A Sparrow Falls: The Courtney Series 3

Smith fell off his pedestal long ago. This book is an example of how bad his work has become. There is the sentimental descriptions of people. Almost loving details of the beauty of nature and the delicate nature of people. But somehow the book devolves into comic book characterizations of the main characters. The got his romance elements of last are telegraphed and almost obligatory. The violence at times crosses the line of good taste i.e. describing a dog fight.
Through it all there is a sense of innocence I found disturbing. On one hand we read of the betrayal of thousands of white workers in what I found to be a heavy handed anachronism about a multicultural society. Considering this book was written in the late 1970s right before the height of the anti-apartheid movement I question the sincerity of this sentiment. I wonder what Smith would say if he saw the White shanty towns of displaced White folks who are the descendants of the reformers of Sean Courteney.
The women in this book are stronger and more stubborn than the men. In fact Storm Courteney is a scandalous persona who leads the family to ruin. Spoiler alert? No but I'll say Storms behavior and her presence is an albatross neither Sean her father nor Mark her nemesis can free themselves.
The book is 200 pages too long where a long tangential story leads us to the demise of beloved characters. Sadly the villains are extreme symbols of greed and not very sympathetic.

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 the store 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).

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.

In reading the reviews, I was dismayed that some readers experienced trouble obtaining some of these books (Trilogy). How can that be? - this Courtney Trilogy is or should be considered a classic. I read the series when they were first published and I still remember the stories. To the powers that be, please do not stop publishing this trilogy. I gave away my set and will make sure I have another set purchased soon.