River God: Ancient Egypt, Book 1

This was my 2nd time reading this book. It was just as thrilling as it was the first time! I'm so excited to continue the adventure!

A real page turner.Makes you feel like you are there.Wilbur Smith at his best.

I first read this book 20 years ago and I loved it. I was thrilled to see it on Kindle because I wanted to read it again. Very few books catch my attention as this one did. And once again, I was immersed in this wonderful story. I laughed, cried and found it hard to put away my kindle. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. And isn't that what every great book does for us? I've bought the rest of the series, and I can only hope that they are as beautiful as the River God.m HIGHLY recommended! P.S. I wish Hollywood would make this book into a movie.

With this many reviews, another is not really needed! This book enhanced my understanding of the inner workings of the Ancient Egyption people. I loved Tanya and got a big kick out of his personality and impossible list of talents and responsibilities. I loved the conflicting love stories. And the descriptions were poetic and vibrant, breathing life into egypt. I am not into so many battles, so skipped many pages of wars. I hope I got all the juicy parts. Great book!

I like Wilber Smith generally- but graphic torture is distressing and I am not entertained by it.

An Entertaining ReadI suppose I have read everything Wilbur Smith has ever written and have enjoyed most of it. RIVER GOD was no exception although he has deviated from his usual stories that have Africa as their theme, to Egypt – and ancient Egypt at that in the time of the pharaohs.The story is related through the eyes of a slave, Taita, a brilliant and compassionate man who is the advisor to Queen Lostris. The book contains all the old favourites of Smith’s novels – revenge, bravery, love, and slaughter interspersed with swathes of facts that must have sent his research team into paroxysms of despair. All well worth it as the reader will learn much of the customs and culture of ancient Egypt.An excellent light read although the editor needs a slap on the wrist (I read this on Kindle so I don’t know if that makes a difference) as there were many typos and spelling errors. Words were joined together (no space between them) and this was especially noticeable in the second half.However despite this annoyance, RIVER GOD was a good read and Smith has lived up to his reputation yet again.

Wilbur Smith is a great story teller. River God is one of my favorites. I'm ready to read Book 2 of the Egyptian Series.

The first chapter of River God left me wondering why my daughter in law recommended it to me. The early descriptions of castration and detailed descriptions of the body of a young girl made me wonder what I was getting into. After having completed the book, and it does get one hooked to continue reading, action was really the major part of the book. It reminded me an X-rated James Michener or Taylor Caldwell. The story takes place in Egypt around 1800 BC. The main character and narrator, is a eunuch. The other principle characters are a young girl who will be queen and a warrior who becomes her love.The story is filled with action and intrigue and is overall very interesting reading. It includes the life style, inventions and daily life of that time period, right down to the toilet habits and politics. It is a long book, but is quick to read. It really is well researched and well written. I recommend River God to those who do not find raw descriptions of that time and place to be a problem.

My original physical copy which Ive owned since I was 14 and read about 5 times and falling appart was signed by Wilbur Smith himself when I met him in Bath Waterstones.I bought the digital copy to protect the original as its very fragile.This book is brilliant and was one of the first books I ever read as a kid as I used to hate reading. If it wasnt for Wilbur Smith and his Egyptian series I probably wouldnt have taken it up. (I now have so many books I cant fit them anywhere lol)The flow of the story is great and the sex and violence dosent overpower it and tells the story instead of 'just because' like many other books. really love the characters and love the next one 'Warlock'His newer books that have been released in last few years are very disappointing so if you pick up the Egyptian series just read River God, Warlock and 7th Scroll.

River GodThe first in Wilbur Smith’s Egyptian series which according to the preamble is based on the findings from a tomb containing an unknown Egyptian Queen believed to have ruled around 1760BC. Smith according to his comments was a member of the dig team and from that involvement he developed the character of Egyptian eunuch slave, Taita.Taita is a member of the household of Lord Intef a senior member of the Egyptian nobility. Lord Intef is a man of distinct tastes and avaricious needs. Taita is highly talented which makes him extremely valuable to his master who uses him in a range of ways. Principal amongst his responsibilities is the welfare of his master’s daughter Lostris a young girl who Taita has known from her birth.Despite having many wives Pharaoh has failed to father a son and sees in Lostris his last opportunity to preserve his dynasty. Lostris however has her eyes on Tanus the soldier son of another noble family who have fallen on hard times. Lord Intef was instrumental in bringing down Tanya’s family and will not consider a match with Lostris and Tanus. Instead he marries her to Pharaoh but has to accept the price of losing Taita who Lostris insists accompanies her to her new home. Intef is not happy with this outcome as he believes Taita knows to much about his affairs.Egypt is invaded by the Hyksos a war-like people who have developed significantly the art of war. They sweep the Egyptian Army aside forcing the nobility and the remaining army segments to flee up the Nile. Forced to travel in the wilderness Taita uses the time to build up their armed forces and develop their military skills before returning to Egypt and attempting to win back their country.In a tale that moves at remarkable pace Smith creates a picture of Taita that is not always positive. Vain, arrogant and full of his own self-Importance the tale comes through Taita’s eyes. There appears to be nothing he cannot turn his hand or brain too. Despite his slave status he carries a sphere of influence not normally associated with someone in such a position. Indeed when Lostris offers him his freedom through the book he regards it as being something he should abhor.I really enjoyed this and intend moving on to the second book in the series at some point in the near future.

When I was an adolescent I read lots of books about perfectly formed, kind but manly heroes, perfectly beautiful but clever, doe-eyed heroines and inordinately talented and beautiful people of lower cast/social order making good. I also read millions of pages of warriors slicing, chariots flying, swords and arrows made better than ever before, largest monsters, hottest deserts, longest journeys and valour and love conquering all. And all that.So Wilbur Smith delivers if that's what you want. And there's plenty of interesting historical background and detail (if you can believe in it when every main character is either beautiful or hideous). And indeed there's a lot of fascinating stuff about how they moved the boats up the River Nile. I definitely got a strong feel of the Great River and the journey along it (no idea if this journey ever really happened?).Overall if this kind of big semi-historical pageant with great heroes and beautiful heroines is your cup of tea, go for it.I enjoyed the historical information but in general prefer something a little less Hollywood and more subtle.

Takes a while to get going, the first 20 pages or so are spent going into great detail about a hippopotamus hunt. The two main characters are clichéd, the hero is broad shoulders and handsome, the heroine an outstanding beauty.The book has it all, forbidden love, power struggles, epic fights etc. The story is told in first person singular by the main character a slave. Though this is no ordinary slave, he is also a surgeon(one of the finest in Egypt) a military tactician, weapons designer, political adviser, expert lip reader, a brilliant horseman even though he had never even seen one since adulthood, horse breeder, vet, wheel designer, astrologist, the list goes on.The book is quite graphic at times, goes into detail describing torture,castration and animal cruelty. There's not much wrong the main characters can do. Can the hero and his men defeat a group of bandits when outnumbered ten to one?A good read for someone who likes 650 page novels about ancient Egypt.

As is usual for Wilbur Smith books this one was very long winded and maybe more so than some others which, for me, does detract from the story line.In this case the story line was quite good and it was based on some true events regarding the invasion of Egypt many years BC.The story is related to the reader through the musings of a slave Taita who, if only half of his abilities were true, was a talented person indeed. He was amongst other things the right hand man of Kings and Queens with his numerous talents of linguist, architect, war strategist, prospector, lip reader, astrologist, chemist, horseman, artist, engineer, explorer, geologist, poisoner, nursemaid, diplomat, inventor, charioteer, poet, philosopher, singer and modest.Taita told the tale of Queen Lostris from young girl onwards with all her trials and tribulations during the turbulent times of the Egyptian occupation by the Hyksos with crimes such as rape, paedophilia, torture, mass murder, looting, drunkenness and war crimes.Not really what I expected for a story about ancient Egypt but a good read nevertheless if just a bit long winded.