Rating: 
Summary: fabulous, but read the first 2 first
Review: oh, this was a great book. I so enjoyed it and had been waiting for it since 7th scroll and river god. highly recommended! can't wait for the next (hopefully thére will be one.!)
Rating: 
Summary: Where is Wilbur???
Review: In a word...disappointing. You will find no more avid Wilbur Smith fan than me. I was first turned onto Wilbur Smith by a friend from Zambia, Wilbur Smith's home base. I voraciously pored through every novel, and while I have my favorites, every one of them has been a masterpiece. IMHO Wilbur Smith is unparalleled as an epic writer. I picked up River God in the UK and waited for The Seventh Scroll, another page turner. Taita was such a complex and delightful character that although he was already deceased in The Seventh Scroll, his spirit permeated the book. I fully expected greatness from Warlock and was blown away by how poor it was. For the first time, it was a chore to get through the book. I found it easy to put down and hard to pick up. Chiefly, the magic and mysticism angle made the whole tale (including the previous two books) seem cheap and silly. Taita was a real character, that was what drew the reader in...and just when you felt Taita could step off the pages and shake your hand, he became cheapened and belittled by turning his life story into a science fiction piece. There was some of the usual intrigue, plot twists and of course the actual story was moving forward but with none of the panache of the classic Wilbur Smith. ALL of my copies of Wilbur Smith's novels are re-read, well thumbed and falling apart from use. This one sits on the shelf and I doubt I will ever pick it up again. Meanwhile, I recently re-read Monsoon, which was a total masterpiece, so I have hope that this next book Blue Horizon will shadow the disappointing Warlock effort and pick up where Wilbur left off.
Rating:
Summary: What happened?
Review: I was really disappointed, that's what happened...
Despite the gross historical inaccuracies of River God, I fell in the love with the novel anyway. I was waiting for Warlock to come out in paperback to give myself a special treat. I would have done better to have beaten myself over the head with a blunt object, or, better yet, to have beated Wilbur Smith over the head with a blunt object. Smith took a beautiful story and wonderful characters and turned them into cheap two dimensional figures in a novel that combines all the worst aspects of the action-adventure film, soft-core porn, cheap romance novels, and bad fantasy. There is no seamless connection to River God and the events therein - no mention of Masara, the girl for which Memnon/Tamose risks so much. Taita is no longer the narrator, instead Smith provides an unpleasant 3rd person narrative. And, while there were a few flights of magic-like fantasy in River God, for the most part the action was believable (if, as stated above, terribly inaccurate historically). Warlock, on the other hand, is historically inaccurate AND rife with magical nonsense that would be stinky even in a fantasy novel (I won't even go into the blood, gore, and funky sex). In short, poorly written, badly researched, little attention paid to continuity - don't frustrate yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible & Graphic Perversion
Review: Never even finished the book. I made it through the first half and was so disgusted with the graphic violence, torture,* etc. that I had no desire to read on. The story was alright, though slow moving. If you have any aversion to the above mentioned, don't waste your time or money. I'll never consider another Wilbur Smith book after my experience with this one.
Rating:
Summary: How could a book with this premise be SOOO boring? Read on!
Review: Is it possible to write a potboiler about sex and conquest in Ancient Egypt and have it be boring? This book eloquently demonstrates how possible this is.
I was stupid enough to take this tome on a cruise where there was little else to read and sheer desperation for something to read carried me through to page 400(of the 641 pages) before I abandoned it in favor of playing shuffleboard.This tome combines a trivial amount of plot with an overwhelming amount of poorly presented and over-described 'graphic' detail (the sex is of the 'she caressed his bulging manhood' variety and the blood and gore, whilst plentiful, is similarly handled). The action, plot and character development could be summarized in about two pages. My summation? Even shuffleboard is more interesting. Save your money, buy something else or do something productive like cleaning out the garage instead.
Rating:
Summary: How could a book with this premise be SOOO boring? Read on!
Review: Is it possible to write a potboiler about sex and conquest in Ancient Egypt and have it be boring? This book eloquently demonstrates how possible this is. I was stupid enough to take this tome on a cruise where there was little else to read and sheer desperation for something to read carried me through to page 400(of the 641 pages) before I abandoned it in favor of playing shuffleboard. This tome combines a trivial amount of plot with an overwhelming amount of poorly presented and over-described 'graphic' detail (the sex is of the 'she caressed his bulging manhood' variety and the blood and gore, whilst plentiful, is similarly handled). The action, plot and character development could be summarized in about two pages. My summation? Even shuffleboard is more interesting. Save your money, buy something else or do something productive like cleaning out the garage instead.
Rating:
Summary: tapping my toe......
Review: this book kept me rivited as have with all of Wilbur Smiths books. He has an uncanny ability to take you into ancient civilizations and leaves you tapping your toe waiting for him to take back, I just hope i dont have to tap long.
Rating:
Summary: PAGE TURNER
Review: If you are a history buff, a thrill seeker, or just a fan of good fiction, this is a great book. Before Warlock I had never read a Wilbur Smith novel, but now I cannot stop reading his books. I read Warlock first since it was given to me as a gift. Not knowing that River God (the prequel) was equally if not more compelling. Each page is alive with the eroticism, mysticism, temptations and danger of living life on the Nile. The work of Wilbur Smith is extraordinary to say the least.
Rating: 
Summary: A Worthy Followup to River God
Review: A few years ago when I read Wilbur Smith's River God, I was blown away by the richness of detail the author used to describe characters, locations, and events. The story was new, exciting, and unlike anything I'd read before. With Warlock, Smith took me back to that same fascinating world, and I was pleased to find that it hadn't lost it's charm. However, as much as I enjoyed this book, it didn't hold my attention as well as River God did. Though Smith treats the reader to many plot twists, and surprises, I felt as if these made the story a little too long. And even with the many plot devices the author used, it couldn't hide the fact that this is ultimately quite a predictable tale. The major problem I found was that Taita, as a warlock, held too much power. If a character was in trouble Taita could just conjure up a spell and fix nearly any troublesome situation. Still, Wilbur Smith is a marvelous writer. Even though I felt a step ahead of the characters in the book, I couldn't put it down. Smith's attention to detail and character development is absolutely mesmerizing. And while Warlock isn't as great as its predecessor, Smith makes the journey worth the reader's time. I recommend it, and look forward to any future book in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Warlock
Review: This book is engrossing from the first pages and is relentless in its pace. Do yourself a favor though. If you haven't read River God by Wilbur Smith yet, get it and read it first. It is as good if not better than Warlock and is the introduction to characters & events you will read about in Warlock. Be ready to put other events on hold because this book really is hard to put down. It is amazing how much detail Wilbur Smith puts in his books about ancient Egypt. It is as if he lived during those times and is reincarnated. Follow up this book with the 7th Scroll.
|
