THE ROAR OF THUNDER

by Wilbur Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 1966

The sequel to When the Lion Feeds (1964), this South African novel continues the outsized adventures of Sean Courtney, now the Charlton Heston of the Boer War. Courtney has been in the wilds for four years collecting ivory. When he sees his first white woman in all that time, a married Jewess, he seduces her despite her dependency on him to help her reach her husband. Courtney sells his ivory at a loss, then crosses the Dutch lines to join the English (he's never been to England but he feels English). Meanwhile, his problems multiply. His teenage son is turning into an effeminate rotter. The Jewess is pregnant with his daughter. His crippled brother, whom he crippled, is his superior officer in the English army and is also the cuckolded, surrogate father for Sean's other son, Michael. For good measure, the commander of the Dutch forces is the personal friend and official enemy whom Sean must dispatch. Aside from ivory collecting and soldiering, Sean prospects for gold. His family sees him as cursed and trailing with disasters, which is an accurate estimate of this plot, although eventually he wins the Jewess, his brother's love and that of his illegitimate children. All told, this is a souped up film saga, peopled with stereotypes, and headed straight for the drugstore racks.

Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1966

Categories: FICTION