The Sunbird

By: Wilbur Smith

Narrated by: Piers Hampton

Length: 21 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

A lost civilisation. A curse reborn.

Dr Ben Kazin has only a blurred photograph and a gut instinct that there is a lost city to uncover somewhere beneath the Botswana cliffs. Soon, a whispered curse and a chance encounter with a local tribe lead him to discover much more than city foundations.

The curse, it seems, is real, and will link Ben, his oldest friend and the woman they both love with a forgotten leader from 2,000 years ago, in a city of glory and honour that subsequently disappeared without a trace. But what happened to that ancient civilisation? And what is it that connects that lost empire to Ben and the violent dangers he must face in the present day?

An action-packed archaeological adventure from global best seller Wilbur Smith.

©2019 Wilbur Smith (P)2019 Audible, Ltd

Wonderful story marred by 1970s cultural bigotry

I read this in the 1970s soon after its release and loved it, as I did all of Wilbur Smith's works back then. I hadn't touched a Smith book since but recently returned to this wonderful story as an audiobook. The story retains its outstanding features: a clever and engrossing narrative, satisfying moments of success and failure, larger than life characters, an intriguing alternate ancient history of Africa, and two nicely executed parallel stories separated by 2000 years. The narration of the book does the writing justice, delivered with a pleasing variety of accents and dramatic touches. On the downside, modern listeners will find some of the 1970s attitudes and assumptions jarring: casual racism, bigoted sexual references, the careless killing of wildlife, and stereotypical white male supremacy. If you can ignore these offenses (which were acceptable when written but sound dreadful now) the story is a rewarding trip down memory lane for those who enjoyed the book 50 years ago.

Superb overall

This was the first Wilbur Smith book I read, 45 years back. Yes, some aspects are hackneyed (viz romantic scenes and the treatment of women in general), some dated or overtly racist (a product of Smith’s time and place, whether a reader cares for it or not). But the imagination! The plotting! The pace! It’s just incredibly entertaining and worth the time. A word about the performance by Piers Hampton: Notwithstanding the criticism above of a South African, I thought Hampton’s performance masterful. He does English fop, Rhodesian trooper, educated South Africans, working class South African and English. And the African accents as well, all distinct, crafted, and consistent. Hampton is superb in this performance.

South African accent

Beautifully written, the accent not so much. Signed A South African lover of Wilbur Smith

Well read, unforgettable story

The reader of this title did an excellent job with differentiating the characters and performing the accents while still being very easily understood to the listener, even to someone like me, who has hearing loss.

Obviously the book, having been written years ago, reflects the racism and sexism of the times (i.e, Black characters and women characters are not written with much depth), but the author manages to vividly relate the story from differing viewpoints.

The story is told with great detail in both "present" day and in the past, but I did not find the ending in the "present" to be very satisfying. I do have to admit that I first read The Sunbird as a condensed version in Reader's Digest a LONG time ago, re-read it in the 1990s, and am now in 2024 listening to the audiobook, so it is clearly a story I have not been able to forget

the best Wilbur Smith stand alone novel!

this book truly is epic. Sunbird is Wilbur Smith at his best. The characters are well thought out and I find myself lost in their worlds. I have always been a fan of mr Smith and this is my favorite stand alone book by far.

great story

my 3rd time of reading this story, 1st time in audio. excellent. must read for all

Astonishing as always.

As always Wilbur Smith's novels makes you feel like you are in Africa. He mixes fact with fiction that makes you struggle to put his novels down

The Story is Amazing!

I love this book. I read it years ago and it's even better as an audible book. The way the present day is weaved together with the past is so very well done. Wilbur Smith is an excellent writer and wordsmith. If you like archeology, mystery and alternative history, you will love this book. I highly recommend, "The Sunbird".

Another spectacular Wilbur Smith book of Africa

Like his River God series, Wilbur Smith weaves a fascinating tale in the past and present with a rich geographic description and wonderfully full fleshed characters. There is plenty of excitement as well.....thoroughly enjoyable.

One of the best stand alone Wilbur Smiths I have read

A true master piece ! A stand alone book with characters that resemble the Egypt / Courtney / Ballantine series !!!
A must read !