Courtney Family Adventures
11 primary works
Book 1
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. . .
Book 2
'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.
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5
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.
Book 6
Book 9
Book 10
Book 11
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
Book 12
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.
Book 13
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