Wilbur Smith · 1993 · river

Wilbur Smith's 1993 novel of ancient Egypt, told by the slave Taita. When the Hyksos and their war-chariots shatter the pharaoh's armies, the widowed queen Lostris leads the survivors of a broken kingdom in a great exodus south, up the Nile past the cataracts into the wilds of Nubia and Ethiopia - there to gather strength for the day they will return and reclaim Egypt.

1. 1
   Thebes

   In the glittering, decadent Egypt of the pharaohs, the eunuch slave Taita serves his mistress Lostris and the warrior Tanus - until the Hyksos sweep in from the east with horses and chariots and shatter the kingdom on the Nile.

2. 2
   Aswan

   With Egypt fallen to the invaders, the widowed queen Lostris gathers the survivors and leads a great flight upriver, past the roaring cataracts at Aswan, abandoning the drowned glory of Thebes for the unknown south.

3. 3
   Nubia

   Deep in the harsh wilds of Nubia the exiles build a new life, mining gold and mastering the horse and chariot, forging in the desert the strength their lost civilization will one day need to win back its river.

4. 4
   Ethiopia

   Their wanderings carry them at last to the highlands of Ethiopia near the sources of the Nile, a strange and beautiful land where Taita and the exiles gather their power before the long-dreamed return to reclaim Egypt.