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Warlock: A Novel of Ancient Egypt

Warlock: A Novel of Ancient Egypt

List Price: $27.95
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: GOOD READ - GOOD SEQUEL
Review: READ River God first, but this is a pretty good sequel to River God. This book is at times unbelievable, but very enjoyable. I love Wilbur Smith and can't wait to read more of his older stuff.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best I've ever read!
Review: This book is absolutely sensational. It is written very well, full of beautiful imagery and quite informative too. I enjoyed "River God", but this sequel defies description.Mr Smith spent more time on the characters than the endless descriptions of the land or traveling. It never got boring for he weaves such surprises into the narrative that it seemed I never expected what each character might do. I hated for it to end, and I sincerely hope that he writes a third installment for Taita to return to teach and mentor the next generation's pharoah, although it would be very difficult to even equal the quality of this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Much better than 3.5 stars!
Review: After reading River God and Seventh Scroll back to back, I was a little leary to pick up Warlock based on some of the poor reviews it received here. Several books later, I decided to read Warlock. Whew! I couldn't read it fast enough. It is one of the best books I've ever read. Yeah it's similar to LoTR but that was fine by me. I'd definitely recommend to others.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Outstanding Satisfying Read
Review: Wilbur Smith is a treasure. This book ranks with the Arthurian Lengend. An engrossing tale of a young prince whose father is assasinated and who, with the help of the Warlock or the title, goes through an incredible series of adventures to regain the throne as Pharoh of Egypt. A wonderful story with fascinating characters and details of Egyptian life. Highly recommended!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow! My first Wilbur Smith book has really impressed me!
Review: WOW!! That's all I can say! I'm a really intense reader of leading authours like Forsyth, Ludlum, Higgins and a lot of others but these guys have to move to second place in my book now cause I've got a new favourite authour-Wilbur Smith. I just couldn't get my eyes off the book from the very first page. Wilbur seems to have a born gift to capture the reader into his story and make the reader feel like he's seeing the story rather than reading it! Amazing!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Dear oh Dear...
Review: I expected more from this writer than the fetishism and objectificaton of race and gender I have just had to endure to complete this novel. Historical inaccuracies aside, I counted no less than 20 different examples of blatant racism and representations of otherness that frankly,have no place in a book by a writer of Wilbur Smiths supposed calibre.This novel reads like the Orientalist rantings of an aging Imperialist!.Incongruous inclusions of bestiality (p.200),peodophilia(p.146 young breasts in first bud like ripened mulberries..soft fluff etc etc),bodification(p.143) and blatant rascism throughout(note esp the black Nubian slaves with big oiled genitals..)tsk tsk..C'mon Mr Smith, surely just because the story is set 3000 years ago doesn't mean such reductionism and misogyny is acceptable? Deeply disappointing read,especially as the action scenes are fantastic and detail of the country near perfect.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Smith does it again
Review: Wilbur Smith has an interesting reputation: on the one hand, he is a best-selling author with around two dozen books published; on the other hand, he is not a big name writer. With his historical-action novels of Africa, he does for that continent what James Clavell did for Asia.

In Warlock, Smith repeats a common formula for his stories; a young heir to a powerful position is forced by evil villains to fight for what is rightfully his. The young man has an old mentor whose wisdom is essential. Unusual for Smith, there is more of a focus on the mentor character, Taita, the warlock of the title.

Although Smith usually focuses more on fact, in this case he has written a fantasy. The gods of Egypt and Babylon are real and participate indirectly in events; Taita and others have actual magical powers. This in itself makes the book a definite departure for Smith.

It is not a perfect book; Smith's writing in some parts, especially love and sex scenes is a bit awkward. Overall, however, Smith has written a good soap opera in ancient Egypt...not a profound book but an entertaining one. Smith promises a fun read and he delivers.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The splendor of Ancient Egypt continues.
Review: I was so excited to read WARLOCK. After reading RIVER GOD, it was like visiting an old friend. Wilbur Smith again captivates and transports you into Ancient Egypt, the world of the magical, mysterious yet familiar Taita. WARLOCK was not as adventurous as RIVER GOD but nonetheless takes you on an exciting and exotic ride. I hope Mr. Smith brings back Taita and his world in at least one more installment!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Read!...
Review: I love to read about ancient civilizations, and this book definatly gave me what I wanted. The plot was so carefully woven, you never knew what was going to happen next! Although 500 pages is a lot, I was kept interested and glued to each and every page. The characters were so lovable; my favorite was Prince Nefer. He was so herioc and faithful to his love. I strongly reccomend this to anyone who has a deep love for the bygone age, enjoys the trials and tribulations of a good battle, and relishes in an exallent love story.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What century is this???
Review: I have been listening to the audio version of this book but didn't see where I could post that.

Frankly, it is awful. One star is being kind. The story meanders all over the map, literally and figuratively. It seems the estimable Mr. Smith cannot make up his mind if he's writing about Camelot and Merlin (ok wart, try turning yourself into pharoah), medieval Europe (chain mail), old Rome (CENTURIONS??? for crying out loud???!!) Star Wars (Nefer, may the force be with you) or the Lord of the Rings (the magic just never ends).

Throwing research to the winds, he just sorta makes it all up as he goes along. Listening to Mr. Ham (oops, that should be HILL) growl through endless rivers of bad dialog, I almost lost my lunch when he described how our budding king set fire to oil-soaked jackels and then turned them loose on the enemy camp. My question... what's wrong with flaming ARROWS??

And more torture and maiming and animal cruelty awaits the unwary.

My advice is, if you enjoy reading books based on Ancient Egyptian themes, you'll be far better served reading Pauline Gedge's THE LORDS OF THE TWO LANDS. She not only does her research, she writes beautifully.

As a matter of fact, I think I'll go reread her trilogy just the get the bad taste out of my mouth (so to speak).


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