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The Quest | 
 enlarge | Author: Wilbur Smith
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $9.99
Buy Used: $0.09
You Save: $9.90 (99%)
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Rating:  86 reviews
Sales Rank: 19370
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 736
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.6
ISBN: 0312947496
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780312947491
ASIN: 0312947496
Publication Date: February 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Egypt has been struck by a series of terrible plagues, killing its crops and crippling its people. Then the ultimate disaster befalls the kingdom: The Nile fails. In desperation, the Pharaoh sends the warlock Taita, wise in the lore of the gods and a master of magic and the supernatural. But not even he could have imagined what terrible enemy waits in ambush in those dark lands at the end of their world. Now it’s up to Taita to save Egypt—before the end of the world’s most glorious civilization draws near.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 81 more reviews...
 read (or re-read) river god instead May 29, 2007
David W. Straight (knoxville, tennessee United States)
39 out of 43 found this review helpful
River God, the first in the series, is a solid 5-star book, eminently
re-readable. Seventh Scroll gets 4 stars, Warlock 3. There seems to be
a trend here. I get the feeling that Smith took a lot more time in the
conception and the writing of River God than he did with this book.
There's just too much that doesn't hang together properly and which often
leaves a bad taste in your mouth--like biting into a spoiled part of an
apple.
The Nile in Egypt has dried up--the result of machinations by the evil
Eos, so Taita takes a very small force upriver to locate the problem.
It turns out that Eos has dammed the Nile where it leaves Lake Victoria.
Bizarrely, that does not seem to have raised the lake level at all, but
never mind. I kept thinking about how if someone dammed the Mississippi
close to its source, would the riverbed be dry at St Louis, New Orleans,
etc? The Nile does have other tributaries (such as the Blue Nile, etc),
but not as many as the Mississippi, of course. The plot device seems
weak.
A much weaker plot device--which carries the book through over 100 pages,
involves stem-cell therapy carried out by Eos' minions. Pregnant women
are killed and their bodies are fed to crocodiles. Taita is horrified
by this, but he is perfectly willing to reap the benefits--the restoration
of his genitals. Helping people restore lost genitals, eyes, limbs, etc,
seems quite out of character for the evil Eos. In fact, the sole reason
for this whole device is that Taita benefits and can now enjoy sex again.
He has sex with Eos (unnecessarily graphic--did Smith want to sell the
episode to Playboy or something?) and more importantly, he now can have
sex with his 12 (13?) year old companion. If Anna Nicole Smith's marriage
to a 90-year-old bothers you, try a 150-year-old Taita and his 12-year-old
mistress (I kept thinking that Taita shouldn't date anyone younger than
130 or so...).
Another puzzle centered around Taita's force of 100 troops--which quickly
shrank to about 20 or 30--not very much for such a long dangerous journey.
Fights with native tribes accounted for many of the losses: one of the
world's greatest magicians seems content to use his bow and arrows in
these fights--why not quick bloodless victories using his magic? There
are too many things that just do not feel right in this book--and this
is in very marked contrast to River God, where the action and plot hangs
together well and makes sense. River God has the feel of a carefully
crafted novel--which is in contrast to this book.
 possibly the worst book written by this author so far ! May 28, 2007
V. Kodunthirapully (Orlando, USA)
23 out of 26 found this review helpful
i have been an avid fan of Wilbur Smith for close to a decade and anxiously awaited to read his lates tome . unfortunately this book has been a complete disappointment. almost feels like it was ghost written by someone else ! the plot is weak , the storyline is dragging and the climax is wanting .
i just wish he had never written this book . warlock itself was not spectacular like River God but this one misses its mark by a mile . the picture that he draws of Africa and its many tribes is riveting but the rest of the story plods on to its inevitable encounter. there are no surprises , no sudden plot twists.
i am gutted !
 Taita's excellent adventure May 15, 2007
ellen (Atlanta, Georgia USA)
19 out of 23 found this review helpful
It has been five years since Meren and Taita rode off into the sunset at the end of Warlock. They are still wandering, but Taita feels a power drawing him - they find a sanctuary of advanced people and they pass enlightenment to Taita - armed with a greater psychic power, Taita sees an evil witch named Eos is trying to conquer the Light. When Meren and Taita return to Egypt, they find it greatly changed - the Nile's flow has been stopped, and the remaining waters hold deadly giant toads. Without the Nile, its enrichment of soil and crops and travel, there is no Egypt.
The Pharoah sends Taita, Meren and a small army to the end of the world-to the source of the Nile, to conquer Eos' powerful hold.
The Quest is more about magic than the other books. The impossible is possible. Forces that were used for evil are turned to be used for good. Taita takes a personal quest in this book. As a 'long liver', Taita is over 100 years old - it was 70 years ago that he buried his love Queen Lostris. His body reflects that age, although his heart and soul are strong. His love for Queen Lostris remains and his faith in her is unwavering.
I loved this book. The Quest starts slowly, but hold on because we find Taita's path extraordinary - and events that take place are the products of magic, turning dark power into the Light, and for the good of the Light.
I love Taita -he is a great character that through Smith's (and our) imagination has given life - we care for Taita as a man, as well as a magus. As ever, Taita's dry humor sparkles through the book.
One hopes that Smith will not wait so long to show us further adventures of Taita -
Harry Potter Goes Up the Nile Without Credibility June 26, 2007
J. Arthur (Tampa Bay)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
I have read and enjoyed Wilbur Smith's books. Couldn't wait to get my hands on The Quest. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I realized the book is in no way historical fiction. It is fantasy. It's filled with magic and spiritualism that made it impossible for me to suspend my disbelief. Perhaps his young wife liked Harry Potter and asked her husband to write her a book about wizards; or maybe in the early-going where he describes that lobotomy-like operation where Taita gets a knitting needle stuck behind his eye socket is actally a recounting of a procedure performed on the author. Supernatural nonsense has no place in historical novels. I put the book aside and started The Religion which IS historical fiction and is everything WS's books used to be.
 Quite the adventure June 20, 2007
p-51 (CO United States)
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
Wilbur Smith spins quite the outlandish tale here in "The Quest," all full of swords and sorcery. Much more sorcery, in fact, than any of his previous Egypt novels. But while this book cannot measure up to "River God," I feel it is superior to "Warlock" and even "The Seventh Scroll." It's actually quite a readable, ripping tale that will keep you entertained for many hours.
At the beginning of this book, our hero Taita is pretty ancient - something along the lines of 150 years old. If this immediately causes you to scoff with disbelief, then you probably won't like the rest of the book, because his advanced age is probably the most believable thing you'll find therein. This isn't strictly a work of historical fiction. It's more of a hybrid of historical fiction mixed with liberal doses of fantasy.
Few authors can write action and adventure like Wilbur Smith, and this novel doesn't disappoint in that area. Some of his previous works suffered from turgid prose, strangely formed sentences, and odd word choices that distracted from the story, but not "The Quest." The action fairly flies off the page.
Aside from Taita, none of the other characters are very richly drawn, and the dialogue is oftentimes simplistic and laughable. You won't be seeing this title on any literary society's "100 best" list any time soon. And unlike "River God" and "The Sunbird," this one won't be finding a permanent place in my library. But it's a ridiculously enjoyable tale, full of energy and action. Relax and enjoy.
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