The seventh scroll is sequel to "River God", which is one of the best historical fiction I have read lately. The seventh scroll follows two archeologist who are in search of the Pharaoh's tomb. It is a very good story and it is something new. Wilbur Smith brings a new concept though this book and it has worked splendidly for me. This is one of the best books I have read this year simply because it has everything you need in a extraordinary book. It has action, adventure, romance, suspense, and a wonderful plot. I loved everything in this book. I will start with the writing style. One of the things that I loved was that Wilbur Smith referred to himself in the book as the author of the River god and criticised his work through the characters and this is great to see because he brings out true points about what people might think about his book but not say it I front of him. He brings those points himself and only a confident and truly wonderful author can criticise his own work. I found that really great and new. At times the story was slow but Smiths was writing was just so great that you really just wanted to keep on going. If you weren't reading for the story, then you were for you enjoyed the writing and language. The characters were great and well build. Most books have great main characters but not all characters have an effect on you but Wilbur Smith has written these characters with such depth that you get attached to all his characters whether it is by love or hatred. At times I felt that the negative characters had some horrible traits and it wasn't appropriate for the book but soon I realised that in real life you have people like them and there is no point ignoring that point and I was fine with them. Except for that I love all the characters, I love the relation and chemistry between Nicholas and Mek even though it was not highlighted a lot in the book. It just felt different and great. Even though Nicky is a bit of a dick and kills a precious probably endangered animal for his collection, I liked him. Mostly because if I were in his shoes I would probably take the same exact decision as him at all stages. The story is and the plot is very good because it starts of somewhere and ends somewhere else. There are many exciting sub plots and that makes the story wonderful. It is almost as if there are layers and you are going through layer by layer as the book comes to an end, which makes the book more interesting. There are so many twists and turn in the book although some are predictable, it is quite enjoyable to see the reactions of certain characters. There are some twists which are unpredictable and those a well played by Smith. All the action is extremely good and keeps the reader on his/her toes. Some of the action is very disturbing and realistic.I did have one problem and it was the relation between Royan and Nicky. Normally I am fine with another marriage and everything but in this Case for some reason I was not really comfortable with the whole idea. For some reason Royans character to me didn't seems as if it would forget her love and get with someone so soon. She just doesn't seem like that type of person to me and it didn't feel right. Nicky having feelings was okay but I though she would reject him for time being. If she allowed him in his life after some time then it would have been more acceptable for me I think. Except for that this book was perfect like the river god. All in all this was another great book by Wilbur Smith. It is a real page turner and till some extend it can also stand alone but you want to read the river god before this because it is amazing, they are both amazing. Wilbur Smith is a great writer and this should be a must read. I think Wilbur Smith is already my fav author in 2 books. Enjoy!
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I remember enjoying it, that said I really didn't remember what happened (I knew they found the tomb, that there were traps but I thought that the baddies caught up to them sooner and they had to escape under different circumstances) so it was still a very enjoyable read - plus it is a real pleasure for me to come back to a well read book that I can just devour - it feels like it has been quite some time since I have read a book like that!I think I didn't enjoy this quite so much as a couple of.... niggles really jumped out at me. Actually one major niggle and one query. First the query - early in the book Royan thinks how little she likes people being 'rude' about Taita (our lead from the first book in the series) - yet not much further on she herself says he is all the things that the others said he was (i.e. vain). Struck me as odd that. The major niggle that I am really struggling to get my head round - Royan (and Nick at one point) say she is a direct descendent of Taita. Now, for those who don't recall the first book he was a Eunuch who had sex with one female who was then killed in front of him before he was then mutilated - not much chance for progeny there. How then can he have a direct descendent??? Now... there is a chance that the events of the fourth book answer that (and yet I still find no inclination to read it...) but I just do not buy it.I did however enjoy the 'meta' aspects of this more (and thinking about it that could be an explanation for the above niggle). The characters in this book refer to River God and say it was written by the author based off the scrolls of Taita - because of translations and obfuscations mentioned in this book you can explain discrepancies between them - what we read in River God is what Duraid wanted us to read it's not the truth. Then at the end of this book we find out that the story of Royan and Nick is also being adapted into a book by Smith. You could then say that any inconsistencies (i.e. the direct descendency!!!) are the fault of the author - not much of an explanation though imo. The characters in this are all right - certainly no Taita though. I actually enjoy Mek more than I do our two leads - would be quite cool if he had his own book... Overall, this certainly isn't as good as River God but is still a jolly good read. (It is also the first book to be put on my 'speculative fiction' shelf - thanks to Google for the genre for this!)
Website | Goodreads | Twitter | FacebookPublication Date: November 10, 1995Publisher: MacMillianCountry: United States of AmericaISBN: 0333637704Original Language: EnglishAge Group: AdultGenre: Historical, ThrillerBuy the Book: AmazonLootability: Grab it and goThe Seventh Scroll is Wilbur Smith's 25th book and the second in his popular Egyptian series featuring the enigmatic slave Taita. A modern look at the events of River God, The Seventh Scroll follows the archaeological rediscovery of Pharaoh Mamose's tomb. What I liked: Taita was such an enthralling protagonist in River God and it was a pleasure to revisit him. It was cleverly designed for us to see the results of Taita's work instead of hearing him boast about his genius - and we get to delight and despair with Nicholas and Royan as they play his game and struggle to discover the location of Mamose's tomb. I also like the way that Smith teases himself as writing books full of "sex and violence" who takes liberties with history. Like in River God, Smith creates a believable world of Egyptian archeology and, from what I remember of my ancient history lessons, seems to recreate the culture beautifully. What I didn't like: There really is a lot of sex and violence in Wilbur Smith's books. It's for that reason that I can't reread the third book in series, Warlock. Sometimes it just becomes overwhelming - too many people are tortured, injured or killed carelessly for my tastes. Some of the phrasing seems odd to me, a lot of extra justs and verys.There are another two books in the series, featuring Taita and returning to ancient times. However, from memory I found the story-lines rather violent and far-fetched.
—Alex at Raiding Bookshelves
Wilbur Smith is certainly fond of Wilbur Smith, and especially Wilbur Smith's book River Gods, based on he and his book being mentioned at least a dozen times in the latest Wilbur Smith book, The Seventh Scroll. But self-aggrandizement aside, The Seventh Scroll (which a character talks about IN THE BOOK) is a fun page-turner. Forget that most of what the characters do is blatantly illegal not to mention stupid and ridiculous, you want them to get those grave goods and spirit them off to their private museum, or better yet, sell them to some collector in Texas. Amazingly the main male character is able to hold his breath for ever, negotiate enormous water falls, and avoid flying bullets with only negligible scratches. And did I mention that he kills a rare, probably endangered animal so he can have its skin in his collection. Such a stud. Anyway, he falls in love the beautiful half-Egyptian archaeologist and she converts him, eventually, so you can't hate him too much. Enjoy!
—Beth
Abandoned at page 313. I made the mistake of taking a break and after picking the book up again I simply could not care less about what happens. It's not badly written and I'm sure the clues to the pharao's untouched grave might be more fun if I had read "River Gods". As it is, there is just so much repetition I just can't take anymore. In fact, this book has put me entirely off reading, which rarely happens. I hardly know what to do with myself! I don't expect this feeling to last longer than maybe 20 minutes - which is how long I need to cook dinner - but it's quite horrific nonetheless.
—Tanja Berg
