I'd like to begin by saying that I love Wilbur Smith's books, and it was his Egyptian series that drew me in, thanks to Warlock. I read River God and The Seventh Scroll soon after, and was equally impressed, before branching out to his other series such as the Courtney, and his stand-alone novels.
However, I had always retained an eagerness for a sequel to Warlock, to see what would have become of the characters that I had felt so close to: Nefer, Mintaka, Meren. I know that most fans of the Egyptian series are huge fans of Taita, but while I respected him as an original character, he was never my favourite.
And I had looked forward for years (literally) to The Quest to answer all of my lingering questions.
That being said, The Quest did not live up to my expectations in any way possible. In fact, I risk heresy by considering it to be a true abomination, and if it weren't a Wilbur Smith novel, I don't think anybody would have really been keen to vote for a score over 5.
Everyone has already mentioned the numerous inconsistencies, so I won't dwell upon it. But one of the most disappointing aspects of the book had to be the mutilation of character sketches from the previous books.
The second fatal flaw is the blatant and shameless abuse of sex as a theme. Hinduism accounts for at least 50% of my country's population, and the depiction of the religion as sex-crazed, as Smith did in the very first few pages, suggests a lack of objective research on his part.
But I'd have easily forgiven that, had sex not been the main plot from the first page to the last.
After having read the Quest, I can honestly say that I dont' consider it to be a sequel to the other three because amateur writers writing fan fiction could write a 4th instalment more impressively. I'm sorry to say this in a fans' forum, especially since I am a fan too, but I voted "1" without a second thought.