The Triumph of the Sun

Courtney & Ballantyne, Book 12

By: Wilbur Smith

Narrated by: Elliot Chapman

Menace emanated from them as fiercely as the heat from the sun. Night and day, the drums never stopped, a constant reminder of the mortal threat that hung over them. She could hear them booming across the waters, like the heartbeat of the monster.

An unimaginable enemy will bring them together....

In the burning heat of the Sudanese sun, the city of Khartoum is under siege from the fearsome forces of the Mahdi, the charismatic leader of those who tire of the brutal Egyptian government. In Khartoum, along with thousands of innocent citizens, are trapped the fanatical General Charles Gordon, intrepid soldier Penrod Ballantyne of the 10th Hussars, English trader Ryder Courtney and the British consul and his three beautiful daughters.

As rescue becomes increasingly unlikely, this group of Queen Victoria's loyal citizens must unite to prepare themselves against a nightmarish enemy, and for the savage battle to survive that must surely follow....

The Courtneys meet the Ballantynes in a sweeping adventure.

©2005 Wilbur Smith (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Great to listen to one more Wilbur Smith book.

I liked the book but I think this one was a bit too long. Very interesting to learn about Sudan and the siege of Khartoum. Characters are great as always!

Not my favorite Wilbur Smith…

… It seems to meander in a fairly predictable and somewhat formulaic pattern. Nonetheless, he is certainly the master of the adventure novel and although it might be a carbon copy of previous efforts, the triumph of the sun certainly delivers a great lesson.

Gigantic series so amazing

I wanted to read this Author because he has the same name as my Irish granddad. I’m so happy he is so brilliant and historical

A good story

The exploits of Penrod are somewhat "James Bond-like" where he is able to escape every time, just in the nick of time.
Would have liked more on the revenge side, but then we would place revenge above justice and mans' forgiveness of man.
I feel that the books take a long time to develop the characters and feelings and goes into great detail of minor events but almost race through the end leaving the reader with a bit of "Oh so all that for nothing?"
Otherwise the narrator could give more to pronounciation of the typical South African words - like Koppie Vereeniging, etc.
Keep going Wilbur - always a good read.

Style is captivating

Narrator was not great, i prefer the way Charles Barret narrates which takes into consideration the listener needs good intonation.