When the Lion Feeds: The Courtneys, Book 1

This is the fourth book I have both read and thoroughly enjoyed by Wilbur Smith: (1) Birds of Prey, (2) Monsoon, (3) Blue Horizon, and now (4) When the Lion Feeds. I have tried to read each of these sagas which centre about the Courtney Family in chronological order. Each volume has been an exciting page-turner and kept me enthralled throughout! I love Mr Smith's exquisite and commanding use of prose and vocabulary. He intoduces the reader by immersion into the times and cultures of each period he tackles. He's a man's man kind of writer and I don't agree with the few reviewers who see soap-opera characteristics in his sterling writing prowess. His works which deal with seafaring were most educational and capable. Whether he is describing a bar fight or a battle scene, he is both realistic and gripping. What I love about Mr Smith's books are his heroes: Sir Francis (Franky) Courteney, his son Sir Henry (Hal) Courtney, his four sons, my two favourites being, Tom and Dorry Courtney, then their respective sons, Jim and Mansour Courtney. The theme of brothers who are twins yet are so quite different, is powerful. The injustices that befall our heroes are heart rending and also have helped me to feel a camaraderie and authentic consolation. Betrayal, misunderstanding, irrational and senseless hatred, evil and suffering are all depicted by this Rembrandt of a writer! I got to fall in love once more with Africa too! I have met many wonderful folks from South Africa and Rhodesia back when I lived nearby decades ago.Sean Courtney is maginficent! He's a flesh and blood character who grows into manhood and presents himself as a hero without trying and clawing at such a lofty estimation. He just is a guy whom one would admire and love to have a beer with and go hunting for elephant or digging for gold. A real man's man who never sees himself as a hero or is stuck on himself. I thought Sean's relationship with his closer-than-brother friend and bosom mate Duff Charleywood was wonderful to witness. It reminded me a bit of the recent Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey, Jr, and Jude Law. There was as much that was unspoken between the two as was they uttered that spoke realistic volumes of how men interact, what makes us who we are, our humanity, and all the degrees from heaven to hell and in between. In particular, I liked how Sean attempted to explain his love of hunting to Duff. Magnificent and realistic!Katrina and Sean's courtship and relationship was credible in my reader's view. I won't spoil what happens by revealing what transpires.I hope Mr Smith's novels are to be made into movies of quality one day as well! Reading Wilbur Smith's novels spurs me on to want to read more and more and soon I shall start "The Sound of Thunder," the continuation of the story centring about Sean Courtney and dealing with the Anglo-Boer Wars.His novels touch home for me too. I am descended from both English and Dutch as well as Scottish and French Huguenot ancestors. Some of my ancestors even fought against one another, English against Dutch in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 1600s. It's funny how several generations later the descendants from sworn enemies will meet, mate, and merge their DNA.Wilbur Smith's characters are writ from another era, I believe. I grew up reading Victorian Age literature as well as Classical Greek and Latin, not to mention Ancient Hebrew. It is now the 21st Century and perhaps some readers are so exposed to contemporary anti-heroes that they wouldn't recognise a real hero if he smacked him in the face with his righteous fist. Smith's characters are realistic and they are writ large in a tradition of storytelling that is lasting and not ephemeral.I have purchased all of Mr Smith Courtney novels and anticipate further reading fun and adventure with each one! If you enjoy fast moving and action plots, twists, fortunes made and lost, the excitement and fever of hunting, good and old fashioned friendship between pals, then open up one of Wilbur Smith's novels and be prepared to be entertained, moved, educated and never bored!

When the Lion Feeds is volume one of six novels featuring "The Courtneys" although the books are not written in chronological order. The family saga begins with twins Garrick and Sean growing up on a cattle ranch in the Natal area of Southern Africa. When the Zulu nation raids the area the two brothers and their father join a brigade to fight and defend their land.After the war the twins return home to the ranch but when a horrible misunderstanding fomented by Garrick's wife occurs Sean sets out on his own to start a new life. Along the was he meets Duff, a mining engineer, and they decide to seek their fortune in the Witwatersrand, the site of a frenzied gold rush. Over several years the partners amass a large fortune through hard work, determination and cunning.but end up losing everything when they are blindly deceived by another powerful man. Seeking a new beginning they travel to "The Wilderness" to hunt elephant for their ivory tusks. During their travels in the bush several momentous events occur that I will leave to the reader to discover for themselves.This is first and foremost an excellent adventure story but it is much more than that. it is a story about the friendship between two rugged men, the loyalty between a master and his slave and the unspoken love of a man for a woman. It is also about the love of the rugged African land and the savagery and beauty that define it as well as the freedom offered to those who seek its treasures. This is a tremendous book highly recommended and I eagerly look forward to book two, The Sound of Thunder.

I've been a huge fan of Wilbur Smith for many years. A friend introduced me to his works with Monsoon and then Birds of Prey, and then I skipped over to River God and read the entire Egypt series. From there it was random and I've enjoyed every novel of Smith's I perused. I have re-read some of them several times. Recently, I decided to start at the beginning of the Courtney series thinking the setting would be a precursor to that of Francis' and the story would progress through the years with the later novels bringing the descendants from England to Africa yet this story starts in Africa several hundred years later than the subsequent. Nevertheless, I settled down for an exciting adventure just as I've come to expect from a master story teller. Was I ever disappointed. This is probably the most boring book I've ever read. It drones on and on and on, endlessly descriptive of highly mundane conversations, travels and goings-on. What little action there was is so far below the level I've come to know from Smith. Beginning with part two, I found myself turning pages unread to get to the end of the meandering about whatever it was and on to a change of subject and pace. I couldn't wait to get to the end having to force myself to finish something I had no interest in. The characters were disappointing, especially Katrina who had neither the strength nor fortitude of the later Courtney women, and I never found Duff relatable in the least. I found him to be someone you would recognize in passing but never know much about. Garrick, as the opposite-in-every-way twin was believable though I found Sean Courtney to be totally lacking in the qualities that made Hal and Tom great. The ending was a let down as it seems the writer merely ran out of ink. It's been weeks since I finished this book but, although I have thoroughly enjoyed everything else I've read by Smith, I just can't seem to talk myself into downloading the next one in the series.

Grateful, thank your for this book! A surprise, a masterpiece or am i wrong? Nevermind the minor shortcomings ... ...

First book of Wilbur Smith that I’m reading. Really very good.

New and revealing south Africa as it was. too many second third and so on.

4 stars for the book!Just 1 star for the seller for sending me something that doesn't match to what it was saying online about the book: I had to return it back, unfortunately. I'll definitely look for a different edition of the same title here and lose myself in Wilbur Smith's world of African stories.

Não li ainda ( ou reli )...Li há uns 15 - 20 anos atrás e na época adorei.Vou comprar os outros livros da saga...