Epic continuation of the Courtney family serving South Africa.. great suspense and storytelling of the best..everything in here from war.love.betrayal.culture.history.and captures south Africa's beauty and wildlife ..felt like I was there.

This book was packed with action. The first pages are set in the dying days of World War I while the final pages describe the passing of legislation in South Africa's Parlament to establish national parks. It is an interesting journey and quite a learning process about South Africa's history.
This book stirs the curiosity to read about general Bothas, prime-minister Smuts, the 1922 revolt and the 1924 election defeat of the governing party.

This was fascinating and I am looking forward to reading the next instalments in the Courtney series.

P.s. The action and characters are well written and the pace is well balanced between fast moving scenes and lazy strolls in the forest.
The ending was too fast for me, but that is a trademark of Wilbur Smith and I have to get used to it.

I really enjoyed this book. A Sparrow Falls follows on from The Sound of Thunder and because I did not relate to the later, i found myself hesitant to read A Sparrow Falls. For this reason, I struggled to get into the book. It was a terribly tragic ending, but was not predictable which is sometimes the case with Wilbur Smith books. I was also pleased that the hero of the book, Mark Anders, did not succomb to the same fate as Sean Courtney in life and in love. I was drawn to the character and preferred him to Sean purely because he had less greed and more compassion. He didn't go on endless, senseless hunting expeditions that were purely motivated by money and power. I often found myself getting angry with Sean Courtney as a result of his reckless behaviour. Whilst reading the book, i went to Booysens and the mining city descriped in the book, now Gold Reef City. For this reason i was able to understand the history better and the book was more realistic.

I recently bought this book from Goldsborough Books. It was listed on Amazon.co.uk as the first edition of the title: A Sparrow Falls by Wilbur Smith. It was second-hand and listed as being in good condition. It was meant to also be the first print 1977 edition. It was supposed to be a gift for someone. It arrived as a library used book, orange (not even yellow pages that's how bad it is) and stinking of mold. It's not the correct edition either, so has a completely different cover and is actually a 1978 library binding. I'm very disappointed as I requested a refund but then learned I can't take it to a collection point and print off the label as I must ask them via email for postage refund permission? This is usually automatic when you purchase something from Amazon and have already paid for postage in order to have it sent to you. I am not prepared to pay postage again for the privilege of returning it. And there's no way of returning without a printer? It feels like this was deliberate, sending me the wrong edition and completely different state of book as to the one listed for sale then making it extremely difficult to return it. I won't be buying from them again.

A Sparrow Falls is the third and final book of the Sean Courtney saga of the Courtney series by Wilbur Smith. It is also the longest of the saga, lasting about 620 pages, but despite the long length it still felt relatively quick thanks to Wilbur Smiths knack for writing interesting narratives. Everything that was built up in the previous books comes to a head here and gets resolved, leaving very little up to interpretation. It is a strong conclusion to the saga for Smith, probably the second best book out of the three, behind only “When the Lion Feeds”.

The story in this book was good. The protagonist is Mark Anders, not Sean Courtney, which gives this book a whole different feel than the others. Mark feels completely different from Sean, as he is much less brash and aggressive, but more calm and passive. Despite him being the protagonist, Sean is still the central figure of the story once he is finally introduced about a quarter of the way through, disregarding the prologue. Marks man goal is to discover what happened to his grandfather while he was fighting in World War One, and his search leads him into the crosshairs of Dirk Courtney, Sean’s estranged and disowned son, who has become a wealthy businessman. These three men get caught up in a conflict that has massive repercussions on the family, and it is only resolved in the last 20 pages. Overall, the story has very few dull points, and is constantly throwing in twists to keep it unpredictable, although it is still fairly formulaic, and you can likely tell how it’s going to end about half way through. The only problem with the pacing would be about halfway through with the Rand Rebellion, which could have been cut out, as it does not really contribute much to the story overall. It was a fine sequence though.

The characters in this book are okay, but I would have liked to see more historical characters. Christiaan Jan Smuts is prominent again, but he’s the only major one. Sean and Ruth Courtney return, as well as a grown up Storm Courtney who becomes focal to the plot. Mbejane is killed off in between books, and is only mentioned once when Sean visits his burial site. He is replace by another Zulu, who is an illegal poacher on the national park Mark protects in the second half of the book. Dirk is cartoonishly sadistic again, which was a developmentI I never understood in the last book, but it is amplified now. The best character is without a doubt Sean, whose ark as a character is completed in this book. He went from a brash young buck making his fortune in the goldfields, to a hotheaded but effective commander, until finally becoming a wise and experienced leader and politician. If you read the last book, you will remember Michael Courtney, Sean’s first son. He is also killed off in between books, and Mark basically takes his place as Sean’s adopted son. Garrick Courtney is barely utilized, appearing in very few scenes across the book, which I found very disappointing. His reconciliation with Sean was the most important part of the last book, but then Smith just forgets about him. Overall, the characters were alright, but not overly memorable.

The setting is brilliant as always. The most important part of any historical fiction book is always the setting, and Wilbur Smith is a master of making good settings, specifically when that setting is in Africa. All of the places feel distinct. You can tell that the bush is different than Johannesburg, or how Sean’s ranch is different than his house in Cape Town. The animals are written superbly, the environments are well detailed, and the people act according to the time. The historical events are utilized also utilized well. The first sequence set in World War One was interesting, as was his depiction of the Rand Rebellion, which is very seldomly talked about. The setting is excellent.

Overall, the book is a satisfactory ending to the saga, tying up all the loose ends. The plot is engaging, and the setting is interesting. If you are a fan of historical fiction, I would recommend reading this saga of books, as they are very good.

An action-packed thriller from the first chapter to the last which was also -- with the aid of Wikpedia and Wikimapia -- an interesting tour guide to the geographical layout of South Africa and an introduction to the history of that nation in the early 1920s.

Smith's style reminded me of James Michener's Centenniel in the way he presented the natural landscape through human drama. Young Mark Anders faces difficulties similar to those of Indiana Jones, and at nearly the same pace. His co-hero, General Sean Courtney, is past his prime physically, but is still powerful in the wise exercise of military and political acumen.

It was only after I finished this book that I learned that it was the final episode in a three-book sequence featuring General Courtney, and that this sequence was part of a thirteen-book series featuring the Courtney family. I look forward to reading more of this series, and though this book stood well on its own, I fear I may have ruined the earlier two books of the sequence by starting with the last.

Smith seems to enjoy describing the gory details of the violent scenes and I think I learned more than I wanted to know about the precise damage done by bullets and other weapons during conflicts -- both intra- and inter-species. He is also a gifted creator of erotic scenes, but tends to end those scenes suddenly with a corny euphemism. I had started to think his romantic plot was a bit formulaic, but he managed to dispell that belief before the end of the book.

Another Wilber gem. Plenty of action and sex and intrigue.

Great story- definitely helps to have read the previous two.

Just a fabulous tale…

Such a great story, twisting and turning - an epic South African saga, that left me breathless, again and again…

This is the third time I have read the Courtney trilogy, and they never disappoint. This, the third book still moved me to tears at the end. My all time favourite author, Mr Smith’s novels are always top of my reading list

A return to the Courtney series after many years, Wilbur Smith manages to write a sad and action-packed novel.

A Sparrow Falls is the third novel of the famous Courtney series. But I think this book wasn't as good as compared to the previous two novels. We return to the life of Sean Courtney, along with his merciless son Dirk, and his grown-up daughter Storm. But now there is a new change. A whole new character takes over the book - Mark Anders.

n   "Some say the lion, others say the leopard. But believe me, my boy, when a man looks in the mirror, he sees the most dangerous and merciless killer in all of nature". n

I was fine that a new character was introduced, but not by the fact that he is the protagonist. I mean which series is this, the Courtney series or the Anders series. Also, his story isn't as good as compared to Sean's. He starts by looking out for his land- 'Anderland'. But then he finds that some people have taken over that land, and now he tries to save it. Somehow the plot gets him and Sean together many times, making Mark fall in love with Sean's daughter, Storm.

Sean's story was also not a big improvement. He is 62, his son is evil, his daughter is angry, his wife is happy, and he is sad. Dirk Courtney is as evil as ever, not showing any mercy on whatever comes in his way of success. His daughter is spoiled, without any humbleness. And Sean is sad about all these things. The fact that bothered me the most is that he is not the protagonist, Mark is. And also, Garrick doesn't even have a role in it.

The plot is not so good, too. It's just like the two main characters are somehow navigating through their lives, and there are some dramatic turns in the way. I didn't want to continue reading the book when I reached the middle part, but I couldn't just leave it either. It was only when I came to the ending that generated interest in me. The ending was really sad, and only after finishing the book did I feel glad for not stopping and continuing it. Seriously, if you want to read this book, you must have unlimited patience.

n   "Dirk, I have known many men, and not one of them was all good nor completely evil. They were all combinations of those two elements, good and evil - that is until I came to know you. You are the only man who was evil, evil unrelieved by the slightest shading of good. When at last I was forced to face that fact, I turned my back on you" n

My total rating is 3.5 stars, and I'm hoping the next book will be an improvement.

Magnificent story telling! Not since Connan Doyle or Fenimore Cooper have I enjoyed a body of work. If you haven't yet read Wilbur Smith please begin here you will be richly rewarded.