Customer Reviews

Blue Horizon (Courtney Family Adventures)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wilbur Smith never seems to run out of ideas. In "Blue Horizon" he takes us to South Africa(a favorite stomping veldt!). It's the early 18th century and we find the Courtney family (the next generation following "Monsoon") set for further adventures. Complex as "Dynasty" and any daytime soap opera when it comes to a myriad of characters and all the given possibilities of what their actions and reactions might incur.

Jim Courtney is set to make further success in the Cape of Good Hope colony, but, like Odysseus, a sea storm occurs blowing a ship full of Dutch female convicts into port, and from there Jim certainly rides the waves, saving the life of the most seductive prisoner (of course) just in the nick of time. Thus begins a few navel maneuvers of their own.

That facetiously said, of course, "Blue Horizon" is vintage Wilbur Smith. His legions of fans expect nothing else and they get it, in full gale force, in this long (and perhaps drawn out) story. Expect to lots of elephants, nefarious Dutchmen, treacherous Bushmen, lusty women, virtuous women (well, at least one!), conniving Englishmen---the whole littany of "baddies." But what Wilbur Smith adventure would not have these characteristics? Wilbur Smith is Wilbur Smith, for better or for better, and graphic descriptions and local color abound. Smith does get a bit verbose and that can be tiring, but in general his yarns are worth the effort. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

Note: This is an edited review. The first review I submitted had a spoiler in it, which I shouldn't have put in there.

For anyone who enjoyed Monsoon, this is a perfect sequel and a magnificent novel. It doesn't start out quite as a "sequel", focusing on Jim Courtney; though his father Tom, Dorian, Sarah and Jasmina are in the book, as well as Dorian' son, Mansur. Jim instantly falls in love, as Smith's characters so often do, and risks life and fortune to rescue a pretty girl from a convict ship. Forced to flee north with her into the African wilderness, his saga is fascinating, though it does plod at times.

Smith really brings Africa to life in his novels. He's featured the tiny bushmen in previous books, and in this one we meet Bakkat, an incredibly appealing character. The almost superhuman bushcraft and joyous existence of these diminutive people really add to the appeal of this book, and give us more of the kind of insights into African history and tribal variations which Wilbur Smith always delivers.

His family help Jim "escape" justice, however, and when this is discovered they are themselves forced to flee north up the East Coast of Africa, where they hope to establish a fort and new life at Nativity Bay, a desolate place fans of Smith will remember. They also hope to meet Jim there eventually.

The Dutch have meanwhile sent a small party of vicious soldiers to chase Jim, and they have their own bushman, who is a mortal enemy of Bakkat.

The Courtneys flee north and eventually meet some Arabs who claim that the Caliph of Oman has been temporarily overthrown, and that the desert tribes are searching for al-Salil (Dorian) to lead them in their fight against the brutal tyrant who killed Dorian's adoptive father.

At this point the story simply explodes with adventure, multiple plots, tragedy, vengeance, violence, passion, and unstoppable excitement, involving all of the Courtneys. Monsoon gave us the unforgettable reunion of love between Tom and Dorian. This one gives us some reunions of hatred and revenge. I read this 620 page novel in two days. I couldn't put it down.

As fond as I was of Taita and River God; I was a bit disappointed back in 2001 to see Warlock on the shelves (though it was a tremendous novel). Ever since the end of Monsoon I've been lusting to read more about that saga. This book delivers everything I could have asked for in a novel and in a sequel. I can't recommend it highly enough. Monsoon is one of my five favorite novels of my life. This one is just as good.

In a certain sense, historical fiction is like science fiction, except one looks forward while the other looks back. Certainly both genres are wide-ranging in what they cover, not only in terms of topics, but in terms of style. Look at some of the big names in historical fiction: James Michener writes epics focusing on the evolution of a place rather than characters; James Clavell writes sagas of intrigue in eastern Asia; John Jakes focuses on U.S. history and writes what may be considered soap operas. Then there is Wilbur Smith, who uses history as a backdrop to adventure stories.

The somewhat outdated and politically incorrect term for Africa is the Dark Continent, a reference to the fact that it was largely unexplored and mysterious. To a large extent, this remains true for popular fiction: Outside of some North African WWII tales, few novels take place on this continent. Wilbur Smith is the exceptional writer in this regard.

Blue Horizon is a sequel to Smith's previous novels of Birds of Prey and Monsoon, focusing on several generations of the Courtney family, English expatriates who are trying to eke out a living around the South African Cape. Birds of Prey follows Hal Courtney; Monsoon follows Hal's sons, Tom, Guy and Dorian; Blue Horizon deals with the same characters plus Tom's son Jim and Dorian's son Mansur. Jim rescues a woman from a convict ship and they both wind up fugitives pursued by bounty hunters. Meanwhile, Dorian, adopted son of the Omani caliph, must contend with his vicious step-brother who has ascended to the throne.

The focus in this story is on adventure as the heroes move from one perilous situation to another. "Heroes" is definitely the right word, as these are definitely good guys; similarly, their foes are unquestionably evil. It is obvious that Smith, despite his historical context, is not all that interested in realism, but that's okay; that's not what you look for in such a book. Similarly, the extremely progressive attitude of the protagonists - anti-slavery and completely tolerant of other races and religions - may be a little optimistic from a historical standpoint, but Smith makes it work.

Actually, if there is a lesson to come out of this book, it is that these attitudes actually do pay off, as the heroes are able to achieve success as a result of their positive qualities; the villains, on the other hand, can only achieve victory through force, resulting in a less lasting success. But such lessons are secondary to what this book is all about: fun and adventure, and in this area, Smith is successful enough to rate five stars.

For anyone who enjoyed Monsoon, this is a perfect sequel and a magnificent novel. It doesn't start out quite as a "sequel", focusing on Jim Courtney; though his father Tom, Dorian, Sarah and Jasmina are in the book, as well as Dorian's son, Mansur. Jim instantly falls in love, as Smith's characters so often do, and risks life and fortune to rescue a pretty girl from a convict ship. Forced to flee north with her into the African wilderness, his saga is fascinating, though it does plod at times.

Smith really brings Africa to life in his novels. He's featured the tiny busmen in previous books, and in this one we meet Bakkat, an incredibly appealing character. The almost superhuman bushcraft and joyous existence of these diminutive people really add to the appeal of this book, and give us more of the kind of insights into African history and tribal variations which Wilbur Smith always delivers.

His family help Jim and his new lover "escape" justice, however, and when this is discovered they are themselves forced to flee north up the East Coast of Africa, where they hope to establish a fort and new life at Nativity Bay, a desolate place fans of Smith will remember. They also hope to meet Jim there eventually.

The Dutch have meanwhile sent a small party of vicious soldiers to chase Jim, and they have their own bushman, who is a mortal enemy of Bakkat.

The Courtneys do reunite with Jim and Louisa (the girl he escaped with), and they also meet some Arabs who claim that the Caliph of Oman has been temporarily overthrown, and that the desert tribes are searching for al-Salil (Dorian) to lead them in their fight against the brutal tyrant who killed Dorian's adoptive father.

At this point the story simply explodes with adventure, multiple plots, tragedy, vengeance, violence, passion, and unstoppable excitement, involving all of the Courtneys. Monsoon gave us the unforgettable reunion of love between Tom and Dorian. This one gives us some reunions of hatred and revenge. I read this 620 page novel in two days. I couldn't put it down.

As fond as I was of Taita and River God; I was a bit disappointed back in 2001 to see Warlock on the shelves (though it was a tremendous novel). Ever since the end of Monsoon I've been lusting to read more about that saga. This book delivers everything I could have asked for in a novel and in a sequel. I can't recommend it highly enough. Monsoon is one of my five favorite novels of my life. This one is just as good.

I've been a fan of Wilbur Smiths for many many years and I've read all of his books. Blue Horizon is a classic non stop adventure. I didn't want to put the book down and I could not wait to see what was going to happen next. Wilbur has a way of taking you on a journey, drawing you into each scene and keeping you guessing what will happen next. Action, adventure, twist, thrills, and romance flows from page to page. This is one of my favorites!

Topnotch voice performer Tim Pigott-Smith gives an exhilarating reading to the latest adventure yarn by one of our most popular authors. By turns suspenseful or serene, but always spellbinding Pigot-Smith's reading adds even greater depth to a thoroughly entertaining tale.

In this eleventh installment of the lives of the Courtney clan we are reminded that brothers Tom and Dorian Courtney proved their mettle while conquering enemies and forces of nature on a treacherous sea as they made their way to the Cap of Good Hope.

The story takes up some 25 years later to find the brothers successful and content as fathers and merchants, settled near undeveloped Africa. True to form Smith now introduces the next generation of Courtneys - Jim and Mansur who, very much like their fathers before them seek to make their individual marks on their part of a beautiful yet dangerous continent by traveling the "Robbers' Road."

This route holds much in store for both: romance, mortal risk, and reunion. Each of these elements meld into an exciting saga as only Wilbur Smith can imagine it.

- Gail Cooke

If Wilbur Smith had been a painter, he would have been Michaelangelo rather than Monet. He is incapable of doing anything that is muted, but writes in bold dashing narrative about one of his favorite subjects the Courtney clan of South Africa and the peoples of the region as well.

I have lost count of the number of novels he has written, but I could go check because I have them all. I think his best writing has been about the Courtneys and he has done it in a most interesting way in that the latest three books about them, Birds of Prey, Monsoon and Blue Horizons are about the origins of the clan. These have been written long after he has written about the progeny of the Courtneys in numerous books whech describe their exploits to the present time.

Others have told the story line of this book in the reviews that appear here and my recounting it once again will not add or detract from your decision to obtain the book. What I will say is that reading a Wilbur Smith novel is the closest thing to reliving the history of the times as you are likely to find. He mixes all of the elements, action, intrigue, and passion into a delectable concoction and delivers it with the master's touch.

Blue Horizon is a sprawling adventure drama in Wilbur Smith's ongoing series that follows the Courtney clan as it swaggers across the vast tapestry of 18th-century Africa. While it is not exactly a melodrama, it is carefully - and successfully - gadged to draw out a strong emotional response from the reader. The Courtneys hunt like lions, rut like satyrs, amass great fortunes, and generally dominate their world with indefagitable will and unshakeable humanity. In the soaring climax, they face an axis of evil so vile and repugnant that one simply must respond with a cheer when they prevail, even though it comes without a shred of surprise. None of the characters change much in the course of the story: the heroes grow more heroic and the villains more dastardly until the whole of Southern Africa is too small to contain them all at the same time. Blue Horizon is a simple chase and revenge plot and there is never much temptation to read ahead to find out how it turns out. The great joy in this book is in the journey.

I would happily give this book 4 stars, but better plots and prose would find it unfair. Smith seems to have an inexhaustible supply of over-wrought metaphors, and he isn't shy about peppering the pages with them. The story also suffers under its wildly varying time-framing and meandering, distracting subplots. Smith is an acknowledged expert on his native Africa, and this story's exotic setting is thoroughly believable in his hands. It is a setting so obscure and unfamiliar, in fact, that he gets away with making grand fictional events seem wholly believable. This historical atmosphere suffers at the hands of the protagonists, however, who possess out-of-place 21st-century attitudes and morals. Fortunately, this does have the desireable side-effect of making it easy for the modern reader to relate to them. More than once, I found myself wistfully wishing that I was as rugged, rich, charming, and lucky as a Courtney.

If you like your heroes with a dark and troubled edge, and look for villains that have a human side, I might recommend that you skip the Courtney sagas and try Smith's "Triumph of the Sun." This is tale more attuned to well-known events in history, and proffers characters that are more complex and fully human. In the end, however, Smith's wonderfully vivid pictures, enviable characters, and emotionally involving story win the day.

Superb book! Truly worthy of being part of the latest installements of the Courtney Series. The ealier Smith books, though good, dont really measure up to his latest books like River God, Seventh Scroll, Birds of Prey, Monsoon, Warlock etc. Blue Horizon fortunately belongs to the latter, and it does not dissapoint. The only problem that I found were the minor plot holes and the discontinuity from the previous installment (the overall story is carried on nicely from Monsoon, but some details were inaccurate in the book. Yasmini's mother for example is said to have died when she gave birth to Yasmini, though in Monsoon she was still alive when Yasmini was a 12 year old.)
These are minor mistakes however, as Wilbur Smith's genius is not in creating a literary novel but in providing his readers with some old fashioned entertainment, something that no other author does better. Like Birds of Prey and Monsoon, the action set peices are truly grand, with tribal battles, elephant (and other animals) hunts, ship battles, duels to the death, desert warfare and many more. But the highlight of the book was I found, in the climax. Though all his books have a strong climax, Smith had created a truly mind blowing finale in this book, outdoing even the River God climax (which was grander and more awe-inspiring, but not as rousing). Only perhaps the running of the Red Road in Warlock can match the Blue Horizon climax for sheer energy.
Readers looking for great literature however can continue their search for that is not these books provide. But readers looking for one of the best adventure yarns (if not the best) will not be dissapointed at all.

Smith continues to build the English based Courtneys of Africa clan he started in Monsoon with a second generation that has an Arab link. The adventures are even more fascinating given the current socio-political atmosphere of the Muslim influences in the world. A great read!