Law #37 - River God
“One has sufficient enemies amongst men without deliberately seeking out others amongst the gods.”
I’ve been aware of Wilbur Smith’s work for quite some time now, and his Ancient Egyptian saga has been on my list since forever.
It’s not very often that you find a work of fiction with a setting in the ancient world, much more set so long in the past as River God. That being said, I went in with high hopes and a thirst for Ancient Egypt that I didn’t have since the glory days of Stargate.
Before I write about it though, I need to mention that my standard for a well written historical fiction is Shogun, since (at least for now) it’s the best piece of historical fiction I have read. Therefore, I see everything through my Shogun-shaped lens.
While being no Shogun, River God is a fantastic piece of historical fiction, but has a few disappointing elements.
In the beginning, it’s very boring. It takes quite a while for the writing to captivate the reader’s interest, and that’s unfortunate because it might tempt many to give it up if it doesn’t seem like their cup of tea.
Once it catches your attention (and that it does, I promise you) you’ll notice that you’ll breathlessly read a big sequence, after which you’ll get a small sequence that is a description-filled bore fest. And this cycle repeats. There are fantastic sections intermingled with small and boring intermezzos that backfire in a big way: you take longer to read the smaller, boring parts than you take to read the bigger, action-packed scenes. And since the book is 760 pages long (my copy was, it varies by the language and edition) this will extend your reading time to the fullest.
Long story short, and with no spoilers, the action unfolds during the rule of Pharaoh Mamose (and subsequently the next Pharaoh, Tamose, in the second half), two fictional Pharaohs that presumably ruled sometime between 2000 BC and 1780 BC.
The action also coincides with the Hyksos’ invasion of Egypt, which was around 1638 BC. History tells us that the Hyksos (foreign people from the Levant) conquered Egypt and ruled until 1530 BC. There is a debate among historians if this was an invasion or an actual immigrant uprising, as recently discovered Levantine DNA suggests that the people of the Levant were present in Egypt much earlier than the aforementioned invasion. We can only speculate, but Wilbur Smith went with the invasion scenario when writing the book.
Since the same set of characters deals with both Mamose’s rule and the Hyksos’ invasion, the timeline is a bit off, in the sense that it’s not historically possible for it to have happened that way unless they lived to be two hundred. However, Wilbur Smith also gets plenty of historical facts right, such as introducing horses and recurved bows into Egypt via the Hyksos.
The main character is a slave, Taita, who is initially owned by the Grand Vizier (you guessed it, the main villain).
This guy, Taita, is the best at everything. I don’t know how to describe it, but if you have read Karl May and remember how he himself narrated Old Shatterhand in first person and claimed he was the actual Old Shatterhand, who was the best and smartest in every book he appeared in, that is pretty much how Taita comes out. The only difference was that Wilbur Smith never claimed he was Taita (probably because of the historical setting).
Don’t get me wrong, the writing is fantastic; the story is dynamic; the plot has everything you’d ever want: action, war, romance, drama, comedy. It’s a book you should definitely read and a series I will surely get back to.
But Taita basically has a superpower: he’s a talented writer, great architect, skilled engineer, outstanding soldier, grand strategist, eminent doctor, excellent veterinarian, and let’s not forget, a master manipulator; he’s pretty much everything. He’s the key guy those in power rely on to consolidate said power. Those with no power need him to get power. And he helps those that he cares about, naturally.
Even though older than most other characters in the book, he has a plot armor so solid, even George R.R. Martin would have trouble killing him if he’d take over the series!
Let me get something straight: This is one of the best works of historical fiction I have read, although tainted by a few hiccups in terms of the narrative, and drawn back by the irrational immunity of the main character at pretty much everything. Despite all its flaws, I can’t recommend it enough! It’s a great read and I promise you, it is worth it!
In the end, just a warning for those who have an issue with animal cruelty: there are a few hunting scenes and one particular epidemic that kills horses that are described graphically, so be aware of it before you get in. If I know of this ahead of time, I am less shocked when I read, so that’s why I thought I’d alert potential new readers as well.
I would give it 4/5 stars.