When the Lion Feeds
- 544 pages
- 20 hours of reading
Sean Courtney goes to South Africa in the late 19th century to begin farming.
Courtney Saga Series
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.
Recommended Reading Order
The Sound of Thunder
- 432 pages
- 16 hours of reading
Sean Courtney, the impulsive adventurer of When the Lion Feeds, returns from the wilderness a rich man - but encounters a cruel homecoming. '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
- 544 pages
- 20 hours of reading
'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...
The Courtney Epic: The Burning Shore
- 512 pages
- 18 hours of reading
Spanning decades and continents--from the war-torn skies of Europe to present-day South Africa--The Burning Shore tells of a beautiful French woman's struggle to make a new life for herself in South Africa. From the author of The Leopard Hunts in Darkness.
Power of the Sword
- 1235 pages
- 44 hours of reading
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 safe safari apart, plunging them into the restless tides of a deadly civil war.
Golden Fox
- 576 pages
- 21 hours of reading
From The Master of Adventure, Wilbur Smith, an immersive novel in the brilliant Courtney Series
Birds of Prey Airport Edition
- 554 pages
- 20 hours of reading
The year is 1667. Sir Francis Courtney and his son Hal are on patrol in their fighting caravel off the Agulhas Cape of South Africa. They are lying in wait for one of the treasure-laden galleons of the Dutch East India Company returning from the Orient. so begins a quest for adventure and the spoils of war that sweeps them from the settlement of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa to the Great Horn of Ethiopia far to the north - at a time when international maritime law permitted acts of piracy, rape, and murder otherwise punishable by death. Wilbur Smith introduces a generation of the indomitable Courtneys and thrillingly re-creates their part in the struggle for supremacy and riches on the high seas. From the very first pages, Wilbur Smith spins a colorful and exciting tale, crackling with tension and drama, that builds and builds to a stunning climax. Packed with vivid descriptive passages of the open seas, breathless pacing, and an extraordinary cast of characters, Birds of Prey is a masterpiece from a storyteller at the height of his powers.
Monsoon
- 680 pages
- 24 hours of reading
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
Blue Horizon
- 624 pages
- 22 hours of reading
In this novel, the Courtneys are out to stake their claim in Southern Africa, travelling along the infamous Robber Road. This exciting and hazardous journey takes them through the untouched wilderness of a beautiful land filled with warring tribes and wild animals.
The Triumph of the Sun
- 600 pages
- 21 hours of reading
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.
Assegai
- 512 pages
- 18 hours of reading
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.
War Cry
- 512 pages
- 18 hours of reading
With his headstrong daughter Saffron pursuing her education in London at Oxford, Leon Courtney navigates the politics of colonial Kenya.
The Tiger's Prey
- 432 pages
- 16 hours of reading
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 On the perilous waters of the Arabian Sea, the fates of men will intertwine.
Courtney's War
- 464 pages
- 17 hours of reading
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.
Ghost Fire
- 416 pages
- 15 hours of reading
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.
Storm Tide
- 464 pages
- 17 hours of reading
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.
Nemesis
- 480 pages
- 17 hours of reading
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.
Warrior King
- 400 pages
- 14 hours of reading
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.
