Cover Image: King of Kings

King of Kings

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Member Reviews

King of Kings was an entertaining read with adventure, romance and action with lots of interesting characters, but I felt it was very slow in the first half of the book and then took off in the second half.

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Good ideas, fantastic setting - 1888, Cairo, Abyssinia , silver mines.. The writing, however, was better in Wilbur Smith's earlier books. Still, if you're a fan, it's worth your while.

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The Lion Woman

Wilbur Smith never fails to delight with his novels. I have loved every one I have read and this is no exception. The brilliant description of the surroundings, the wonderful characters and the exciting story line. I love the beautiful endings.

This story goes from the lights of the city of Cairo, Egypt to the ancient buildings with their artifacts to the opium dens. It travels to the beautiful mountains of Ethiopia where most of the story takes place. The story of the war between the Italians and the native Ethiopian people in all its glory and gore. The Coronation of a new Ethiopian King "The King of Kings".

In a small mining community where a woman cares for the immigrants which travel there because of drought and hunger, there is much action. The young woman adopts a lion cub left motherless and raises her to adulthood. The romance between Saffron and Ryder deepens and they raise a family among the natives and their own staff in the mining community. Amber and Penrod finally find each other after years apart after he saves her life.

There is action , Romance, and adventure in this book it is very well written and a page turner from start to end. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Wilbur Smith, Bonnier Zaffre USA, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

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As I recall, the previous novels I’ve enjoyed so much by Wilbur Smith were strong on history and lesser known facts about the English contributions on the African continent. While thrilling to the wiles of the families depicted in the novels, I was entranced by the history of the areas covered.

This novel can’t seem to decide whether to be an explosive Steven Seagal movie or a very graphic porn movie.

It was not what I was expecting from Wilbur Smith and not my kind of book. What a disappointment. I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Wilbur Smith is Africa and explorers to me. I have read many of his books when I was young. So was happy to discover he is still alive and writing new ones.
This one is situated in Cairo and the hills of Ethiopia on the border with what now is Eritrea I think. As I am teaching Dutch to ladies from Eritrea I had an extra investment in getting to know a bit more of the history of their country (and to tell them I read the book).
It is like all mr Smith's books an entertaining read. Some of the characters were a bit bland. I mostly liked Penrod the VC recipient who has to redeem himself and find a more caring part of his personality.
I wished I could have read part 1 first though as that would have made the story more a complete tale. Now the sister Rebecca was a bit of an enigma to me.

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Brief synopsis from the book cover:
Cairo, 1888, a beautiful September day. Penrod Ballantyne and his fiancée, Amber Benbrook, stroll hand in hand. The future is theirs for the taking.

But when Penrod's jealous former lover, Lady Agatha, plants doubt about his character, Amber leaves him and travels to the wilds of Abyssinia with her twin sister, Saffron, and her adventurer husband, Ryder Courtney. On a mission to establish a silver mine, they make the dangerous journey to the new capital of Addis Ababa, where they are welcomed by Menelik, the King of Kings. But Italy has designs on Abyssinia, and there are rumours of a plan to invade...

Back in Cairo, a devastated Penrod seeks oblivion in the city's opium dens. When he is rescued by his old friend, Lorenzo De Fonseca, now in the Italian army, and offered the chance to assess the situation around the Abyssinian border, Penrod leaps at the chance of action.

With storm clouds gathering, and on opposing sides of the invasion, can Penrod and Amber find their way back to one another - against all the odds?

My rating:

Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
Character development: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

General fiction
Historical Fiction
Action and Adventure

Review:

This is a classic Wilbur Smith saga. The writing is vivid. It feels like you have travelled back in time to 19th century Africa and are experiencing it all firsthand. This is what I am used to when I am reading a Wilbur Smith novel and this was what was missing from some of his other recent books. The plot is interwoven with historical facts and the right mixture of action and adventure this together with strong and interesting characters makes it a great read. This is the sequel to The Triumph of the Sun but can also be read as a standalone novel. Overall this book is well written with great character development and plenty of adventure set in an interesting location.

I received an ARC through NetGalley at no cost to me.

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Never been a fan of fighting, battles and war? This incredible tale will change your mind. Excitement abounds as people are captured and rescued, fortunes are won and lost, friends and enemies change course and love perseveres.

Taking place in the 1880s Africa, things were volatile. Rulers were jockeying for power while others were working for their futures. Our central protagonists, twin sisters Saffron and Amber Benbrook, have been rescued from a harem and the adventure never stops. Other top players are Saffron’s husband Ryder, who runs a silver mine and Amber’s love interest, Penrod Ballantyne. Both are ever-present and in the thick of the action.

This well written character-driven Wilbur Smith epic story will absorb and entertain you from the very start to the very finish. Five stars from this reviewer.

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Wilbur Smith's King of Kings once again demonstrates why he is a best selling author. This is my first adventure of the Courtneys and the Ballantynes. Mr. Smith has a magic touch of keeping the reader on the edge of their seats. He is brilliant, providing the family history while keeping the pace up as a major war in Ethiopia is brewing. So many subplots interwoven throughout this excellent novel. If you've read any Wilbur Smith's works, you'll want to grab this to keep up with Ryder, Penrod, the Benbrooks, and political and social upheavals. Five Stars!!! Because I couldn't give it SIX!

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Very well written and story from Net Galley! In adventures,love and travel! First time read from this author,will read more for sure! The travels are described wonderful!! Just read!!

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This is my first book by this author. Thanks netgalley for sharing this one with me. It is written well and the characters are interesting. Learning about a time and area of our world I haven’t studied much. Looking forward to reading other books by this author.

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Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC.
I stopped reading Wilbur Smith years ago, but decided to give this new one a try because of the female co-writer Imogen Robertson, because I hoped the overly macho (and old-fashioned) trend of Mr. Smith's writing would be softened by Ms. Robertson. Happily, this was so and I was glad to be back in the later part of 1900's Africa.
Full of adventure with some strong female characters and a great sense of place, this was an enjoyable read, especially since we're in the middle of a heatwave here...it was easy to pretend I was in Africa!

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King of kings is a great book,a very good tale that takes place in Africa.It's the late 1800s,and Europe is trying to decide the fate of the continent.Ryder Courtney is working to make a place for his family by starting a silver mine. The book follows the adventures of his family trying to make a life in Africa.
Lots of adventure and intrigue. I recommend it.

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A disclaimer up front, I have been a Wilbur Smith fan for more than 30 years. Although, he recently has put out a couple that weren't up to his normal standard. Not true with King of Kings!!! I feel that King of Kings was back on track to the Wilbur Smith books I have loved for decades. He is back to his Courtney and Ballentyne families with this book. We learn more about Ryder and Saffron Courtney as they try to start a silver mine in Ethiopia amid a war. As well as Saffron's sister Amber and her life after realizing she deserves someone better than Penrod Ballentyne.

Everything you have come to expect is in this novel, war, romance, history, and action!! Take the time to comeback if you are a fan that was waning, you won't regret it.

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The grand saga as a literary style has been virtually abandoned by modern authors, but Wilbur Smith keeps it alive in his latest epic. “King of Kings is a sequel, but I didn’t read its predecessor and still felt comfortable with the characters, the setting, and the ongoing story. Penrod Ballantyne, the prodigal in this story, is driven to opium dens and leper colonies by the evil wiles of “Lady” Agatha and her father, the Duke. Meanwhile, in a parallel story, Penrod’s fiancé, Amber, helps her sister’s family in their enterprises and alliances while remaining true to the memory of her lost love. Disaster, wars, and betrayals dot the pathway to a good ending that promises to continue into a new generation.

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The author is the successful writer of more than 50 books in his career. All of them are well written, equally well researched and generally set in a tumultuous period of history. One of his characteristics is the creation of characters that are larger than life be they hero or villain. In many cases he has utilized families in his novels as the centerpieces to the story. King of Kings utilizes two of the families created in other books and is the continuation of a novel bringing them together. These are Penrod Ballantyne who is a professional soldier; a major in the British army during the late 1800s and Ryder Courtney an adventurer and met looking to set up a silver mine. The period is during the time when England's general Gordon was regent in Khartoum and was assassinated by a native army led by the Mahdi and his army of dervishes. It reaches climax when the British sent General Herbert Kitchener to retake the city via a battle at Omdurman and therefore conquers the Sudan for his country.
We meet Ballantyne at the moment that he has a fight with his fiancee and she sends him away. At the same time Courtney is married to the sister of the fiancee and she goes with him in search for the silver mine. The novel is pure Wilbur Smith high adventure played out in Ethiopia during a period when it's rulers fluctuated between natives and invading armies of both Italy and than England. The question of whether Penrod will win his fiancee back is tied in neatly to the events depicted in the novel. In addition what problems does Ryder face if he finds a producing silver mine in the middle of a country facing war from every side. Can it successfully be developed in a land where the rule of law changes continuously?
Readers of Smith's books will also expect problems to arise that are above those posed and these must be faced and fixed along with all the other troubles faced by the protagonists. As indicated there several evil individuals present who are really really evil and contribute to a well done novel presented by a gifted author.

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