Wilbur Smith does it again. He grabs you by the metaphorical throat and forces you to read from the first page to the last. Once again You are transformed back to ancient Egypt, following the trials and tribulations of Hui, the main protagonist in the continuing saga of all the characters we have come to love so much. A truly excellent, thrilling and exciting book from start to finish..

Wilbur Smith who is one of the most prolific authors writing today gives us a new character in a setting that he has used before. Hui is a young man coming to age in a time about 4000 years ago in what was ancient Egypt. He is the son of a successful man who is the current governor of a city with the ability to report to the Pharoah of Egypt. Hui is probably his father's choice to succeed him as governor even though he has an older half brother. His own mother has died while his half brother's mother is alive and pushing for her son to inherit the position when their father passes away.
The opening of the novel finds Hui with his brother and a friend all set to steal a talisman from enemies of their city camped nearby. If successful, the possession stands to greatly enrich both the city they reside in as well as themselves. The prank turns deadly when their friend is caught and killed during the attempted robbery. It also appears as if his half brother actually turns their friend over causing his death in order to take the heat off himself.
In telling the story both his half brother and the mother of the brother lay all the blame for the crime and the friend's death on Hui. He is imprisoned awaiting sentencing when his sister helps him escape and thereby starts his adventures throughout the known world.
Mr. Smith's research into the era is well done as it is in all the novels he has written and the characters live through the events that took place in a time when Egypt was consolidating her land to include the previous states of upper and lower Egypt. He meets the girl that he marries, reconnects with his sister and takes a commanding role in a war with a major foe Egypt is facing at the time. As in all his novels regardless of the period they are set in the characters face problems that actually occurred during their times, are all larger than life both the villains and the heroes and heroines. He is a wordsmith and has no problem in keeping his readers glued to his books. I freely admit that I am addicted to his novels and no longer even bother reading plot descriptions when making them a selection for my personal reading pleasure.

Wilbur Smith in unparalleled in his gift of bringing history alive to a reader. This new novel of Ancient Egypt has all the drama, dazzle and danger of his previous books and it kept me enthralled from the first chapter to the last.

The characters are vibrant and relatable, despite the thousands of years that separate us. Whether they are warriors or nobles, Smith finds the humanity in each of his characters and we are easily caught in the magic of his story- telling.

NetGalley provided me an advance copy of this book in exchange for a candid r3view.