60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good ending to a great trilogy, March 11, 2001
When it comes to adventure novels and novels about Africa (especially South Africa and Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)) no one can compare to Wilbur Smith. Wilbur Smith's understanding and knowledge of the people, animals and history of Africa is unmatched.
Wilbur Smith's first novel was When The Lion Feeds (and is still one of my all time favorite novels). When The Lion Feeds introduces us to his most memorable character-Sean Courtney. The series starts in the mid to late 1800's when Sean and his brother Gary are children. Without going into too much detail, the first book covers young Sean's life through the Zulu wars and the great gold rush. After the gold rush (and after Sean looses millions and millions of dollars) Sean starts his career as an ivory hunter (this is just prior to the boer wars). There is one scene in "When The Lion Feeds" where a close friend of Sean's sucomes to rabies and is one of the most vivid and frightening narratives that I've read). "The Sound of Thunder" is the next book in the series, and without getting into to much detail, deals with the Boer Wars, and his estrainment with his twin brother Gary and his son Dirk.
Then of course comes "A Sparrow Falls". "A Sparrow Falls" begins in the trenches of France during WWI where Sean meats Mark Anders who comes to take the place of Seans estranged son Dirk (and his dead son Michael). "A Sparrow Falls" is about the building of South Africa after WWI. It covers everything from the start of the unions in South Africa, to the start of the Game Department. All three books ("When The Lion Feeds", "The Sound Of Thunder", and "A Sparrow Falls") cover the history of South Africa and the adventures and fortunes of Sean Courtney from the mid 1800 to the early 1900's. The only reason I gave "A Sparrow Falls" a four star rating is because it put to an end my favorite series.
I have read all of Wilbur Smith's novels, and this trilogy is by far my favorite (although his series about the Ballantynes and Rhodesia, "A Falcon Flies", "Men Of Men", "The Angels Weep", and "The Leopard Hunts in Darkness" comes in a close second). Unfortunately, some of these books are no longer in print and can be hard to find. I think "When The Lion Feeds" is no longer in print, and "A Sparrow Falls" can be very difficult to find, but Amazon did manage to find it for me after looking for almost a year.
This review is pretty vague because it covers about 60 years of South African history (a very active time) and a very complex character (Sean Courtney). Suffice to say, if you like adventure books, and if you have any interest in the history of South Africa, you should run out and find these books (If you can).
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
not great wilbur smith, June 5, 2001
By A Customer
im an avid wilbur smith fan and i have read all his books, starting ten years ago. due to lack of availability, i have had to acquire many of them out of country, including canada, britain, the far east, and south africa, where i started reading them. it seems like wilbur only became popular in the US with river god. I consider a sparrow falls to be his weakest book. after reading a number of books on south african history, fictionalized or not, i find a sparrow falls to be much fiction, little history, as opposed to lion feeds and sound of thunder. its like this story was made only to finish off the series and tie up the loose ends. my favorite of his novels were the next five courtneys and elephant song. of course, anyone interested in the fictionalized history of southern africa, the worlds most fascinating, also has to read the covenant. try robert ruark as well for eastern africa.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
In my opinion this is the best of the Courtney novels., January 16, 1999
By A Customer
This is the third novel dealing with Sean Courntney and is the best of the Courtney novels. To me Sean is a much more likeable character than in previous novels, while Dirk is as evil as any of the arch villans that Smith has had in any of his books.
However, this book tends to be difficult to find in print, but if you get an oppertunity to read it, do so, because it will make the other books that deal with the Courtneys more enjoyable.
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