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'Only once in his life had Sean met a man whose stength matched his own - and now again they were pitted against each other. He drove the heel of his right hand up under Jan Paulus's chin, forcing his head back against the encircling left arm. It should have broken Jan Paulus's neck. Instead he locked his arms around Sean's chest below the level of his armpits - and squeezed. Within seconds Sean felt his face swelling and congesting with blood, his mouth opened and his tongue came out between his teeth.'
The Sound of Thunder by Wilbur Smith is a vibrant tale of war, and of love and hatred in many forms: between brothers, between friends, between father and son, and between man and woman. Striding through its pages is the commanding figure of Sean Courtney, as he develops from the headstrong adventurer of When the Lion Feeds into a seasoned soldier and leader of men. The second novel in The Courtneys sequence, The Sound of Thunder is a powerful story of family tragedy set against the backdrop of the ravages of the Second Boer War.
When the Lion Feeds is the first novel by bestselling author Wilbur Smith and the first book in his successful series about the Courtney family.
'Francois, how many men up at the face?'
'Cave-in.' Francois's voice was now hysterically shrill. 'Cave-in.' He broke Sean's grip and raced away towards the lift station, the mud flying from his gumboots. His terror infected Sean and he ran a dozen paces after Francois before he stopped himself. For precious seconds he wavered with fear slithering round like a reptile in his stomach; go back to call the others and perhaps die with them or follow Francois and live.'
Into the wilds of Natal in the 1870s are born Sean and Garrick Courtney, the twin brothers who could not be more different. Fate, war and the jealous schemes of a woman are to drive them even further apart. But as history unfolds a continent is awakening. And on its horizon is the promise of fortune, adventure, destiny and love. . .
