Now, far below him, he could make out the figures on the deck. High above him the splendour of the stars began to pale and fade, and the firmament was filled with the pearly promise of new day. ‘Today the Dutchmen will come,’ he said aloud, and felt the excitement and dread throb beneath his ribs. He gave it no heed and strained his eyes out into the darkness.
The wind sliced through his leather jerkin but he was inured to such mild discomfort. He pulled the thick woollen Monmouth cap down over his ears. His young eyes, the keenest in the ship, had been posted there to catch the first gleam of distant sail in the rose of the new day.Įven the cold was familiar. He had greeted the last five and sixty dawns from the masthead in this manner. With the south-east wind now astern she was transformed, lighter and more limber, even with sails reefed and with three feet of water in her bilges.
The hull throbbed and resonated to a different impulse as she swung round and went plunging away back into the west. The ship was a caravel named the Lady Edwina, after the mother whom the boy could barely remember.įar below in the pre-dawn darkness he heard the great bronze culverins slat against their blocks and come up with a thump against their straining tackle. The mast canted over sharply as she thrust her head through the wind. The boy clutched at the rim of the canvas bucket in which he crouched sixty feet above the deck as the ship went about. In short, it is vintage Wilbur Smith Times Record News (Wichita Falls, Texas) Read a sample Listen to a sample Wilbur Smith is one of those benchmarks against whom others are compared The Times A gripping tale, relentless in its flow, that evokes a more colourful age - one of passion and a majesty of spirit that is seldom illustrated with such nerve The Daily Express Meticulous research support constant excitement in a fast-moving tale The Washington Post Birds of Prey is a wonderful novel filled with excitement, pirates, and vivid sea battles. The Daily Mail The scope is magnificent and the epic scale breathtaking. BIrds Of Prey is magnificent story of adventure, he enthralled the world of readers once again. Publishers Weekly Wilbur Smith carries all the powerful drama and rich emotions of a bygone time into his action packed tale of the sea. The Orlando Sentinel Smith know what his readers want, and once again he delivers the goods. As with Smith's previous two bestsellers, River God and The Seventh Scroll, this latest epic transcends the average action-adventure yarn. His characters are unique and intriguing.
His writing is fast-paces yet richly textured. The Washington Post Book World A rousing adventure story. Smith deftly evokes not only the horrific but also the beautiful, particularly the lush landscape of Africa. Reviews Smith's novel is far more than your typical pirate script.
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