When the Nile Runs Red: Williams’ “A River of Blood” and the Espionage of 11th-Century Cairo

By Tony Huang

A River of Blood, by Adam Williams (Earnshaw Books, 2025)

Adam Williams’ A River of Blood is a meticulously researched historical novel set in 11th century Egypt. The narrative offers readers an insightful exploration of the Fatimid Caliphate during a period marked by significant political and spiritual upheaval. It is not merely a story but an intellectual odyssey, a breathtaking confluence of ancient theology, pioneering science, and ruthless political intrigue set against the sprawling, magnificent backdrop of Cairo circa 1099 CE.

Williams masterfully evokes the duality of Fatimid civilization through two cities separated by desert yet bound in stark tension: Fustat, a bustling commercial titan where towering funduqs—almost modern skyscraper-like structures—herald unprecedented mercantile dominance; and Qahira, the imperial jewel, seat of caliphal power steeped in the potent mysticism of Ismaili doctrine. Through this chasm of wealth and power, the narrative throbs with a palpable sense of an empire teetering on the brink of collapse.

Samuel, a Jewish physician renowned for his deep rationality, is at the heart of the novel alongside Gregory, his Saxon apprentice. Both men, considered outsiders, must find their way through a dangerous world where logic often clashes with superstition. When the Nile flows blood red, a spectacle seen as divine wrath, it ignites fear and prophecy. Yet Samuel’s forensic precision dismantles myth with microscopic science, revealing that it was a bloom of poisonous red algae rather than a biblical plague. His quest for empirical truth, however, thrusts him into an explosive political crucible where science is a double-edged sword wielded by the caliphate’s shadowy intelligence apparatus, the Dawa.

Williams crafts a narrative that is equal parts detective thriller and philosophical meditation, unveiling how the pursuit of knowledge becomes perilous in a state where theological dogma fuses with absolute political control. The murder of Eli Ben Micah, a tortured, lowly slave whose death echoes with noble brutality, pulls Samuel into a deadly vortex of palace conspiracies, espionage, and factional warfare that extend from Egypt’s sun-baked streets to the looming siege of Jerusalem.

Amid this intricate backdrop, the figures of Jahwah, the duplicitous police chief, and Zumarud, a warrior in the clandestine Nazari faction, emerge as embodiments of the empire’s murky moral ambiguity. Their chess games are not just entertainment but coded dialogues of strategy and survival, framing the novel’s intricate interplay of loyalty and betrayal.

Williams’ A River of Blood is not simply a historical novel; it is a vivid excavation of power—how it is brokered, concealed, and wielded through philosophy, violence, and espionage. It indicts the seductive veneer of intellectual enlightenment under a regime where even scientific truth bows to the altar of political expediency. The search for a rumored legitimate heir to the caliphate’s throne—a pregnant concubine shrouded in myth and hope—propels a sprawling, relentless chase that binds theology to the ruthlessness of survival.

In this work, minute details—a river’s hue, hoofprints pressed in the mud, wounds etched in flesh—serve as keys unlocking grander truths about empire, faith, and the human will. Williams renders a world where history’s blood flows through the veins of science and superstition alike, where ideals can become the deadliest weapons, and where one man’s rational clarity must find its way through an ocean of uncertainties.

A River of Blood is an extraordinary journey into a past both alien and intimately familiar—a tale where intellect, faith, and power collide spectacularly, demanding of its readers both awe and reflection.

Tony Huang

Tony Huang, PhD, is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Hong Kong Review. He is also the founder of Metacircle Fellowship, Metacircle (Hong Kong) Culture and Education Co., Ltd. and Metaeducation. He works as a guest-editor for SmokeLong Quarterly. His poems and translations have appeared in Mad Swirl, The Hong Kong Review, The Best Small Fictions Anthology Selections 2020, Tianjin Daily, Binhai Times, SmokeLong Quarterly, Nankai Journal, Large Ocean Poetry Quarterly, Yangcheng Evening News and other places.

Copy editor: Nancy He

Intern copy editor: Andrew Chan