The Wilbur Smith Discussion Forums

by **Phils_jd** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:24 pm

One of you guys was referring to Clive Cussler as an author who is similiar to WS.
I'm looking for something to read and was going to try Clive.

Any ideas which book I should start with

by **Monsoon** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 10:24 am

I've read a lot of his books but not many of the recent ones. Dirk Pitt the hero of these books is a bit long in the tooth now and reached his sell by date years ago. Cussler has experimented with a different character at the helm, but it's just not the same. However the books are still a great read and i would recommend 'Sahara' which was turned into a film this year, although i've not seen it so can't comment on it. 'Inca Gold' was also a good book but whichever book you pick up it should be ok.

by **Nefer** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 3:36 pm

Just finished reading Pandora by Jilly Cooper. Good read, lots of giggles

by **Matbow** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 4:24 pm

Just finished Eye of the Tiger, before that I was reading the first Christopher Brookmyre novel the name of which escapes me at the moment.

I've just started Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean Auel.

by **Phils_jd** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 4:39 pm

I think I'll give Sahara a go - if I like it hes got plenty of other books. The Clan of the Cave Bear is another Im interested in I think Neferk has mentioned that before. I'll think about Pandora - but giggles worries me , I like a good laugh , plenty of healthy sex and lots of Blood and Guts

by **Nefer** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 11:45 pm

Hehe, yeah, there's a fair amount of sex in Jilly Cooper - blood and guts? Well, maybe a little! Score! by J. Cooper has a really great murder story-line!

Glad you're trying out Jean Auel!

I tried looking at the Cussler books in Chapters, but iunno. They didn't appeal to me very much - I just paged through, reading random pages. I think the sim. between Sean Courtney & Dirk Pitt is too big.

There's also a Dirk Struan in Tai-pan by James Clavell, whom I much prefer

. Clavell writes historical fiction about the Orient & Middle East much like WS does for Africa. There's plenty of pirates, sex, drugs, and no, rock 'n roll, but brilliant fiction [b6]

by **Bee** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 5:33 pm

I'm so excited, I just got some "new" books... Well used from the bookstore but new to me. But yeah, just started to read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It's okay so far... been a bit hard to get into but that may be because everytime I sit down to read, 5 minutes later I am interrupted... :shock:

by **Nefer** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 7:36 pm

Reading Autobiography of Henry VIII, With notes by his fool Will Somers by Margaret George in the little time off I have before school starts.

While interesting, it's a little dry.

by **Monsoon** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 6:03 am

'The Dragonbone Chair', book 1 of 'Memory,Sorrow & Thorn' by Tad Williams.
The first 150 pages were a bit slow but its been a nice read since.

by **Bee** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 11:27 am

I finished Outlander a while ago, it picked up near the middle and is a good read. Also finished reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. This is a good book also if anyone is interested. And I've started to read The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, well the prologue but had to put it aside due to the heavy amount of schoolwork. But yes, I would recommend Outlander and The Joy Luck Club.

by **Nefer** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:13 pm

Just started Escape by James Clavell, the love story about two main characters in Whilrwind. Both books are about the advent of Muslim rule in the 70's - it focuses on the 3 weeks of insurections etc that led to the Shah's abdictation.

He's a great historical novelist, and apparently, this book was to be a screenplay for the movie version of Whirlwind, but he died before anything could be done, (I think) so it was published posthumously (sp?).

Looks to be a good read!

by **Monsoon** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:43 am

Just finished 'Child of an Ancient City' by Tad Williams, well it didn't take long to read because it was only 80 pages! However made a nice change from the books i have been reading recently which have been between 500-900 pages long!!

by **Matbow** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:08 pm

I've just started "Emergence" by Ray Hammond. It's Sci-fi novel set in the very near future...it's promising so far and I'm pleased to see it has a 5 star rating on the Amazon reviews bit.

Matt

by **Nefer** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:00 pm

I finally got Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. I watched the movie before reading the book, and this is one of the few instances where the movie stays true to the book:)

It was a great read, & was what I expected. I found that since the book is told from the MC's POV, it was hard to gauge what her true feelings were. She seemed very disconnected from herself at times - but the 'narrator' of the book does warn the reader of this in the prologue.

And against my better judgement (because I have no time to read anything fiction :mrgreen:

), I've started Clothar the Frank by Jack Whyte. Turns out this book is about Lancelot, who has always fascinated me

by **Matbow** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 5:45 pm

I finished "Emergence" yesterday.

Not the greatest book I've even read, but definately a thought prokoking one. As I said earlier, the book's set in the very near future (about 2020 ish). It actually feels like a warning from the future that no one company should dominate the world economy - especially if the whole world is completely reliant on the company's services and products.

Think about a company running running Air Traffic Control, hospitals, all computer networks, weather stations, news networks, newspapers etc... Scary.

The author, Ray Hammond is primarily known as a non-fiction writer, intellectual and a re-knowned futureologist...that definately shows in this book.

Worth a read if you like this sort of thing.

by **Monsoon** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:37 am

The Fifth Sorceress by Robert Newcomb.

by **John R** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:40 pm

As discussed in another thread, i'm reading Jeffery Archer, but not the book i said. The one i've gone for is 'Honour Amoung Thieves' So far it's flowing stuff, easy to read.

by **Monsoon** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:29 am

Just about to start A clash of Kings which is book 2 in the series, 'A Song of Ice and Fire', written by the author George RR Martin who i and a lot of other people reckon to be the best story teller out there at the moment and of the last few years with this series.
I've been meaning to write a post on him for months now, so i will have to get around to it soon.

by **WSI** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 1:05 pm

some update:

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee From Dee Brown (heavy book)
and since 3 months I.M. from Connie Palmen

by **VMS** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:13 am

I just finished Wilbur's A Falcon Flies, which I really enjoyed! Now I'm starting Colin Butts' Is Harry Still on the Boat?, which is suppose to be funny book about Ibiza.

And I've also read a couple of Cussler's books, and really liked them. I think they were Vixen 03 and The Hawaiian Vortex (not sure of the English name).

Can anyone recommend some good author, something a bit similar than WS?

Thanks

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