books 2008: The Quest, by Wilbur Smith

[supercheesegirl]

I'd never heard of Wilbur Smith before, but I saw the book at the library and the cover proclaimed him to be one of the best writers of historical fiction, and the cover art was Egyptian, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was definitely an enthralling book--sucked me right in to the story. It's about an ancient Egyptian wise man who of course has mystical powers we don't have in modern times. In the first 50 pages alone we saw a kinky sex ritual and a gory surgical ritual, and that was before our hero even got started on the titular quest. Just wait till the final confrontation with the evil witch.

As a "long liver", our hero is around 150 years old, but he falls in love with a prepubescent girl who is of course the reincarnation of the long-dead Egyptian queen he loved in the past. The reincarnation stuff is heavily emphasized, but his fantasies about how her young body will soon flower are still creepy. Way to go, Wilbur Smith, for writing about how an elderly "wise man" eunuch can be transformed and land the hot teenage girl. Her character, by the way, is an entirely perfect dream woman character, with no faults except that she's inclined to rush headlong into danger to save her man. His character is pretty much a Mary Sue--he's Clint Eastwood crossed with Gandalf the White crossed with the old ninja with the long mustaches from Kill Bill.

Other things bothered me--yes, African tribal women are renowned for their hardiness, but a woman gives birth and the next day she's got her baby strapped to her chest and she's RIDING A HORSE. Um, ow. A book definitely written by a man. Little things, like how early in the journey the heroes are given sacks of beads for trading, and later on they have to flee multiple places in a hurry, taking nothing with them, and yet at the end of the book they still have beads to give to the friends. What, were you guys wearing them all this time?

It was definitely a rollicking good story, if you like this sort of thing. I enjoyed reading it, but I don't think I need to go read any more of Wilbur Smith's books.

Comments

This is how I thought that sentence was going to end.

[sleepyworm.livejournal.com]

As a long liver, his body was a single, six-foot-long, dark-colored organ dedicated to, among other things, the detoxification of the blood.

Re: This is how I thought that sentence was going to end.

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

That would have made the book infinitely more interesting!

That's the exact phrase he uses in the book, which is why I put it in quotes. And, worse, at one point they talk about a guy whose name means "Lion Liver", meaning the organ. It was kind of confusing and awkward.

also:

[sleepyworm.livejournal.com]

Creepy old dude somehow manages to bed the improbably perfect not-quite-legal beauty? Sounds like a certain mr. smith has been reading way too much heinlein...

Re: also:

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

I know, I was totally thinking that!! And what's more, a mystical transformation occurred that made him young and handsome again, thus making it all okay and NOT CREEPY AT ALL. I know Heinlein pulls weird stuff like that too (like reincarnating the old dude in the body of the young hottie, etc).

Re: also:

[sleepyworm.livejournal.com]

yeah, that was a brain transplant there. in another book, this dude has a "special" relationship with this girl who's probably like 11 or 12; they're very close, clearly she's in love with him, etc. So he goes into suspended animation until she's 18 so they can be together. And, after the maelstrom of puberty and her teenage years, she totally still wants to. *barf*