This book of Wilbur Smith is a part of the series on the Courtneys - and paints a huge canvas on the lives of Thomas Courtney, his father Hal and his brothers Billy, Guy and Dorian. But the hero undoubtedly is Tom.
The book has it all - father’s love, the rivalry between the brothers, vows, sex (a liberal dose, as much as is Smith’s wont!) and fights. The book starts with Tom’s capers as a child - where he initiates his brother Guy into the joys of sex, and gets beaten up by his elder brother Black Billy in the process!
From there starts a bitter rivalry with Billy, who, being the eldest is the inheritor of all of Hal’s properties, owing to the rule of the land that the eldest son gets it all, to prevent small parcelisation of the lands by dividing it between many sons.
Hal is commissioned by the British East India Company (yes - the same, India’s bete noire!) to hunt and destroy a very powerful pirate who is targeting the company’s ships to amass huge wealth.
The books describes very beautifully the journey which results in the ultimate death of Hal, the killing of Billy by Tom and the rivalry of Tom and Guy over a young lady in the ship ther travel in.
Dorian is kidnapped by the Arabs, adopted by the Sultan and lives half his life among them, becoming one of their generals until Tom rescues him and his lady love from the clutches of the jealous survivors of the Sultan.
Wilbur Smith makes an extremely interesting read because of the detail he manages to put into his books. This one is no exception.
All those who like this fare, go ahead and read this. You won’t regret the expense or the time.