingly troubled me throughout the book.
While this book becomes more blatant in a magic and fantastical genre, carried on from "Warlock" i didn't mind it. This could be seen as either a reality that directly happened after "Warlock" or a made up story told in the aftermath of the first book "River God ".
I basically don't like where the series went after the first two books which were Amazing. The writing skill is still there with the ups and downs that can keep you engaged but when you look forward for a book to finish you know it's not a good sign.
I wonder how the event's of this story impacts the book Seventh Scroll, which was set in the present day.
August 31, 2011
Really wasn't impressed by this book. I loved Warlock, and I loved the manner with which the supernatural was dealt; it could be real, but it could also be coincidence and natural phenomena that the people of those times would interpret as real. That's fine with me. However, The Quest treats magic as totally real and goes into far fetched stuff like astral projection and talking in each others minds. If you're going to write fantasy, write fantasy; don't start a series with historical fiction and end it with fantasy, with a random modern adventure story in the middle. The plot isn't nearly as engaging as his other plots. The Big Bad is built up constantly through the book only for him to beat her in two pages. The fact that he's an aging eunach but the love of his life has been reborn as a child is neatly dealt with by him having his 'manroot' regrown and finding the font of youth just as she reaches maturity. Frankly, the relationship between Taita and Fenn/Lostris is disturbing. Speaking of disturbing, Taita beating the evil goddess by essentially raping one woman and having an odd sex battle with another is beyond wrong, especially trying to justify it with 'well she did a lot of evil things, and she was bad'.
The book could have been good, but frankly it wasn't. The likable characters from Warlock made only brief appearances, Taita moaned and whinged his way through it and Fenn was by turns sickeningly innocent and irritatingly sluttish. Everything seemed very neat; Taita no longer a eunach, Lostris no longer dead, yawn yawn yawn.
The book could have been good, but frankly it wasn't. The likable characters from Warlock made only brief appearances, Taita moaned and whinged his way through it and Fenn was by turns sickeningly innocent and irritatingly sluttish. Everything seemed very neat; Taita no longer a eunach, Lostris no longer dead, yawn yawn yawn.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2017
Rating: 3.5* of five
The Publisher Says: Wilbur Smith has earned international acclaim for his bestselling River God, The Seventh Scroll, and Warlock. Now, the unrivaled master of adventure returns with the eagerly awaited sequel to his thrilling Egyptian series with his most fantastic story yet. The Quest continues the story of the Warlock, Taita, wise in the lore of the gods and a master of magic and the supernatural.
Egypt has been struck by a series of terrible plagues, killing its crops and crippling its people. Then the ultimate disaster befalls the kingdom. The Nile fails. The waters that nourish and sustain the land dry up.
Something catastrophic is taking place in the distant and totally unexplored depths of Africa, from where the mighty river springs. In desperation the Pharaoh sends Taita, the only man who might be able to find his way through the hazardous territory to the source of the Nile and discover the cause of all their woes. But not even Taita can have any idea of what a terrible enemy waits in ambush in those dark lands at the end of their world.
No other author can conjure up the violence and mystery of Ancient Egypt like Wilbur Smith. The Quest marks his stirring return to the acclaimed series and proves once again why fans such as Stephen King praise him as the world's "best historical novelist."
My Review: Okay. I started the series with an historical novel, shifted into overdrive as a fantasy element came to the fore in Warlock, and now we're in full-blown fantasy mode. The story isn't remotely believable as history, but it's s a good deal of fun.
What's disturbing to me is the squicky sexual politics. A eunuch is de-eunuched supernaturally to make the beast with two backs with a (young) reincarnated version of his long-dead love. I'm not sure that makes me all warm and fuzzy about love spanning the ages or really, really uncomfortable with old men sexing up little girls. Well, okay, she's not an actual little girl. But something just doesn't sit right with me. I don't know exactly what it is, in that the author isn't in any way making this prurient and sexual but is presenting it as lovers separated by death being reunited. I am not, however, comfortable with it, and it significantly clouded my enjoyment of the exciting, adventurous, and action-packed Wilbur Smith novel surrounding it.
The goddess battle was, I'm sorry to say, not a worthy end to the build-up we got. It was almost an afterthought, and it should have been a centerpiece. On balance, the Smith novel aspects are redeeming only to a middling extent. The pages turned, they will for all Smith readers, but the essential backing of history's known Egypt wasn't quite enough on this outing.
The Publisher Says: Wilbur Smith has earned international acclaim for his bestselling River God, The Seventh Scroll, and Warlock. Now, the unrivaled master of adventure returns with the eagerly awaited sequel to his thrilling Egyptian series with his most fantastic story yet. The Quest continues the story of the Warlock, Taita, wise in the lore of the gods and a master of magic and the supernatural.
Egypt has been struck by a series of terrible plagues, killing its crops and crippling its people. Then the ultimate disaster befalls the kingdom. The Nile fails. The waters that nourish and sustain the land dry up.
Something catastrophic is taking place in the distant and totally unexplored depths of Africa, from where the mighty river springs. In desperation the Pharaoh sends Taita, the only man who might be able to find his way through the hazardous territory to the source of the Nile and discover the cause of all their woes. But not even Taita can have any idea of what a terrible enemy waits in ambush in those dark lands at the end of their world.
No other author can conjure up the violence and mystery of Ancient Egypt like Wilbur Smith. The Quest marks his stirring return to the acclaimed series and proves once again why fans such as Stephen King praise him as the world's "best historical novelist."
My Review: Okay. I started the series with an historical novel, shifted into overdrive as a fantasy element came to the fore in Warlock, and now we're in full-blown fantasy mode. The story isn't remotely believable as history, but it's s a good deal of fun.
What's disturbing to me is the squicky sexual politics. A eunuch is de-eunuched supernaturally to make the beast with two backs with a (young) reincarnated version of his long-dead love. I'm not sure that makes me all warm and fuzzy about love spanning the ages or really, really uncomfortable with old men sexing up little girls. Well, okay, she's not an actual little girl. But something just doesn't sit right with me. I don't know exactly what it is, in that the author isn't in any way making this prurient and sexual but is presenting it as lovers separated by death being reunited. I am not, however, comfortable with it, and it significantly clouded my enjoyment of the exciting, adventurous, and action-packed Wilbur Smith novel surrounding it.
The goddess battle was, I'm sorry to say, not a worthy end to the build-up we got. It was almost an afterthought, and it should have been a centerpiece. On balance, the Smith novel aspects are redeeming only to a middling extent. The pages turned, they will for all Smith readers, but the essential backing of history's known Egypt wasn't quite enough on this outing.
June 16, 2012
I've enjoyed Wilbur Smith books for 25 years but this one will be my last. I only managed to read the whole thing because I was traveling and didn't have any good alternatives. Also, I couldn't quite believe how bad it was. The mystical elements, while out of place, were hardly the most jarring aspects of the story. I was able to accommodate the genre shift, but couldn't abide the predictability and juvenility of the storyline. The story reads like an old man's dirty fantasy of immortality. Where prior books in the sequence required genuine sacrifices of the main characters, this tale never asks the characters to make difficult choices. Moreover, sacrifices made in earlier books are undone and the main characters receive their every desire. Stories can, of course, end with the characters achieving their dreams and living "happily ever after," but in order to be dramatically satisfying, the characters always show evidence of personal growth and their dreams change as they mature. The characters in Wilbur Smith's Quest appear to do just the opposite... they devolve into children who, unfortunately, wield enough power to achieve their every want.
July 29, 2008
OK, so I loved 'River God' and the 'Seventh scroll' and I also liked 'Warlock' which are the only reasons I got lured into buying this book. The first two books of the "Egypt chronicles" were great because (I now realize) they are actually based on a true story. However, now that Taita has continued to live beyond reasonable age (200 years or so?) I think Wilbur Smith has finally lost all touch with reality in this last book, and has lost my attention along with it. Not that I'm not into Sci-fi or anything, it's just not what I expected from this sequel.
Honesty compells me to say I did not finish the book, I gave it back to the bookstore.
Honesty compells me to say I did not finish the book, I gave it back to the bookstore.
May 5, 2022
Appalling.
Meet Taita, the lead character: writer, sculptor, painter, architect, engineer, surgeon, strategist, politician, warrior, athlete, historian, geographer, philosopher, mystic, philologist, adventurer, musician, chess player, veterinarian, actor, utterly handsome and wise beyond measure.
He is also a Caucasian 154 years old eunuch living in the ancient Egypt.
He is a slave too, but he does and goes as he pleases.
"The Quest" starts with Taita going to a lama monastery in the middle of Dark Africa to get his inner eye opened. A nun does that by extracting Taita's right eye with a spoon and piercing his eye socket with a bamboo needle.
Once the inner eye has been properly opened, Taita is able to enjoy a new set of mystic goodies like aura sighting and mind reading. He gets better too at astral traveling, concealment charms and dream interpretation.
That's how he can get a very bad vibe: back at home, his chum, the Pharaoh of "that very" Egypt, is in trouble. The Nile has dried up, the country is afflicted by several horrible plagues and the queen has a crisis of faith.
The enhanced Taita goes back and very soon realizes that the culprit of all these bad things is an evil sexy witch, thousands of years old, who lurks very far away, to the south of Egypt, close to a lake and a volcano. Right away Taita enlists a company of brave and insignificant men and down they go for country and king.
On their way to the witches' lair Taita happens to find his future female companion: a blond child of 7 years of age. He knows in his heart that the girl is the reincarnation of his old flame, the only woman that he truly ever loved (platonically): queen Lostris of Egypt.
He adopts the child and begins her education. She turns out to be exceedingly bright.
They find out that the evil witch has an appetite for geniuses. That makes Taita the best possible prize. But there is a problem, the witch feeds on geniuses only through sexual intercourse, and that is just the only thing that Taita cannot do, being castrated and all.
Never fear, Eos (that is the name of the witch) has a whole team of evil but highly skilled medical minions. They will be able to help Taita grow a penis (and new teeth too as a bonus). The operation consists of embedding pieces of slaughtered newborn babies in the right cavities of Taita's body and watching them grow.
Once Taita has a penis, he gallantly goes into a genital confrontation with Eos. This turns to be a battle of epical proportions, but in the end Taita prevails because is one of the good guys. He literally fucks the evil Eos into oblivion. By doing so, he gets all her wicked but extensive knowledge of the world too, we are talking about thousands upon thousands of years’ worth of wisdom.
Afterwards Taita doesn't stop for a smoke, no, using the memories of the witch he goes down to the basement in the volcano and finds the fountain of eternal youth, and there he takes a long and life changing shower.
Behold Taita 2.0: a perfect mind of unmeasurable depths within a perfect young body that will never grow old.
He gets back, tenderly teach the blond little girl (that has turned sixteen in the meantime) how to make love, unblocks the Nile, obliterates the surviving minions of the evil Eos (black and brown alike), liberates all the good people and guides them back to "that very" Egypt of them in a merry river procession.
I found the precedent three books bad but enjoyable. This one is just amazing. I have read it out of curiosity, how insane can it get? I do hope for the mental health of Mr. Smith that Taita is not his alter ego. I will read the next (and last one), just to assert whether this was just a crisis of sorts.
One of the first books I truly loved was Sinuhe the Egyptian by Mika Waltari. I wasn't expecting that when I started this series, but I wasn't expecting this either.
Just one last thing, on the jacket of my edition of Sinuhe, the font size of Mika Waltari's name is much smaller than that of the title. Exactly the opposite applies to this book: The Quest, by Wilbur Smith. Bad things happen when people or fictional characters take themselves too seriously.
Meet Taita, the lead character: writer, sculptor, painter, architect, engineer, surgeon, strategist, politician, warrior, athlete, historian, geographer, philosopher, mystic, philologist, adventurer, musician, chess player, veterinarian, actor, utterly handsome and wise beyond measure.
He is also a Caucasian 154 years old eunuch living in the ancient Egypt.
He is a slave too, but he does and goes as he pleases.
"The Quest" starts with Taita going to a lama monastery in the middle of Dark Africa to get his inner eye opened. A nun does that by extracting Taita's right eye with a spoon and piercing his eye socket with a bamboo needle.
Once the inner eye has been properly opened, Taita is able to enjoy a new set of mystic goodies like aura sighting and mind reading. He gets better too at astral traveling, concealment charms and dream interpretation.
That's how he can get a very bad vibe: back at home, his chum, the Pharaoh of "that very" Egypt, is in trouble. The Nile has dried up, the country is afflicted by several horrible plagues and the queen has a crisis of faith.
The enhanced Taita goes back and very soon realizes that the culprit of all these bad things is an evil sexy witch, thousands of years old, who lurks very far away, to the south of Egypt, close to a lake and a volcano. Right away Taita enlists a company of brave and insignificant men and down they go for country and king.
On their way to the witches' lair Taita happens to find his future female companion: a blond child of 7 years of age. He knows in his heart that the girl is the reincarnation of his old flame, the only woman that he truly ever loved (platonically): queen Lostris of Egypt.
He adopts the child and begins her education. She turns out to be exceedingly bright.
They find out that the evil witch has an appetite for geniuses. That makes Taita the best possible prize. But there is a problem, the witch feeds on geniuses only through sexual intercourse, and that is just the only thing that Taita cannot do, being castrated and all.
Never fear, Eos (that is the name of the witch) has a whole team of evil but highly skilled medical minions. They will be able to help Taita grow a penis (and new teeth too as a bonus). The operation consists of embedding pieces of slaughtered newborn babies in the right cavities of Taita's body and watching them grow.
Once Taita has a penis, he gallantly goes into a genital confrontation with Eos. This turns to be a battle of epical proportions, but in the end Taita prevails because is one of the good guys. He literally fucks the evil Eos into oblivion. By doing so, he gets all her wicked but extensive knowledge of the world too, we are talking about thousands upon thousands of years’ worth of wisdom.
Afterwards Taita doesn't stop for a smoke, no, using the memories of the witch he goes down to the basement in the volcano and finds the fountain of eternal youth, and there he takes a long and life changing shower.
Behold Taita 2.0: a perfect mind of unmeasurable depths within a perfect young body that will never grow old.
He gets back, tenderly teach the blond little girl (that has turned sixteen in the meantime) how to make love, unblocks the Nile, obliterates the surviving minions of the evil Eos (black and brown alike), liberates all the good people and guides them back to "that very" Egypt of them in a merry river procession.
I found the precedent three books bad but enjoyable. This one is just amazing. I have read it out of curiosity, how insane can it get? I do hope for the mental health of Mr. Smith that Taita is not his alter ego. I will read the next (and last one), just to assert whether this was just a crisis of sorts.
One of the first books I truly loved was Sinuhe the Egyptian by Mika Waltari. I wasn't expecting that when I started this series, but I wasn't expecting this either.
Just one last thing, on the jacket of my edition of Sinuhe, the font size of Mika Waltari's name is much smaller than that of the title. Exactly the opposite applies to this book: The Quest, by Wilbur Smith. Bad things happen when people or fictional characters take themselves too seriously.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2009
What bug got up Wilbur's *** in this one? Totally weird. The first third was nothing but philosophical ramblings about good and evil & 'inner eyes' and psychic powers. Then it turned into an Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure trek up the Nile with lots 'o fightin' and huntin' and hacking of limbs- mostly from the bestial 'lesser races'. THEN we get to the weirdest part which turns into a rant against stem cell/genetic research or something. Shades of Gorean sentence structure & description on top of the Burroughs-like action adventure. Really turned off by the continual wholesale slaughter of whole peoples deemed inferior by Taita and his crew. Seems to set us up for a sequel. Ugg- the mind boggles at where this could go next. [And I adored River God & Seventh Scroll!:]
August 6, 2012
So I really like the first and second book in the series however, warlock was a bit of a let down with this total reversal of taitas character. This fourth installment, though, was so bad I barely even finish it. Had to push myself through even though it was so ridiculous. Now taitas characters not just some supernatural Obi-Wan Kenobi wanna be, now he some weird creepy freaky sex warrior. Now for some reason the way to get knowledge is to "ginnggaff" people and your knowledge will be making stronger or improved by freaky sex. There is also a weird take on like ancient stem cell research genetic engineering cloning crap going on that was just way way outside the realm of believability for this novel. Very violent as well and as "learned" as Tate is supposed to be he still has no problem and mass murder of "lesser tribes".
Leslie my biggest problem with this novel was the fact that the main love story between taita and fenn who is reincarnated from the queen from river God and now comes back completely in love with me. What happened to tanus? Wasn't tanus her soulmate? The great part about Taitas love story in River God was the fact that he loved her even though she was in love with someone else and he cared for both of them. Now for some reason she comes back in a weird almost pedophile kind away he's all up in there. Totally contrived and is a complete injustice to the first novel. I wish I just stop reading this series at the conclusion of river God.
Leslie my biggest problem with this novel was the fact that the main love story between taita and fenn who is reincarnated from the queen from river God and now comes back completely in love with me. What happened to tanus? Wasn't tanus her soulmate? The great part about Taitas love story in River God was the fact that he loved her even though she was in love with someone else and he cared for both of them. Now for some reason she comes back in a weird almost pedophile kind away he's all up in there. Totally contrived and is a complete injustice to the first novel. I wish I just stop reading this series at the conclusion of river God.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 15, 2024
It seems that the writing has transported me to Egypt! After reading Haggard's work, I read this which made it seem as if I have just returned from a grand expedition...
The description was so vivid that it almost suffocated me while I was reading it. As a thriller, it was enjoyable; however, the low rating is due to some notable vulgar scenes and descriptions which is to be unnecessarily explicit. Furthermore, the last method used for dealing with the witch looked unnecessarily vulgar. The journey was good overall with the exception of these issues.
The description was so vivid that it almost suffocated me while I was reading it. As a thriller, it was enjoyable; however, the low rating is due to some notable vulgar scenes and descriptions which is to be unnecessarily explicit. Furthermore, the last method used for dealing with the witch looked unnecessarily vulgar. The journey was good overall with the exception of these issues.
March 6, 2014
Pharoah sends for Taita, the only man who might be able to win through to the source of the Nile and discover the cause of all their woes.
Lots of man-root action, and way too Blavatsky-esque for comfortable reading. No wonder I couldn't recall the storyline here.
Re-read encounter drops this down to a 1*
NEXT!
Summer 2013 Egyptian Encounters:
Cleopatra (1963)
3* The Mummy Curse
2* Alexandria: The Last Nights of Cleopatra
4* The Complete Valley of the Kings
1* Ancient Egypt by George Rawlinson
4* Tutankhamen: Life and death of a Pharoah
2* The Luxor Museum
3* Tutankhamen's Treasure
3* The Black Pharaoh\
3* Nubian Twilight..../ complimentary reading!
4* River God
4* House of Eternity
The Egyptian (1954)
Agora (2009)
CR Justine
Death on the Nile (1978)
2* Nefer the Silent
5* The Seventh Scroll
5* The White Nile
CR An Evil Spirit out of the West
Nefertiti Resurrected
3* Warlock
Queen Pharaoh - Hatshepsut
TR: The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile and Explorations of the Nile Sources
Verdi: Aïda - San Francisco Opera (starring Luciano Pavarotti) FULL: The libretto does not specify a precise time period, so it is difficult to place the opera more specifically than the Old Kingdom. For the first production, Mariette went to great efforts to make the sets and costumes authentic. Given the consistent artistic styles through the 3000 year history of ancient Egypt, a given production does not particularly need to choose a specific time period within the larger frame of ancient Egyptian history. wiki sourced
Asterix and Cleopatra (1968) [FULL MOVIE]
1* The Quest
03-07-2013: Egyptian army suspends constitution and removes President Morsi.
Additional reading that flows from the above, much like a great river:
TR Through the Dark Continent
Chez Tintin. Congo river rapids
TR A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries
Lots of man-root action, and way too Blavatsky-esque for comfortable reading. No wonder I couldn't recall the storyline here.
Re-read encounter drops this down to a 1*
NEXT!
Summer 2013 Egyptian Encounters:
Cleopatra (1963)
3* The Mummy Curse
2* Alexandria: The Last Nights of Cleopatra
4* The Complete Valley of the Kings
1* Ancient Egypt by George Rawlinson
4* Tutankhamen: Life and death of a Pharoah
2* The Luxor Museum
3* Tutankhamen's Treasure
3* The Black Pharaoh\
3* Nubian Twilight..../ complimentary reading!
4* River God
4* House of Eternity
The Egyptian (1954)
Agora (2009)
CR Justine
Death on the Nile (1978)
2* Nefer the Silent
5* The Seventh Scroll
5* The White Nile
CR An Evil Spirit out of the West
Nefertiti Resurrected
3* Warlock
Queen Pharaoh - Hatshepsut
TR: The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile and Explorations of the Nile Sources
Verdi: Aïda - San Francisco Opera (starring Luciano Pavarotti) FULL: The libretto does not specify a precise time period, so it is difficult to place the opera more specifically than the Old Kingdom. For the first production, Mariette went to great efforts to make the sets and costumes authentic. Given the consistent artistic styles through the 3000 year history of ancient Egypt, a given production does not particularly need to choose a specific time period within the larger frame of ancient Egyptian history. wiki sourced
Asterix and Cleopatra (1968) [FULL MOVIE]
1* The Quest
03-07-2013: Egyptian army suspends constitution and removes President Morsi.
Additional reading that flows from the above, much like a great river:
TR Through the Dark Continent
Chez Tintin. Congo river rapids
TR A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries
July 10, 2021
The Quest is the fourth book in the ancient Egyptian series.
And I have to say, I am disappointed at Smith. The first two books of this series- The River God and The Seventh Scroll were AMAZING! The third one, Warlock was okay for me. But the Quest was a very dull read for me.
The protagonist Taita was a slave during the first two books but in this one he became a Magus and a magician and whatnot. I found him very pretentious and at times wanted to hit him with the book.
It felt to me that the book was filled with unnecessary and repetitive detail which could have been avoided.
And the adult parts added another dimension to me disliking towards the book. I really am not into adult books and these sort of description sort of reduces my interest in a book.
And the descriptions made me feel like I was reading a script of a pornography at times (sorry for my language).
This book was not worth my time at all.
I would give it 1.75 stars. :3
And I have to say, I am disappointed at Smith. The first two books of this series- The River God and The Seventh Scroll were AMAZING! The third one, Warlock was okay for me. But the Quest was a very dull read for me.
The protagonist Taita was a slave during the first two books but in this one he became a Magus and a magician and whatnot. I found him very pretentious and at times wanted to hit him with the book.
It felt to me that the book was filled with unnecessary and repetitive detail which could have been avoided.
And the adult parts added another dimension to me disliking towards the book. I really am not into adult books and these sort of description sort of reduces my interest in a book.
And the descriptions made me feel like I was reading a script of a pornography at times (sorry for my language).
This book was not worth my time at all.
I would give it 1.75 stars. :3
April 9, 2020
Dalla sinossi di Goodreads: Dopo un interminabile viaggio...
Ecco, è proprio interminabile questo libro. Brutto dall’inizio alla fine, con un pacing lento e noioso, ripetitivo, che non trasmette nulla e non porta a nulla, un circolo vizioso. No, grazie. Dove sta il Taita del Dio del Fiume? Dove sta la vera avventura?
🦅 Owls readathon 2020: Cure of magical creatures 🦅
Ecco, è proprio interminabile questo libro. Brutto dall’inizio alla fine, con un pacing lento e noioso, ripetitivo, che non trasmette nulla e non porta a nulla, un circolo vizioso. No, grazie. Dove sta il Taita del Dio del Fiume? Dove sta la vera avventura?
🦅 Owls readathon 2020: Cure of magical creatures 🦅
October 27, 2010
This is the fourth and perhaps final volume of Wilbur Smith's ancient Egyptian series, which began with the excellent "The River God" followed by "The Seventh Scroll" and "Warlock". Many folks have commented on the declining quality of this series and I see that, as well, to some extent. The first book was just so outstanding (it's in my top 10 list of all time great reads) that some deterioration was inevitable. This book seems to have received some brutal reviews though.
The book continues the story of Taita, a "long-liver" sage who sets off to solve and set right a series of plagues that are hitting the Nile Valley. Turns out the source is the evil "God" Eos. The cat and mouse confrontation between these two form the basis of the novel. Another major plot thread is the reincarnation of Taita's true love from the first book in the series. Since Taita is an enoch from way back, the author finds a way to have his manhood regrown through a process akin to using stem cells. I'll admit to this whole sub plot being extremely convenient for the main characters, a bit too contrived for my taste.
I think many people have problems with this book because it is not what they are expecting. This entire series is billed as "historical fiction" and the first book certainly seemed to be so but that moniker has long since worn off. The series has transposed into fantasy, pure and simple. The title itself is indicative of the genre and there are numerous examples of true magic throughout the book: pillars turning into faces that give directions, Taita turning invisible at will or mind travelling over great distances to give messages to others. Whatever historical accuracy might exist here is beside the point. Also, this is a fairly erotic novel with numerous sexual innuendos and some downright graphic sex scenes in it. This is my 6th Wilbur Smith book and although he does put in quite a few erotic encounters I think this is his rawest novel so far of the ones I've read.
I've pointed out some of the negative aspects of this novel, but there are positive points also, particularly if you don't mind the fantasy aspects. The story itself flows well and urges the reader to keep turning pages to see what happens next. The author has a way of allowing the reader in to his characters' minds making it realistic despite the very nature of the fantasy involved. And it's a downright fun book to read. A grand adventure full of danger, excitement, pitfalls, triumphs, and a good, satisfying ending. There is a definite end but should the author wish to continue the series, there is room for it to keep going. If he does, I will continue along with him.
The book continues the story of Taita, a "long-liver" sage who sets off to solve and set right a series of plagues that are hitting the Nile Valley. Turns out the source is the evil "God" Eos. The cat and mouse confrontation between these two form the basis of the novel. Another major plot thread is the reincarnation of Taita's true love from the first book in the series. Since Taita is an enoch from way back, the author finds a way to have his manhood regrown through a process akin to using stem cells. I'll admit to this whole sub plot being extremely convenient for the main characters, a bit too contrived for my taste.
I think many people have problems with this book because it is not what they are expecting. This entire series is billed as "historical fiction" and the first book certainly seemed to be so but that moniker has long since worn off. The series has transposed into fantasy, pure and simple. The title itself is indicative of the genre and there are numerous examples of true magic throughout the book: pillars turning into faces that give directions, Taita turning invisible at will or mind travelling over great distances to give messages to others. Whatever historical accuracy might exist here is beside the point. Also, this is a fairly erotic novel with numerous sexual innuendos and some downright graphic sex scenes in it. This is my 6th Wilbur Smith book and although he does put in quite a few erotic encounters I think this is his rawest novel so far of the ones I've read.
I've pointed out some of the negative aspects of this novel, but there are positive points also, particularly if you don't mind the fantasy aspects. The story itself flows well and urges the reader to keep turning pages to see what happens next. The author has a way of allowing the reader in to his characters' minds making it realistic despite the very nature of the fantasy involved. And it's a downright fun book to read. A grand adventure full of danger, excitement, pitfalls, triumphs, and a good, satisfying ending. There is a definite end but should the author wish to continue the series, there is room for it to keep going. If he does, I will continue along with him.
October 5, 2023
Alle fonti del Nilo è il quarto volume del bellissimo ed epico ciclo egizio di Wilbur Smith. I primi tre lavori (1-2-3) sono stati alquanto meravigliosi e spettacolari, ma questo (purtroppo bisogna dirlo) mi ha profondamente deluso e lasciato con l'amaro in bocca… Già a metà libro non vedevo l'ora di arrivare alla fine e, in più di un'occasione, sono stato lì lì per abbandonare il tutto!
Intanto cominciamo col dire che moltissime situazioni (parecchio logorroiche) non avendo nulla a che fare con la storia principale, mi hanno dato l'impressione di essere state inserite solo ed esclusivamente con l'intento di allungare il brodo. La figura di Taita, l'eunuco protagonista di tutto il ciclo egizio, da intelligente, sapiente ed esperto di svariate arti (medicina, matematica, architettura e letteratura su tutte), in questa storia quasi quasi assume le sembianze di una vera e propria caricatura del suo stesso personaggio, diventando un potente mago e, colmo dei colmi, un uomo virile nel momento in cui la sua principale nemica gli dona un nuovo "membro".
Ma ci sono anche tante, troppe, situazioni su cui io avrei da ridire. Alcune di queste, inoltre, sembrano palesemente scopiazzate dalla Bibbia; giusto per fare un esempio, ne cito due: all'inizio del racconto abbiamo l'Egitto che è colpito da svariate piaghe e, nientepopodimeno, il personaggio di Fenn (reincarnazione della regina Lostris, coprotagonista del primo libro), come Mosè, viene ritrovata in una palude all'interno di una cesta a forma di barchetta. Forse l'unica cosa positiva dell'opera di Wilbur Smith è la magnifica descrizione dei paesaggi egizi ed africani (sembra davvero di sentire il fruscio delle foglie e l'impeto delle onde dei fiumi); ma, e concludo, ancora una volta c'è da dire che l'autore non lesina dettagli e descrizioni anche di minimi particolari nelle scene di violenza e sesso. È un po' troppo, direi…
[https://lastanzadiantonio.blogspot.co...]
Intanto cominciamo col dire che moltissime situazioni (parecchio logorroiche) non avendo nulla a che fare con la storia principale, mi hanno dato l'impressione di essere state inserite solo ed esclusivamente con l'intento di allungare il brodo. La figura di Taita, l'eunuco protagonista di tutto il ciclo egizio, da intelligente, sapiente ed esperto di svariate arti (medicina, matematica, architettura e letteratura su tutte), in questa storia quasi quasi assume le sembianze di una vera e propria caricatura del suo stesso personaggio, diventando un potente mago e, colmo dei colmi, un uomo virile nel momento in cui la sua principale nemica gli dona un nuovo "membro".
Ma ci sono anche tante, troppe, situazioni su cui io avrei da ridire. Alcune di queste, inoltre, sembrano palesemente scopiazzate dalla Bibbia; giusto per fare un esempio, ne cito due: all'inizio del racconto abbiamo l'Egitto che è colpito da svariate piaghe e, nientepopodimeno, il personaggio di Fenn (reincarnazione della regina Lostris, coprotagonista del primo libro), come Mosè, viene ritrovata in una palude all'interno di una cesta a forma di barchetta. Forse l'unica cosa positiva dell'opera di Wilbur Smith è la magnifica descrizione dei paesaggi egizi ed africani (sembra davvero di sentire il fruscio delle foglie e l'impeto delle onde dei fiumi); ma, e concludo, ancora una volta c'è da dire che l'autore non lesina dettagli e descrizioni anche di minimi particolari nelle scene di violenza e sesso. È un po' troppo, direi…
[https://lastanzadiantonio.blogspot.co...]
March 29, 2018
The Quest was everything I love about a book. Epic historical adventure story with well-defined good vs. evil characters of an interesting time (ancient Egypt) with fascinating characters, magic, mythology, intrigue, battles, and surprises, set against an unlikely journey. You follow the adventures of the wise Taita, an old magus (wise-man / teacher / magician) who has already lived the life span of 4 generations of Egyptians, as he is sent by the Pharoah to uncover why the Nile has dried-up by traveling to its source deep in the unexplored depths of Africa. With a loyal following of 100 men Taita faces every challenge the journey has to offer from the un-relenting desert heat to the poisonous flies of endless bamboo swamps, all while withstanding the mental battering from a powerful witch and exploring the presence of an un-known yet familiar presence on the ‘ether’ that seems to be guiding his steps.
This is actually the 4th book in this Tiata series, which I did not know until after I had finished the book. You do not need to read the earlier stories to enjoy this book. However, after reading the reviews on GoodReads it sounds like this 4th book was the least favorite for most people. I will absolutely be picking up the rest of the series.
UPDATE: Finally reading this series in order and can say I truly love it more the second read as you have so much history with the characters! Ending sequence that just constantly gives you more thrills and highlights. I had an amazing time and one of the great ‘walk into the sunset scenes’ I can recall.
UPDATE 2018: Having now read all books I wanted to share some notes on the chronology of the story. Things I would have liked to know before I started.
Chronological order of the series:
1. River God (Book #1). Ends and is almost immediately followed by
2. Desert God (Book #5). End and is followed ~20 years later by
3. Pharaoh (Book #6). End and is followed ~60 years later by
4. Warlock (Book #3). End is followed ~40 years later by
5. The Quest (Book #4). End is followed ~3000 years later by
6. The Seventh Scroll (Book #2), which is set the 1970s.
Order by my favorite:
1. River God (Book #1)
2. The Quest (Book #4)
3. Pharaoh (Book #6)
4. Warlock (Book #3)
5. Desert God (Book #5)
6. The Seventh Scroll (Book #2)
This is actually the 4th book in this Tiata series, which I did not know until after I had finished the book. You do not need to read the earlier stories to enjoy this book. However, after reading the reviews on GoodReads it sounds like this 4th book was the least favorite for most people. I will absolutely be picking up the rest of the series.
UPDATE: Finally reading this series in order and can say I truly love it more the second read as you have so much history with the characters! Ending sequence that just constantly gives you more thrills and highlights. I had an amazing time and one of the great ‘walk into the sunset scenes’ I can recall.
UPDATE 2018: Having now read all books I wanted to share some notes on the chronology of the story. Things I would have liked to know before I started.
Chronological order of the series:
1. River God (Book #1). Ends and is almost immediately followed by
2. Desert God (Book #5). End and is followed ~20 years later by
3. Pharaoh (Book #6). End and is followed ~60 years later by
4. Warlock (Book #3). End is followed ~40 years later by
5. The Quest (Book #4). End is followed ~3000 years later by
6. The Seventh Scroll (Book #2), which is set the 1970s.
Order by my favorite:
1. River God (Book #1)
2. The Quest (Book #4)
3. Pharaoh (Book #6)
4. Warlock (Book #3)
5. Desert God (Book #5)
6. The Seventh Scroll (Book #2)
August 3, 2011
This book has really divided Wilbur Smith fans and I can see why. I have read nearly all of Smith's books and this different to this others works. It focused much more on magic and witchcraft than the historical fiction I am used to. This is why I imagine other Wilbur Smith fans have disliked the book. The storyline was rather unbelievable but then I think this was the point, the book was supposed to be fantastical rather than seriously believable. If you could look beyond this then the story was exciting and interesting. I however have mixed views, I think it was a well written story but ultimately it is not in the usual Wilbur Smith style. If you are looking for realistic historical fiction then this is not the book for you, however if you can look past the unbelievable this is a very enjoyable story, I however was disappointed, but I can't recommend Smith's other work highly enough if you are looking for incredible adventure stories give the Courtney novels a try they really do not disappoint.
July 17, 2013
I only got through about 30 pages before I decided it wasn't worth my time and brain space to read more about the raging nymphomaniac goddess who sucks the souls out of the 'enlightened', strange sexual encounters between everyone conceivable and graphic physical operations. Really? All within 30 pages? Not sure if the author was just trying to grab your attention in the beginning to keep you interested, but if he was, I would have hoped he was capable of writing something at least remotely intelligent to do so rather than relying on sex and violence. Le sigh. Not sure why so many people seem to think that the more sex and violence a book has, the more 'mature' and 'sophisticated' it is, but this is one person who would rather pick up something else and feel uplifted or intellectually challenged. Perhaps this wasn't his best book, but for me it was yet another 'might as well call a spade a spade and buy a 10 cent romance novel instead.' That and a horror pick axe murder novel.
March 8, 2016
I can't believe I'm rating a Smith book 1 star. His books were some of the first adult books I read, and I relished them. I loved River God and Taita was a great character. In River God there was intrigue, character development, clever manipulation, love and hate and all set in a luxurious, exotic Egypt. None of things were present in The Quest, instead we spent more than half the book traveling for years (How many times did they eat wild spinach along the way?), and nothing much happened. There were inconsistencies in the story that clashed with what I remembered of the earlier books. Then after all the build up regarding this monstrous evil, Taita managed to defeat it very easily, and manage to find a huge bonus as well. Everything was neatly tided up, and it was rather mediocre. I'm just going to pretend River God is the only book in the series.
July 30, 2022
The first two books in this series were great historical adventure fiction, the third one 'Warlock' strayed off more into the realms of fantasy. This fourth one is pure fantasy. Some of the characters are originally from Egypt, and the book is set in Africa but that's where reality ends.
The main character, rather than just a sage learned man, is now the wielder of all kinds of magical powers. The main villain is likewise endowed. Smith 'fixes' some of the character flaws from earlier books by resorting to reincarnation, the fountain of youth and magical healing.
Very disappointing and defiantly the worst Wilbur Smith I've read. There are two further books in this series and I have both of them. Whether I read them, or donate them to the library, remains to be seen. I give this book 1.5 stars, rounded up to 2 for Goodreads.
The main character, rather than just a sage learned man, is now the wielder of all kinds of magical powers. The main villain is likewise endowed. Smith 'fixes' some of the character flaws from earlier books by resorting to reincarnation, the fountain of youth and magical healing.
Very disappointing and defiantly the worst Wilbur Smith I've read. There are two further books in this series and I have both of them. Whether I read them, or donate them to the library, remains to be seen. I give this book 1.5 stars, rounded up to 2 for Goodreads.
January 19, 2026
Tak terasa bisa baca seri HF Mesir kuno ini sampai buku keempat. Kali ini Taita yang tua renta tapi tetap aktif dan sehat sudah menjadi magus. Kemampuan fisiknya menurun tapi kekuatan spiritualnya jauh meningkat. Buku ini menggambarkan petualangannya mencari ilmu dengan didampingi Meren (sahabat Pharaoh Seti) anak angkatnya. Sayangnya perjalanannya menemui jalan buntu karena seorang musuh yang keji mengincar kehancuran Mesir. Kerajaan warisan Ratu Lostris yang sangat Taita jaga.
Buku ini memberiku suara Taita tua yang berbeda daripada Taita muda yang sangat kusukai di buku pertama. Tidak jelek hanya yang ditawarkan bukan hal yang kusukai. Di buku ini unsur fantasi, sihir dan unsur supranatural lebih kental. Unsur perjalanan dan historicalnya tetap ada tapi serasa napak tilas aja dari buku-buku sebelumnya.
Plotnya sibuk tapi cukup bikin garuk-garuk kepala saking anehnya. Para karakter pendukung dan banternya tetap jadi salah satu oesona buku ini. Banyak nama baru yang aku suka dan memorable. Ada juga adegan-adegan yang bikin aku risih dan tidak nyaman. Terutama dengan issue grooming, SA dan pelestarian hewan liar.
So far masih enjoyable dan bikin senyum tapi pembaca sensitif mending cek trigger warning dulu.
Thanks to BCLC
Buku ini memberiku suara Taita tua yang berbeda daripada Taita muda yang sangat kusukai di buku pertama. Tidak jelek hanya yang ditawarkan bukan hal yang kusukai. Di buku ini unsur fantasi, sihir dan unsur supranatural lebih kental. Unsur perjalanan dan historicalnya tetap ada tapi serasa napak tilas aja dari buku-buku sebelumnya.
Plotnya sibuk tapi cukup bikin garuk-garuk kepala saking anehnya. Para karakter pendukung dan banternya tetap jadi salah satu oesona buku ini. Banyak nama baru yang aku suka dan memorable. Ada juga adegan-adegan yang bikin aku risih dan tidak nyaman. Terutama dengan issue grooming, SA dan pelestarian hewan liar.
So far masih enjoyable dan bikin senyum tapi pembaca sensitif mending cek trigger warning dulu.
Thanks to BCLC
January 16, 2012
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it'a Taita the Inccredible armed with a lock of hair!!
One of my all-time favourite protagonists needs to save Egypt (again) from an evil presence that suffocates the Nile.
Gripping story as Taita and his band of warriors travel into the depth of Africa to solve this crises.
Smith does a fantastic job of graphically describing the procedures and encounters of the group - from the Chima cannibals to the Inner Eye every snap, gush and sinewy twist reverberates ten fold.
I rather liked his reunion with the reborn Lostris, thankfully there wasn't a "Lolitta" plot. That would place Taita firmly in the Kiddy-Fiddler pile.
Terrific book and was read faster than the other two (despite bing 500 pages).
One of my all-time favourite protagonists needs to save Egypt (again) from an evil presence that suffocates the Nile.
Gripping story as Taita and his band of warriors travel into the depth of Africa to solve this crises.
Smith does a fantastic job of graphically describing the procedures and encounters of the group - from the Chima cannibals to the Inner Eye every snap, gush and sinewy twist reverberates ten fold.
I rather liked his reunion with the reborn Lostris, thankfully there wasn't a "Lolitta" plot. That would place Taita firmly in the Kiddy-Fiddler pile.
Terrific book and was read faster than the other two (despite bing 500 pages).
December 29, 2011
It's an exotic fantasy adventure set in ancient Egypt. The Quest has a strong sword and sorcery quality. Things in this book also tie in closely to the first one in the series, River God. It has a great ending line. Wilbur Smith is quite a story teller and I did enjoy the entire series though it's been a long time since I read the first two.
August 5, 2017
The Quest goes from fantasy to being totally unbelievable.
February 16, 2022
This is a big book, but not as big as Goodreads suggests. I have the first edition hardback and it runs in at 504 pages, not 718. It is very detailed too, therefore hard to keep up with all the places, tribes and characters so I am glad I am not a student writing about it in an exam. Nevertheless, don’t get me wrong, it is worth persevering with as a rollicking read if you like long adventure quest books. There are con sides, which I will deal with first. One that made me feel queasy was the apparent obsession of an elderly eunuch with a pre-pubescent child. Other readers have characterised it as grooming and it is easy to see why, but just before the halfway mark when Taita’s back story is briefly mentioned there is this AHA! moment that it is actually a reincarnation love story. Taita’s prior tragedy makes you more understanding of what is going on in his mind as he tutors and protects this child in a very dangerous world. Of course, it all turns out well in the end (or maybe I shouldn’t give that away, but I see so many people have been turned off by what they misread as paedophilia, and I am not surprised). The other problem is the ruthless slaughter of lesser men. The delight in violence and killing makes it a hard read in places. We mustn’t forget we are dealing with people who lived thousands of years ago and attempt to criticise them (and the author) by wanting an adherence to 21st century values and political correctness.
Now, I loved reading Rider Haggard when I was little and some of the themes in this will be familiar to anyone who knows Rider Haggard. The immortal woman, the fountain of youth, the reincarnated love interest, warring tribes, cannibals, evil priests and minions, intelligent ferocious apes, and adventures through hostile lands complete with big game hunts. However, as Wilbur Smith is a 20th century author, I came to this book obviously expecting something a little more modern and you certainly get that in spades. The violence is much more graphic, as is the sex which in Rider Haggard’s day was very much sublimated. Not much is left to the imagination, much is made of Taita’s “manroot” and I don’t think this is one for the sensitive reader. On the whole, worth the marathon if you are prepared for a few emotional ups and downs.
Now, I loved reading Rider Haggard when I was little and some of the themes in this will be familiar to anyone who knows Rider Haggard. The immortal woman, the fountain of youth, the reincarnated love interest, warring tribes, cannibals, evil priests and minions, intelligent ferocious apes, and adventures through hostile lands complete with big game hunts. However, as Wilbur Smith is a 20th century author, I came to this book obviously expecting something a little more modern and you certainly get that in spades. The violence is much more graphic, as is the sex which in Rider Haggard’s day was very much sublimated. Not much is left to the imagination, much is made of Taita’s “manroot” and I don’t think this is one for the sensitive reader. On the whole, worth the marathon if you are prepared for a few emotional ups and downs.
October 4, 2012
I'm not sure all of what I read here, and really, I'm only still finishing it because once Taita offed the big bad with his magical unicorn "manroot" by turning her into what seems to be a giant cockroach or something, I am just committed at this point. Really, I've survived the nonsense this far, I might as well see where this mess ends up.
Suffice it to say that this was my first, and possibly last, Wilbur Smith book. I try to keep an open mind (I have read all the Anne Rice books, even the ones where she's clearly lost her marbles, and I'm not above a good trashy romance novel) but so far, I got soul-sucking sexins with strangers in the first few chapters (which evidently will kill you, but what a way to go, man), the old dude waxing poetic about the breasts of a prepubescent girl, stem cell research with actual live babies, giant toads, crazy people, magical horses... I don't even know what I'm reading here.
I love me some Egyptian fiction novels, every time I see one I want to read it even if it ends up being terrible, which I think is why I'm sticking this one out to the end. Previous reviewers suggest that these books are not all so insane, but now I'm leery of getting into more of this insanity with another book from Mr. Smith.
Suffice it to say that this was my first, and possibly last, Wilbur Smith book. I try to keep an open mind (I have read all the Anne Rice books, even the ones where she's clearly lost her marbles, and I'm not above a good trashy romance novel) but so far, I got soul-sucking sexins with strangers in the first few chapters (which evidently will kill you, but what a way to go, man), the old dude waxing poetic about the breasts of a prepubescent girl, stem cell research with actual live babies, giant toads, crazy people, magical horses... I don't even know what I'm reading here.
I love me some Egyptian fiction novels, every time I see one I want to read it even if it ends up being terrible, which I think is why I'm sticking this one out to the end. Previous reviewers suggest that these books are not all so insane, but now I'm leery of getting into more of this insanity with another book from Mr. Smith.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2015
Taita the warlock magician goes on a quest to save ancient Egypt and restore the waters of the Nile.
I read the three previous related books (two are chronologically previous and one is related but happened in modern time). I liked the two that occurred in ancient Egypt. There was some magic but it was slight and could be interpreted as natural too.
In this book the magic has a dominant part and is completely unnatural. Except for the fact that I did not expect it, it affected the book. The book is loaded with long and boring descriptions of , magic performances, mind battles between magicians, spiritual revelations, spiritual/religious experiences and ceremonies, dreams and visions and love making descriptions. I would say that about 30% of this book were these descriptions that basically are boring and I usually skip them.
Except for that there is a nice story, exciting war stories (at least some of them, some of them with the intervention of magic become very unreliable). I enjoyed the descriptions of the ancient life, the hunting, cooking, technology and more.
I do not think I will read another book of this series, I got the picture and now it is boring repetition .
I read the three previous related books (two are chronologically previous and one is related but happened in modern time). I liked the two that occurred in ancient Egypt. There was some magic but it was slight and could be interpreted as natural too.
In this book the magic has a dominant part and is completely unnatural. Except for the fact that I did not expect it, it affected the book. The book is loaded with long and boring descriptions of , magic performances, mind battles between magicians, spiritual revelations, spiritual/religious experiences and ceremonies, dreams and visions and love making descriptions. I would say that about 30% of this book were these descriptions that basically are boring and I usually skip them.
Except for that there is a nice story, exciting war stories (at least some of them, some of them with the intervention of magic become very unreliable). I enjoyed the descriptions of the ancient life, the hunting, cooking, technology and more.
I do not think I will read another book of this series, I got the picture and now it is boring repetition .
July 1, 2022
I was reading these books in chronological order and left a review for Pharaoh which was published in 2016 by Harper Collins.
Apparently they did a deal with Smith (or more likely his wife) in 2012 for £15 million to use his name and let a number of ghost writers churn out garbage in the hopes that people would simply buy the name which was well established and rightly so.
His long term publishers Pan McMillan had refused the ghost writer route as it would have undermined the integrity of the work and diluted the good name of his previous works which he wrote himself.
While this book was published by Pan McMillan in 2007 it's fairly obvious that he had already started dabbling with Ghost Writers because the writing isn't as tight or descriptive, the character arcs are flaccid and puerile.
Basically do not read anything after Warlock in the Egyptian series.
Everything else is a ghost written piece of trash. Save your money and sanity and re-read some of his earlier authentic works.
Apparently they did a deal with Smith (or more likely his wife) in 2012 for £15 million to use his name and let a number of ghost writers churn out garbage in the hopes that people would simply buy the name which was well established and rightly so.
His long term publishers Pan McMillan had refused the ghost writer route as it would have undermined the integrity of the work and diluted the good name of his previous works which he wrote himself.
While this book was published by Pan McMillan in 2007 it's fairly obvious that he had already started dabbling with Ghost Writers because the writing isn't as tight or descriptive, the character arcs are flaccid and puerile.
Basically do not read anything after Warlock in the Egyptian series.
Everything else is a ghost written piece of trash. Save your money and sanity and re-read some of his earlier authentic works.
July 6, 2010
There are 4 books in this series and I actually started with this the last one which led me to reading the rest of them and then this one again. The first and third books of the series were books based on fact with generous fiction thrown in. Well, this one is packed to the brim with fiction with only a splattering of fact. Still a great read as I am into science fiction as well as historical based novels. This book continues main character Taita's already long life story (he's getting up to 200 year old mark or older by this story). Very interesting read for those who enjoy this author and science fiction related to fact bases. Mr. Smith is a great writer.
April 6, 2014
There's more to dislike than to enjoy from this book, and it'd be a hard time trying to convince me that this one was ACTUALLY written by Wilbur Smith.
Besides the continuity errors (and possible mistranslations, why not) it didn't seem to me as if the character's were themselves. But what is the worst, I felt as if Taita's, and every other character's story was bastardized.
The esoteric content was an interesting and pleasant surprise to me -though I'm pretty sure many readers would disagree, as it was quite a change in the genre, and admittedly not a wise move to keep the same audience-, but I did not like the manner in which it was used.
Besides the continuity errors (and possible mistranslations, why not) it didn't seem to me as if the character's were themselves. But what is the worst, I felt as if Taita's, and every other character's story was bastardized.
The esoteric content was an interesting and pleasant surprise to me -though I'm pretty sure many readers would disagree, as it was quite a change in the genre, and admittedly not a wise move to keep the same audience-, but I did not like the manner in which it was used.
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