Wilbur Smith Books in Order (Courtney, Ballantyne & Ancient Egypt series)

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Wilbur Addison Smith (1933-2021) was a Zambian-born British-South African author famous for his best-selling historical novels. This accountant by training became a full-time writer after he gained a film contract with his first published novel. 

Initially, Wilbur Smith wanted to become a journalist but his father dissuaded him and convinced him to find ‘a real job’. Smith chose to become a tax accountant. Following the failure of his first short marriage, Wilbur Smith, now 25, began to write in his spare time. He found a little bit of success selling short stories, but the first novel he wrote was massively rejected by publishers.

The success came with “When The Lion Feeds” which introduced the Courtney family. Wilbur Smith didn’t intend to write a series at first, but the writer continually returned to the family and wrote seventeen novels between 1964 and 2019 centered on the family. In the 1980s, he wrote a new series, chronicling the lives of the Ballantyne family, from the 1860s to the 1980s against a background of the history of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). At the beginning of the 1990s, Wilbur Smith took an interest in Ancient Egypt with a historical fiction series based in large part on Pharaoh Memnon’s time.

Wilbur Smith continued to write steadily, but, in his own words “For the past few years, my fans have made it very clear that they would like to read my novels and revisit my family of characters faster than I can write them. For them, I am willing to make a change to my working methods so the stories in my head can reach the page more frequently.” He decide to use co-writer on some of his books, first with Golden Lion in 2015. Several books after this one have been co-written with different authors: David Churchill, Tom Harper, Chris Walking, and more. By the time of his death in 2021, Wilbur Smith had published 49 books and sold more than 140 million copies

How to read Wilbur Smith’s Books in Order?

Reading The Courtney Book Series in Publication Order:

The Courtney Series was not written chronologically. The first books follow twins Sean and Garrick Courtney from the 1860s until 1925. Then, the next ones were about Centaine de Thiry Courtney, her sons, and grandchildren between 1917 and 1987. The last ones are also about successive generations of the Courtney family, from the 1660s through until the Second World War. For more details about all those books, check out our guide to the Courtney Saga where you’ll also find a chronological order.

1. When the Lion Feeds (1964) – Set during the 1860s–1890s
2. Sound of Thunder (1966) – Set between 1899–1906
3. A Sparrow Falls (1977) – 1918–1925
4. The Burning Shore (1985) – Set between 1917–1920
5. Power of the Sword (1986) – Set between 1931–1948
6. Rage (1987) – Set during the 1950s and 1960s
7. A Time to Die (1989) – Set in 1987
8. Golden Fox (1990) – Set between 1969–1979
9. Birds of Prey (1997) – Set during the 1660s
10. Monsoon (1999) – Set during the 1690s
11. Blue Horizon (2003) – Set during the 1730s
12. The Triumph of the Sun (2005) – Set during the 1880s
13. Assegai (2009) – Set between 1906–1918
14. The Golden Lion (2015) – Set during the 1670s (with Giles Kristian)
15. War Cry (2017) – Set between 1918–1939 (with David Churchill)
16. The Tiger’s Prey (2017) – Set during the 1700s (with Tom Harper)
17. Courtney’s War (2018) – Set in 1939
18. King of Kings (2019) – Set in 1887 (with Imogen Robertson)
19. Ghost Fire (2019) – Set in 1754
20. Legacy of War (2021) – Set after WWII
21. Storm Tide (2022) – Set in 1774 (with Tom Harper)
22. Nemesis (2023) – Set in 1794 and 1806 (with Tom Harper)

Reading The Jack Courtney Series in Order

For younger readers aged 10+. Set in the modern-day, The Jack Courtney Adventures follows 14-year-old Jack Courtney and his friends Xander and Amelia on adventures across the world. Jack Courtney has lived in the UK his whole life. But this summer his parents are traveling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a gorilla conference, and they’ve promised to take Jack and his friends with them. The adventure begins.

1. Cloudburst (2020)
2. Thunderbolt (2021)

Reading The Ballantyne Series in Publication Order:

From the 1860s through until the 1980s, this historical series (connected to the Courtney series) follows the lives of the members of the Ballantyne family against the background of the history of Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). For more information about all those books, visit our page dedicated to the Ballantyne series.

0. A Falcon Flies (1980) – Set in 1860
1. Men of Men (1981) – Set between the 1870s and 1890s
2. The Angels Weep (1982) – 1st part set during the 1890s, 2nd part set in 1977
3. The Leopard Hunts in Darkness (1984)
4. The Triumph of the Sun (2005) Connected to the Courtney series. Set during the 1880s
5. King of Kings (2019) Connected to the Courtney series. Set in 1887
6. Call of the Raven (2020) – Set before Falcon Flies.

Reading the Prey Zone books in order (with Keith Chapman and Steve Cole)

A series for children following the next generation of Ballantynes fighting a terrifying new threat in this adrenaline-fuelled adventures.

1. Prey Zone (2022)
2. The Serpent’s Lair (2023)
3. The Scorpion’s Sting (2024)

Reading The Ancient Egypt Series in Publication Order:

A historical fiction series based in large part on Pharaoh Memnon’s time, this Egyptian series takes us to an ancient kingdom in order to discover the incredible destiny of Taita, a humble slave and an expert in multiple disciplines who goes on a tumultuous journey, living through wars, power struggles and more. For more details about the series, go check out our article about the Ancient Egypt books.

1. River God (1993)
2. The Seventh Scroll (1995)
3. Warlock (2001)
4. The Quest (2007)
5. Desert God (2014)
6. Pharaoh (2016)
7. The New Kingdom (2021, with Mark Chadbourn)
8. Titans of War (2022, with Mark Chadbourn)
9. Testament (2023, with Mark Chadbourn)

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Reading Wilbur Smith’s series in Chronological Order:

This is the chronological order for The Courtney series, The Ballantyne series, and The Ancient Egypt series.

1. River God (1993)
2. Warlock (2001)
3. The Quest (2007)
4. Desert God (2014)
5. Pharaoh (2016)
6. The New Kingdom (2021)
7. Birds of Prey (1997)
8. The Golden Lion (2015)
9. Monsoon (1999)
10. The Tiger’s Prey (2017)
11. Blue Horizon (2003)
12. Ghost Fire (2019)
13. Storm Tide (2022)
14. Nemesis (2023)
15. Call of the Raven (2020)
16. Falcon Flies (1980)
17. When the Lion Feeds (1964)
18. Men of Men (1981)
19. The Triumph of the Sun (2005)
20. King of Kings (2019)
21. The Angels Weep (1982)
22. The Sound of Thunder (1966)
23. Assegai (2009)
24. The Burning Shore (1985)
25. A Sparrow Falls (1977)
26. War Cry (2017)
27. Courtney’s War (2018)
28. Legacy of War (2021)
29. Power of the Sword (1986)
30. Rage (1987)
31. Golden Fox (1990)
32. The Leopard Hunts in Darkness (1984)
33. A Time to Die (1989)
34. The Seventh Scroll (1995)
35. Cloudburst (2020)
36. Thunderbolt (2021)

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Reading The Hector Cross Series in Order

Set in the modern-day, the Hector Cross Series is a thriller series about Hector Cross, an ex-SAS officer, and private security expert who specializes in surveillance, infiltration, and combat.

1. Those in Peril (2011) – When Hazel Bannock, billionaire oil tycoon, discovers her daughter has been kidnapped by Al Qaeda pirates just off the coast of Somalia, she uses all the power at her disposal to rescue her daughter – but politics and diplomacy fail her at every turn. Her only hope is her ex-military head of security, Hector Cross, an expert in surveillance, infiltration and combat. For all Hazel’s connections and wealth, Cross is the one man who is offering to find her daughter.
2. Vicious Circle (2013) – When Hector Cross’ pregnant wife is shot, he believes the terrorists who nearly destroyed his life have returned to finish the job now that he has so much more to lose. But as he follows the trail across the globe, and right back home to London, a new more terrifying battle begins.
3. Predator (2016) (with Tom Cain) – Still licking his wounds from his last bruising encounter with Congo, Hector Cross is back and ready for work. In the middle of the rough Atlantic stands oil supertanker Bannock A. Terrorist activity in the area has triggered panic and there’s only one person they can trust to protect her. What is promised as a cakewalk turns out to be much more, a mission that will test Cross to his emotional and physical limits.

Reading Wilbur Smith’s Standalone Novels

• The Dark of the Sun (1965) – Set during the Congo Crisis. Bruce Curry is the leader of a mercenary band with the dubious support of three white officers. His mission is to relieve a mining town cut off by the fighting and to retrieve a priceless consignment of diamonds. Ranged against his ill-disciplined unit are bandits, guerrillas and hostile tribes that roam the land. But there is another, even deadlier enemy – one of his own men…
• Shout At the Devil (1968) – Flynn Patrick O’Flynn is an Irish-American poacher and con man who has spent the last few years taunting the military commander Herman Fleischer in the jungles of German East Africa. When young Sebastian Oldsmith joins O’Flynn as aide and apprentice, he’s eager to follow in his footsteps. But as the world changes in the shadow of the Great War, Fleischer takes terrible action against the two men.
• Gold Mine (1970) – Ambitious and hard-living mining expert Rod Ironsides knows that the general managership of the Sonder Ditch gold mine is the chance of a lifetime. But the price of unquestioning obedience to the coldly obsessive genius of Dr Manfred Steyner proves impossible to pay. Both men are but unwitting tools of powerful people – for whom the control of a gold mine is only part of a dangerous plan which includes the destruction of the very mine itself…

• The Diamond Hunters (1971) – The Van Der Byl Diamond Company, willed by its founder to his son Benedict, his sister Tracey and their estranged foster brother Johnny Lance, turns out to be a bequest of hatred. For it is couched in such terms as to offer Benedict the instrument of destruction of his bitterest rival. ‘Destroy Johnny’ is the old man’s implacable message. And so, consumed with envy for Johnny, Benedict sets out in ruthless pursuit of this goal – and Johnny is plunged into a maelstrom of greed, vengeance and murder…
• The Sunbird (1972) – 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 honor that subsequently disappeared without a trace. But what happened to that ancient civilization? And what is it that connects that lost empire to Ben and the violent dangers he must face in the present day?
• Eagle in the Sky (1974) – From a young age it’s clear that David Morgan is ‘bird’ – a natural pilot, most at home in the air. In the South African Air Force he receives plaudits beyond his years, and even his family begins to accept that David will do anything to stay away from the Morgan billion-dollar business and to keep flying instead. Following his dream and in pursuit of Debra, a beautiful young Israeli writer, David soon joins the Israeli Defence Force and finds himself caught up in the country’s struggles. But when he pays a terrible price for his choices, will he be able to become the man he always hoped – or will he choose to disappear into the skies?

• The Eye of the Tiger (1975) – Harry Fletcher, a man with a chequered past, has reformed and is making an honest living as a charter skipper fishing for big game in the seductive waters of the Indian Ocean. Suddenly men from the world of violence Harry has put behind him overturn his good intentions, involving him in a hectic race to recover a fabulous treasure from an ancient wreck.
• Cry Wolf (1976) – Jake Barton is an American engineer, Gareth Swales a stylish Englishman with a nose for a quick deal. Both have always moved from one escapade to another. Now, as Mussolini prepares to annihilate the people of Ethiopia, the two adventurers come up against Vicky Camberwell, the beautiful but fiery reporter bent on espousing their cause. Striking a bargain with a beleaguered Ethiopian prince, the trio dares to run gauntlet, guns, and a batch of run-down armored cars in a final, desperate gamble for freedom…
• Hungry As the Sea (1978) – Robbed of his wife and ousted from his huge shipping empire, Nick Berg is hell-bent on vengeance. It is the sea that gives him his opportunity. When his arch-rival luxury liner is trapped in the tempestuous Antarctic, Nick stakes all to pit his powerful salvage tug, the Warlock, in a desperate race against time and the elements…

• Wild Justice (1979) – The hijacking of a jumbo jet off Seychelles galvanizes anti-terrorist chief Peter Stride into the action for which he has spent a lifetime training. But even in the hail of bullets that follows, he knows that this is only the beginning of a nightmare. Stride is the one man who might find the twisted genius who holds the world hostage – if only his every move were not anticipated by the enemy…
• Elephant Song (1991) – Dr. Daniel Armstrong, ecologist and documentary maker, has dedicated his life to protecting Africa’s animals and rain forests. But when a gang of poachers murders his childhood friend, Chief Warden of the National Park, and steals the government-protected ivory stores, Daniel’s quest of passion becomes one of revenge. As he calls on his expert knowledge and insider connections to investigate who ordered the savage killing, he will discover much worse than simple murder.
• On Leopard Rock (2018) – Wilbur Smith has lived an incredible life of adventure, and now he shares the extraordinary true stories that have inspired his fiction. From being attacked by lions to close encounters with deadly reef sharks, from getting lost in the African bush without water to crawling the precarious tunnels of gold mines, from marlin fishing with Lee Marvin to near death from crash-landing a Cessna airplane, from brutal school days to redemption through writing and falling in love, Wilbur Smith tells us the intimate stories of his life that have been the raw material for his fiction.

If you like our article about Wilbur Smith reading order, don’t forget to bookmark it! You may also be interested in exploring the literary universe of Clive Cussler.