Read Warlock A Novel of Ancient Egypt Wilbur Smith 9780333761342 Books
Read Warlock A Novel of Ancient Egypt Wilbur Smith 9780333761342 Books
Download As PDF : Warlock A Novel of Ancient Egypt Wilbur Smith 9780333761342 Books
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Read Warlock A Novel of Ancient Egypt Wilbur Smith 9780333761342 Books
"There is a new magician to be added to the pantheon where the likes of Merlin and Gandalf reside: his name is Taita, a former eunuch slave, who is now the mighty and much-feared warlock of ancient Egypt.
Wilbur Smith, bestselling author from South Africa, brings us his compelling sequel to River God, a novel of Egypt's past, where a pharaoh and her eunuch slave evaded capture to fight against an evil conspiracy. The premise originally arose from a papyrus scroll that was brought to Smith, where these two characters were show to have existed at some time in the past. Smith then set about novelizing this account and creating the amazing world of River God. He does exactly the same in Warlock, with just as much gusto and skill.
The lovely pharaoh Lostris is now long dead, but her slave, now a warlock - who must be over a hundred years in age - is still revered and feared by many. A new pharaoh, the young prince Nefer, is about to take the throne, his father having been recently assassinated and the killers remaining unknown. Since Nefer is too young to take the throne, Naja, the former pharaoh's right hand man, automatically appoints himself regent of all Egypt. He hatches a devilish plan, unbeknownst to the prince, where he will unite with the enemy, the Hyksos who control northern Egypt, and get rid of Nefer, and together they will rule, abusing their power in as many ways as they can, meanwhile gaining untold riches.
Wilbur Smith has a writing style that is entirely his own. His imagery reaches the point of over-description but never passes it, keeping the reader so entrenched in the world, that once they put the book down, they wonder if they are not actually in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs. Smith takes you through all the emotions, even if you don't want to tag along for the ride, making you sad then happy by the turning of the page, appalled and shocked then satisfied and appeased.
There is a lot in this book, where any reader can get entirely lost, whether it be in the love between prince Nefer and his Mintaka, or the anxious deception concocted by Naja, or the great battles fronted by Nefer and controlled by Taita. There is even some magic in there for all you fantasy buffs. This book, quite simply, has it all.
Originally published on November 5th 2001.
Originally published in the Long Beach Union.
For over 500 book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to [...]"
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Warlock A Novel of Ancient Egypt Wilbur Smith 9780333761342 Books Reviews :
Warlock A Novel of Ancient Egypt Wilbur Smith 9780333761342 Books Reviews
- There is a new magician to be added to the pantheon where the likes of Merlin and Gandalf reside his name is Taita, a former eunuch slave, who is now the mighty and much-feared warlock of ancient Egypt.
Wilbur Smith, bestselling author from South Africa, brings us his compelling sequel to River God, a novel of Egypt's past, where a pharaoh and her eunuch slave evaded capture to fight against an evil conspiracy. The premise originally arose from a papyrus scroll that was brought to Smith, where these two characters were show to have existed at some time in the past. Smith then set about novelizing this account and creating the amazing world of River God. He does exactly the same in Warlock, with just as much gusto and skill.
The lovely pharaoh Lostris is now long dead, but her slave, now a warlock - who must be over a hundred years in age - is still revered and feared by many. A new pharaoh, the young prince Nefer, is about to take the throne, his father having been recently assassinated and the killers remaining unknown. Since Nefer is too young to take the throne, Naja, the former pharaoh's right hand man, automatically appoints himself regent of all Egypt. He hatches a devilish plan, unbeknownst to the prince, where he will unite with the enemy, the Hyksos who control northern Egypt, and get rid of Nefer, and together they will rule, abusing their power in as many ways as they can, meanwhile gaining untold riches.
Wilbur Smith has a writing style that is entirely his own. His imagery reaches the point of over-description but never passes it, keeping the reader so entrenched in the world, that once they put the book down, they wonder if they are not actually in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs. Smith takes you through all the emotions, even if you don't want to tag along for the ride, making you sad then happy by the turning of the page, appalled and shocked then satisfied and appeased.
There is a lot in this book, where any reader can get entirely lost, whether it be in the love between prince Nefer and his Mintaka, or the anxious deception concocted by Naja, or the great battles fronted by Nefer and controlled by Taita. There is even some magic in there for all you fantasy buffs. This book, quite simply, has it all.
Originally published on November 5th 2001.
Originally published in the Long Beach Union.
For over 500 book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to [...] - This book is the third book in Wilbur Smith's ancient Egyptian series although, chronologically, it is a direct follow-up to the first book, "River God" which ranks among my all time favorite historical novels. The second book of the series, "The Seventh Scroll" actually takes place in the present day and concerns some archeologists/anthroplogists that become embroiled in a mysterious adventure dealing with the events of the first novel. So now, here in the third novel, the author returns to the era of Taita, his protagonist of "River God", attempting to recreate the magic (and the hugely popular reviews) of that book. So the question is...did he achieve that? Was he able to garner the forces of whatever muse inspired him that other time?
Pretty close. This isn't the super shining star that was "River God" but it is a shining star none the less. I think there are two main differences between the two novels that led this novel to be inferior to the first. One is just that it isn't the first. Had this one been the first of a series or a stand-alone novel it might well have been held to the same kind of reverence. But since we have "River God" to which to compare it, it loses a little bit in the originality department.
But not much I have to say. The prose is equally well done and the pace of the novel is spot on. It reads easily like a quick novel despite it's length and you have that same desire that all good novels inspire...wanting to sneak off and find time to read more of it. There were only a couple of spots where I wished events would speed up. The plot itself is not unique, basically a story of bad guys usurping power from the rightful good guys and how the good guys make things right and come back into power. But since the good guy's army is always outnumbered, he and his allies must use intelligence to find ways to win battles. It sort of reminded me of "Braveheart" in the numbers of ways outnumbered armies can find cool ways to win.
The other main difference that makes this novel slightly inferior to "River God" is that it is told in third person point of view. This is probably necessary because this time Taita is not always where the action is occurring. We have multiple major characters all over Egypt making it impossible for 1st person POV. But the author loses the intimacy that comes with 1st person POV. In "River God" we really know the character of Taita and come to understand his foibles as well as his matter-of-fact superiority to those around him. We know his thoughts when he acts as puppet master whereas in this book, he seems more aloof and somehow, less interesting. There are times, especially during the climactic scenes near the end where he is hardly involved.
All in all I enjoyed this book as a darn good read despite the inevitable comparisons I had to make to an actual masterpiece. 4 and 1/2 stars.
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