The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 21 books · 1964 to 2009

Wilbur Smith

Thriller and suspenseHistorical fictionAction and adventureAncient worldFamily saga

Wilbur Smith, born in Northern Rhodesia, wrote big adventure sagas of Africa following the Courtney family across three centuries, the Ballantynes of Rhodesia and an Egyptian slave called Taita.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip. Only the Courtney, Ballantyne and Ancient Egypt books written solely by Smith are charted; later co-written books are left out.

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Who appears in which book

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LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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Wilbur Smith books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Courtney

13 books · Set in Southern Africa · story order differsFamily sagaAction and adventure
  1. 1When the Lion Feeds1964With Sean CourtneyBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Sound of Thunder1966With Sean CourtneyBuy on Amazon
  3. 3A Sparrow Falls1977Buy on Amazon
  4. 4The Burning Shore1985With Michael Courtney and Centaine de ThiryBuy on Amazon
  5. 5Power of the Sword1986With Centaine de Thiry and Shasa CourtneyBuy on Amazon
  6. 6Rage1987With Shasa CourtneyBuy on Amazon
  7. 7A Time to Die1989Buy on Amazon
  8. 8Golden Fox1990With Isabella CourtneyBuy on Amazon
  9. 9Birds of Prey1997With Sir Hal CourtneyBuy on Amazon
  10. 10Monsoon1999With Tom CourtneyBuy on Amazon
  11. 11Blue Horizon2003Buy on Amazon
  12. 12The Triumph of the Sun2005Buy on Amazon
  13. 13Assegai2009With Leon CourtneyBuy on Amazon

Ballantyne

4 books · Set in RhodesiaFamily sagaAction and adventure
  1. 1A Falcon Flies1980With Robyn Ballantyne and Zouga BallantyneBuy on Amazon
  2. 2Men of Men1981With Zouga Ballantyne and Ralph BallantyneBuy on Amazon
  3. 3The Angels Weep1982With Ralph BallantyneBuy on Amazon
  4. 4The Leopard Hunts in Darkness1984With Craig MellowBuy on Amazon

Ancient Egypt

4 books · Set in Ancient EgyptAncient worldAction and adventure
  1. 1River God1993With Taita and LostrisBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Seventh Scroll1995With Royan Al SimmaBuy on Amazon
  3. 3Warlock2001With TaitaBuy on Amazon
  4. 4The Quest2007With TaitaBuy on Amazon

Characters

17 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

The Courtneys

The Ballantynes

Ancient Egypt