Warlock

A Novel of Ancient Egypt

By: Wilbur Smith

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the world's most acclaimed adventure writers returns to the world of ancient Egypt with the stunning sequel to the New York Times best-selling River God.

After the death of his beloved Queen Lostris, Taita retreats into the forbidding deserts of North Africa to become a hermit. He devotes himself to the study of the occult and, armed with extraordinary powers, he gradually transforms himself into a warlock. After years of study, he discovers the divine purpose of his bereavement when he is called upon to save the dynasty of Lostris from the clouds of evil that loom over Egypt.

Exploding with all the drama, mystery, and passion of a bygone time, Warlock is a masterpiece from a storyteller at the height of his powers.

©2008 Wilbur Smith (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Action is Wilbur Smith's game, and he is a master." ( The Washington Post Book World)
"Fascinating...[a] magical sequel to River God." ( Tulsa World)

Poor sequel

I tend to cut sequels a lot of slack. Sequels are hard... particularly when the author clearly did not intend to write one from the start and did not leave much room for one.

That said, this sequel was just awful. The character who we know and love from River God is a self referencing caricature. The plot is more or less more of the same and the narrative style is weak. The plot does not really hold together and whole chapters could have been dispensed with as they did not advance the plot.

While I thought the first book was an interesting listen, this was an unworthy successor.

That said. I seem to be in the firm minority. Most other people who left ratings for this book rated it very highly. It is possible that I am missing something or just did not enjoy the original book enough. This gives me pause and suggests that you seek out other reviews to see if there is another side that I did not appreciate.

The narration and sound-quality were completely unexceptionable.

I wanted this, but was a little disappointed ...

I loved 'The River God', and hoped Wilbur Smith would write a sequel. Even though all his peeps were gone, I wanted to know what Taita did in his later years! 'Warlock" certainly tells that. The characters are true, the writing fluid and fluent, the story engrossing, just not quite as enthralling as 'River God'. They're great together though!

its good

if i read this book before reading River God, i might have loved it But as a sequel of River God this book is kinda not good. The main reason for me for not loving this book is how much Taita has changed. if he wasn't named the same name and not keeping on reminding and referring to actions of him in River God, i wouldn't have believed it was the same person.
In addition, i hated how they killed the king and old characters from River god in the beginning of the book... Didn't like that much, actually i really hated it.

This book is nice, and i did enjoy it, but still I loved River God and liked this one.

Entertaining but some gore & very adult material

If were made into a movie they would be hard put to not edit out some scenes or have a R or even X rating. I didn't appreciate the explicit gore much but did like the history being brought to life. Very life-like, including the sex, if that is what you are looking for in your library (I'm not) ; its all part of life.

Graphic Violence and Sexual Content

This book has a good story line, although it was somewhat predictable. I really like Wilbur Smith, but he is 'over the top' in graphic violence and sexual content. In most cases it did little to enhance the novel, and seemed so unnecessary (such as ripping babies from the womb). If you have sensitive dispositions, avoid this book. If you can overlook the violence, it is a good book to read

Dissapointing because I loved River God so well.

If you loved River God, be wary of this title. I loved River God, and Dick Hill, but Smith takes an intentional turn with this novel, perhaps because he wants to take ownership of the story line (Smith claims River God was based on actual Egyptian scrolls), or perhaps because he wanted to bring mysticism to the forefront. Either way, the magic was gone.

Because this book is written in the third person, Dick Hill abandons Tiata's voice for the narration for a time, but it seems that he realized his mistake about halfway through and slowly made the correction. I was glad he did.

Three stars was too much, and two not enough. I say you should get this one from the library if you want to take a chance.

One of the best On audible!!

I could not put it down Dick Hill is the best narrater i have heard. And Wilbur Smith is a great writer. YOU WILL LOVE IT!!!!

Exceptional Listening!

Gripping story. Wilbur Smith paints a picture like no other. The narrator was superb and he made each character come to vivid life.

A gripping tale... maybe a bit too wordy

Wilbur Smith is a master story teller but, as is the case with some of his books, he could benefit from an editor. At times it becomes a challenge to stick with it when the writing becomes a little self indulgent.

That said I enjoyed the story and it was narrated extremely well.

Exciting Adventures

Any additional comments?

Enjoyed The River God a lot. So much so that I wanted to hear the next book. It has a few connecting threads but Tita is about the only solid connection, besides Egypt, of course. This book is and interesting read and includes much more sorcery as the name would lead us to believe. Not all believable but still ok. The action is riveting and the characters believable. The narration is very good and makes both books entertaining. I have recommended this to friends.