Wilbur Smith, The Quest

The Quest

Wilbur Smith

Dunne, May 2007, $27.95

ISBN: 0312318421

It has been seven years since Taita, the magus ad lose friend of Pharaoh, and his comrade Meren visit the Temple of Knowledge and Regeneration where those who follow the path of Truth (good) go to have their third eye opened truth. It is not an easy operation and once the adepts mistakenly open it to a follower of the follower of the Lie (Evil). Taita goes ahead with the surgery as he is a savant with considerable power.

Taita and Meren return to Egypt to see the Nile has dried up except for small trickles of poisoned blood; the land is filled with poisonous toads and hordes of locusts. Pharaoh sends Taita to search for the reason why the Nile has dried up. Taita believes Eos, a follower of the Lie, is behind the catastrophe ands she lives near or near a volcano because the fire strengthens her power. Taita travels to the source of the Nile to deal with the cause only to find hostile tribes wanting to kill him. To his astonishment and elation he meets the young woman Fenn, who is the reincarnation of Pharaoh Regent Lostris, the only women he ever loved. They find the city of Joria made up of legions that disappeared when Lostris sent them to find the Nile's source. It is a place controlled by Eos who wants to drain Taita of his wisdom and knowledge before she kills him. The showdown that is coming will take place in an unusual place and manner and Taita does not know if he will win over a millennia old immortal witch.

This is the fourth book in the historical fantasy saga starring Taita and as with the previous thrillers (see RIVER GOD, THE SEVENTH SCROLL, AND WARLOCK), Ancient Egypt is a key element as Wilbur Smith brings the land of the Pharaohs to life. Magic is considered as ordinary everyday occurrence by people who take for granted that mages have these skills. Taita is respected by everyone because he seeks the Truth and is kind and caring and can be ferocious when need be to protect those he cares for and loves. This entry is a terrific look at the lifeblood of the Sahara during a drought that impacts everyone.

Harriet Klausner