Ho hum
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I've read all of Wilbur Smiths books but this one took far longer to get into than most. Eventually the pace picks up and utimately the story is not bad, but it's a long way off his best. It could probably be 100 pages shorter withoust suffering too much.
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Troubling
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Starts off nicely as a adult adventure; girl mad gentlemen with fine moustaches seeking to seduce the Consular's daughter, battle scenes and camel trecks accross the desert by dashing heros. Each day takes big chunks of the book so you feel fully immersed in the environemnt and time.
But the last third of the book covers about 30 years and rushes along like the writter had spent his time preparing for the book and didn't want his effort to go to waste - so he lobbed it in. I don't want to spoil it for others but I found the end of the book troubling.
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Sub-Mills and Boone bodice-ripper if that's your thing
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This book was reccommended to me by a friend who knows I have an interest in things to do with Sudan and the desert wars there. This was the 1st Wilbur Smith book that I've read and a few pages into it it was already starting to grate. I persevered however - right up to the ridiculous end. I will not be reading any more of Mr Smith's works as I found this to be cliched, sub-Mills and Boone, bodice-ripping nonsense. Yes there was clearly some serious research that went into the book and some of the general scenes and the writing were very good. However, I just couldn't take the characterisation and overall storyline seriously. As an earlier reviewer mentioned, I also had some concerns about how the sexuality of the main female charecter was portrayed.
Overall if you are a Smith fan or just looking for some slightly cartoony easy escapism set in the deserts of Victorian Sudan you'll probably read this and enjoy it. But if you are looking for an historical novel with well drawn characters and a faintly sensible plot line then this will probably annoy you as much as it did me.
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Giving the people what they want.
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It is by no accident that I gave this book a 5-star rating. The great enjoyment I rerived from the novel did not blind me to some rather worrying obervations about the book's content.
One of the main themes revolves around the blossoming sexuality of 17-18 year old Rebeccan Gordon. Penrod Ballantyne, one of the elite military hussars, becomes infatuated with her, and eventually uses his charms to get her into bed. Rebecca's waters first began to boil when Mr.Ballantyne mistook her for an assasin, naturally defending himself by putting her at knifepoint. Of course, all women, deep down, are aroused by male violence, and sweat under their sheets at the thought of being raped.
Then there's Ryder Courtney, an educated businessman. Doesn't have the same Lawrence of Arabia charm as Penrod, but shares his eye for 17 year old girls. Penrod goes off into the desert, and Rebecca, her weak female mind relenting to the primeval desire for a provider, allows another much older man into her bed.
Ballantyne was her fathers choice for a potential husband.
Again, I stress the term "older men". What on Earth allows men who are over 30 thinking of chasing 17-18 year olds? Yes, I am aware of the fact that society has changed dramatically since the 1800's, but I didn't think such set-in-stone rules were so malleable.
Khartoum falls, and she is taken to the Mahdi. The thought of making it with an horrid foreigner initially disgusted her, but when she saw he wasn't so bad looking, lost some of her sense revoltion. He knew exactly what to do to her, then of course, having perfect the art of pressing a womans buttons, managed to hypnotise her with lascivious pleasure. The fact she was nothing but property didn't alter her psychological standing point; if it's going to happen, after all, why not enjoy it?
The sexually explicit scenes are, despite my own political obections to the writer's motivations, very much part of the story and are thenceforth bound to win over readers. Worked for me.
The Dervish warriors are close to how bigoted Guardian readers like to view the average Muslim. I am not for one second going to suggest Smith exagerated the Devish's fantacism, but feel the timing was rather well planned; people will naturally become more emersed in a story against the currrent "bogey man" than one that resembles us as European.
I will end on a positive note. The detail and sense of drama created by Smith are second-to-none. He has obviously done an intense ammount of research, and his background as a historian is evident. His command of language is superb, making even long-winded passages a joy to emerse oneself in. This is the second of Smith's books I have read, and will most certainly read more.
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Audio version omit too much details
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I love the book but the review is base on this product. The audio version is heavily edited down leaving a lot of details out!!! This take away a lot of the things that make the book a great read, the fine details!!! I got the audio book so that I can listen to it when I drive to work in the morning when I noticed that the audio book omit details I nearly threw it out.
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