Desert God

A Novel of Ancient Egypt

By: Wilbur Smith

Narrated by: Mike Grady

Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Wilbur Smith - hailed by Stephen King as the "best historical novelist" and one of the world’s biggest-selling authors - returns to Ancient Egypt in this breathtaking epic that conjures the magic, mystery, romance, and bloody intrigue of a fascinating lost world.

Game of Thrones meets Ancient Egypt in this magnificent, action-packed epic. On the gleaming banks of the Nile, the brilliant Taita - slave and advisor to the Pharaoh - finds himself at the center of a vortex of passion, intrigue, and danger. His quest to destroy the Hyksos army and form an alliance with Crete takes him on an epic journey up the Nile, through Arabia and the magical city of Babylon, and across the open seas. With the future of Egypt itself on his shoulders, Taita enters a world where the line between loyalty and betrayal shifts like the desert sands, evil enemies await in the shadows, and death lingers on the edges of darkness.

©2014 Wilbur Smith (P)2014 Harper Collins Publishers

Another Great Taita Story from Wilbur Smith but...

I am a huge fan of Wilbur Smith's Egypt books with The Seventh Scroll being my favorite. I was super excited to learn of this book having been left wanting more after listening to The Quest. However, I was disappointed to discover it was not a sequel but in fact a prequel to The Quest and happens sometime after the events of Warlock the 3rd of Wilbur Smith's Egyptian series. I did manage to overcome my disappointment and became absorbed in the narrative that Wilbur Smith weaved.

All said and done, it was still a W.S. Egyptian novel with all the trappings therein. Although, I would say though that this is probably my least favorite of them all. It lacks the depth and grandeur that the others have. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Was I somewhat disappointed? Yes. Now this may be due to the fact that it felt like i was taking a step backwards after the incredible events that occurred in The Quest, but I couldn't get as excited or as enthralled in this book as I had the others.

If you're new to the series, I definitely can't recommend this one as a standalone story. Do yourself a favor and go read River God or Warlock. River God is the first in the series but Warlock is a better and more engrossing narrative. Myself, I started with Warlock, then Seventh Scroll, followed by River God and then finally the Quest. Personally I find Warlock and Seventh Scroll the best of the series.

However, if you're already a fan of Wilbur Smith's writing and his other Egyptian series, then I can definitely recommend this one. While not being as epic as his others, it is still an engrossing story about Egypt and Taita, and it will not disappoint.

That Taita never ceases to amaze me!

Wilbur Smith has done it again with the River God series and the adventure of Taita. This story is not as long as the other books, but still manages to compact a lot of adventure into a smaller amount of time than its predecessors. The reader does a wonderful job with his different characters and voice inflections. In this book we find Taita caring for the daughters of his beloved queen Lostris as well as attempting to thwart attack by the dreaded Hyksos society on Egypt again. Taita's adventures and ideas continue to keep me amazed and entertained. You won't be disappointed with this "listen". It is a nice addition to the series and I'm hoping Mr. Smith keeps the saga going. Oh yes, and we also find out why Taita seems to have such a long life and so many talents within this book...........you'll have to listen to find out.......... Enjoy.

Let Wilbur draw you in! You won't regret it!

Smith is such a marvelous storyteller! You don't want it to end and yet it floes to a perfect ending. Great narrator! Great book!

Desert God is a wonderful sequel

Would you listen to Desert God again? Why?

I would recommend reading the first books in this series before reading this one, but they are absolutely worth the read. This series is Wilbur Smith's best series.

Great story !!! Narrative not as good as as the rest of the series.

Great characters however some of the lessor characters could use more depth and plot integration. Over another good addition to the series.

desert God

Good STory, didn't have the same depth as river good but still a fine tale. Perhaps a continuation of Taetas (sic) story, would like to hope so. Enjoyable either way.

Fantastic history of the ancient world

this is a classic of historical fiction going back Millennia into ancient Egypt and using a eunuch demigod as its numerator. I call it fantastic because part of the tale unfolds using the Pantheon of ancient gods from various civilizations. In all it tours 4 Nations the Egyptians Hyksos Mesopotamian and minoan from Crete. While at times the choice of narrator can seem a little corny, given that he always triumphs, this is an effective device for exploration into the ancient past.

WS still thrills

A great epic story well written which brings alive the time of kings and gods - enjoyed it thoroughly

History with a good story line

What made the experience of listening to Desert God the most enjoyable?

Mr Smith made his characters seem real and gave insight as to why they were motivated and had the combo of the good and bad mixed

Who was your favorite character and why?

Well, Tata and his two princesses along with his crew.Each had a personality but poessed a sense of honor and duty

Have you listened to any of Mike Grady’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Mr Grady is a true professional in his art of story telling, he did more than justice to each of his characters

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

At the end how brave and bold each acted to save each other

Any additional comments?

Enjoyed the book a nice twist in a time and place we seldom think about

This is book 5 in the Egyption series

What made the experience of listening to Desert God the most enjoyable?

Wilbur Smith doesn't pull punches. This series takes place thousands of years ago, when the powerful ruled with iron hand and the rest of humanity was fodder. There is much horror and cruelty. Some of it is gut churning but in all honesty the world was not an easy place to live in 5500-6000 years ago. Most people didn't live to be adults.

What did you like best about this story?

The plot was always thickening, Taita, a eunuch slave in the first book in the series, now has the power of being the right had of the Pharaoh.

Have you listened to any of Mike Grady’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

There have been several different narrators in this series, and they have all been very good. Mike Grady also did an excellent job with emotions and voices.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If only, but I did finish over the weekend.

Any additional comments?

Wilbur Smith writes intense violent, and sometime horrifying situations that can be very upsetting to the 21st century person. However if you think of how the world was during the Crusades, the Dark Ages, etc, you know for a fact that there is much inhumanity just to survive. The main Character is not without flaws, but who is?