This series follows the fates of the Courtney family as they strive to survive and thrive during turbulent historical periods. The story focuses on their relationships, ambitions, and conflicts that shape their lives. Each installment introduces new generations and challenges that showcase how the family copes with a changing world. Readers can look forward to dramatic twists and emotional depth.
"Sean Courtney was raised in cattle country, and accidently maimed his twin brother Garry as a boy. In inflicting weakness, Sean came to despise weakness in all. This, plus his own strength, was to dictate Sean's iron resolve to win, no matter how much the gamble cost. After a stint fighting the Zulu tribes, Sean trys his luck in the gold fields. Venturing an impossible claim which miraculously proves out, Sean gains wealth beyond counting and power. Power that was unmanageable without cunning. But cunning was an art he was to learn the hard way."
THE ROAR OF THUNDER (known as THE SOUND OF THUNDER in the United Kingdom) continues the Courtney saga where WHEN THE LIONS FEEDS left off. Sean Courtney is off to fight the burghers in the Boer War -- first in harrowing missions on the front lines for the British Guides, then as the leader of commandos designed to fight the Boers on their own terms -- guerilla combat in the field. The peace that follows find Sean with hopes of marriage and settling down to farming. But the hatred borne by his twin brother will not allow a peaceful life. Garry, who has been forced to live in the shadow of his twin's superiority since childhood, has vowed to pay him back for the wrongs done him.
'Mark never heard the Mauser shot for the bullet came ahead of the sound. There was only the massive shock in the upper part of his body, and then he was hurled backwards with a violence that drove the air from his lungs.The earth opened before him, and as he fell, there was a sensation of being engulfed in a swirling vortex of blackness and he knew for just a fleeting instant of time that he was dead.' From the trenches of France, General Sean Courtney comes back to fame, fortune and a seat in the Government. Mark Anders, the courageous young South African whom he has come to regard as his own son, returns to nothing, his grandfather murdered, his property seized by an unknown company. At the bottom of the mystery is Sean's son Dirk, the jealous, violent and power-crazed genius whose all-consuming hatred can only end in blood...
'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...
As the young nation is torn by racial clashes and World War II draws nearer, two brothers fight agianst each other for the Power of the Sword--the power to rule South Africa. The latest bestseller from Wilbur Smith (The Burning Shore). HC: Little, Brown.
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.
Beneath the unforgiving, blazing heat of the African sun, two men and a woman embark on a savage hunt. A hunt that will tear their safari apart, plunging them into the relentless tides of a deadly cival war. For Sean Courtney, veteran gurillia warrior and professional adventurer, it is a time to fight and a time to find a deep and passionate love. For the beautiful Claudia Monterro it is a time to face the ultimate test in a world where American values count for nothing. And for Riccardo, her father, a rich and ruthless tycoon, it is a time to confront a dangerous obsession. But in the struggles of passion and blood follow, Sean knows one thing for certain: this is a time to die, and he must battle viciously to live, to love and to triumph. -- back cover
She felt Ramn come awake and spring from the bed, naked and lithe as a jungle cat. She heard the metallic snicker of a firearm as he snatched the pistol from the holster. In the darkness a yellow flower of gun-flamed bloomed, and a single bullet whiplashed across twenty yards of open ground... In the searing heat of a divided Africa two decades of bitter dynastic conflict explode with terrifying ferocity. To Gary and Sean Courtney it is a struggle to the end; brother pitted against brother as they are dragged unwittingly into the lair of an international terrorist. Only Isabella Courtney stands between them and the mutual destruction they have willed for so long. Beautiful, headstrong Isabella; the link to 'Golden Fox' - a man whose alias hides a sinister and deadly secret... Traversing a vast panorama, from the heart of London society to the grandeur of Spain, from parched Ethiopia to war-torn Angola and on to the blazing hunting grounds of South Africa and Zimbabwe, Golden Fox is masterful storytelling from the arena of war; an adventure of stirring, irresistible intensity.
It is 1667 and the mighty naval war between the Dutch and the English still rages. Sir Francis Courteney 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.
It is the dawn of the eighteenth century. At the farthest edges of the known world, the mighty East India Trading Company suffers catastrophic losses from pirates of the high seas. After four years away from service, master mariner Sir Hal Courtney prepares for his latest and most dangerous voyage -- a death or glory mission in the name of the Empire and the Crown. Monsoon is Wilbur Smith's extraordinary new Courtney novel: a story of anger and passion, of peace and war. Action, romance and adventure shape a family's destiny as they contest a prize beyond any of their wildest dreams... 'Let yourself be blown away by the hurricane of storytelling that is Monsoon... a fantastic reading experience.' Sunday Times 'Wilbur Smith is one of those benchmarks against whom others are compared.' The Times
In 1884, Ryder Courtney is trapped in Khartoum during the Sudanese rebellion. He fights long-side Captain Penrod Ballantyne and the British Consul, David Benbrook, as they struggle to survive the bloody siege of Khartoum.
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
Worldwide bestselling author Wilbur Smith will take you on an incredible journey on the thrashing seas off the coast of Africa in this glorious return to the series that made him who he is: The Courtney series.
The Malabar coast is full of dangers: greedy tradesmen, fearless pirates, and men full of vengeance. But for a Courtney, the greatest danger might just be his own family... Francis Courtney flees the comfort of his Devonshire estate when his stepfather's gambling debts leave him penniless and at risk. He sails to South Africa with revenge and fortune on his mind: his uncle Tom Courtney killed his father, and Francis intends to avenge his death and make his fortune in the process. However, upon his arrival in Cape Town, he uncovers a truth that leaves him overwhelmed and disoriented. Christopher Courtney sets out to make his own way in the world, giving up his privileged position as the son of the Governor of Bombay. The perils and betrayals (deleted) on his journey carve a fierce warrior out of him, but they also harden his soul and lead him to greater violence and treachery. As the lives of these two Courtney men intertwine, the sins of the fathers will forever alter the lives of a younger generation. The Tiger's Prey takes readers on an epic journey from the southernmost point of Africa, through the perilous waters of the Arabian Sea, to the lush Indian coastline. It is an incredible and breathless tale of intrigue and family betrayal from one of the world's greatest storytellers.
Paris, 1939. Torn apart by war, Saffron Courtney and Gerhard von Meerbach are thousands of miles apart, both struggling for their lives. Gerhard - despite his objections to the Nazi regime - is fighting for the Fatherland, hoping to one day have the opportunity to rid Germany of Hitler and his cronies. But as his unit is thrown into the hellish attrition of the Battle of Stalingrad, he knows his chances of survival are dwindling by the day. Meanwhile Saffron - recruited by the Special Operations Executive and sent to occupied Belgium to discover how the Nazis have infiltrated SOE's network - soon finds herself being hunted by Germany's most ruthless spymaster. Confronted by evil beyond their worst imaginings, the lovers must each make the hardest choice of all: sacrifice themselves, or do whatever they can to survive, hoping that one day they will be reunited.
But Connie once again finds herself at the mercy of vicious men, whose
appetite for war and glory lead her to the frontlines of the French
battlefield in North America. As the siblings find their destinies converging
once more, they realise that the vengeance and redemption they both
desperately seek could cost them their lives .
A nail-biting story of courage, bravery, rebellion and war from the master of adventure fiction. As the situation becomes violent, and the Courtney family home is under threat, Leon Courtney finds himself caught between two powerful sides - and a battle for the freedom of a country.
When his grandfather Jim Courtney dies, and the mysterious Captain Marston
calls into the fort, Rob's passion is ignited and he stows away on Marston's
ship as it sails to England. Even the family is divided, with Theo's oldest
son Cal an ardent American patriot, while Theo himself feels a strong tie to
his mother country, England.
Adam Courtney has spent his life in service to the navy and in the shadow of
his father, the illustrious Admiral Robert Courtney. But when he returns home
to Nativity Bay to find the homestead destroyed and the Courtney family
murdered, Adam must accept his destiny and seek vengeance.
South Africa, 1820When Ann Waite discovers a battered longboat washed ashore
in Algoa Bay, she is stunned to find two survivors: a badly scarred sailor and
a little boy.
