The Sunbird

I bought the kindle version of this book and couldn't be more disappointed. As a I wandered my way though the typo-littered text I was astounded by the blatant misogynistic attitude of the book. The female characters of the book are constantly described as childish or child-like and must be guided by the greater expertise of the men.

I've read many of Wilbur Smith books but I was seriously disappointed by this one. Not only was the editing for the kindle edition exceptionally poor but I am not interested in reading a book that lacks any serious female lead while the two male leads are busy showing off spectacular feats of strength at every turn. The characters are under developed and the plot is unsurprising and boring. I wish I could return the item but unfortunately that option isn't available for kindle books :(

I read this book as a teenager and still remember it well. I was completely enveloped by the two worlds depicted in the parallel stories separated by thousands of years. The entire concept was brilliant.

When we recently started to downsize, and as part of that process got rid of all but a couple of boxes of our more than 3000 books, this was one of the few that made the cut to keep. (We read almost exclusively on Kindle now, so we're not really cutting access to the books, just getting rid of the space hogging physical copies).

I consider it to be a classic.

Has Spoliers
Take this review with a pinch of salt because I am talking about a reading from 20 years ago. I read about 8 (more than 5 not more than 10) Wilbur Smith books. I was young. They were racy, stereotypical, testosteroned, adventures. After about 8 books, they all seemed the same. But this one sticks in my mind. It was different. It is experimental. It is the only book by Wilbur that I can remember. Some of the viewers complain that it does not have a conclusion. It is open. It is a tragedy. It is even philosophical. The whites may be super intelligent and great long distance runners but they are doomed. And the book goes some way to say why. It reminds me a little of One Hundred Years of Solitude (because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth). It is a Wilbur Smith adventure. But it is the book where I feel he shared and bared his soul more than any other. It is a troubled book. And it sticks with you, with me anyway. It has a sort of honest self loathing, an exploration of the dark side of White civilsation. It is Oedipus in Africa. The Heart of Darkness. I want to read it again.

I had never heard of Wilbur Smith and knew nothing about the book. I didn't even know it was about Africa, I thought it was about Egypt. Great book, fantastic escapism. A bit of a slower read than I am accustomed to, probably took me twice as long per page, I don't know why. Very well put together, a lot of details that I never found to contradict each other. Good read. As a side note, I would be greatly shocked to find that whoever wrote the front and back cover ever read the book.

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.

This is a book about an archaeologist, Dr. Ben Kazin, who has been looking for a lost city all his life. It all starts when his friend and boss, Louren Stuvesent, shows a picture of he faint outline of something that looks like a city. So Ben along with his lovely assistant, Sally Benator, and his friend Louren, Venture out to the Bushvelt of South Africa. As the story goes along Ben and Sally find more and more little discoveries that lead to much bigger ones. Along the way Ben Kazin meets new people one of which is a small Bushman named Xhai. He also meets a few Terrorists along the way that threaten his life. In this book I learned lots of new things about Africa, mainly the Bushvelt. The author describes the landscapes of the Bushvelt in amazing ways. He describes many different animals such as the Gemsbok and the Eland. There are also descriptions of the surrounding cities and archaeological points of interest near Ben's lost city. The author also describes cities that still thrive to this day like the country of Johannesburg and the city of Cape Town which are located in South Africa. I would recommend this book to people who like fiction, adventure, danger, and history. I would also recommend this book to experienced readers not little kids. This is a book I know many people will enjoy.

The Sunbird I've read other reviewers who pan this book, calling it unrealistic and saying it promotes white supremacy. I can't disagree more. I am 66 years old & first read this book when it was a Readers Digest chosen book in the mid Seventies for book of the month club. I was in my thirties then and thought it magical and telling of a story that would be written just as the attitudes of the people were in the century the story would have happened. There is nothing racist intended. I have since read it about every three years, buying newer printed versions as it has come to be such a special book in my heart. I have all of Wilbur Smiths books but this is my favorite.

The Sunbird suggests an answer to the mystery "what happened to the defeated Carthaginians the Romans destroyed? It begins with two modern day archeologists excavating a newly discovered city in central Africa. The two are very dissimilar; one being a rich and gracious eccentric multi-millionaire who is funding the project, and his faithful henchman, a brilliant and very strong man who happens to be a hunchback.

The story begins in the modern day digs and as our heroes fall prey to traps that are left for grave robbers we jump back in time to these same two heros who are the two main leaders in a hidden city that was founded by the Carthaginians after they escaped the wrath of Rome. This city is hidden at the end of a river in the center of darkest Africa and tells the magical story - a "what if?" story that is part fictional history and part ancient legend come to life. It is full of action as it might have happened in that time and the struggles this ancient city went through in trying to survive.

The Sunbird lifts your spirit and excites your immagination. This was one of Wilbur Smith's first books and is more fiction than fact, whereas his writings of the past 20 some years have been based soundly on historical fact that is told in fictitious story to make it interesting. Like his current 4 books on ancient Egypt.

I strongly recommend it for all ages from the teens to "old folk" like me!

I have read this book twice only. My daughter has just reached the age where it would be appropriate for her and, while feeding her hunger for books, I remembered how good this book is. The second time I read it in a single sitting following a party where I didn't drink and I was waiting for everyone else to wake up. They woke, got on with the day and left me there reading. It is that gripping. It's a big book by the way, must be 8 hours or so of continuous reading. I loved the story device of having the same characters inhabit different bodies through the two parallel stories and hated finishing it. So now I'm going to buy another copy and read it again.

No exaggeration ! I have read absolutely everthing Wibur Smith has written. Sunbird was the first. I loved it from the first. It's not for the fussy ones who don't like superlatives - like the reviewer who wrote he would not read any other books of Mr. Smith's. My second favorite is "Rage of the sea" which I have read so many times I have lost count. Its strong, boisterous, sweeping and very easy to read. I'm glad for all you new readers that it's still in print cos' my copy is more than 20 years old, in fact 28 printed in 1972.Enjoy.

The two near-collision planes have nothing to do with the story! I almost didn't read the book because I'm not really interested in military stories, but a friend recommended it so highly, I took it home and spent the whole weekend immersed in this enthralling adventure.
Modern archeologists are excavating the site of a ruined city in Africa and as they uncover artifacts (vaguely similar to Carthage) they are drawn into, and become, the people who inhabited this mysterious city which vanished centuries ago. Could it be reincarnation? Is that what helped them uncover this city? Whatever the reason, this was a fascinating exploration of an extinct culture and a great read.

Wilbur Smith has great talent in developing characters one feels they can know and relate to. His knowledge of Africa is extraordinary and extensive. If one wants to know more of the culture , tradition and history of Africa this this book is a good start.

One of the reviewers here claims that 'The Sunbird' is racist in its essence and that W. Smith must have been more careful and write it 'impartially' as the 'Indiana Jones'. I will agree with the first part of this opinion and admit that somewhere I also got annoyed by the implications for the superiority of the 'whites' over the 'blacks'. However, I don't agree with the second part of this view: I prefer Smith writing according to his beliefs and not trying to be 'politically correct', even if that annoys the reader. Further, I believe that this book is so beautifully written and the above issues should only be viewed as secondary. The 'Sunbird' is a magical book that makes you want to read it again and again. Smith's writing is so natural and masterful at the same time that makes the 'Sunbird' an almost classic read. The characters (black and white) are given extremely well, especially Dr. Benjamin Kajin, and the plot always keeps the reader's attention without being predictable. I recommend the 'Sunbird' to everyone- whether you are a Smith fan or not.

This book should be purchased with an eye toward Wilbur Smith's strengths as a writer and not as a literary piece. Smith's works are entertaining and adverterous, but little else. His characters are fully developed, but hardly plausible, as well the plots in his book. Think of his writing as a fun trip to an amusement park like Disneyland. The "Pirates of the Caribean" was not intended to be believed, but simply to entertain the imagination. Little more than an afternoon spent escaping reality. So too, this book.

An interesting premise to begin with. But halfway through the book I started wondering "where is he going with this?". The material is a bit dated for today's reader. The characters are typical for Wilbur Smith: men are manly and women are damsels in distress.

I just felt that if Smith was really trying to draw some kind of parallel between the two worlds, it stayed parallel and never came together. It seemed sometimes that it was a gratuitous adventure in blood, killing and testosterone. It simply did not have any of the political intrigue that I remember from River God (still one of my all time faves) and Warlock.

Although people may say that the story is predictable, that the characters are cardboard and as deep as a petri dish, sometimes we need it. If you want a little magical escapism with heroes, heroines, villains, love and war, then this is the book for you. I can guarantee you that it will spirit you away for the length of your read. Buy it, you will get your moneys worth.(I've read mine four times over!!)

This is Smith at the peak of his formidable powers. Amazing story-telling, detailed description, gripping action, sympathetic (and not-so-sympathetic) characters....it's all here. I read it every few years to remind me what a great novel is.

Get it. Read it. Praise it.

Let's first describe the book without passion or judgment. There are two tales, cutely parallel. The first tale is set in the 1960's or 70's. It concerns a South African multilingual super-talented white hunchbacked Anthropologist. This hero, together with his rich (white) friend and patron, explores an archaeological site. The third important character is a black guy, who is talented but alas feels no loyalty to the great country of South Africa. So it's a tale of bonding between two superb white guys and the treachery of a black guy.

The second tale is set 2000 years in the past, at which time apparently there was a white empire in southern Africa, whose remnants were being explored as the archaeological site of the first tale. The lead character is the Sunbird who is, ahem, white hunchbacked uber-talented, and the best friend of the king/emperor who is also a great adventurer and hero. And (you guessed it) the third important character is a strong black guy, a bit short of loyalty, who organizes an uprising that destroys the great white empire that surely must have existed in southern Africa.

Now I must warn that this review might contain trace amounts of sarcasm, which has been known to be occasionally harmful to straight-thinking minds.

This is one great book. I read it when I was a teenager, more that 15 years ago now, but the memory of the wonderful adventures and fundamental truths still burns fresh in my mind. Remember, these were the great days of Apartheid, now sadly lost, but perhaps not for ever.

Now, young as I was, I already knew that white people were gods, so the underlying bits of supremacy philosophy did not bother me too much. And, perhaps as Wilbur Smith intended, I was justly disgusted by some black people's refusal to be happy under Apartheid and slavery. And the main white characters are described so well... oh just as white people should be, the men strong and adventurous and always onto new conquests, the women beautiful and marvelous.

The only complaint I had with the book was the invention (or is it the truth?) of a white empire in ancient southern Africa. I mean, why bother with this convoluted story of Whites having been in South Africa before? We already know that whites deserve African land (actually, all land) as a divine right, so no justification is needed. But it doesn't hurt of course to be comforted by the safe knowledge that white people were in South Africa already 2000 years ago, and also anywhere else their past presence might be required for the ideological purpose of the day.

I hear this book is popular in the American South, you know, that wonderful place you really ought to fearlessly visit especially if you have dark skin, or even better, if you have white skin and a dark-skinned boyfriend. Oh, and I also hear Wilbur Smith didn't stop writing tales after the fall (temporary?) of Apartheid. I wonder what he's writing about now? If I were still a teenager, I'd read and find out, but alas, time passes and I am one no longer.

ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH MR. SMITH, I CAME UPON A COPY OF "SUNBIRD" AND HAVE READ AND REREAD THIS MAGICAL PIECE MANY TIMES. IF YOU ARE COST EFFECTIVE DRIVEN, THINK OF IT AS TWO NOVELS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE. WHATEVER....READ THIS BOOK; ENJOY; LEARN; AND THANK ME ONE DAY.

The first part of this novel takes place during the present. When Dr. Kazan discovers the lost City of the Moon there are many unanswered questions about the past. In the second part of the book the author takes you to the citie's past and the unique civilization that lived there. Wilbur Smith incorporates some of the characters from the present into the ancient past. It is quite an imaginative plot.
What fasinated me was that on the T.V.show NOVA there was a documentary about an archaeological discovery of the lost city of Ubar in southern Arabia. Pictures from the space shuttle confirmed the location of this city buried in the sand. It makes you stop and think of how little we know of the ancient past.

A page turner from the very beginning, another fine book by Wilbur Smith. You can feel the excitement and be swisked away to the times and places the novel is set in. Historical adventure at its best.