Book 2), The Sound of Thunder (Courtney Family

Wilbur Smith is an awsome story teller and the sound of thunder is such a believeable adventure that it can actually put you into the character to where you can smell the african air and hear the lions roar at night, totally good read.

Wilbur Smith does his history and accurately depicts events surrounding his protagonist's life. This is yet another winner from him around the Boer War. Characters and events are deeply developed over the book in a historical setting. Would definitely recommend!

Follows on from When the Lion Feeds and continues the gripping saga of the courtney family intrigues in developing S Africa.The Sound of Thunder (Courtney Family)

Wilbur Smith is my current favorite author. I've learned so much about the African continent. This is among Smith's Courtney series. If you read the series, you'll come to know the characters as if they were your own family. His books are page-turners. Once I get hooked, I don't want to put the book down.

Wilbur Smith is an outstanding writer of historical fiction. When I discovered him, I couldn't get enough. Unfortunately, I didn't read his books in order...especially those chronicling the Courtney family. As a result, I read The Sound of Thunder out of sequence which I'm sure lessened my enjoyment of this book. I read the prequel to Thunder first and thoroughly loved it. At the time, I didn't realize that Thunder was out there. So, read a number of later Courtney's before finding it. I think Smith glossed over the transition from the prequel into Thunder making it difficult for even his most faithful readers to enjoy it. I wanted to know a lot more of what happen between his trek and the Boer War. I don't think Smith gave enough detail to the era and way too much attention to the war although he didn't explain enough of why there was a war. Smith was very spare in the level of detail he usually employees in his novels. I enjoyed the read, but for the first time, did not love a Wilbur Smith novel.... Three of five stars.

Wilbur Smith is one of those authors who seems to always get it right. I first started reading his books as a teen and have yet to read any that did not measure up. His writing does not deem to be PC (all white activity in Africa is bad...)but writes of conditions as they were for both the colonial settlers and later the natives as they encountered each other. He writes of a way of life in Africa that is considered both evil and deservedly dead in a way that reminds you that those Boers, English, Hottentots, Zulu, Xhosa, etc were human-all full of the foilables of humanity not simply saints and devils. His descriptions of Africa in the 18/19th century mesh well with the later stories of Africa in its post colonial modern nightmares. You can see families as they move through from early settlements to modern times. The characters are robustly developed and the backgrounds well researched, from medical problems/weapons/languages to story lines that are not full of stereotypes, Mr Smith is the master of literature on southern Africa and its history. I cannot recommend his books too highly!

I discovered Wilbur's books about thirty years ago and own at least 14 paper back copies. I only loan them to people who will leave a DNA sample. In the last two years I have switched from books to the Kindle reader which is such a help to those of us who read more than we eat and have to contend with little more than Dr.'s appointments. I'm not one to complain about things I have no power over. I try to make them work for me. Appointments with Dr.s are always long and I am not a happy camper when I have to wait so instead I always tuck my Kindle into my pocket book and read whenever I have to wait. Besides reading material in Dr.s offices are usually dated and aimed mostly at males.
Changing to the Kindle has been very helful because I love to read when I go to bed since I have trouble sleeping.
The Kindle makes it easy to read in bed with the ability to choose the size of type you need or even have it read to you and it is not too large to handle but the editing is awful. I am not the best of spellers but even I see misspelled words in Wilbur's books as well as other. It is distracting and not the quality of books that I am use
to. Are the books done over seas? Advanced High School students could do a better job and there are many stay at home Mothers who could handle the job and be happy for the income. Can't some one look into this. Besides most computers have "spell checkers" so where do you get these people from?
Think about the above. These "e" books are not the quality the public deserves and does a disservice to the Authors.

Please don't take the "e" books off the market. Just improve them. Keep the jobs in the United States. My life without authors like Wilbur Smith and Vince Flynn would be dull.

An iconic action/thriller writer in the popular format of a family epic series, tracing ordeals and triumphs over generations, in this case against the exotic African background during the Boer war.

This was one of the first `grown-up' (`adult' has the wrong connotations) books I read as a teenager, and I was surprised getting back to it something like twenty-five years later just how much I remembered. I don't know how much of this to attribute to the skills of the writer or to the relative impressionability of my younger self, but I could still vividly recall several of the major incidents - which isn't usually the case with me: I have really enjoyed rereading many books that I only read a decade ago, with far less recollection.

There's much to find offensive and laughable in this book, perhaps mostly in what Smith presents as heroic, although his rigid goodie or baddie characters are also pretty hard to take. Sean Courtney, sure, is meant to be larger than life, but I don't even think being a demigod justifies him bedding both his brother's and his best friend's wives - and somehow being supposed to maintain his unimpeachable integrity. We're supposed to indulgently shake our heads at that rascal. Actually, more than that, we're supposed to respect Courtney's right to any woman who catches his eye because of the purported strength and depth of his passion, and because he's such a manly stud. Otherwise it's your standard shallow hero fare: tougher, smarter, winner financially, militarily, physically etc. Meanwhile, apart from his brother's eleventh hour redemption, people are simply born good or bad - hence Courtney's contrasting two sons: nurture is irrelevant.

Admittedly Smith has the maturity to present admirable and disreputable soldiers on either side, and his historical context is probably one of the strengths of the book. How would I know, but I get the impression he'd checked out some of the battle dates and details, and read some contemporary accounts. This is still, of course, a fantasy story, and we're aware that our hero will survive the hail of bullets, and that the major character's lives are worth considerably more than the cannon fodder around them. I won't begrudge Wilbur the pleasure of that convention. I found it harder to be excited by Courtney's growing prosperity: I don't have the same worship of wealth acquisition so many popular writers seem to assume.

So, in summary, this book worked well enough for me as an engaging historical fiction/action novel, but conflicted with my values of character formation and heroism.

Wilbur Smith is one of those authors who seems to always get it right. I first started reading his books as a teen and have yet to read any that did not measure up. His writing does not deem to be PC (all white activity in Africa is bad...)but writes of conditions as they were for both the colonial settlers and later the natives as they encountered each other. He writes of a way of life in Africa that is considered both evil and deservedly dead in a way that reminds you that those Boers, English, Hottentots, Zulu, Xhosa, etc were human-all full of the foilables of humanity not simply saints and devils. His descriptions of Africa in the 18/19th century mesh well with the later stories of Africa in its post colonial modern nightmares. You can see families as they move through from early settlements to modern times. The characters are robustly developed and the backgrounds well researched, from medical problems/weapons/languages to story lines that are not full of stereotypes, Mr Smith is the master of literature on southern Africa and its history. I cannot recommend his books too highly!

I discovered Wilbur's books about thirty years ago and own at least 14 paper back copies. I only loan them to people who will leave a DNA sample. In the last two years I have switched from books to the Kindle reader which is such a help to those of us who read more than we eat and have to contend with little more than Dr.'s appointments. I'm not one to complain about things I have no power over. I try to make them work for me. Appointments with Dr.s are always long and I am not a happy camper when I have to wait so instead I always tuck my Kindle into my pocket book and read whenever I have to wait. Besides reading material in Dr.s offices are usually dated and aimed mostly at males.
Changing to the Kindle has been very helful because I love to read when I go to bed since I have trouble sleeping.
The Kindle makes it easy to read in bed with the ability to choose the size of type you need or even have it read to you and it is not too large to handle but the editing is awful. I am not the best of spellers but even I see misspelled words in Wilbur's books as well as other. It is distracting and not the quality of books that I am use
to. Are the books done over seas? Advanced High School students could do a better job and there are many stay at home Mothers who could handle the job and be happy for the income. Can't some one look into this. Besides most computers have "spell checkers" so where do you get these people from?
Think about the above. These "e" books are not the quality the public deserves and does a disservice to the Authors.

Please don't take the "e" books off the market. Just improve them. Keep the jobs in the United States. My life without authors like Wilbur Smith and Vince Flynn would be dull.

An iconic action/thriller writer in the popular format of a family epic series, tracing ordeals and triumphs over generations, in this case against the exotic African background during the Boer war.

This was one of the first `grown-up' (`adult' has the wrong connotations) books I read as a teenager, and I was surprised getting back to it something like twenty-five years later just how much I remembered. I don't know how much of this to attribute to the skills of the writer or to the relative impressionability of my younger self, but I could still vividly recall several of the major incidents - which isn't usually the case with me: I have really enjoyed rereading many books that I only read a decade ago, with far less recollection.

There's much to find offensive and laughable in this book, perhaps mostly in what Smith presents as heroic, although his rigid goodie or baddie characters are also pretty hard to take. Sean Courtney, sure, is meant to be larger than life, but I don't even think being a demigod justifies him bedding both his brother's and his best friend's wives - and somehow being supposed to maintain his unimpeachable integrity. We're supposed to indulgently shake our heads at that rascal. Actually, more than that, we're supposed to respect Courtney's right to any woman who catches his eye because of the purported strength and depth of his passion, and because he's such a manly stud. Otherwise it's your standard shallow hero fare: tougher, smarter, winner financially, militarily, physically etc. Meanwhile, apart from his brother's eleventh hour redemption, people are simply born good or bad - hence Courtney's contrasting two sons: nurture is irrelevant.

Admittedly Smith has the maturity to present admirable and disreputable soldiers on either side, and his historical context is probably one of the strengths of the book. How would I know, but I get the impression he'd checked out some of the battle dates and details, and read some contemporary accounts. This is still, of course, a fantasy story, and we're aware that our hero will survive the hail of bullets, and that the major character's lives are worth considerably more than the cannon fodder around them. I won't begrudge Wilbur the pleasure of that convention. I found it harder to be excited by Courtney's growing prosperity: I don't have the same worship of wealth acquisition so many popular writers seem to assume.

So, in summary, this book worked well enough for me as an engaging historical fiction/action novel, but conflicted with my values of character formation and heroism.

I have all 29 novels written by Wilbur Smith (soon to own the 30th) and I have to say without reservation he is one of the best authors on the planet, finishing one of his books is like losing an old friend. He writes in the most grippingly descriptive style I have ever read and his homework is impeccable. If you have not read this mans work you have missed one of the great literary adventures of all time.

The Wilbur Smith novels are phenomenally enjoyable in audio format. John Lee is especially inspired with an amazing range and accuracy of accents. Please May we have more unabridged audiobooks by this author!
I love Audible - thank you!