Birds of Prey

Having read Wilbur Smith's books about Taita's adventures in Egypt (River God, Warlock and The Seventh Scroll) I'd got a taste for his exciting, descriptive and involving style of writing and I felt like I was at a loose end when I knew that 'that was it' for his Egyptian stuff.

Tentatively, I picked up Birds of Prey, and although it was a bit of effort to get into at first (I later discovered this book is in the middle of 'The Courtneys' series) I soon found I couldn't put it down and became a recluse for the next few days.

As with so many of Smith's books the clever story line follows surprising twists and turns at a furious pace, yet always stays descriptive enough to let you really experience what the characters go through, victorious elation, love, heartache, torture and gore..

I was never really a great fan of any adventures at sea, but THIS BOOK CHANGED ALL THAT. It got me hooked on the Courtney novels. Having since read the two sequels after Birds of Prey I've been unable to prevent myself from ordering the first three books in the Courtney series too. Once I've read those I'll probably re-read this one again and I'm sure I'll pick up on a whole lot of finer points and detail I missed in the excitement the first time around!

If you'd like to have the advantage of starting at the beginning of the series, they're listed here in order:

When the Lion Feeds
The Sound of Thunder
A Sparrow Falls
BIRDS OF PREY
Monsoon
Blue Horizon

Wonderful! (1/1 people found this helpful)

Birds Of Prey follows the Courtney family back about 300 years. It startswith an introduction to 17 year old Hal Courtney and his father SirFrancis aboard the ship the Lady Edwina. Sir Francis is a privateersailing under letters of marke from the king. He is betrayed by a brotherknight and cruelly tortured and executed. It is then up to Hal to savethe day, followed by his trusty friends Aboli, Ned Tyler and DanielFisher. Later his loves Sukena and Judith appear.
This is a wonderfulbook from Wilbur Smith. It is very long, but unlike so many other booksof this size, it keeps moving and every page has a new and excitingsituation to explore.
I only have 2 critisms of this book. The mostspecific is that the 'good guy' characters are just too perfect. It is atheme that runs throughout Wilbur Smiths books. In my opinion, they wouldbe all the more intreging if the good guys had a few flaws to theircharacters.
Like all his books, Smith is in his element when exploring the distantpast, rather than the more 'modern books'.
Am I the only one thatwould like to see him move out of Africa for a setting? Personally, Iwould love to see how Smith would handle a book set in Europe or theAmericas.
Still, a great book that had me hooked from beginning to end! Read it andfinish feeling like you have actually learnt something.

SWASHBUCKLING ADVENTURE ON THE HIGH SEAS!! (3/4 people found this helpful)

OK look, lets get something staright, it has taken me 6 years to get to the final 10 pages of this long but detailed and engrossing book, I never want the experience to end. I feel like part of my life could be over without it. Now thats out of the way lets get on to the plot. Wilbur Smith is a genius of detail, want to learn about Pirate ships? This is the key without trawling through old books and pictures. This is piracy, detailed, it's war and on the high seas in 1667. If this is your bag or perhaps just a tinkle of an interest sparks in the mind sit back and spend (hopefully less time than me) reading this great story! **Cutlasses at the ready**

Exuberant and engaging action, however wildly improbable (10/12 people found this helpful)

In BIRDS OF PREY, it is the year 1667, and we are introduced to the 17-year old Englishman, Hal Courteney. Hal is a crewmember on his father's ship, the "Lady Edwina", as it sails the high seas off the southern tip of Africa. England is at war with the Dutch Republic, and the ship's captain, Sir Francis Courteney, has been given license by the British Admiralty to prey on Dutch trading ships of the United East India Company as they return to Amsterdam from the East Indies via the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Sir Francis captures a Dutch ship carrying the newly appointed Governor of Good Hope and his wife, Katinka. During the period when the Governor and his wife are held for ransom, Hal loses his virginity to Katinka, a sadistic, treacherous, highborn slut. (Well, good breeding isn't everything.) Subsequently, Sir Francis, Hal and the rest of the Lady Edwina's company are betrayed by a former ally, the Scottish Earl of Cumbrae, with the help of a former crewmember, Sam Bowles, and imprisoned at Good Hope. Sir Francis is brutally tortured and executed. Hal and a handful of survivors later escape, acquire another ship, and go on to defeat their primary tormentors, Cumbrae and a Dutch army colonel named Schreuder, against the backdrop of a war between the Christian Emperor of Ethiopia and the Moslem Sultan of Oman. Along the way, Hal inherits his father's captaincy and finds true love (as opposed to hormonal-driven sex with Katinka) - twice.

As painted by the author, Wilbur Smith, the chief characters of this swashbuckling adventure are almost caricatures. The "good guys" - principally Hal and his loyal buddies, Aboli, Ned, and Daniel - are brave, noble and heroic. The "bad guys" - Katinka, Governor van de Velde, Bowles, Cumbrae, and Schreuder - are cruel, dishonorable and totally vile. The action, much as in Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones film trilogy, is wildly improbable, especially over the book's latter half. Similarly, however, that same action is scripted with such exuberance and energy that it's totally engaging. Finally, I read to be transported to places that, in most cases, I will never visit. I doubt that I shall ever ply the Indian Ocean or South Atlantic aboard a frigate under sail. This book took me there in grand style.

THE BOOK I WILL SNUGGLE UP TO FOR YEARS (3/4 people found this helpful)

Well, what can I say, I didn't like boats until I read this! The Cape sections even made me start to learn Dutch, Enspiring, its not the word, Breathtaking and unbelviabley good more the type. This is a book you will snuggle up for years with it so battered that its falling apart from over-reading, well lets sit back, listen to the waves crashing on the hull, the clunks of the stone work on HET KASTEEL at Good Hope, buy this book and it'll change your life. Just as good as Harry Potter!...

Wilbur Smith

Editorial Review:

Reader Reviews:

All the Rigours of Life at Sea (38/38 people found this helpful)

Wonderful! (1/1 people found this helpful)

SWASHBUCKLING ADVENTURE ON THE HIGH SEAS!! (3/4 people found this helpful)

Exuberant and engaging action, however wildly improbable (10/12 people found this helpful)

THE BOOK I WILL SNUGGLE UP TO FOR YEARS (3/4 people found this helpful)

Similar Products

Categories