Unbeknownst to me, this is one of a series of books detailing the lives and times of the Courtney family in the early 1800's in South Africa. I love epic tales and this installment did not leave me disappointed. I can't wait to get into the rest of Wilbur Smith's works and hope this book, in particular, is made into a movie. I've already cast the main characters in my mind.

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This is the third in Smith's trilogy about the early exploits of the Courtney family after Birds of Prey and Monsoon, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Blue Horizon continues with the next generation of the Courtneys and takes place in the 1730s. Jim Courtney is the son of Tom and Mansur is the son of Dorian. At the beginning of the novel, Jim rescues a beautiful young woman from a prison ship who had been falsely accused. They escape into the African wilderness with the Dutch military hot on their heels. Along the way they have many adventures including hunting elephant for the ivory (sigh!), and fighting back the brutal Nguni natives who are intent to kill everyone in their path. Then later in the story Dorian and Mansur are out for revenge against Dorian's adoptive brother Zayn al-Din who has usurped the throne of Oman which rightfully belongs to Dorian. Tom's evil twin brother, Guy, also shows up in allegiance with Zayn... All of this leads to a very exciting conclusion that nicely concludes this part of the Courtney saga.

Wilbur Smith died late last year (November 2021) but he evidently left some unfinished manuscripts some of which have already been published using a co-author. Although some of these do continue the early Courtney saga, I have seen some very negative reviews of them so I will probably let them pass. I do want to read his earlier books however, which portray the family from the 1860s onward.

I enjoyed Blue Horizon as a really great adventure novel but it did seem to be unending at over 800 pages. It contained a lot of history and information about Africa some of which was a little hard to read about. This included hunting for ivory by killing magnificent elephants. Smith also had a tendency towards subtle racism with his portrayal of the African tribes in the story. But it was still an absorbing adventure and I will be looking forward to reading more from him.

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And to think, the descendents of the Courtneys are probably reality TV stars today....

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One of my favorite authors. A great adventure. Never a dull moment.

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