Courtney Family Adventures

11 primary works

When the Lion Feeds

by Wilbur Smith

Published March 1981

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. . .

The Sound of Thunder

by Wilbur Smith

Published February 1982

'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 abainst the endircling 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 swellign and congesting with blood, his mouth opened and his tongue came out between his teeth.' Sound of Thunder 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, the commanding figure of Sean Courtney, maturing, deepening, develops from the headstrong adventurer of When the Lion Feeds into a seasoned soldier and leader of men.

A Sparrow Falls

by Wilbur Smith

Published 30 May 1977

From the bloody trenches of northern France, Gen. Sean Courtney returns to South Africa and a new life of fame, fortune and a seat in the government. But for Mark Anders, the young South African whom he has come to regard as his son, the return home is an empty and painful experience--with his grandfather murdered and his property seized, he has lost everything. Available in November.

Burning Shore

by Wilbur Smith

Published 22 April 1985

'Centaine screamed and drove the point of her stave down into the jaws with all her strength. She felt the sharpened end bite into the soft pink mucous membrane in the back of its throat, saw the spurt of scarlet blood, and then the lion locked its jaws on the stave and with a toss of its flying mane ripped it out of her hands and sent it windmilling out and down to hit the earth below.' The passionate love of a beautiful French aristocrat for a courageous South African aviator is begun and extinguished in the blazing skies of war-torn France. But Centaine de Thiry is bent on realizing some of the dreams which she and Michael Courtney had shared - and sets out to seek a future for his unborn child in the country of Michael's birth. But in a monumental odyssey of disaster and adventure she must first brave all the combined terrors of war, shipwreck, thirst, fever and the burning vastnesses of Namibia's Skeleton Coast before she sees another living soul...

Power of the Sword

by Wilbur Smith

Published 28 April 1986

Power of the Sword is the story of an intense sibling rivalry in war-torn South Africa from bestselling author, Wilbur Smith.

They were half-brothers, raised in different worlds in the same country, and destined to be lifelong enemies. Manfred De La Ray and Shasa Courtney, sons of Centaine de Thiry, were blood enemies from their very first boyhood encounter. Caught up in the tumult of South Africa's history through two decades, they found themselves adversaries in an age-old war of savagery to seize the sword of power in their land. Sweeping from the teeming goldfields of the highland to the secret citadels of Afrikaaner power, from the clamouring stadiums of Hitler's Berlin Olympics to the raging war over Abyssinia.

Rage

by Wilbur Smith

Published 30 April 1987

There are heroes and there are monsters. But most of us are ordinary mortals caught up in events too turbulent for any of us. Perhaps when the battle is over, all we will inherit are the ashes of a once beautiful land. It is 1952. Guided by the ruthless hands of Shasa Courtney and Centaine Malcomess, the Courtney family empire has come to dominate the lives of white and black South African alike. But the winds of change are fanning fires of revolution. In his deadly quest for power, Shasa will be tested far beyond the battle of the boardroom, forced to betray his ideals for a misguided dream of national unity. Rage is Wilbur Smith's impassioned account of post-war South Africa. It is also the work of a master storyteller at the zenith of his powers: an unforgettable blend of passion, power, history and intrigue. 'The pace would do credit to a Porsche, and the invention is as bright and explosive as a firework display' Sunday Telegraph

Birds Of Prey

by Wilbur Smith

Published 1 January 1997

It is 1667 and the mighty naval war between the Dutch and the English still rages. Sir Francis Courtney and his son Hal, in their fighting caravel, are on patrol off Southern Africa, lying in wait for a galleon of the Dutch East India Company returning from the Orient laden with spices, timber and gold...

Monsoon

by Wilbur Smith

Published 1 January 1999

It is the dawn of the eighteenth century. At the farthest edges of the known world, the East India Company suffers near-catastrophic losses from pirates on the high seas. After four years away from service, master mariner Sir Henry Courtney prepares for his latest and most dangerous voyage--a death or glory mission in the name of the Empire and the crown. But Hal must also think about the fate of his four sons--each will have a crucial part to play in shaping Courtney's destiny.

Blue Horizon

by Wilbur Smith

Published 24 February 2003

At the close of Wilbur Smith's bestselling Monsoon, Tom Courtney and his brother Dorian battled on the high seas and finally reached the Cape of Good Hope to start life afresh. In this spellbinding new novel, the next generation of Courtneys are out to stake their claim in Southern Africa, travelling along the infamous 'Robber's Road'. It is a journey both exciting and hazardous, that takes them through the untouched wilderness of a beautiful land filled with warring tribes and wild animals.

At heart a story of love and hatred, vengeance and greed, Blue Horizon is an utterly compelling adventure from one of the world's most celebrated novelists.

'Wilbur Smith is one of those benchmarks against whom others are compared' - The Times

'A masterstory teller' - Sunday Times

The Triumph of the Sun

by Wilbur Smith

Published 28 March 2005

In the Sudan, decades of brutal misgovernment by the ruling Egyptian Khedive in Cairo precipitate a fierce and bloody rebellion and Holy War headed by a charismatic new religious leader, The Mahdi or "Expected One". The British are forced to intervene to protect their national interests and to attempt to rescue the hundreds of British subjects stranded in the country.

Along with hundreds of others, British trader and businessman, Ryder Courtney is trapped in the capital city of Khartoum. It is here that he meets Captain Penrod Ballantyne of the 10th Hussars, as well as the British Consul, David Benbrook and his three beautiful daughters. Against the vivid and bloody backdrop of the siege of Khartoum, in which British General Charles George Gordon is killed and the British retreat, these three powerful men fight to survive.

Rich with vibrant historical detail and infused with his inimitable powers of storytelling, THE TRIUMPH OF THE SUN is Wilbur Smith at his masterful best.

Assegai

by Wilbur Smith

Published 3 April 2009

1913. Ex-soldier turned professional big-game hunter, Leon Courtney, is in British East Africa guiding rich and powerful men from America and Europe on safaris in the Masai tribe territories. One of his clients, German industrialist Count Otto von Meerbach, owns a company which builds aircraft and vehicles for the Kaiser's burgeoning army.

Leon is recruited by his uncle, Penrod Ballantyne, commander of the British forces in East Africa, to gather information from von Meerbach. But he had not bargained on falling passionately in love with Eva, the count's beautiful and enigmatic mistress.

Then Leon stumbles on a plot by von Meerbach to raise a rebellion against the British amongst the disenchanted survivors of the Boer War, and he alone is able find out who and what is really behind the conspiracy . . .

Assegai is the enthralling last novel in the Courtneys of Africa series by bestselling sensation, Wilbur Smith.

'Smith writes with passion and close observation about the sights and sounds of Africa' Daily Express