It’s not often I wonder why I get given a book as a gift, but as I never showed any interest in Wilbur Smith, Ancient Egypt, books that could be aimed at children (were it not so violent, maybe), or books about wizardry, I have no idea why I was given this book as a birthday present.

This book sees 3 pharaohs try to unite Egypt. There are battles, boys coming of age, attempted rapes, wizards giving advice, and all round ancient battling. If you like this sort of thing, then you’ll enjoy this book, but it wasn’t for me, as it wasn’t my sort of book

My biggest issue with the book is that it felt like he padded the run time. There were meanders that really didn’t need to be there, beyond making the book longer.