The Seventh Scroll (Ancient Egypt, #2) by Wilbur Smith

The Seventh Scroll (Ancient Egypt, #2) Reviews

• 
  Henry Avila

  A few years ago a little more or less than 4,000, a ruler the pharaoh Mamose (fictitious) of ancient Egypt flees for his life, invaders the ruthless Hyksos from the north drive him from his throne, so he travels south.This was from the book River God by Wilbur Smith, the sequel set in the modern (1995) as archaeologists a very loose term maybe a better one is grave robbers trying to find his lost tomb hidden in a remote section of Ethiopia.The unbelievable riches is quite staggering... Countless millions of dollars however who owns it? Ethiopia or Egypt or finders keepers as the thieves from the past are reincarnated but not for the best. Sir Nicholas Quenton-Harper a British aristocrat of minor heritage that makes Indiana Jones seem like an amateur which he is technically having no degree except avarice and this is a common vice which sadly is the majority in the world, he has cash flow problems like many. It would overflow both banks of the mighty Nile River in volume, to ad interest an Egyptologist half English the other part Egyptian, Dr. Rogan Al Summa don't have to state a beauty with divided loyalty working for the government in Cairo. The seventh scroll she and her late husband discovered written by the genius Taita ( self described) a slave and eunuch but has ambitions. Clues are on the papyrus yet the amused writer is fun loving his cryptic words hard to understand, deciphering quiet a challenge. And is determined to stop thieves by ingenious traps that kill the dishonorable who desecrate the sacred resting place of his master. A German billionaire Herr von Schiller is also after the prize and murder not important as the circle tightens, his hand nears ...butchering can be profitable. A motley group for good or evil are involved in the actions. While intense scenes of carnage spills the pages red the author is fearless in perpetuating the abnormal and offending everyone, to be honest. Nevertheless interest remains high as the inevitable lovers near their goal in a labyrinth under the Blue Nile...will the waters crush them? How easily this can occur. Hazards around every corner the dark brings the nightmares, the dangers can strike at anytime, there is something about being underground, giving the imagination the full throttle, an unlit scream you can never forget, feel very apprehensive , weak and claustrophobic. The second in the series, so far six, the ancient Egyptian civilization the most intriguing of all. An imaginative story which gives the reader a picture , a piece, a peak in the land of the Nile, always flowing by in her perpetual wanderings , may it never cease. And archaeology be viewed as an art for knowledge not a treasure hunt...
• 
  Shariful Sadaf

  Six-Word Review : Murderous attack, Revenge planned, Plans successful.
  
  I think this book is similar to ''The Vinci Code'' in some form. But has a lot more historical details, an even tighter plot, and much more adventure and drama. The character are brilliantly colored, and invite us into their story.
• 
  Lizzy

  There are moments that I feel like reading something light and entertaining. What could be better than an adventure-treasure hunting suspense? That is exactly what
  Wilbur Smith, a masterful writer of such stories, created in
  The Seventh Scroll. It is about the archaeological quest and discovery of the lost Pharaohs Mamose's tomb. The action sets off swiftly in Egypt moves to England to end up in Ethiopia. There are very believable and engaging characters, good and honorable or totally evil. For those looking for a good thriller, read it and enjoy.
• 
  Werner

  In the 1994 opening novel of his Ancient Egypt series,
  River God, (which I haven't read) veteran South African novelist Wilbur Smith depicts the fictional Pharaoh Mamose finding a temporary refuge, with some of his people, from the invading Hyskos in the valley of Ethiopia's Blue Nile --a region that's wild and largely unexplored even in modern times. This novel presupposes the events of the earlier one; but although it's billed as the second book of the series, it takes place nearly 4,000 years later, in the author's present, and can be read as a stand-alone (any information about the earlier events that the reader needs is supplied in the text of this book).
  
  While excavating the tomb of Mamose's queen Lostris, archaeologists Duraid al-Simma and his beautiful (and much younger) Anglo-Egyptian wife Royan have unearthed ten scrolls written by the queen's scribe Taita. The seventh scroll provides clues to Mamose's Ethiopian resting place, with its treasures. But knowledge of these clues has fallen into the hands of a ruthless, wealthy and powerful antiquities collector who's not about to let minor things like laws against murder and theft keep him from adding this loot to his private collection. When Duraid is killed early on, and the scroll stolen, Royan must follow his dying instructions by joining forces with another wealthy collector, widowed adventurer Sir Nicholas Quentin-Harper (who's much closer to her age) to find the tomb before her husband's killers do. There's a complication, though. Royan wants to turn the treasure over to the proper authorities. But while Nicholas, like Royan, wants himself and her to be first at the tomb, and is ethical enough (unlike their competition) to not hurt any innocents --and chivalrous enough to protect Royan as gallantly as she could wish-- he has ambitions to add the find to HIS collection. So our heroine and hero here are working partly as allies --but partly at cross purposes, too, which makes for an interesting battle of wits. (And Cupid may complicate things, too....)
  
  Smith's reputation is as a popular novelist of action-adventure fiction, much of it set in his native Africa, delivering excitement and suspense. I've never read any of his other work, except for a Reader's Digest condensed version of
  The Sunbird, but this (his 25th novel) would suggest that his reputation is deserved. He also provides convincing characters, a well-constructed plot, and realistic (sometimes wryly humorous) dialogue. Where appropriate, his descriptions are vivid, and he has an obviously considerable knowledge of African history, culture and geography, which he draws on to enrich the book. In the best tradition of action-adventure fiction, he views his characters' actions in terms of a moral code that accurately distinguishes between good and evil. (While religion isn't a major theme here, Royan and some other characters are Coptic Christians who take their faith seriously, and Smith treats it respectfully.)
  
  As Smith depicts him, Nicholas had (before his marriage) a womanizing past, which he appears to be furnished with in order to establish his virility credentials, in the misguided assumption that this will make him more swoon-worthy to female readers. (If they have much sense, it won't!) But despite what movie raters would describe as "some sensuality," the central romantic plot here is clean, and the only explicit sexual content involves the villain. (This is disgusting, but it's intended to be.) There's some profanity in the book, but not a lot, and no obscenity that I can recall. Some of the violence is extensive and gruesome (and my oldest daughter, who's read more of Smith's work than I have, reports that this is characteristic), but it was nothing I couldn't handle.
  
  Most fans of action-adventure, IMO, would find this right up their alley! It also has the advantage of essentially being a stand-alone, and not sucking the reader into a potentially long series.
• 
  Tanja Berg

  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.
• 
  Noella

  Dit boek is het tweede deel in de reeks. Vierduizend jaar na de dood van de hoofdpersonen in het vorige verhaal, is de tombe van koningin Lostris ontdekt, en ook de tien papyrusrollen van haar slaaf Taita. De zevende rol is de belangrijkste, want daarin vertelt hij in cryptische bewoordingen waar zich de tombe van farao Mamose, met al zijn schatten bevindt. Het echtpaar Duraid en Royan al Simma zijn deze rol aan het bestuderen, maar andere schattenjagers hebben hiervan lucht gekregen en Duraid wordt vermoord, de rol en al hun aantekeningen worden gestolen, alsook alles wat op de computer van Royan stond. Het is nu aan Royan deze taak verder te zetten, en iemand te zoeken die haar daarbij kan helpen. Uit het lijstje dat haar man voor haar achtergelaten had, kiest ze Nicholas Quenton-Harper, een rijke liefhebber en verzamelaar van antieke artefacten.
  En zo begint hun avontuur. Niet alleen moeten ze de tombe zien te vinden, ze moeten ook andere belangstellenden proberen van zich af te houden en voor te zijn. Een spannend maar ook gewelddadig avontuur.
  
  Ik vond dit een goed boek, maar soms wel wat langdradig. Er zijn vele geografische en technische beschrijvingen die ik niet goed kon volgen, wat het lezen voor mij bemoeilijkte en ik het soms minder interessant vond. Maar al bij al, eens je dit boek aan het lezen bent, wil je wel weten hoe het afloopt!
• 
  Bettie

  
  
  Bettie's Books
• 
  İlkim

  Hala gr'ye eklemeyi unuttuğum kitaplar çıkıyor şaşırıyorum.
• 
  Benjamin Thomas

  "The Seventh Scroll", by Wilbur Smith is the follow-up to "River God", one of the best historical novels I have read in a very long time. "The Seventh Scroll" was meant to be read after "River God" but it is not exactly a sequel. It actually takes place in the present day with a couple of archeologist types who are out to discover the hidden tombs that were depicted in the first book. What an intriguing concept! What we got to live through before is now seen through the eyes of history, including all the distortions of history that are bound to happen. Afterall, what we assume to be true through archeological research isn't necessarily the way it really happened.
  
  The author does another intriguing thing in this book. He inserts himself into his own fiction, having a main character refer to Wilbur Smith as having authored the fictional "River God" from information uncovered in the first 6 scrolls found in the tomb. Of course it is the 7th scroll that the characters are after in this second book. This leads to some funny moments as the two main protagonists argue about just how accurate Wilbur Smith was in the first book; one of them goes so far as to dismiss Mr Smith as a hack writer who changes the historical record in order to include more sex and violence. It's a twisted loop whereby an author actually negatively critques his own work...I guess you have to be pretty secure in your own writing career to do that. Regardless, it works wonderfully here.
  
  The book itself was only slightly less enjoyable than the first. When you get right down to it, this is a pretty straight forward adventure/treasure hunting story along the likes of "Romancing the Stone". But Wilbur Smith is an outstanding writer who has a knack for making you read just a little more and then still more despite any deadlines you may have to deal with. You know the two main characters will hook up by the end but it's not predictable how that happens. The dangerous scenes in the book are really dangerous and the suspense is spot on. As for historical accuracy...everything sure seemed to be accurate based on my limited knowledge of ancient Egypt and my trip to that country a few years ago. I hadn't planned on reading this series this year but now I am already looking forward to the third book, "Warlock", where we get to return to the ancient times and see what happens next!
• 
  Elizabeth A

  Oh good grief, but this is simply awful! Here in week 6 of the Covid-19 pandemic, I thought a treasure hunt for lost Egyptian tombs would be just the thing, but after 253 pages (a little under halfway) I'm out. The writing is awkward, the dialog ridiculous, the characters paper thin, the plot inane, and the author inserts references to himself and River Gods into the story.
  
  I really enjoyed River Gods, but alas this second book in the Ancient Egypt series is not worth the time. That these two idiots are the ones following clues left by Taita must have him rolling his eyes too. Unlike the previous book, this is set in current times, and there really isn't any need for the sexist and racist stuff here. Ugh.
  
  I blame the shock of hearing that the quarantine might be extended to mid May as the only reason I got as far into the book as I did. Do not bother!
• 
  Bex

  By now, I have read this book about 4 times which tells you how much I loved it. Smith has written a beautiful, adventerous story about love, greed, death and courage. It takes place in a few different places, starting in Egypt, moving its way to England and then to Ethiopia. Wilbur Smith created wonderful characters, both lovable and detestable. The basic plot of the story is that a tomb found in Egypt reveals seven scrolls, the last scroll containing cryptic clues to the burial site of an ancient king. Two people come together, one a woman from Egypt and a man from England, and struggle against the power and corruption of a lunatic multi-millionare to find the burial site and the treasures that lie within. After reading most of Smiths books to date, I have to say that this is one of my favourite. I really enjoyed this book. Read it; you will not be sorry.
• 
  AndrewP

  This follow up to River God happens in modern times, thousands of years after the original book. One of the original scrolls was not included in the first tale as it was very cryptic, that being the description and exact location of Pharaoh Mamose's tomb. Now a couple of archeologists think they have unraveled the secret, but there are a couple of rival factions in the final hunt for the location. Of course, one of them will stop at nothing to get their hands on the treasure.
  Not as good as the first book, but then it's completely different story, being modern rather than historical. This could probably be read as a stand alone but best to have read River God first.
• 
  Barbara

  Smith inserted himself and his book River God throughout the story - as though archaeologists and Egyptologists look to him as an authority on ancient Egypt (refers to photos of himself and the characters, how all the Egyptologists of the world were excited to find this missing tomb after reading River God – strange to me that such highly educated people would think he has this knowledge that no one else does simply because he wrote a work of fiction) every time I read one of these references it was like tripping over a stone while out for a walk. Also, Smith gets bogged down with minute details of an engineering feat – I skipped over pages and pages. Not my favourite of his books
• 
  Adrienne

  The second book in Smith's Egyptian series. A fabulous read. Using the historical fiction of Egypt circa 1500BC: Smith continues with the theme character of the Magi eunuch Taita. This time there is a different pharoah - Tamos then Nefer Seti his son. After Pharoah Tamos is mudered. His son with Taita the warlord fight to return Egypt to the true ruling family.
  Intriguing, cunning plotting, masterful planning for victory - phrases the describe this unputdownable book.
  Now I am on to book 3 - WARLORD.
• 
  Alan

  A sequel that takes place 4000 years later! It drags a little in the middle and has some violent sex scenes that detract from the book, but is an overall good read. I like the way this man does his research.
• 
  Manuela

  Il romanzo quasi perfetto. L'ho preferito anche a "Il dio del fiume" per adrenalina, coinvolgimento, emozione. Avventura allo stato puro.
• 
  Leila

  A fascinating read.
• 
  Sunny

  I'm not even sure where I got this book from - I think it might have been out of a bag of books that my mom gave me. I'd never heard of the author before, and didn't even realize it was part of a series until I looked it up on Goodreads when I was about halfway through the novel. But even though The Seventh Scroll is actually the second book in a series, it works as a stand alone novel.
  
  Mostly, I enjoyed The Seventh Scroll. The character of Royan was entertaining to read and easy to relate to, for the most part. Overall it's a decent story, and parts of it were fascinating. Many other parts were boring, dull, poorly written, overly descriptive, super predictable, and a few were actually cringe-worthy. And something that bothered me immensely, the POV changes randomly, sometimes even in the middle of a paragraph. I love multiple Points of View, but I'm of the opinion that the POV change needs to happen at a chapter break, or at least a section break within a chapter. But in The Seventh Scroll, the POV seems to change completely randomly, and didn't always makes sense to me.
  
  As I read through the many reviews from other people, though, I almost wonder if I'm missing something. Many others seem to love the author and this series, and rave on and on about how good it is. I didn't hate The Seventh Scroll, but I didn't love it either. It's a good read, and starts well, but the middle part of the novel loses momentum and never quite picks it back up again. By the time I muddled through to the end I just wanted them to find the treasure and be done already.
  
  I'm giving The Seventh Scroll two stars. I feel vaguely bad about doing so, but I'm also not quite willing to go to three stars and say I liked it. It was ok. I probably won't try any of the rest of the series, even though the first book in the series, River God, seems to get rave reviews. But I think I'll pass, for now at least.
  
  Have you read The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith? What did you think - am I way off base?
  
  
  http://sunnyreads.blogspot.com
• 
  Antonio Rosato

  Il settimo papiro, del 1995, è idealmente la prosecuzione naturale del libro Il Dio del fiume (il primo capitolo della saga degli egizi nata dalla fantasia dello scrittore sudafricano Wilbur Smith) ma può anche essere letto a parte, visto che le vicende narrate in questo nuovo libro si svolgono a distanza di ben tremila anni da quanto narrato nel primo lavoro: ne Il Dio del fiume, infatti, sappiamo solo che lo schiavo Taita si è incaricato di seppellire il faraone Mamose VIII in una misteriosa tomba realizzata da lui stesso e di cui solo lui ne conosce l’esatta ubicazione (si capisce solo che non si trova entro i confini dell’allora Egitto dei faraoni); in Il settimo papiro, invece, due archeologi moderni che, forse scopiazzando un po’ troppo le avventure di Indiana Jones, si danno letteralmente battaglia per scoprire quel sepolcro. Libro bellissimo e straordinario, anche se leggermente inferiore al precedente, in cui il lettore è chiamato, nella seconda parte del romanzo, a risolvere enigmi ed indovinelli (ma facendo attenzione alle false piste) architettati dal genio di Taita. Anche qui, per concludere, veniamo coinvolti e rapiti dalle calde atmosfere africane ma… comunque, il tutto ha il sapore del già letto da qualche parte! Chiudo con una nota di colore: di questo romanzo, nel 1999, venne realizzato l’omonimo e spettacolare film per la televisione (interpretato dal grande Roy Scheider nella parte dell’archeologo cattivo e senza scrupoli) ma caratterizzato, soprattutto, dalla pessima interpretazione della nostra Valeria Marini. [
  http://rosatoeu.blogspot.it/2015/05/i...]
• 
  Taufiq Ahmed

  ভেবেছিলাম ফারাও মেমননের জীবনে টাইটার ভূমিকা নিয়ে লেখা হবে বইটা । কিন্তু তা নয়, মামোস ও ট্যানাসের সমাধিতে লুকিয়ে রাখা বিপুল সম্পদ খুঁজে বের করার কাহিনী এটি । কাহিনী হিসেবে ‘রিভার গড’ এর পর্যায়ে ফেলা যাবে না এটাকে । গুপ্তধন খুঁজে বের করার সাধারণ কাহিনীর মতই এটি ।
  বইটা শুরু করার পর প্রথমেই যেটা চোখে পড়ে সেটা হলো লেখক হিসেবে উইলবার স্মিথের অবস্থান । তিনি এখানে নিজেকে সম্পূর্ণ অন্যভাবে উপস্থাপন করেছেন । রিভার গড এর লেখক ‘উইলবার স্মিথ’ কে তিনি যেন সম্পূর্ণ অন্য সত্বা হিসেবে গন্য করেছেন এবং সেখানে করা ভুলগুলোর কড়া সমালোচনা করেছেন ।
  এছাড়া পুরো সিরিজটার সত্যতা নিয়ে এখানে বেশ জল ঘোলা করা হয়েছে । আমার মতে এখানে অল্প কিছু সত্যের সাথে বিপুল পরিমাণ মিথ্যার ( সাহিত্যের ভাষায় যাকে বলা হয় ‘লেখকের স্বাধীনতা’ ) মিশ্রণ ঘটেছে । এবং বেশ গুরুত্বপূর্ণ পয়েন্টগুলোতে এই ‘মিথ্যার’ প্রয়োগ করা হয়েছে, ফলে বইটা পড়ার সময় বারবার মনে হচ্ছিলো এইটা কি আদৌ ঘটেছে নাকি ঘটেনি ।
  সব মিলিয়ে আমি বইটাকে খারাপ বলবো না, তবে রিভার গড এর সিক্যুয়াল হিসেবে এই বইটা পর্যাপ্ত ছিল না ।
  
• 
  Regan

  BOOK FAIL -
  OK. I don't have a LOT of quirks when it comes to my reading habits. If it's interesting and holds my attention I'm pretty forgiving about a lot of things that might annoy another reader.
  
  But my ONE unforgivable, throw the book across the room, stomp on it, then vow (out loud and with MUCH vehemence) to NEVER NEVER NEVER read that author again is when an author references themselves and/or one of their other books within the context of the plot of the book I'm reading.
  
  Which this jackass did THREE TIMES in the first 20 pages of the book. The first two I was almost ready to let it go, but the third time he actually made it seem as if the characters in his NOVEL had interacted with him on the writing of the previous book, and they were then TALKING about him as if HE were a character and using his first novel as a REFERENCE.
  
  Now look, I am HAPPY to read about continuous worlds. Hell, Louise Erdrich is one of my absolutely favorite authors and her books stalk entire lineages, reference previous plots, and often require a flow chart.
  
  But seriously - AUTHORS DO NOT ENTER YOUR FICTIONAL WORLD. You are DESTROYING the fiction when you do this! And it's arrogant! And it's just a JERK FUCKING MOVE. DON'T DO IT DON'T DO IT DON'T DO IT.
  
  I feel strongly about this.
  
  Just. Don't.
  
  So yeah. This book has been duly thrown, stomped, and cursed. And Wilbur Smith can bite me.
• 
  Cristina

  La trama è avvincente: mescola avventura, storia, violenza e amore.
  Mi sono stupita nel ricordare come negli anni '90, fosse normale scrivere di battute di caccia, anche di animali protetti, abbattere intere foreste e alberi secolari per interessi personali, o usare delle granate per uccidere anguille di fiume.
  Simpatico il passaggio in cui lo scrittore cita se stesso, criticando un suo libro.
  Lo consiglio per una lettura di completa evasione.
• 
  Ingrid

  Avontuurlijke queeste op zoek naarhet graf van farao Mamose uit deel 1 (Vallei der koningen). Dit verhaal speelt een paar duizend jaar later, in het heden van pakweg 25 jaar geleden. Leest gemakkelijk weg ookal is het best een dik boek. Sommige stukken hadden wat korter en minder gedetaillerd gemogen, toch is het niet storend of stagneert het verhaal niet. Leuk is dat de schrijver zijn eigen persoon en het verhaal van Vallei der koningen een rol geeft in het verhaal. Net geen vier sterren.
• 
  Giota Kariofilla

  Μια υπέροχη ιστορική περιπέτεια με κινηματογραφικές σκηνές και αξιόλογους χαρακτήρες. Εξαιρετική γραφή και εκπληκτική τροπή.
• 
  Mender

   An urge has been on me to write an archaeological story, about solving traps and puzzles. "Well, I guess I should re-read Seventh Scroll before I do, because it's about the only book I've read that was about that sort of thing, and I remember hating it - need to look it over and see what it did wrong before I repeat the same mistakes," I thought. 
  
  When I started it, I was quietly convinced that the problem was with my younger self. "Well, this isn't so bad at all," I thought. "Yes, it's rather obvious that the two main characters are being set up romantically, but I fancy the problem I had with it was that I wanted a sequel to River God - I wanted a sequel with Ancient Egypt, and with Taita."
  
  So I jotted down notes, about setting reader expectation etc, sure I had stumbled upon what the issue was.
  
  And then I reached the halfway point, and things were beginning to drag. Then I reached the three quarter mark, and I had completely lost interest and was forced to skip and skim. 
  
  In a nutshell, my problem with this book can be summarised as Casual Collateral Damage. 
  
  I wanted to read an adventure story about finding lost tombs, and puzzling through ancient riddles. Instead, I get to read about massacres. First the casual killing of the entire group of assistants who were hired to haul our Intrepid Heroes up and down cliff faces. Shot down by machine fire in their tents at night. Did we know any of their names? No. Then, the ancient church which has housed a dead saint and preserved it and the murals around it intact for 4000 years is torn apart, and the monks massacred. We know a few of the names this time. Oh, and also their guide died. And then they dam the river and massacre thousands of eels, with the author specifically taking the time to chastise the workers for laying some of the murdered creatures out to be eaten later. Like, are you fucking with me? You just destroyed an ecosystem, is leaving it to rot the best and only thing you can do with it? 
  
  Of course it is. Because this is a race! It's them, vs the Bad Guys. You can tell the bad guys are bad because they deliberately torture a woman who is a friend of our protagonist, in a sexually explicit manner. Great times. And the Bad Guys are closing in on the Good Guys, who must therefore desecrate the tomb faster in order to be the first ones to it.
  
  Like... you have got to be fucking with me right? They open up this tomb that has been sealed for 4000 years, and then are all 'oh noes, when the rains come (in five minutes, actually the rains might already be here, oh dear it's a ticking time bomb in addition to the machine gun fire of our nameless faceless hired troops being massacred by the Bad Guys up on the cliffs above us!) all of this will be destroyed!'
  
  Right. It's been fine for 4000 years, but because you were impatient shitty fucking archaeologists, you've gone through and ripped up the walls and floors and when it gets re-flooded, now you will have totally fucking munted it.
  
  You knew the rains were coming, but you were so goddamn impatient that the casual destruction of this place is nothing, what matters is that you two pretty white people survive and go home and sell off the shit you found for millions of pounds (sorry about all the corpses left behind, can't be helped, whoopsie).
  
  So, that was why I hated this book. Taita from book one was a genius who created things, and the protagonists of this sequel are just shitty hacks who wreck his stuff.
  
  Probably that is a realistic lesson: Don't try to create a magnificent tomb, people will just bomb it and steal the shiniest shit out of the middle.
  
  But it's a depressing-ass lesson and I wasn't in the mood for it. 
• 
  Alan Veale

  I was first introduced to Wilbur Smith’s writing several years ago while laid up with my leg in plaster halfway through a holiday in Lanzarote. I needed something to read, and there were several paperbacks left behind in our rented villa. When The Lion Feeds was my introduction to this most diligent of writers. I was immediately immersed in historical fiction the like of which I have never experienced throughout the thirty or more years since that holiday.
  
  I followed the Courtneys and the Ballantynes, and then came River God... Well! I was stunned by an epic tale revealing the sweeping grandeur of Ancient Egypt, and narrated with the same authority and attention to detail that I had already encountered in at least a dozen other of Smith’s novels. I was captivated by the character of the eunuch Taita. So much so, that I nearly found myself checking through history books to see if Smith’s story and characters had any basis in fact... (I’ll leave you to make your own enquiries!)
  
  And then along came a sort of sequel that I was not expecting: The Seventh Scroll.
  
  Instead of giving us another adventure with Taita, Smith presents us with a modern day treasure hunt, but with the River God story acting as the map! Immediately I found myself returning to the question: was Wilbur Smith’s remarkable first venture into Egyptian history simply a work of fiction? The pursuit of the truth (and the treasure) is immaculately portrayed, tantalising the reader like a set of hieroglyphs that are both beautiful in presentation, and mysterious in their translation. It would be impossible not to draw a comparison here with the writing of Henry Rider Haggard, and Smith’s hero (Nicholas Quenton-Harper) does have more than a passing resemblance to Allan Quartermain, but I’m not complaining. While Haggard’s stories may have been original, his storylines had more place in comic book fiction. On the other hand Smith manages to take us into a real place, and even the peculiarities of his art-collecting villain manage to avoid the implausible scenarios of a fantasy akin to the likes of Indiana Jones.
  
  Whether you enjoy adventure or romance, mystery or thriller, historical fiction or travel guides, there’s something here for you! Wilbur Smith is unrivalled in painting on a broad canvas, and his artistry at bringing Africa to life in book form has never been beaten. In The Seventh Scroll he has added an extra mixture of intrigue and suspense that takes his writing to the highest level. What is there not to like?
  
• 
  Raiding Bookshelves

  Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook
  Publication Date: November 10, 1995
  Publisher: MacMillian
  Country: United States of America
  ISBN: 0333637704
  Original Language: English
  Age Group: Adult
  Genre: Historical, Thriller
  Buy the Book: Amazon
  Lootability: Grab it and go
  
  The 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.
• 
  Arybo ✨

  4.75
  Avventura pura! Quello che cerco in questo tipo di libri. Fantastico!
• 
  Anne Hamilton

  A bit like Alfred Hitchcock, Wilbur Smith occasionally drops in for a moment or two as a cameo character.
  
  Royan Al Simma and her husband have dedicated themselves to unravelling the secrets of the Seventh Scroll, a cryptic four-thousand year old document, full of riddles and clues to the last resting place of the Pharaoh Mamose. A treasure trove awaits anyone who can decipher the enigmatic puns and misdirections of the self-proclaimed genius, the slave Taita. And that treasure is enough to tempt not only those desiring wealth but also those obsessed with making an immortal name for themselves.
  
  Royan's husband is murdered and, with his dying breath, he directs her to seek out Nicholas Quenton-Harper, a titled Englishman and skilled amateur archaeologist, who has the means to help her in the search for the Pharaoh's tomb. Or rather, "had the means". The estate is in some financial difficulty.
  
  But Nicholas becomes intrigued enough by the attempts on Royan's life to think that perhaps there is some truth in her strange story of a tomb near the source of the Nile. As it happens, he was once in the very gorge and has an intimate knowledge of the difficulties of the terrain. And he has the perfect excuse to go back: he has to regain the family honour. One of his ancestors has been long accused of faking a particular species of dik-dik. The one and only specimen in the family's collection has been regarded as fraudulent for a century. So it's off they go, in the wilds of Ethiopia, allegedly dik-dik hunting... a ruse that should put the killers off the scent.
  
  But which fools no one.
• 
  Chakib Bahbaz

  4.5/5
  
  This is by far the best thing i have ever read , The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith is a historical-fiction novel and the second book in the Ancient Egypt series , the story is a non-stop action that makes your brain evaporates from imagination and in the same time makes you pop your eyes out stick your fingers in their sockets and swirl your brain around ....
  
  First i though that the writer Includes additional , yet unnecessary details and in more than one occasion i lost interest in finishing the story but i kept going on regardless of how twisted and bored i was , few pages after :
  
  
  
  I didn't like how the writer inserted himself in the story in which he was playing a secondary character 'Wilbur Smith' .