Becky H. (ficaddict) reviewed on 10/26/2008 + 7 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

This was the first of Wilbur Smith's books I ever picked up, somewhere late in my college career when it was either read something fictional or burn out trying to write my thesis. Thick though it is, it's a fast read, quick paced and engaging from almost the first sentence (which is generally thought to be the goal). Set during the European colonization of Africa, this first book in the Courteney brothers series introduces us to Henry, called Hal, as he quite literally runs himself to exhaustion working and learning on his father's ship. Sailing under letters of marque from England, Sir Francis, a knight of the order of St. George and the Holy grail (the successors of the Knights Templar), searches Africa's coast for Dutch trading ships to commandeer and rob. On one such ship, he finds the new governor of the Cape of Good Hope and his wife Mevrouw. The couple are held for ransom, but it is not long until Mevrouw, called Katinka, finds young Hal an interesting diversion in her captivity. Sword fights, a Dutch colonial prison, a first-hand look at the European slave trade, and brushes with native wildlife, native peoples and warring western nations take readers by the throat through a ten year quest for wealth, justice, revenge and hope on the part of Sir Francis' crew, eventually led by Hal himself.

It's rare to find a story this fast-paced and detailed that also includes eroticism and passionate love, and yet since life gives us those opportunities as well, Smith includes them in masterful detail. It's just a fun read, and interesting to those who are fond of history but not necessarily familiar with that of Africa. This first book leads us to several more as the generations of the Courteney family live on and make parts of Africa their own. I loved it and continue to do so. This book is one I'm *not* trading!

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