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A review by usbsticky
River God by Wilbur Smith
5.0
I must have read this book 10 times and it's one of my favorite. However, it's only one this last reading that I've found fault with it. First a synopsis:
This is a book on ancient Egypt based on history, the background is the Hyksos invasion of ancient Egypt and per the epilogue is based on actual scrolls found in an Egyptian tomb. The central character is Taita the slave. He is a brilliant engineer, artist, politician (in his own words) able to design build any structure, a master warfare technician, engineer able to build and design mechanical devices of any kind, able to draw murals, write songs, etc. He is the loyal slave to an aristocratic princess. He guides her from a young girl through the Hyksos invasion, marriage to the Pharaoh, retreat to the land of Kush and subsequent return as well as her love life. Taita makes the whole book and sets the tone of the whole book (based on the writer of the scrolls) and I think Wilbur Smith did a fantastic job of it. The whole book is a saga and is full of love, intrigue, exploration and battle.
I loved the book the first 9 times I read this. This last time however, I seemed to have developed a more critical eye. Many things are too pat and unrealistic. For some reason I seemed not to have noticed or cared before. Still as I kept reading, I fell in love with the book again like I did before. The book doesn't really end here. You have to read the sequel The 7th Scroll to really enjoy it as this book is really a 2 book set. Forget about the other 3 books in the series, they are rubbish. But if you like Wilbur Smith's books and you like ancient Egypt and sweeping sagas, I would highly recommend this one.
This is a book on ancient Egypt based on history, the background is the Hyksos invasion of ancient Egypt and per the epilogue is based on actual scrolls found in an Egyptian tomb. The central character is Taita the slave. He is a brilliant engineer, artist, politician (in his own words) able to design build any structure, a master warfare technician, engineer able to build and design mechanical devices of any kind, able to draw murals, write songs, etc. He is the loyal slave to an aristocratic princess. He guides her from a young girl through the Hyksos invasion, marriage to the Pharaoh, retreat to the land of Kush and subsequent return as well as her love life. Taita makes the whole book and sets the tone of the whole book (based on the writer of the scrolls) and I think Wilbur Smith did a fantastic job of it. The whole book is a saga and is full of love, intrigue, exploration and battle.
I loved the book the first 9 times I read this. This last time however, I seemed to have developed a more critical eye. Many things are too pat and unrealistic. For some reason I seemed not to have noticed or cared before. Still as I kept reading, I fell in love with the book again like I did before. The book doesn't really end here. You have to read the sequel The 7th Scroll to really enjoy it as this book is really a 2 book set. Forget about the other 3 books in the series, they are rubbish. But if you like Wilbur Smith's books and you like ancient Egypt and sweeping sagas, I would highly recommend this one.