A Life Spent Reading

Wilbur Smith has been writing action novels centered on Africa for something like four decades now, and he hasn’t lost his touch yet. This latest is the fourth installment of his “Egyptian” series, which takes place both in the time of the Pharaohs and (in one book) modern times. The series started with River God, which was one of the best historical adventures I’ve ever read. It continued with The Seventh Scroll, which was also very good, and then Warlock, which was all right but a bit of a let-down after the first two. Well, even Smith can’t hit homers every time.

The Quest picks up the story of Taita, a couple of decades after the action in Warlock. Personally, I didn’t care for Taita’s transformation from da Vinci-like genius into a full-blown magic-wielder, but Smith, having gone that route in the previous novel, of course develops the idea further in this one. And I have to say that while The Quest may not be quite up to the standard set by the first two books in the series (it starts off rather slowly), it is better than Warlock and is certainly very readable. By the time you get halfway into it, you’ll be hooked.

Smith lost his beloved wife Danielle a few years back and has since re-married to a woman far younger than he himself is. Knowing this gives The Quest an added dimension; Taita regains his youth and has the chance to get together with the reincarnation of Queen Lostris from River God, the love of his life, but one that he was earlier unable to consummate due to his status as a eunuch. (Yes, that little problem gets taken care of too. Ain’t magic great?)

At the end of the day, this book is a worthy addition to the Egyptian series. Smith still had a knack for telling a story, corny dialog and all, and his novels bring you back to a time when honor was something to be proud of and it was easy to tell the good guys from the bad. If what you want is escapist beach-reading, you can do a lot worse than to pick this one up.

I don’t know why Owen Wilson is famous. Or successful. He plays the same sort of character in every movie, reads his lines the same way, and has the same no-energy delivery no matter what the situation. If he were a stock I’d short him, because I can’t believe that people are still going to be watching him five years from now.

Drillbit Taylor is a formula “comedy” about a couple of nerds who are just starting high school. They get picked on by upperclassmen and hire Drillbit — who’s actually a homeless guy — to be their bodyguard. I guess there might be something in the premise that wasn’t mined by My Bodyguard twenty or thirty years ago, but this movie doesn’t utilize it. When the best joke in the movie comes from mangling German, well, you know you’re just about out of ideas.

The only redeeming part of this film is the girl who plays one of the nerd’s love interest. She’ll be hot in a few years, and seems like she might be able to act as well. But she’s not enough to justify the price of the rental. Give this one a miss.