I really enjoyed this book as I am getting ready to travel
To Sydney for my first visit. Although brutal, I feel I have a better sense of life in early Oceania. The whaling scene was extraordinarily exciting and frightening and life in the gold camps was not romanticized like in movies and stories. I can hardly wait to begin the next in the series.
No sugarcoating in this series!

Great book, Courtenay brings characters alive and you just want to keep in the story. Excellent history lessons along the way.

Second in the Solomon family trilogy. Tommo and Hawk temporary asylum among the Maori, the adoption of Maori customs and traditions also reflects very accurately parts of early New Zealand history - Brilliant
Bryce Courtney who continues to reveal the human heart of history through the lives of his characters. A very worthy read.

I loved this book. I love Bryce Courtenay writing, storytelling, characters, use of history. I think he should be required reading due to the themes of the books. Now the spoiler...






The ending was disturbing. I hated it so much. Then after reading reviews for the third book, I don’t think anything in there is going to make me feel better about it. I might not even read it.

I didn't think it could get better but this one was just as amazing as The Potato Factory. Bryce Courtenay continued the story of Ikey and Mary through to the lives of their adopted children, Tommo and Hawk. OMG! I am sorry that this book is over but so glad there is a 3rd book!!!! I am continually amazed by how real Bryce Courtney can make history seem and feel like I'm with then thought the books. I learn so much about history and human nature while reading his books. While it is true that life is stranger than fiction- Bryce's fiction carries with it all the dark tragedies that define real people and make his characters' motivations all the more real and all the more devastating. An amazing author and an amazing read thank you Bryce Courtenay.

These are the adventures and recovery of the 2 very different twin brothers, Tommo small and white with reddish hair, Hawk big and black, from Hobart to New Zealand and Sydney in the 1860s.

Spans Hobart 1856, includes time on a whaling boat in the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand 1857-1858 and end in Sydney 1860-1861

I loved it. Probably equal to The Potato Factory. I especially enjoyed the time with the Maori people.

Adopted twin sons of Ikey Solomon and Mary Abacus, Tommo & Hawk, are back with Mary after being kidnapped and separated for seven years. The boys are now about 15 and Hawk is mute and stoic while Tommo is broken, feelingless and a drunk. Desperate to fix his bother, Hawk gets the two of them on a whaling boat and they leave Hobart and their mother Mary. From there, their adventures begin. After the whaling boat, the boys get in trouble in New Zealand and spend some time with the Maori people and help them with their disputes with the white man. Hawk does this with his words while Tommo helps with his axe. Next they move onto Sydney which has boomed with the gold rush. With Hawk's need to solve the world's injustices and Tommo's tendencies towards cards and booze, these two run into trouble wherever they go.

A continuation of the very good book The Potato Factory. Not as original of course, but a very solid follow up and a grand story in the great Australian historical convict tradition.

Loved the Potato Factory but loved this more .. looking forward to Solomon’s Song ... audio book while driving .. I often find myself sitting outside my house listening to it once I’m home .. Solomon’s Song for my road trip next weekend.. more excited for the book than the road trip.

Unpleasant story but told really well! It really sucked me in.

This was a bit, well, boring. It also contained a truly laughable sex scene. Still, I did learn some history about the New Zealand wars - mainly because I looked them up from other sources - so not all was most.

My first time reading a Bryce Courtenay book and at 673 pages this was certainly a BIG read! A bit too violent for my taste but I did like the characters. It was great to have Wanganui (where I live!) mentioned in the novel! Maybe one day I'll read the first and third books in the series.