I can remember the moment I heard about this author. I was in a taxi in Rome 20 years ago. I mentioned to the driver I was headed to Cairo the next day. I asked for a book that could give me some background and the driver snapped into perfect English and said “Wilbur Smith tells an amazing mystery with compelling characters set against the backdrop of actual history, so you can learn better about where I’m going, but not who I’m going to see”… “you have to read River God on the flight”.

I did.

It was the first time I had read a ripping tale while actually learning history, sort of. It was like Wilbur Smith had heard my request and simply said: Hold my Beer. The Ancient Egypt series is an historical fiction based in large part on Pharaoh Memnon’s time, addressing both his story and that of his mother Lostris through the eyes of his mother’s slave Taita, and mixing in elements of the Hyksos’ domination and eventual overthrow.

When I finished, I was asked if I was “going to just keep reading every free hour on the cruise”, much to the consternation of others about our Nile Cruiser. It was as if Mr. Smith said “Hold my Beer” as I read The Seventh Scroll, and Warlock in the passing days. I was so engrossed I almost missed the Temples at Abu Simbel near Aswan. Which underscores the point; good story telling conquers all other forms of distraction. Wilbur Smith was that good at it.

Wilbur Smith, the popular Zambian-born author wrote 49 books and sold 140 million copies before he died at age 88.

*AI assisted with research and drafting. Storytelling and opinions are my own.