River God: A Novel of Ancient Egypt

Taita, the brilliant eunuch slave who narrates the story, is an inspired creation. Larger than life while being, as a eunuch, somewhat removed from the passions that move many of the characters in the book, he is the perfect spectator/participant. He sees and understands everything and his inventions and interventions move the plot in unexpected ways. The book meanders a bit because it follows a whole life and its many turnings, but it is fascinating at every juncture.

This simply is one of the most FUN books I have read in years. Being transported to an unfamiliar time and place, and having that milieu come alive so vividly - to be able to vicariously experience the rise and fall of pharohs, cities, kingdoms, suffering and success - this is the best kind of vacation from the ordinary world we inhabit.

I highly recommend this book. It is intelligent, exciting, creative and memorable. What more could one want?


What a Great Story!   September 26, 2001
26 out of 29 found this review helpful

yRiver God: A Novel of Ancient Egypty by Wilbur Smith is an exciting book of adventure, love and war. Having never read any ancient Egyptian stories before I found yRiver Gody to be a refreshing experience. I cannot vouch for the historical accuracy used in the story but I find that to be of lesser importance than the over-all plot. Remember this is FICTION. As a matter of fact, itys pretty good fiction.

Smith paints a picture of an ancient society that is fascinating. The reader can visualize the Nile flowing in ancient Egypt and see the importance of their deities and customs. Furthermore, justice is carried out swiftly in ancient Egypt and the punishment is usually not pretty. People are routinely executed for misdeeds. As the reader is drawn into Smithys world you feel that you were part of the scenery. This is where Smith excels. This is my first book by Smith but it will not be my last.

The storyys main character and narrator is the eunuch slave Taita. I will not give away the whole storyybut in nut shell Taita helps his mistress the fair Lady Lostris maintain an illicit love affair with Tanus, a General in the Pharaohs army. During the course of the story Taita is beaten, starved and nearly killed by a host of enemies. Taitays old owner the evil and twisted Lord Intef (the Pharaohys Grand Vizier), desires to rule the empire. It becomes Taitays job to foil his old boss and struggle to remain alive.

Only a few times did the story lose itself. Taita is truly a Renaissance man (or person), in the book he invents a toilet, concocts a home pregnancy kit and creates penicillin-like drugs. He is a virtuoso singer, painter and writes books. He is an accomplished spy-master and maintains his own informer network. Additionally, he was awarded the yGold of Praisey which is highest award given to any Egyptian citizen (even though he is a slave.) I can go on and on but you can get the picture. He was so perfect that while I was reading the story I sometimes I pitied his enemies. However, this is a minor complaint to an otherwise great story and fun read.


nmc's opinion of River God   May 13, 2000
nmc (Butte, Montana, usa)
21 out of 22 found this review helpful

River God is one the best books that I have ever read. It is a wonderful example of the imagination of Wilbur Smith. I have read three of his books so far, including the sequel to River God, and River God is the best of the three. The book is a combination of love, fear, desperation, leadership, and triumph. The main plot is the love between Lostris, the wife of the Pharoah of Egypt, and Tanus, a commander of an army of Pharoah and a trusted friend of the narrator. The story is told from the perspective of a lowly, yet loved and respected slave named Taita. His mistress is coincidentaly Lostris and he helps to maintain the love between her and Tanus. All through the book, the two lovers try to secretly share their love. The story goes on through battles not only between nations but between individuals. It is not only another "love conquers all" book with mushy, romantic love scenes, but is also a book that offers a historical perspective of ancient Egypt. It is obvious throughout the novel that the author went to great lengths to research the topic and make it sound so truthful you would think it wasn't fiction. One of the best aspects was that it held my interest more than any other book that I have ever read. I was not able to put it down. Wilbur Smith is an expert at making the reader seem that he or she is actually a character in the book. The emotions of the characters were explained wonderfully with the use of metaphors and similes. They were portrayed throughout the novel and it was as though I was actually there seeing the battles and landscape and experiencing the love and hate. I laughed and cried and just plain thouroughly enjoyed the entire book. I strongly recommend it for anyone old enough to handle detailed war scenes and love scenes.


An amazing epic   August 8, 2001
Graham Hamer (ACHERES France)
19 out of 20 found this review helpful

River God centres around three characters. Taita, a eunuch slave and the storyteller, Tanus, the warrior hero, and Lostris the Princess. Tanus and Lostris share a forbidden love which Taita helps them to fulfill. Taita narrates the story, taking the reader through his life, how he serves his master and, subsequently, his mistress. The book is a combination of historical fact and 20th century invention, but the result is a superb account of the rise and fall (and rise) of an Egyptian kingdom.

I don't think it's stretching a point to call River God a stylish masterpiece. It is a powerful, awe-inspiring epic that narrates historical facts whilst eliciting the full range of human emotions. The characters are BIG. The battle scenes are monumental and epic, even on the scale of a Cecil B. de Mille. The descriptions are breathtaking. The narrative (though there is little of this) is credible. River God has the ability to amuse, engross and entertain us throughout. Wilbur Smith succeeds as never before in transporting the reader into ancient Egypt with his amazing imagery and action packed plot. River God is a book to which I am happy to give five stars (more if they were available).


Too silly, too inaccurate to tolerate   April 2, 2005
Arthur Enyedy (Petaluma, california United States)
14 out of 19 found this review helpful

This was the first book I attempted to read by Wilbur Smith, I heard he wrote great exciting historical novels. Since I had just finished Gates of Fire by Pressfield and Shooting the Sun by Max Byrd, (both historical fiction novels that I recommend) I thought I would see why Mr Smith deserved such acclaim. But River God is absurd. The hero is a eunuch slave who apparently is smarter than anyone who ever existed. In the first chapter, he describes his invention of the composite bow, and then of battering rams for galleys. In subsequent chapters, he demonstrates skills as surgeon (autopsies and brain surgery 2000 years before Christ!), artist, metallurgist, architect, theater director, and on and on and on. It would be impossible for one person to accomplish so much, it is too implausible. Also, at one point, our heroes confer in a field of corn(!), though corn is a New World crop, and next page the Egyptian soldier assemble into a phalanx, even though Greece hasn't been founded yet. The good guys are perfect, beautiful and sickeningly good, and the bad guys are vile, corrupt - it all completely predictable. Maybe if you are 13 years old, this level of subtlety is appropriate, but for any adult, River God is absurd. Quite a disappointment.