Wilbur Smith
Paperback | Pages: 544 pages Rating: 4.19 | 12937 Users | 449 Reviews
Details Based On Books When the Lion Feeds (Courtney #1)
| Title | : | When the Lion Feeds (Courtney #1) |
| Author | : | Wilbur Smith |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 544 pages |
| Published | : | October 3rd 2006 by St. Martin's Paperbacks (first published 1964) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Cultural. Africa. Adventure |
Rendition In Favor Of Books When the Lion Feeds (Courtney #1)
Part of the 'Courtney' series'Something always dies when the lion feeds and yet there is meat for those that follow him.' The lion is Sean, hero of this tremendous drama of the men who took possession of South Africa in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
Sean and his twin-brother Garrick grew up on their father's farm in Natal. The first part of the book deals with his childhood and youth and his longing to become a successful farmer and hard-hitting fighter like his father.
The tough life of cattle-farming is brusquely interrupted by the Zulu Wars, when Sean and his brother see fighting for the first time. Wilbur Smith vividly recreates the excitement of the war for the young men-their hope of winning their own cattle, the horror of the massacre at Isandhlwana, the heroism of the defence at Rorkes Drift.
'Witwatersrand' is the name of the second part of this book and it tells the story of Sean's fabulous success in the gold rush and his rich life with Duff Charleywood and the beautiful Candy in the new town of Johannesburg, where huge fortunes were made and lost in a morning's dealing on the Exchange.
The atmosphere of this feverish, violent time is brilliantly drawn: the heavy drinking, the elaborate houses, the ruthless abandonment of the failure. Sean and Duff are caught at last in a trap laid by their rival, the sinister and clever Hradsky, and leave Johannesburg for the wilderness to seek their fortunes once more.
And now the book moves to its climax. At last it seems as though Sean will settle to a quiet married life – but fate has other plans for him. They return to Johannesburg and tragedy strikes quickly. Sean finds himself alone once more...
Filled with action scenes in war and the early heady days of the gold rush, and adventure among the vast game herds of the African wilderness, this novel is dominated by the towering compelling personality of Sean, whose life story is continued in The Sound of Thunder and A Sparrow Falls.
Reviews
* 'Plenty of incident and colour' – The Observer, 1966
* 'Pride of place goes to When the Lion Feeds because it is bigger, wider and more full of plot than all the others put together ...'
– The Daily Telegraph, 1966.
* 'Wilbur Smith has built up his wide-screen adventure story with energy and shrewdness.' – Sunday Times, 1966
* 'Mr. Smith is a natural story-teller who moves confidently and often splendidly in his period and sustains a flow of convincing incident without repeating his excitement.' – The Scotsman. 1966
* 'A very impressive book in its wide scope and its descriptive colour.' – Sphere
Particularize Books Conducive To When the Lion Feeds (Courtney #1)
| Original Title: | When the Lion Feeds |
| ISBN: | 0312940661 (ISBN13: 9780312940669) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Courtney #1 |
| Characters: | Sean Courtney |
| Setting: | South Africa |
Rating Based On Books When the Lion Feeds (Courtney #1)
Ratings: 4.19 From 12937 Users | 449 ReviewsCommentary Based On Books When the Lion Feeds (Courtney #1)
I have read many Wilbur Smith titles over the years, but it was not until April of this year that I read three of the Courtney series titles one right after the other. Numbers 4, 5, and 6. Reading those three books made me want to learn the history of this fictional family. Not only was When The Lion Feeds the beginning of the Courtney books, it was the real beginning of Smith's writing career. His first published novel, it debuted in 1964 and was a world wide best seller (except in SouthSO many reasons to hate this saga of South Africa:1. Happy natives who smile like children as they kill themselves working for white men2. Major elephant slaughters 3. Men raping the environment as they cheat each other over shady deals4. The same men treating women the way they treat the natives - horribly5. Melodramas galore: a man dying of hydrophobia, symptoms described with loving detail; ditto a woman suffering from Blackwater fever; a child forced to witness his brother's leg being
Wow. The end of this book just stunned me. This was quite an amazing story and given the length of this series (13 books in total from the looks of it) and the mass-market paperback-edness of it, I was expecting a lot of heroism, action, some tragedy and just an overall feeling of fluff. I could not have been more wrong. This was utterly fantastic and riveting. Adventure, coming-of-age, drama and historical fiction full of brutal realism and humanity. For the most part, the characters aren't
My full review is at: http://elleisforliterature.blogspot.c... Twin boys, Sean and Garrick, grow up in 1800's Natal, Africa. It covers their childhood and then follows Sean's life during the gold rush times in Johannesburg. Amazing writing that flows. This is the first in the 13 part Courtney series. The audio was stellar. Definitely 'best of' for 2017 for me.
"Francois, how many men up at the face?" "Cave in" "Francois voice was now hysterically shrill. "Cave in". He broke Sean's grip and raced away towards the lift station, the mud flying from his gumboots. His terror infected Sean and he ran a dozen paces after francois before he stopped himself. For precious seconds he wavered with fear slithering round like a reptile in his stomach: go back to call the others and perhaps die with them or follow francois and live.Into the wilds of Natla in the
Recently I read the author's memoirs and was really looking forward to reading some of his many books in South Africa. I picked this one as the first of a series of the Courtney brothers and was not disappointed. Although the two brothers are twins, Sean and Courtney, they are very different in every way, but both interesting. I have always found Africa and the jungle exciting and reading about the wildlife, and human life invading the wildlife, is just as exciting.This book spans the time of
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