Pharaoh

Discussion about Wilbur Smith's Egyptian series.

Pharaoh

Postby dtietens » Mon Jul 11, 2016 4:31 am

Hi all,

Pharaoh (kindle release date 22 September 2016 on amazon.de)

Just received a message that WS will release a new book !
Looking forward to it.

Extract from amazon.de
EGYPT IS UNDER ATTACK.
Pharaoh Tamose lies mortally wounded. The ancient city of Luxor is surrounded, All seems lost. Taita prepares for the enemy’s final, fatal push. The ex-slave, now general of Tamose’s armies, is never more ingenious than when all hope is dashed. And this is Egypt’s most desperate hour. With the timely arrival of an old ally, the tide is turned and the Egyptian army feasts upon its retreating foe. But upon his victorious return to Luxor, Taita is seized and branded a traitor. Tamose is dead and a poisonous new era has begun. The new Pharaoh has risen. Pharaoh Utteric is young, weak and cruel, and threatened by Taita’s influence within the palace – especially his friendship with Utteric’s younger and worthier brother, Ramases. With Taita’s imprisonment, Ramases is forced to make a choice: help Taita escape and forsake his brother, or remain silent and condone Utteric’s tyranny. To a good man like Ramases, there is no choice. Taita must be set free, Utteric must be stopped and Egypt must be reclaimed. From the glittering temples of Luxor to the Citadel of Sparta, PHARAOH is an intense and powerful novel magnificently transporting you to a time of threat, blood and glory. Master storyteller, Wilbur Smith, is at the very peak of his powers.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby E-Hoog » Tue Jul 12, 2016 10:51 am

Hmm, sounds, I don't know, disappointing already :wink: . Where is this book positioned with respect to the others? It's been a while since I read them. Is this after Quest, or after Desert God (which was between River God and Warlock)?
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby johnrogers » Tue Jul 12, 2016 11:07 am

Really not certain if I will read it or not - thinking about it but not finding the inspiration so far today.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby dtietens » Fri Jul 15, 2016 7:20 am

Hi,
For what it is worth the books must set between "The Seventh Scroll" and "Warlock" as far as I remember the characters in each of them.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby tedd » Sat Jul 16, 2016 10:48 pm

Is this a wholly WS book or does he have an assistant writer?
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby johnrogers » Mon Jul 18, 2016 6:14 pm

Changed my mind willing to go one more round with Taita,should be interesting I look forward to it who ever thought we would see 2 more books in the Egyptian series.I must say Taita has taken on many personalitys in the Egyptian series and I did not like his extreme arrogance in the last book it was relentless - ok I admit it Taita was getting under my skin again,read every book in the series and I still do not understand who or what the character is,I lost him half way thru Warlock when he gained his savant powers in the desert.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby E-Hoog » Thu Jul 21, 2016 2:19 am

Good luck John. Let us know what you thought :-)
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby johnrogers » Tue Aug 16, 2016 12:04 pm

Pharaoh:A Novel of Ancient Egypt

Canadian pre order price $14.99 from Amazon ca - Release date Oct 18th/2016

Not 100% certain but I think it is entirely written by Wilbur Smith no co writer involved.Again I am not totally clear but I see no mention of a co author on Wilburs website or anywhere else.

Long live Taita
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby jeffw » Fri Aug 19, 2016 2:51 pm

Hi John, hope you're well.
Read the excerpt via facebook, premise is good, but writing terrible (my opinion). Prior to his, plus/minus, last half dozen and at a stage of semi retirement, Wilbur was bringing a book out every two years; now quadrupled his output..? And at 80+ years old..? Don't think so. Spends most of his time off fishing and travelling; Doesn't add up. Too old, the strain would see him off. Also, the style is totally different so don't be fooled by no co-author on the cover, only the most hardened of his fans refuse to accept the inevitable. Sorry, John, WS is being kept alive by his paymaster, the genius is long gone. A shame.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby johnrogers » Fri Aug 19, 2016 11:45 pm

Yes for certain Jeff ,Wilbur has been pounding Facebook with promoting Pharaoh with a vengeance.All of the cover pics only display Wilbur Smith as the writer and there is no mention of a coauthor,saying that I checked out Wilburs website and noticed that not one of his books that was cowritten displays the coauthor name,so I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part that Wilbur was the only author.Regardless Jeff if only out of loyalty I will read Pharoah,even though reading Desert God killed off about 25 billion of my brain cells and may have damaged me forever.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby jeffw » Sat Aug 20, 2016 1:56 am

Go for it, John, can't bring myself to venture any further in than the excerpt - would kick it over the fence and be forced to console myself with Sean and Duff heading for the Witwatersrand... The past is a safer place for me to be. Stay safe and stay in touch. Jeff
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby vincent » Sat Oct 22, 2016 11:14 am

I have just finished reading Pharaoh.
Mixed feelings but I do not want to spoil anything. Seems to fit in as a sequel to Warlock or Desert God but there are some serious time line errors so it is difficult to slot it in 100%. They did not spoil the story though.
This must be the 1st ever WS book that does not have any sex scenes at all. This was quite refreshing after the smut in the Cross books.
I suggest you all get it and read it. Even if you are not impressed let us give him a bit of slack.
regards to all,
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby johnrogers » Sun Mar 05, 2017 5:28 pm

Does anyone know if Pharoah is written entirely by WS or is there a coauthor involved.I think Wilbur is the sole author but I am not certain.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby tedd » Sun Mar 05, 2017 11:40 pm

Hi johnrogers - this is an extract from an interview with WS when discussing co-authorship - he seems to be totally in favour of being open about co-authorship but then on the other hand there have been many comments about Pharoah where nobody believes that he could have written such incoherent drivel. He stated that he had a contract for writing 6 books with HarperCollins but we have only seen one with a co-author (Golden Lion). So who can tell?

You recently signed a "book-sharing scheme". How will this work?
It's not as simple as that. I've got a contract with HarperCollins for six books. I have the option to write them myself, or to write some myself and look at co-authorship later. When that possibility was first mooted, I was horrified: I stood up in my Napoleonic pose, hand across my breast, and said, "My genius shines out so loud and clear that I'm going to do it all on my own." Then it occurred to me that this would be a way of perpetuating my stories, even when I'm slowing down.
Doesn't this dilute the concept of authorship?
No – it's been happening from writing's earliest days: Alexandre Dumas had dozens of writers working for him. As long as it's clearly stated that this is co-authorship and not someone ghost-writing for Wilbur Smith, I don't see that I'm cheating my readers.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby E-Hoog » Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:39 am

Hi John, I admire your perseverance. I've given up on his new work a long time ago. I just enjoyed a new run at the Ballantynes and am now starting the sunbird again on ebook and eye of the tiger as an audiobook (one of my favourite stand alones) :).

Edit: actually, full disclosure: I started golden lion, but gave up after ten pages. For me the story had finished with birds of prey, my all time favourite. I really hate (yes, hate) these sequels that are smashed in between existing work, because you know in advance who is going to be killed off, who survives etc. Nothing of real importance can happen, because there is no continuity of these story arcs into the already existing body of work.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby johnrogers » Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:46 pm

Hi EHoog and Tedd

Good to hear from both of you and I am still not certain if Pharaoh has a co-writer or not.I will admit reading Pharaoh is not high on my priority list but I do intend to read it one of these days.At the moment I have been bingeing on reading Bernard Cornwell I intend to read every one of his books and at the rate I am going I just might accomplish that this year.By far this is the best reading adventure I have ever been on,I am thrilled with every word on every page,in fact I am in La La Land with Bernard Cornwell and his story telling.
I read thru Golden Lion and enjoyed it well enough I think Golden Lion is the best of the bunch with the new novels that have been released in the last few years.I found Golden Lion was a bit watered down compared to the rest of the Courtenay series,but there was something about it that rang home with me,I give credit to Goldon Lion to its co-author Giles Kristian,and since I have read every book that Giles Kristian has written.WS made a good decision hiring Kristian to co-write as he is an historical genre writer.There is no doubt in my mind that Giles Kristian composed most of the book,Giles Kristian,and to understand what I mean by that you would have to read two of his books,not the Viking series but the Bleeding Land triology which takes place in England 1642,King Charles and the war with Parliament.The writing style is very much like Golden Lion.I suggest Ehoog and Tedd to read some Giles Kristian.

Take care you two
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby dtietens » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:40 am

Hi John, I am also in need of a few good reads. Seemingly Bernard Cornwell has a whole library written already. Which book/series do you recommend to start and to get hooked ?
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby tedd » Fri Mar 10, 2017 8:44 pm

johnrogers ehoog et al - I think we can assume that WS is sticking to his word - if there is no co-author noted then WS is totally responsible. As dtietens states, there is a new WS book War Cry published next month which has David Churchill as co-author. I also seem to recall that Giles Kristian indicated that he would NOT be doing another co-authorship with WS.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby johnrogers » Sat Mar 11, 2017 12:36 pm

Hi dtietens,I agree it is very difficult to decide where to start when you read Bernard Cornwell,his library is extensive, about 50 books in total,after a week of pondering and research I chose The Last Kingdom Series,which consists of 10 books in total.I am now trying to decide where to go next I think what I will do is try a few of his standalone and then begin The Sharpe books,21 books in the series.Whatever you decide when you begin reading BC will be the right choice they are all equal and captivating one is as good as the other.One thing to consider when you read BC is be prepared for a lot of violence and gore,it is historical fiction but very dark,so be sure your ok with that before you begin.
Pay attention when shopping on Amazon you can purchase Bernard Cornwell series in bundles.Example - I purchased books one to eight in The Last Kingdom series at a bargain price rather than buy them on an individual basis.All series are available in this manner.Make certain you read in proper sequence - very important
Last edited by johnrogers on Sat Mar 11, 2017 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Pharaoh

Postby johnrogers » Sat Mar 11, 2017 12:55 pm

tedd wrote:johnrogers ehoog et al - I think we can assume that WS is sticking to his word - if there is no co-author noted then WS is totally responsible. As dtietens states, there is a new WS book War Cry published next month which has David Churchill as co-author. I also seem to recall that Giles Kristian indicated that he would NOT be doing another co-authorship with WS.

Co-author David Churchill looks very interesting,looks like he has published trilogy,The Leopards of Normandy about William the Conqueror and in fact would be very interested in reading it.I am certain Wilbur Smith does pick and chose his writing partners very carefully.
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