Book Review: Monsoon

Monsoon on amazon.com


Book Review: Monsoon

Reader Rating: 9/10

Excellent swashbuckling book that MarkPf recommended and loaned to me. The story takes place at the dawn of the 17th Century and follows an English family (father & 3 sons) and their involvement in the burgeoning ocean-going trade of the British East India Company. It involves some powerful and crafty Muslim pirates who prey on East India Company vessels and cargo and sailors, as well as various characters from several kingdoms along the eastern African coast and on the Arabian Peninsula.

This book is similar in some ways to a previous book I read and reviewed (from a TimL recommendation) called The Sword and the Scimitar. It also has similarities with the recent movie "Master and Commander," starring Russell Crowe. If you like tales of sailing/ships, pirates, sword fighting, intrigue and betrayal, insights into Islamic cultures, portrayals of deep and long-lasting friendships & family relationships, and a couple of good old-fashioned love stories to boot, then you'll enjoy this book.

This book kept my rapt attention the whole way through and just ended too soon--after some 800+ pages! One criticism is that it seemed to end prematurely, given the complexities of the plot and the depths to which the author went to fill out the characters over many years. The good news is that this book is one of a whole series on several generations of the Courtney Family. I've bought them all and am looking forward to reading the others.

Monsoon (A Courtney Family Adventure) (Paperback)
by Wilbur Smith "The three boys came up through the gill behind the chapel, so that they were hidden from the big house and the stables..." (more)
228 used & new available from $0.07

Absolutely Awesome!, May 10, 2005
Reviewer:
Kara J. Jorges "Avid Reader" (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews
  
This book was not only a gripping story unfolding among rich characters, it is also a wonderful depiction of the 17th Century. Smith is obviously knowledgeable about tall ships and the sailing of them, as well as being able to draw vivid pictures of people, places, and cultures of the time. From the drawing rooms and dirty alleys of London and the dandies and doxies who people them to newly captured slaves on the Fever Coast, devout muslims at prayer, bedoins entering a friendly camp, sadistic eunuchs, and small children, he brings the Old World to life. I was there on the deck of the Seraph as she sailed south from London, there in the caravan that wound across the desert; I felt real fear for Tom and Dorian when they took reckless chances and confronted the enemy. I turned a wry lip at the incompetent surgeon who wiped his instruments on his sleeve, yet was well-trusted by everyone, because that was all the farther medicine had gone in the 1600's. Some of our most-loved characters suffer and die, and the tragedy touches the other characters deeply, yet they shrug off their emotions quickly enough and get on with life, not batting an eye when someone suddenly dies. These and other little touches are what take us not only into visual splendor but actually transport us back in time, complete with vibrations, sounds, and smells. Most of all, we feel the slow, inexorable passage of time as we move at the pace of an era that had no electricity, communication, or combustion engines. The pace of the story varies from time to time in such a way that no particular sequence drags along or goes too quickly. Though a long, engrossing read, I dreaded turning the last page of this epic masterpiece.

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
South Africa's master storyteller Wilbur Smith has been writing his exotic historical sagas for so long that he's in danger of being taken for granted and typecast as an author of adventure stories for and about overgrown boys. But there's a lot more to Smith's books than mere blood, thunder, swash, and buckle. He might not be as thoughtful or as philosophical as Patrick O'Brian, but his stories have a wider geographical and chronological range and lots more action.

Monsoon is the latest chronicle in Smith's Courteney series. In it, Hal Courteney is sent by the East India Trading Company to attack Arab pirates who are harassing trade off the East African coast. He takes three of his four sons, but one of them absconds to Bombay and another is taken prisoner by the Arabs. Although the mission is an eventual success, Hal himself is seriously injured and returns to England. His son Tom becomes the real hero of the story, gallantly rescuing his captured brother from the infidel.

Like his heroes, Smith's prose pulls no punches: "Aboli swung the axe in a wide, flashing arc. It took the man full in the side of his neck, severing it cleanly. His head toppled forward and rolled down his chest, while his trunk stood erect before it slumped to the deck. The air escaped from his lungs in a whistling blast of frothy blood from the open windpipe." It may not be pretty, but it certainly grabs your attention. --Dick Adler--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
Tenth in the swashbuckling saga of the bold and adventuresome Courtneys, this epic sequel to Birds of Prey finds Sir Hal Courtney and his sons up to their bloody sword arms in piracy, intrigue, treachery and civil war in late 17th and early 18th century East Africa and Arabia. Once again the veteran author creates a masterful tale of action and suspense set on the high seas, arid deserts and steaming jungles. Wealthy English landowner Sir Hal earned his fortune as a sea captain with the East India Company. To protect his overseas investments, he becomes a privateer to combat Arab pirates attacking company ships from bases in Zanzibar and Madagascar. Accompanied by three of his four sons, Sir Hal embarks on a desperate voyage that will bring either glory and treasure or ruin. Sir Hal is a skilled leader and a good father, but his sons are a mixed lot, bitter rivals in love and war. William, the eldest son, left in charge of the English estate, is a greedy blackguard and a brutal poltroon. Tom is a fearless leader while his twin brother, Guy, is a bitter and vengeful schemer. Young Dorian, captured by the Arabs and raised as a Muslim, is resourceful and cunning. Sir Hals voyage brings the Courtney family both wealth and catastrophe. One son is murdered, another becomes a fugitive, a third an abusive betrayer and the fourth is abandoned and forlorn. Clever plot twists and lavish historical detail attend the siblings adventures as they battle pirates, slavers, assassins, their own government and each other. A smooth blend of adventure and romance, the novel is an atmospheric trip through the fierce mysteries of the Dark Continent and the Arabian seas.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details
Paperback: 822 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (April 15, 2000)
ISBN: 0312971540
Average Customer Review: based on 90 reviews