Sunbird [Mass Market Paperback]

Wilbur Smith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0449148254 | ISBN-13: 978-0449148259 | Publication Date: March 22, 1992

It all beings with a blurry, black-and-white aerial photograph. To the trained eyes of Dr. Benjamin Kazin, it is the archaeological discovery of a lifetime: evidence of an unknown ancient African civilization and their legendary City of the Moon, a city that, according to myth, vanishes with the light of day. Now Dr. Kazin, with his lovely assistant, Sally, and wealthy businessman Louren Sturvesant, launch an exploration that will soon threaten to unleash the forgotten violence of the past into the precarious present . . .

Editorial Reviews

Review

"When it comes to historical fiction, Smith is without rival."--"Tulsa World"
"Each time I read a new Wilbur Smith I say it is the best book I have ever read--until the next one."--"Times Record News "(Wichita Falls, TX)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

It all beings with a blurry, black-and-white aerial photograph. To the trained eyes of Dr. Benjamin Kazin, it is the archaeological discovery of a lifetime: evidence of an unknown ancient African civilization and their legendary City of the Moon, a city that, according to myth, vanishes with the light of day. Now Dr. Kazin, with his lovely assistant, Sally, and wealthy businessman Louren Sturvesant, launch an exploration that will soon threaten to unleash the forgotten violence of the past into the precarious present . . .

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett (March 22, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449148254
• ISBN-13: 978-0449148259
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,589,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Wilbur Smith was born in Central Africa in 1933. He was educated at Michaelhouse and Rhodes University. After the successful publication of WHEN THE LION FEEDS in 1964 he became a full-time writer, and has since written 30 novels, all meticulously researched on his numerous expeditions worldwide. His books have been translated into twenty-six different languages

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Wilbur Smith masterpiece., March 14, 2004

By 

citan-uzuki "citan-uzuki" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Sunbird (Hardcover)

The Sunbird is written by the same author who wrote the highly-acclaimed The Seventh Scroll. And, as is the case with Smith's other novels, the story takes place in Africa. The first half of the novel covers the events in the lives of three people: a brilliant scholar, a wealthy businessman, and a young female understudy. The second half is an ingeniously told flashback through time and what might have been the previous or past lives that these same three have had many centuries ago.

There's plenty of adventure, politics, history, and romance in this novel. And, as always with Wilbur Smith, lots of violence. In some ways, Smith reminds me of the American author, Harry Crews. They both love to write about the primitive side of human nature. Plenty of violence, cruelty, greed, and injustice. Smith is different though, in that he is also a writer willing to put great beauty and passionate romance in his novels to balance out the ugly. One cannot read a Wilbur Smith novel and not yearn to visit the African continent.

In my opinion, The Sunbird is not quite as good as The Seventh Scroll. However, it is still a great reading experience and definitely better than most adventure novels out there.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but flawed in its intent., December 26, 1997

By 

David Rasquinha (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sunbird (Audio Cassette)

By far my favorite of Wilbur Smith's books. The plot is a bit fanciful; a man who is scorned professionally as an archaeologist and who carries a chip on his hunchbacked shoulder, his beautiful assistant, his wealthy friend and patron who protects him, bankrolls him, steals his girl. The characters are not exactly innovative and fit well within Smith's genre types. However what makes this book worth repeated reading is the device of using two separated times starring the basically the same characterizations and scenes. The picture of a great ancient civilisation, its norms and culture, its history and glory and its ultimate tragedy is painted in bold confident brush strokes on the canvas of Africa. The descriptions are vivid, the imagination bold. One experiences the vignettes in the lives of Huy Ben Amon and Tanith as mush as Benjamin Kazin and Sally Benator. One rejoices as their lives take shape and love blooms, one mourns as they stumble towards the final tragedy. But moving as it is, the book is fatally flawed by Smith's overt use of it as an allegory for the battle fought by the blacks against the whites of Zimbabwe and South Africa. His sympathies with the latter are evident as he mourns the destruction of a system that though evil, is "better than its proposed replacement". A book to marvel at and enjoy, but beware of his hidden agenda.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eerie and entertaining, April 18, 2003

By 

Steven L. Davis (Ansonia, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sunbird (Mass Market Paperback)

I've recently re-read "The Sunbird" after many years, and found it just as terrific a read as ever. Without giving away any plot points, what got me the first time still gets me, the well-executed parallel stories, modern and ancient. The charge of racism voiced by several reviewers is perhaps understandable, but one has to keep in mind that the book was written at a time (the late 1960s) when the kinds of events described in the "modern" section of the story (tribal Africans taking up arms against descendants of white colonists) were common. I didn't find Timothy Mageba a one-dimensional caricature, but a complex and conflicted man who finds it necessary to sacrifice personal loyalties for what he believes is a larger good. Anyway, I don't want to make the book sound like a Poli Sci text, it's a fast, entertaining read, full of intrigue and romance, and eerie enough to make your hair stand up a little at times. Worth a read.