“THE QUEST” BY WILBUR SMITH
This is the last novel of Wilbur Smith’s Ancient Egypt series; however it can very well be read on its own and not as a part of a series. This is how I came to know it. As with any books by this incredibly talented author, it is well written and fast-paced with page-turning events at every corner.
“The Quest” is a bit of a fantasy novel and a bit of a historical one as well. It is a story of an ancient civilization on the brink of destruction by an evil force that has stopped the waters of the great river Nile from flowing causing people dependant upon it to starve. Furthermore, Egypt has been ransacked by series of catastrophes, including plagues that crippled its people as well as their crops and animals. Desperate, Pharaoh Nefer Seti sends his long-time teacher and philosopher, Taita who is also a warlock trained in the arts of white magic, to travel long distances to the very heart of Nile and Africa to find out what caused the river to dry up. On the way there, Taita and his comrades face hardship and dangers but all the way Taita realizes there is a great evil he will have to do battle with that may cause him his life.
It is a wonderful story taking the reader to the lost time of the pharaohs and the splendor of the ancient times. The depictions of both landscape and various peoples and animals inhabiting the vastness of African planes are so vivid you can nearly see it as well as feel the heat and acrid air of some of the areas the party crosses on its way to ‘the lore of the gods’. And it keeps the reader enthralled all the way to its startling conclusion.
Every time when I pick up a book written in an extremely good English it makes my hear rejoice to read it. Therefore, I am most like quite subjective in my view of the novel however if you are in the mood of a whimsical mixture of fantasy and history, you will not be disappointed. It is a grand tale of bloodshed, sacrifice, deception, romance and old-fashioned adventure written by a master.