I loved River God and to be frank this was a big disappointment. It felt underdeveloped, and a bit boring. The only bit I really enjoyed was the description of the surgery. Not Smith's usual quality.

I liked it but I probably wouldn't read another of his books. I didn't really like the arc of the story ( or lack there of). The climax of the story came in the last 20 pages so you had to read 400 pages to get there. When there was action it was good but when there was no action there was a lot of walking....and riding horses.....and sailing. Overall liked not loved

Fifth in the Egyptian series, good read as expected. Plot-journey-action-repeat ... on both land and water! In the beginning I thought it would outdo the first in the series but overall it was no match for 'River God'. But its amazing how Wilbur Smith conjures up some many adventures.

So we all know that person who thinks they know everything and lets us all know it.
Well, Imagine that this person goes back in time to Egypt and then wrote about "his" life there....
Not fun. The story is interesting but main character, see above, is unreliable and clearly taints the story.

I have been a big fan of Wilbur Smith since reading River God in the 90s. I adore not oly the ancient Egypt series, but also the Courtney novels. Smith is well known for well researched and action packed historical fiction, this book included.

After I started this book, I looked it up on Goodreads and was surprised by the negative reviews until I got a little further in the novel. In River God, Warlock, etc., Taita is a little vain, but in this novel, he is completely self-obsessed. He is the best at everything: archery, warfare, boa, singing, poetry and he needs you to know it. Maybe in the earlier books he was a bit more humble because he was a slave? I don't know, but I found the constant mental pat on the back extremely aggravating.

I also agree with the assessment of the princesses - they were wooden characters with no depth and their only redeeming feature is their apparent physical beauty. They are whiners and constantly need attention and gifts. Lostris would turn in her grave.

While the plot started out interesting with the deception between Egypt, Crete and the Hyksos, the ending in Babylon and Crete seemed aimless and pointless. Overall, huge letdown.

It has been seven years since [b:The Quest|820396|The Quest (Ancient Egypt, #4)|Wilbur Smith|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327404136s/820396.jpg|891754] was published, the 4th and what I assumed was the final novel of the Egyptian series by Wilbur Smith. But the character of Taita is just too delicious a character to stop exploring at only four novels, so we can all rejoice that he is back.

This novel was emotionally satisfying for me in several ways. First, it’s a nice return to form. The first two books in this series, led by the ground-breaking [b:River God|429138|River God (Ancient Egypt, #1)|Wilbur Smith|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388192405s/429138.jpg|434726], were awesome but the third was not as enjoyable and the fourth was a bit of a disappointment. This fifth novel not only brings back the marvelous character of Taita, the “long-liver” sage/scientist/inventor/eunuch but also the vibrancy of ancient Egypt and surrounding lands. These novels are billed as historical novels but, really, that is only because they take place in history. I did not do any fact checking on the events or personalities in this novel but I’m not sure I would feel comfortable relying on it for accuracy. Rather, this is a pure adventure novel with some important elements of fantasy including mythological deities impacting events on Earth.

The book is told from Taita’s first person point-of-view and his unsuccessful attempts at being humble at his own amazing successes falls short and is half the fun of reading all of these books. To hear him tell it, Taita is single-handedly responsible for most of the rise of the Egyptian empire, although he keeps such facts between himself and the reader. Indeed he is content to let the Pharaohs take the credit for his resourcefulness.

The novel is written in a fun-to-read style and reminds me a lot of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books about John Carter of Mars or David Innes of Pellucidar. One adventure leads to another as Taita leads armies and navies in a chess match of intrigue against encroaching neighboring empires. Guile and charisma are his primary weapons and he wields them expertly, resulting in an absorbing well-rounded adventure novel complete with evil warlords, pirates, and damsels in distress. The final 50 pages were one of those edge-of-your-seat, can’t-read-fast-enough conclusions that I always hope for in an adventure novel. The book concludes in a satisfying way and, happily, it appears there may be more novels coming in the future. I can’t wait!

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Recommended Age: 14+
Offensive Language: None
Violence: Yes, several scenes of war carnage, and references to rape and pillage
Sex: Referenced. Frequent titillation and one graphic description of a pleasure “temple”