Desert God

Ex-slave. Philosopher. Chosen one.
Taita has risen from nothing to become the most trusted man at the Pharaoh’s side. Only he can plot a mission that will return Egypt to its former glory. Only he can muster the force that can break the back of Egypt’s greatest enemy.

Across the lush plains of Egypt, Taita, the eunuch slave whose freedom is long since won, now stands as a unique advisor to the Pharaoh. He is confidant, strategist poet and a father figure to the Pharaoh’s teenage sisters, Tehuti and Bekatha.

Southern Egypt has an enemy it cannot shake for too long: they have been fighting the Hyksos people in the north since time began. And to finally crush them the Pharaoh must turn to his most trusted friend. Taita has an ingenious plan that will see Egypt destroy the Hyksos army and form the coveted alliance with Crete. This plan will take him, his expedition commander Zaras, and a team of warriors on an epic journey up the Nile, through Arabia to Sidon and the magical city of Babylon, and across the open seas to Crete.

They will meet battle and betrayal on their journey but Taita must also contend with his charges, the spirited young princesses, Tehuti and Bekatha, whose respective love for warriors Zaras and Hui, threaten Taita’s plan to use them as offerings in his alliance with Crete, and the future of Egypt itself.

Wilbur Smith is a master at the helm of one of the greatest stories of all time.

Reviews

Praise for RIVER GOD:

'Superlatively evocative…Smith’s descriptions hardly falter over 500 pages and [River God] has relentless momentum’
Observer

'Big, brave and blockbusting … brilliantly detailed descriptions of life on the Nile’ Mail On Sunday

'Grand mythical material…. the set pieces are fabulous’ Times Literary Supplement

'High adventure … there is never a lull in his majestic novel overflowing with passion, rage, treachery, barbarism, prolonged excitement and endless passages of sheer, exquisite colour’ The Washington Post

‘A rich, compelling look back in time [to] when history and myth intermingled’ San Francisco Chronicle

‘A grand tale of intrigue, deception, true love and exile’ Denver Post

'An epic of sex, death and intrigue in the Valley of the Kings … richly written … packs in the action … excellent’ Weekend Telegraph

About the author

Wilbur Smith was born in Central Africa in 1933. He was educated at Michaelhouse and Rhodes University. He became a full-time writer in 1964 after the successful publication of WHEN THE LION FEEDS, and has since written over thirty novels, all meticulously researched on his numerous expeditions worldwide. His books are now translated into twenty-six languages.