Fire on the Horizon
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Fire on the Horizon
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Narrated by:
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Elliot Chapman
About this listen
South Africa, 1899 - the smouldering hostility between the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State and the British colonies of the Cape and Natal is about to burst into flame. War is coming and no one can prevent it. Colonel Penrod Ballantyne, hero of Abu Klea and Omdurman, is sent to Mafeking to recruit and train men for the fighting ahead. Amber, his wife, the successful novelist, accompanies him - eager to see more of the country her husband is about to risk his life for. But when war is declared, Amber must flee with their baby son and pray for her husband's survival against impossible odds.
Eight hundred miles to the south, in Cape Town, Ryder Courtney is using his wealth and connections to bankroll the British war effort. His artist wife Saffron, frustrated by stuffy Cairo society, has joined him with their three children. There is peace in the Courtney household until their eldest son, Leon, stows away on a train to the front line, determined to join his distinguished uncle, Penrod Ballantyne, in changing the course of history. Saffron and Ryder have no choice but to leave the safety of the Cape Colony and follow. Leon is convinced that his parents are without honour and courage. Little does he realise that he has no chance of escaping the people they used to be.
Two families torn apart, caught up in a battle for the heart of a country at war with itself.
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What listeners say about Fire on the Horizon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David Gillott
- 17-09-24
Wonderful story
Another wonderful story only spoiled by the poor pronunciation of non English words a real pity
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Karl
- 03-12-24
Forgetable
Wilbur Smith is NOT the author, he merely wrote the plot. The narrator was decent enough but his mangling of Afrikaans names and speech was inexinexcusable. I am fluent in Afrikaans and did not understand a single thing he read that was meant to be Afrikaans. Surely it's possible to hire a voice actor who can speak the language. Disappointed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- paul G
- 07-09-24
A outstanding performance
The story continues and a thoroughly enjoyable listen. A great adventure. Hopefully there will be a few new adventures
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- andrew marshall
- 11-10-24
Good to keep the Courtney story going…
Story was fine. If you’re a Wilbur Smith fan, the fact that the story continues is enough to put up with the drop in quality of the story telling.
Narration was overall fine but all the Afrikaans accents are pretty bad (where is Sean Barrett when you need him?) and I wish more research was done on how to pronounce some words. No one in the world calls the city of Durban ‘Durbaan’.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 17-10-24
Is it me, is it the book, is it the narrator?
I have recently rediscovered the Courtney, and the Ballantyne, novels on audible. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to old favourites and new chronological gap fillers. I was excited to catch up with Penrod and Ryder (wonder why ‘Wilbur’ chose such low frequency names?) and Amber and Saffron. Context over.
It felt like this book had all the right ingredients but just didn’t quite work as well. A bit like me making one of my grandmother’s recipes. Everything measured out and outcome was ok, but really didn’t taste quite right. Still a decent story though.
Last point, perhaps not independent of the former. I understand that it may be hard to find an actor/narrator familiar with even a smattering of Afrikaans (but surely not that hard). I can forgive that. What is unforgivable in a Wilbur Smith novel is hearing mispronunciations of common words and place names (Durban, Bloemfontein spring immediately to mind). Also, the accent for Boer characters was truly shocking. Sorry to be so critical, but if you’re easily put off by such things give this a miss.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Kegan jones
- 13-09-24
Dialogue felt like chatgpt vom
I love Wilbur Smith, but this is not it, seriously watered down attempt to resurrect him - 90% of the book is robotic boring dialogue that felt like AI wrote it - storyline with zero hard edge, would not recommend
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1 person found this helpful