The beginning of a new Courtney saga, following on from the WHEN THE LION FEEDS trilogy. I found THE BURNING SHORE a bit of a slog to read, perhaps because Smith's previous novel, THE LEOPARD HUNTS IN DARKNESS, was an absolutely triumphant book and one of my favourite reads of all time; this one can't help but pale in comparison.There's much to love here, but somehow the book lacks the spark of life present in earlier works, and there's a slight sense of Smith going through the motions. Still, it starts off on an excellent footing with the opening section detailing aerial dogfights above the battlefields of WW1, a thunderously exciting and thoroughly compelling narrative that I was sorry to see come to an end.The book's perspective then shifts to Centaine, Smith's first full-blown heroine lead, but she fails to engage the senses as with his earlier heroes. Sure, her sheer will to survive makes her admirable, but she's a woman defined by events; without them, she would be nothing. The lengthy midsection of the novel is a story of desert survival and I found it repetitive and a little dull.Things do pick up for the last part, featuring a love-him-or-hate-him character with the kind of moral complexity that I love reading about (Lothar) and the return of some old favourites from the first Courtney trilogy. The narrative suddenly starts to race along, setting things up for the sequel (POWER OF THE SWORD). It's just a shame that the same spark of life wasn't present in the baggy midsection; if it had been, this would have been another classic. As it stands it's a solid but forgettable read.
Fever pitch adventure and a lot of interesting information about 1916 France and South Africa with exciting WW I airplane dogfights thrown in (think Snoopy) all quite vividly described. Big personalities and romantic in the way Star Wars (1977) or Indiana Jones was meant, only more bloody and full of angst and survivor's guilt. Fun, fast, perfect for buttered popcorn night. Men are brave and women are tough, everybody with marvelous fighting spirits and more than a mite crazed with passions. Hoorah! Could be a perfect old time Saturday matinee serial if they still made those (Flash Gordon, Perils of Pauline), only for adults. Loved it. Not for those who are in a serious mood. Actually part of a series written about a South African family called the Courtneys although it can be read as a stand alone in my opinion.
What do You think about The Burning Shore (2007)?
First volume of the second Courtney sequence. <>"The fear drove them all a little mad, and forced them to drink far too much – enough to destroy the reflexes of normal men. But they were not normal men and the alcohol did not seem to affect them, it did not dull their eyesight nor slow their feet on the rudder bars. Normal men died in the first three weeks, they went down flaming like fir trees in a forest fire, or they smashed into the doughy, shell-ploughed earth with a force that shattered their bones and drove the splinters out through their flesh."
—Ruth
This book was a bit tedious; one huge disaster after another for the young heroine (I forget her name). Within the span of 25 pages she loses her fiance, father, horse, estate/home and forced to endure hardship after hardship (while pregnant). The transport ship she is on heading for Africa is torpedoed; countless others are lost. She is attacked by a huge great white and gets away by feeding it her life raft mate (all for the sake of her unborn child); it was a pretty brutal telling. If you enjoy reading about one calamaty after another for 500 pages or so this is the book for you.
—Scott
Immense; Formidable; GiganticI love books set in Africa and have been a fan of Wilbur Smith's writing for years. It's only recently, however, with the advent of the Kindle and subsequent re-publication of many of his early works, that I have been able to access his full body of work.With this access has come the realization that his earlier works are even better than the two I cut my teeth on, his amazing novels "River God" and "The Seventh Scroll."The Burning Shore is the 5th in the Courtney family series, and it's gigantic both in scope and breadth. Opening in the skies over France during the last months of World War I, where airman Michael Courtney is locked in a death struggle to defeat the Hun, the focus shifts to his intrepid wife-to-be Centaine De Thery as she, carrying Michael's child, makes her way to Africa in search of her destiny.The author's knowledge of African lore is immense and shines from every page of this mammoth and fantastically plotted novel.Absolutely wonderful. The best read I've had in ages.
—Art Tirrell
