The brilliant slave invented a system for calculating the rise and ebb of the Nile, is extremely knowledgeable in the ways of healing, improves upon the wheel and trains horses (both of which were brought to Egypt by the invading Hyksos). We know that he is clever and wise, but we don't know how he became so learned or what his country of origin is.
These maneuvers set the stage for the story of two warring Nile kingdoms, the arrival of the Hyksos and the ultimate exodus of the Egyptian court, now ruled by Queen Lostris. Knowing of his daughter's love, Intef devises a plan for her to become the bride of Pharaoh Mamose. Taita is the slave of Egypt's scheming Grand Vizier Lord Intef, whose daughter Lostris is in love with Tanus, a young army officer whose father's demise was brought about by Intef's greed. Containing all the standard elements of great adventure-intrigue, romance, greed, cruelty and furious action-the yarn is spun by the clever eunuch Taita, who reports on events with an irony akin to a 20th-century sensibility. A bestselling writer in England but not as yet well-known here, Smith ( Elephant Song ) may attract a wider audience with this compulsively readable historical novel based on the little-known facts behind the Hyksos invasion of Egypt, circa 1780 B.C.
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