Blue Horizon (Paperback)

“Blue Horizon”, then, sees Smith returning to the early Courtney family books, following on from “Birds of Prey” and “Monsoon”. This one begins with Jim Courney, son of Tom from “Monsoon”, having to leave his family and travel into the African wilderness to be with the woman he loves (we expect nothing less from Wilbur Smith!). That’s about as far as the jacket blurb goes, and completely fails to inform you that once again Smith makes the scope of his story truly epic. Earlier in the book you may feel you don’t know all the characters at all because the focus is placed on Tom and his love, Louisa – but soon enough the focus changes, as Smith strikes the balance between adventures on the African mainland and returns to the thrilling sequences on the open sea experienced in “Blue Horizon”’s prequels, and takes the reader into the lives of each of his characters individually.

Without giving away the plot, some old villains return from the past, and new ones appear on the scene, too. The Courtneys have to fight for their very existence, from Table Bay to the Caliph’s Muscat of Dorian’s childhood.

I will admit that ealier in this book I was in danger of becoming a little bored with it – it seemed that the basis of the story was Jim running away across the desert, and then finding out what his pursuers were doing. From the length of the book it’s easily apparent to even the new reader that Wilbur Smith writes long books, but unusually for him the opening of this one seemed to drag a little. However, read just a little further and the book will have you (probably literally) gasping for breath. An incredible sea battle, lasting about 30 pages, and one character trying to save another from falling over a precipice for almost 10 are just two highlights in this excellent story. Rest assured, those sequences do not drag – if anything you’ll wish they went on longer. Similarly, if you feel put off a little by the opening sections of “Blue Horizon”, stick with it, because it quickly opens out into true epic-Smith, and once again the actions of his heroes truly seem to mean something, as they begin to affect the fate of entire nations.

With incredibly historical accuracy, Smith weaves you into his world, and soon enough you won’t want to leave (except perhaps to find a book on nautical to terms to work out what the hell his thoroughly accurate sailing terminology actually means – though it doesn’t interrupt enjoyment of the book). This is certainly not an intellectual fix, but with prose of such quality you’d be forgiven for making that mistake; this is, put simply, a brilliant adventure story. If that’s what you’re after, then buy it from the benchmark of the genre.

Wilbur Smith delivers again with this brilliant tale of adventure in Southern Africa. Once more, the Courtneys are the central characters - I found the family tree available at Smith's web site a valuable reminder of who everybody was before starting to read this book.

I have read all Smith's books and for me he can do no wrong. His descriptions of all the actions are gripping and he always takes pleasure in describing the death throes of some characters. Some descriptions of bodily functions are not as gripping!!!!

I always find that Smith's books seem to finish up too quickly and also leave the reader wanting more. There's another Courtney book here for sure.

Smith's love of Africa shines through as always, yet he manages to find new strong characters for each story. This is a must for all Wilbur Smith fans. For those new to Smith, I would recommend reading other Courtney books to get maximum enjoyment out of this one.

He has brought Africa to life for millions. His novels have stretched from the Egyptian Empire through the first European incursions to modern day South Africa and Zimbabwe.

These are old fashioned adventure stories full of "boys own" heroes and heroines. His characterisation is strong and his plot construction almost flawless.

Blue Horizon carries on the story of the Courtney family and follows on from Birds of Prey and Monsoon. If you haven't read these then I suggest that you do so before reading this book.

This story tells of Tom, Dorian, Jim and Mansur Courtney and deals with the English settlers during the time of Dutch rule in South Africa and Arab rule along the Eastern seaboard.

We follow the different individual stories of the 4 main characters and Smith effortlessly brings their stories together and apart as the need arises.

He brings to life the sights and sounds of an alien world. You can see the herds of game and elephant. The various tribes of bushmen and Nguni. His action scenes are absorbing and you feel close to the heroes and their opponents.

His love of Africa is evident in every book and this is no exception. He portrays the Europeans, Arabs and Africans as they really were. There is little in the way of European favouritism as he draws the best and worse of every nationality involved.

As you read you mourn for the days when the world was this fresh and noble. You yearn to see the almost numerous quantities of game and elephant, the likes of which we'll never see. He shows the joy of the kill and the guilt felt afterwards by the true hunter for a quarry taken and never to be replaced.

We changed Africa and Smith shows us what we lost.

I look forward to a new Wilbur Smith and rush to the stores/Amazon to get the first copy available. I have read everything, eagerly await the next and re-read the earlier works.

If you're new to Smith then I hope that you'll come to love his writing too.