Time to travel back in time. River God is the first book in the Ancient Egypt series by Wilbur Smith and it starts the story of Taita. Taita is a slave and a eunuch that serves a rather brutal noble. The time frame is approximately 4,000 years ago. It opens during the festival of Osiris with Taita observing a river cow or hippopotamus hunt while his friend Tanus leads a ship on the hunt. Observing with Taita is Lostris, daughter of the brutal noble, and close friend of Taita and Tanus. After the hunt Lostris and Tanus reveal they are in love and wish to marry but Taita is worried her father will not allow them to marry due to a feud with Tanus’s father. Events worsen when Tanus is given an almost impossible order from the Pharaoh Mamose who also decides to pursue Lostris’s hand in marriage. Taita is drawn into all of this as his ownership is passed to Lostris upon her marriage to the Pharaoh. During a divination Taita reveals that Lostris and Tanus have to wait only five years to be together but only later to discover the exact sequence of events that will lead to them being together, namely an invasion by the Hyksos armies and their chariots.
I have to admit that there was a lot I liked about this book and a lot I didn’t like about this book. One of the things that really drew me in was the detail that was provided about ancient Egyptian society. I could really tell that the author had done their research and knew what they were talking about. There was a lot of specifics that were provided about how the divination systems worked and the society worked, especially in regards to the roles and freedoms the different characters had or did not have based on those roles. I also really liked the detailed characterization that was present as I felt like I got to know the characters pretty well, at least the protagonist and narrator Taita anyway. The plot of the story was pretty good as well as it showed a good attention to detail in terms of how the invasion of the Hyksos worked and how they introduced the idea of chariots and horses to Egypt which was literally life-changing for their society. However, both of these details also tie into things I didn’t necessarily like about the book. Taita was an interesting character and one that I am not sure I would have normally picked for the protagonist. The story was about Lostris and Tanus as much as it was about Taita but we only ever see his point of view. The thing I didn’t like about Taita though was that he played up his intelligence a lot over the course of the book and I frequently felt like this made him feel superior or arrogant, at least in his own mind anyway. I don’t really like characters that are like that too much. Taita also frequently took credit for almost anything that was happening so there were frequent references to things he had created or invented that sometimes had little to do with the overall story. This ties into the thing I didn’t necessarily like about the plot where it seems like Taita is to easily able to overcome scientific or technical difficulties. I feel like this lessened the impact of these difficulties because of this. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a good book but there were a few things that just didn’t set very well with me. Either way I still give it a good 3.5 out of 5 starts and only that low because of how I am not a huge fan of the character of Taita.
I think this book would have a slightly wider appeal than one might expect. It is technically a work of historical fiction and one that is based in Ancient Egypt so people who enjoy that genre or topic would probably enjoy this book. However, there are also elements of romance due to the epic romance of Lostris and Tanus over the course of the book. Then there are elements of military history due to the detailed accounts of the Hyksos’s invasion as well. It could potentially appeal to readers who enjoy any of these elements. In terms of age range I would recommend adults only or at best older teenagers as it is rather graphic at times in regards to the fighting scenes so it may not be suitable for younger readers. Overall, a good book and one that I did enjoy reading. As always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.