Book Review : The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith

 The Seventh Scroll 

[Ancient Egypt #2]

By Wilbur Smith 

Published Year: 1995

Page Count: 700 pages 

Medium Used : Paperback 

Genre : Historical Fiction, Ancient Egypt, Pharoahs, Adventure, 2024-read, Archeology, Ethiopia, Britain, Egypt. 

Rating : 3.5/5 

I thought the story is riveting and the narrative pretty well paced. I liked the book and felt a lot of information was adding  value  to my knowledge. I felt the fight sequences towards the end a bit superfluous. The length of the book could have been shortened. The starting scene is absolutely mind boggling and remained with me well past the book is finished. I couldn't follow all the different actions that went into the construction of the dam and other artifacts surrounding in the story. I think the writing could have given a better picture of how the different structures are posed or like add a picture/photograph to detail it.

This book is continuation of the Ancient Egypt series and is the second book after River God in the line. Duraid and Royan Al Simma are archeologists who have uncovered a seventh scroll in the tomb of queen Lostris. They are interrupted by hostile forces in their task of unraveling the hidden truths of the scroll. Duraid is brutally murdered and Royan barely escapes with her life. After multiple murder attempts against her, she reaches the safety of a rare artifact/relic collector and archeological sponsor Nicholas. They set out on a journey to find the tomb of an Ancient Egypt pharoah Mamose which his servant Taita must have secreted away in the wilderness of Ethiopia. They meet many challenges along the way and some scenes are so lurid/vivid that they feel cinematic. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and experiencing those. I liked the writing of Mr. Smith - only not his description of the landscape and construction work. 

They find the treasure but can only take trinkets. They find the tomb and the dead body but it might not be what they came looking for. 

It is very enjoyable upto a certain point towards the end. The rest can be breezed over and still the story makes complete sense. Cheers!