Assegai by Wilbur Smith

Assegai by Wilbur Smith

Publisher: Macmillan (2009)

Those of you who are not fans of Wilbur Smith may still be aware of the fact that he has written over 30 novels to date. An alarming output. I have read most of them but must admit that a couple of years ago, I tired of them. The one I'd just finished (and I can't remember which one it was, an indicator on its own) had seemed too formulaic, too predictable and I just didn't enjoy it.

Therefore, it was with much trepidation that I picked up the Assegai his latest novel, which has just recently been released in paperback. It is set just before the outbreak of World War I in Africa and forms part of ‘The Courtney’s' series. These novels usually involve one of the Courtney males, a dashing handsome fella, with a passion, not only for women but also for action. Not a bad combination for a good novel.

The story therefore begins on the nineteenth birthday of Leon Courtney and references a dalliance with a pretty young widow. However, the story soon moves on to Courtney's experience in the army when he is despatched to secure an outpost and protect the family there. However, when he and his band of soldiers (which includes his best friend, a Massai warrior known as Manyrono) the inhabitants have already been savagely killed by the Nandi tribe. It is not long before Courtney and his men are attacked and he finds himself carrying his injured friend Manyrono to safety leaving behind his men who have fallen to the Nandi’s. Having returned his warrior to his tribal camp, Courtney is made an honorary son of the leader of the tribe - Manyrono's mother. This relationship will prove to be very useful in predicting what actions Courtney must take in the future. However, when Courtney reports back to his superiors he is accused of abandoning his fellow soldiers and of failing to secure the safety of the outpost.

But, Leon Courtney has connections. His uncle, Penrod  is Commander of the British Forces in East Africa. He persuades his nephew, who has the desire to leave the army and dedicate his life to hunting, to undertake a mission for him, which in part will satisfy this desire. He is recruited to work with a big game hunter who provides services for rich and powerful men from America and Europe. Part of his role is to gather information from one of these men. Count Otto Van Meerbach is a German industrialist. He is also a bully, a sadist, and a keen and dangerous hunter. But he is central to an attack that will but the British Army in peril. 

Leon takes on the assignment but falls under the spell of the Counts mistress, Eva, a mysterious beautiful but sad woman. He falls hopelessly in love with her and his love his reciprocated but Eva has a secret, which puts their relationship to the test. It is at this point that Smith inserts a slightly supernatural element to his story, often seen in other novels. It's very subtle and manifests itself through Leon's adoptive mother who can see the future but can only offer vague clues and the young Massai men who as part of their initiation into manhood have to demonstrate their courage and bravery against a lion.

As usual, Smith is adept at the descriptive prose; his ability to place the reader in the middle of the action in a country most of us have never visited is without doubt. I swear I could here the chanting of the young warriors and the cries of the wild animals. It is not a complicated tale but a comfortable one. Of love, power, secrets, faith, and I am happy to report that I didn’t find it stilted or formulaic. If you are going to read Wilbur Smith then I guess there will always be a slight sense of ‘déjà vu’ and I suppose part of my disappointment last time were my expectations. If you enjoy a writer’s style, the obvious feeling you might get is one of familiarity. And Assegai is an entertaining story and one with a more than satisfactory ending. Eventually.