 |
River God: A Novel of Ancient Egypt by Wilbur Smith
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Wilbur Smith Edition: Mass Market Paperback Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2008-02-05 ISBN: 0312945973 Number of pages: 832 Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Book Reviews of River God: A Novel of Ancient EgyptBook Review: Grand in scope, yet intensely personal...an ambitious tale of lush and mythic proportions... Summary: 5 Stars
River God was a hotbed of contradictions for me. I plowed through its first few sections in a pace so sluggish even I was aghast. The introduction by the slave Taita of the young Lady Lostris and the dashing warrior-slash-boyfriend Tanus was not that compelling enough to make me want to stick through. Just a few millimeters thick (or thin, as it applied) into the novel and I tossed it aside, there to gather a film of dust, earning my silent reproach for failing to engage me any better.
Then by dint of force - and the fact that I felt ashamed of my purposeful ignoring of "A Novel of Ancient Egypt" - I opened the pages again and picked up where I left off (right around before Tanus rescued the royal barge from being crushed to bits, just in case someone out there's curious).
And that was when I quickly realized the folly of `giving up too soon,' seeing as how the novel reared its contradictory head again. This time, the pace mercilessly picks up - Tanus, commander of the elite Blue Crocodile squadron, saves the Pharaoh's life with humility and aplomb, quickly endearing him to the masses. He would later be granted high honors and entrusted a burden so heavy only a few men would dare envy. Lostris' station in life takes a dramatic change, almost concurrent with the wave of destruction Egypt is about to experience in the hands of the Hyksos.
Through it all is the voice of the slave Taita. Humble and obeisant at the outset, but his knowledge and skills in almost all things medicinal, artistic, architectural, and mystical (among numerous other things) make him one of the most valuable `resources' in the kingdom. His arrogance and pride over his not inconsiderable talents is probably only surmounted by the fierce love and loyalty he holds for both Lostris and Tanus. An Egyptian slave he may be in the eyes of the world, but for these two young lovers, he is an ardent friend and companion. And he has saved their hides and solved problems for them more times than any of them care to count.
It is through the eyes of Taita that one of the most overwhelming upheavals in Ancient Egyptian history is recounted. Under the sheer might of the Hyksos, the royal court is forced into exile, to brave the lashing currents of the cataracts, further and further south until it reaches Cush to where the Nile forks into the Blue and White Nile.
It was during the journey to and the transient settlement into this region that the tattered remains of the court and military of "this Very Egypt of theirs" fiercely, if painstakingly, shored up and rebuilt its forces, always drawing strength in their vow to one day take back Thebes from the `Shepherd Kings.'
What finally made me stay glued to this novel was this journey south. The discoveries and inventions Taita chronicled over these many years of travel were told in an engaging format. He is a man with a bottomless thirst for new knowledge and for unchartered land. His forays into finding the solution to the military's logistical problems are almost always too uncanny for my taste - Smith might as well have said that this eunuch was one of the greatest inventors in Ancient Egypt never to be made known. Taita is practically made the silent founder of various advances in engineering, surgery, and military tactics.
If you could get past this too-good-to-be-true list of achievements, the narrative is then very easy to latch onto and enjoy. There are vivid descriptions of flora and fauna. Nail-biting chronicles of skirmishes with man and beast. Endearing anecdotes of the young prince of Egypt as he grows into manhood and takes after his charismatic father. There's romance, valor, camaraderie, and even a dash of dry humor, as well as surprisingly heartrending losses.
All of these `told' through the practical, mellifluous, and sometimes dryly caustic voice of the long-suffering Taita, his affection and pride for Lostris and Tanus never flagging. His adoration and nostalgia for the birthplace they had left seeping through the pages despite his wanderlust.
Ancient Egypt has never been more vivid, dramatic, and richly-textured. Under Wilbur Smith's pen, it was, at turns, grandiose and flawed. There was the Egypt that was showered with glittering riches and vibrant hues of grandeur. On the obverse, it was riddled with strife, corruption, and poverty. Ostensibly under the whims of the gods, the Nile can spell both doom and prosperity. The lands on either side of it can surrender either limitless bounty or treacherous dangers. Its people can exemplify wisdom and `culture', while also falling pray into greed, arrogance, and prejudice.
For all these facets of "this Very Egypt of theirs", River God stands as one of the most enjoyable (and quite frankly instructive) accounts I've ever had about this great civilization.
And to think I almost consigned it to my never-even-bother-to-read-pile.
Summary of River God: A Novel of Ancient EgyptFor Tanus, the fair-haired young lion of a warrior, the gods have decreed that he will lead Egypt's army in a bold attempt to reunite the Kingdom's shared halves. But Tanus will have to defy the same gods to attain the reward they have forbidden him, an object more prized than battle's glory: possession of the Lady Lostris, a rare beauty with skin the color of oiled ceder--destined for the adoration of a nation, and the love of one extraordinary man.
International bestselling author Wilbur Smith, creator of two dozen highly acclaimed novels, draws readers into a magnificent, richly imagined saga. Exploding with all the drama, mystery and rage of a bygone time, River God is a masterpiece from a storyteller at the height of his powers.
|
 |