Blue Horizon: Volume 3 (Courtney Series: The Birds of Prey Trilogy) Paperback – 5 Jun. 2018

In typical Wilbur Smith style a riveting read that keeps you wanting to turn the page. As always the author uses good vocabulary and is a master story teller.

Another fabulous story regarding the Courtney family. Full of wild adventure & fierce battles won & lost but ends in fabulous fashion!!

Whether taken independently in its own right, or read as another in the sequence of 'Courtney' novels, 'Blue Horizon' is a magnificent read. Hal Courtney is now a mature man, comfortably ensconced at High Weald, the family seat in Dorset. He now has three sons, William, Tom and Dorian, who reside at their home. Then Hal is asked by the East India Company to return to the Ocean of the Indies in pursuit of an arab pirate, Al Auf, the Bad One, who is very much on the ascendant, to the detriment of Comnpany interests. Leaving William, his eldest and heir to the estate, to run the business, Hal takes the young boys, Tom and Dorian, as well as the faithful Aboli and gathers his old muckers from their various domiciles in Dorset and London, and sets out via the Cape of Good Hope, to hunt down the pirate.The adventure is a fabulous narrative of life on the tall ships, depicted with wonderful authenticity by Smith, of savagery and warfare at sea, and of the almost tragic abduction of ten year-old Dorian by the pirates.There would be little point in tracing here the strands of the narrative as they take the reader through the ensuing eventful decade in the lives of the young Courtneys. I did feel, however, that the end comes too abruptly and leaves several strands unaccounted for. What for example is the fate of the dreadful Zayn El Din, who was Dorian's deadliest rival in his years among the Arabs? What became of High Weald in the years the boys were absent after the demise of both Hal and William? Does ownership of the estate fall to Dorian? Does he simply abandon it in favour of life with his brother Tom in the New World?This criticism notwithstanding, 'Blue Horizon' makes splendid reading, romantic, exciting, thrilling and compelling. I recommend it unreservedly.

A great read

Since I was lent the Sunbird I have become a huge Wilbur Smith fan and had to be careful I keep an eye on the time, the quality of the writing and the scenery of Africa painted in the imagination can completely absorb you. The television sits unwanted in the corner as I plough through the adventures of the Courtneys and the Ballantynes , I would recommend him to anyone who likes history and great characters.

Great story, part of an ongoing great saga - Smith writes adventures so well! I’m straight off to read the next one…

Reading

The on-going tale of the various folk of the Courtney dynasty provide interest and intrigue in abundance and this is no exception.