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Desert God

Desert God 2

by Wilbur Smith
Hardback
Publication Date: 01/10/2014
4/5 Rating 2 Reviews

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$39.99

One of the world's best-selling novelists, Wilbur Smith returns with this much-anticipated historical epic, Desert God.

A compelling look at an epic journey across Ancient Egypt, Wilbur has masterfully imagined a story filled with intrigue, deception, love and exile. Wilbur Smith is a master at the helm of one of the greatest stories of all time.

On the banks of the Nile, a hero will rise. Across the lush plains of Egypt, Taita, a freed eunuch slave, wears his authority lightly. Not only is he the close advisor to the Pharaoh, but he is guardian to Pharaoh Tamose's two teenage sisters, the young beauties Tehuti and Bekatha.

But the kingdom is not at peace. They have been fighting Southern Egypt's constant and historic enemy, the Hyksos people in the north, since time began. To finally crush them, Pharaoh must turn to his most trusted friend.

Taita, philosopher, poet and expert strategist, has a plan that will see Egypt destroy the Hyksos army and form a coveted alliance with Crete in one move. This plan will take him, his expedition commander Zaras, and their mighty warriors on a perilous journey up the Nile, through Arabia to the magical city of Babylon, then across the open seas to Crete.

The many dangers will cost lives and time, and they will meet battle and betrayal head on. But Taita must not forget his two charges, the spirited young princesses, whose attraction to the very warriors who lead the fight threatens Taita's meticulous plan and the future of Egypt itself.

ISBN:
9780732298227
9780732298227
Category:
Historical adventure
Format:
Hardback
Publication Date:
01-10-2014
Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
Country of origin:
Australia
Pages:
432
Dimensions (mm):
159x239x38mm
Weight:
0.71kg
Wilbur Smith

Wilbur Smith was born in Central Africa in 1933. He became a full-time writer in 1964 following the success of When the Lion Feeds, and has since published over fifty global bestsellers, including the Courtney Series, the Ballantyne Series, the Egyptian Series, the Hector Cross Series and many successful standalone novels, all meticulously researched on his numerous expeditions worldwide. An international phenomenon, his readership built up over fifty-five years of writing, establishing him as one of the most successful and impressive brand authors in the world.

The establishment of the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation in 2015 cemented Wilbur's passion for empowering writers, promoting literacy and advancing adventure writing as a genre. The foundation's flagship programme is the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize.

Wilbur Smith passed away peacefully at home in 2021 with his wife, Niso, by his side, leaving behind him a rich treasure-trove of novels and stories that will delight readers for years to come.

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2 Reviews

Following the story of Taita, a freed slave, Desert God is the fifth book in the Ancient Egypt series by Wilbur Smith. I have not read the other books in the series yet found that this did not hinder my understanding of the novel. From reading other reviews I have found that most who have read the other books in the series enjoyed Desert God rather than those diving into this book and I can understand why.

Throughout the book Taita is verging on a kind arrogance, he describes throughout how his poetry brings warriors to tears and his written work about the art of war is widely read and inspirational. The story follows Taita and his quest to defeat the Hyksosian ‘beasts’ and defend Egypt. He encounters misfortune and conflict in his endeavours yet every battle seems to so easily sway in his way. Nevertheless it was still enjoyable. I can understand to a certain extent why Taita speaks of himself so highly, he was a slave and wishes to relish in the fact that he is now called Lord majority of the time, and wishes to make known discreetly that he is supposedly responsible for Egypt’s flourishing and well-being.

I personally enjoyed Taita’s quest through the ancient river, Arabia and the city of Babylon as his slight egotistical narration was outweighed by the vivid descriptions of the land he crossed. In correlation with the map provided the reader is so easily able to imagine the almost mythical landscape as the book is set in a place many of us do not know. The reader has not lived in these times before and Smith enables us to feel as if we were Taita’s right hand man as we ebb and flow through the story along with the Princesses and the ships Taita captains. The description is excruciatingly detailed at times with many sexual references and violent scenes that made me stop and question Taita’s narration. However I cannot claim that this is unnecessary as it contributed significantly in creating this radiant and vibrant world that I have not read about before, that has ultimately encouraged me to read the previous books in the series.

I do believe however that the blurb is misleading. Comparing this book to Game of Thrones is a risk, especially being the fifth book in the series as I am guessing many readers would be drawn to reading it just from that description and are left disappointed. I don’t believe that Desert God was as epic as the blurb suggests as often the book was slow and I became disinterested. While I presume that Taita progresses as a character through the series, I was disappointed with the other characters in Desert God such as the Princesses as their spoilt nature often annoyed me, as they did not care for much except for love and presents, in regards to the ending.

Desert God is the first book I have read that takes place in Ancient Egypt and whilst I have some problems with the book, I was not disappointed yet I am not raving about the book either.

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Desert God is narrated by Taita, a freed slave. It follows his story in Ancient Egypt as he attempts to beat Egypt's enemy, the Hyksos, and protect the Pharoah's daughters. It is essentially an adventure story, full of the intrigue, violence and passion of the time period. I wouldn't necessarily say that I learned much about Ancient Egypt while I was reading it, but I was taken to a different time and place when I was reading Desert God. I simply enjoyed reading the novel because it was set in Egypt. I loved that there is a map of the area printed in the inside of the book.

Going into this book, I expected something a lot different and I think that the blurb is somewhat misleading. Some sections were more compelling than others, but for the most part I think that it lacked the spark that would have made it a really epic and engaging read. The writing style was very descriptive and I appreciated that. There was one particular scene involving a surgery that was particularly detailed - it was fascinating yet disturbing at the same time. It did take me quite a while to get through the book and there were only occasional sections where I was really hooked. Desert God is a descriptive and intriguing read, though not necessarily as epic as I expected.

Personally, I did not care for any of the characters in Desert God. The narrator, Taita, is extremely egotistical and it was difficult to like him. I appreciate when characters have flaws but Taita was essentially the most amazing person in Egypt. I wasn't a bit fan of reading from his perspective and I think that it limited how much we got to learn about the minor characters. I also wasn't fond of the princesses and wished that they - like the others - would have developed more as the story progressed.

Desert God is my first book by Wilbur Smith and though I have not read the previous books in the Ancient Egypt series, it was still possible to read it without much confusion. I'm intrigued by this novel enough to potentially look into his previous novels at some point in the future.

I would recommend Desert God to anyone who is interested in Ancient Egypt, particularly if you enjoy descriptive and intriguing stories.

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