Specify Appertaining To Books Birds of Prey (Courtney #9)
| Title | : | Birds of Prey (Courtney #9) |
| Author | : | Wilbur Smith |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 560 pages |
| Published | : | May 16th 2003 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published 1997) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Adventure. Cultural. Africa |
Wilbur Smith
Paperback | Pages: 560 pages Rating: 4.19 | 10148 Users | 278 Reviews
Ilustration Concering Books Birds of Prey (Courtney #9)
The year is 1667. Sir Francis Courtney and his son Hal are on patrol in their fighting caravel off the Agulhas Cape of South Africa. They are lying in wait for one of the treasure-laden galleons of the Dutch East India Company returning from the Orient. so begins a quest for adventure and the spoils of war that sweeps them from the settlement of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa to the Great Horn of Ethiopia far to the north - at a time when international maritime law permitted acts of piracy, rape, and murder otherwise punishable by death. Wilbur Smith introduces a generation of the indomitable Courtneys and thrillingly re-creates their part in the struggle for supremacy and riches on the high seas.From the very first pages, Wilbur Smith spins a colorful and exciting tale, crackling with tension and drama, that builds and builds to a stunning climax. Packed with vivid descriptive passages of the open seas, breathless pacing, and an extraordinary cast of characters, Birds of Prey is a masterpiece from a storyteller at the height of his powers.
List Books Supposing Birds of Prey (Courtney #9)
| Original Title: | Birds of Prey |
| ISBN: | 0312317115 (ISBN13: 9780312317119) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Courtney #9 |
| Characters: | Hal Courtney |
| Setting: | South Africa Ethiopia Africa |
Rating Appertaining To Books Birds of Prey (Courtney #9)
Ratings: 4.19 From 10148 Users | 278 ReviewsJudgment Appertaining To Books Birds of Prey (Courtney #9)
I never was big on pirate sagas. Until I read this book. None of that phony 'Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of Rum' Errol Flynn nonsense here! Smith is no genteel Victorian novel writer, although he's close enough to that genre to not forget to entertain his readers. Smith's feel for Africa and solid knowledge of the time this book is set in arent from research but from love of his subject. You can feel it all through the book. With Evil Characters like Katinka, the kinky Dutch wife of the Governor of#37 BIRDS OF PREY by Wilbur Smith. Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. I've read all 40 of Wilbur Smith's African Adventure novels. *Warning* If you like animals DO NOT read a Wilbur Smith novel. Much bloody slaughter of African beasts in a Wilbur Smith. I also highly recommend RIVERGOD, MONSOON, and A FALCON FLIES.
Err, I don't even know what to say about this book. For starters, I didn't know this wasn't the first book of the saga, so clearly I kind of just jumped in the Courtney's party and was a bit confused. Second, I did not foresee the amount of smut this book runs with. Not bad smut, really, just, woah, caught me by surprise the first few super raunchy scenes. There was one swash buckling battle followed by some raunch for the first hundred pages or so. The characters were pretty shallow as far as
Yet another great Wilbur Smith book that kept me turning pages. Smith's books generally follow the same formula, but his mixture of history, setting, and action really works. This entry is set during the 17th century and does a great job of using English, Dutch, and Islamic history to move the story. As always, the reader gets the tough as nails heroes, the lusty and attractive women, the bad guys who are always bad, and the all knowing African mentor. But like I said earlier, this really works
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the small country of The Netherlands spread its sails, to become a major world trade player. With the establishment of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, Holland was soon equal with England as king of the seas. This and other internal, external, and political differences lead to a total of six Anglo-Dutch Wars, spanning intermittently between 1652 and 1810. The Second Anglo-Dutch War, from 1665 to 1667 saw an expansion of hostilities far from
Rating: 3* of fiveWilbur, Wilbur...yours isn't the stuff of literary legend, but usually you buckle a *mean* swash and cause images of Erroll Flynn to dash around your reader's head (thanks for that, BTW).In this book, Wilbur, you lost your way. I don't expect autheticity of language, and don't even WANT it, in books set in the 17th century. But sometimes I felt I was watching a mini-series dumbed down for a TV audience as I read this installment of the generational saga of the Courteneys.
Alas, I did not learn something essential or scholarly in any way by reading Birds of Prey. I might not have helped me understand history or comprehend anything fundamental to my life, but I would say that reading Birds of Prey was fun and allowed me hours of enjoyable and dashing adventure within Wilbur Smiths well written story. All in all, it is a great pirate story set on east coast of Africa in the 1600's. The author appears to know his sailing (of which I am totally ignorant, but there is
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