The Wilbur Smith Discussion Forums

Hello guys,

my name is Luc, 20 years old, and I've just become addicted to the Wilbur Smith novels.
As a small boy of around 12 I read The Seventh Scroll, translated in Dutch, which was my first WS novel ever. I enjoyed this book so much that I begged my mum to buy me another one. She came back with Triumph of the Sun, which was written in english. However, unfortunately this was a bit over my head at the time, so I put the book away and forgot about reading for a few years.
About 3 weeks ago I picked up Triumph of the Sun again, to have something to do while I'm driving around in public transport, haha! This book was absolutely amazing, and I didn't even notice it was written in english! I must say that my english has improved over the past few years, but I still regretted not having started reading a few years earlier!
I now made the decision to read the 4 Ballantyne novels before moving on to the entire Courtney-series.
Have I made the right decision to read this 'short' series before reading the lengthy Courtneys?

Greetings from holland!

Hi Luc,

Welcome as a new Wilbur addict. I also started with the Ballantyne Series, many years ago. Once I started the series, I could not put the book and sequels down anymore. But then after that, when I started to read the Courtney Series (especially the 1st series; "When the Lion Feeds", "The Sound of Thunder" and "A Sparrow Falls") then my work and sleep really suffered.

Lucky you, you are still in for an enjoyable long read ahead of you. Just warn the girlfriend/wife/friends that you will be "away" for some time to come.

Veel leesgenot

Starting with the Ballantynes is a good decision. The Courtney series will be better (my opinion), so you'll build up the excitement.

I would start the Courtneys with the 1st series (the Sean Courtney series) then the 2nd series (Centaine) and then the 3rd series (with pirates, yay!), even though the 3rd series takes place earlier than the 1st and 2nd series. And don't forget about the Egyptian series! And the stand-alones! God, I'm so jealous!

Groeten uit Eindhoven

Hi Luc

Your life is about to be transformed,both the Ballantynes and Courtenay series will send you on the most amazing journey you will ever be on,so enjoy the trip you are about to take.

Luc try to read both series in the proper sequence - there is a post in each category posted by by dtietens that is very descriptive and will give you the proper sequence and order to read.You will find them under the Ballantynes,the Courtenays,and the Egyptian series.As well dtietens has scripted as well for all the standalones that Wilbur Smith has written.If you have difficulty finding the posts post a reply to me and I will try to help you find them.

Enjoy yourself you have no idea how good it gets.

johnrogers wrote:Luc try to read both series in the proper sequence - there is a post in each category posted by by dtietens that is very descriptive and will give you the proper sequence and order to read.You will find them under the Ballantynes,the Courtenays,and the Egyptian series.As well dtietens has scripted as well for all the standalones that Wilbur Smith has written.If you have difficulty finding the posts post a reply to me and I will try to help you find them.

Thanks for the warm welcome all! Yeah I've seen those posts by djietens, which will surely be helpful in determining my reading order. I hope to receive my 4 new books in the mail tomorrow, so I can start with A Falcon Flies Pretty excited to say the least!