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A review by erin2254
A Falcon Flies, Volume 1 by Wilbur Smith
2.0
****MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD****
A falcon flies is the first novel in the Ballantyne series and tells the story of an English woman and her brother, born to a well-renowned missionary named Fuller Ballantyne. Robyn and her brother Morriss “Zouga” Ballantyne, were born and raised in Africa but early in life migrated back to England with their parents. Having ruined his reputation Fuller has disappeared into the heart of South Africa, which is flourishing still in the dangerous slave trade (that he and his family are most ardently opposed to). Together the brother and sister duo set out on a sponsored expedition to find their father, continue his missionary agenda, report on the slave trade in South Africa, as well as hunt big game, and discover new territory.
Oh, man...
I will start by saying, this experience was exhausting. I physically destroyed this thing, and not because I enjoyed it, but because I was aggressively fidgeting out of annoyance.
There are scenes about hunting elephants and hippos that take up more than 10 full pages apiece, in excruciating, bloody, disgusting detail. I felt more compassion for the slaughtered animals than for any of the actual characters.
There are so many sailing scenes and through the bulk of these drawn-out portions nothing that caters to the one-dimensional characters and their development. The ship scenes are also really difficult to follow, which is fine as I don't know the first thing about sailing, but if you are going to include some good old 'salt speech' in an adventure book at least make it enjoyable and not all about historical accuracy. In saying this, I will also point out that the entire novel is meticulously wordy, and absent a sober editor.
The character introspection is detailed, but not great. I get that it doesn't take place in a female-friendly era, but a woman's inner dialogue doesn't need to always match the outer expectations of the times. I don't need to hear the lead female mentally agonize over how she is not a good “Christian woman” because of her unholy desires and then not find a way to remove herself from these self-deprecating thoughts eventually or learn something worthwhile about herself in the process. These thoughts are otherwise a fruitless dead end for the reader, well, at least for me they are. I felt no kinship with Robyn,
which as it turns out doesn't even matter, because while the description of this book heralds an accomplished female protagonist (who is a damn doctor in the mid 19th century) we hardly get to even see or hear from them other than small sections at the beginning and end of an epic that boasts nearly 700 pages.
None of the characters has any strong attachments. There was literally nothing heartfelt or sentimental to me about this book aside from small fragmental bonds between minor characters and the protag, that I would have liked him to build on more. Like why Does Robyn form such a strong attachment to the one little girl they rescued from a slave ship? Out of 28 others? Let's find out! ..no? She's just going to become a gimmicky sidekick?... Well, ALRIGHTY then. Any spark of sentimentality that showed itself was just as quickly snuffed out. The relationship and feelings Robyn has for Captain mungo St. John is a giant slap in the face to all women. When she Tells him they can't ever marry unless he releases his slaves I could almost taste the build-up of bile in the back of my throat.
There is also a problem with buildup, Like when they find the magical land of Monotanapa which is a highly coveted kingdom that supposedly no white man has seen with his own eyes. I'm fully expecting Indiana Jones vibes, Atlantis, Eldorado, THE GREAT VALLEY! But because I don't have an attachment to these characters, it was unsatisfying. When Robyn is crying for her brother to come and share in her discovery of their father's signature on the cave wall leading to the opening of the land, I felt nothing. It would have been so much better if they had developed a real brother-sister bond and her tears actually moved him in some way. Instead, it felt like she was nagging him during what should have been a pivotal moment. I was so confused.
When they find their father unexpectedly ill, both siblings are disgusted by his infirmity. Even Robyn, who loves her father dearly. When Zouga burns the pages of his father's decade of journals and doesn't give Robyn the chance to look over them herself.... man, what can I say? We are 412 pages in at this point and the man hasn't learned a damn thing but how to glean pounds upon pounds of ivory. I would have liked to witness her shove those tusks up his entitled arse.
There is one impressively written scene in the book with an African witch/oracle that includes a cave and hundreds of dead skeletons and two black mambas that are docile only to the woman. (Much to Zougas horror). I really did enjoy this, It was eerie and I could really feel Zougas fear and curiosity. The parts that followed were somewhat redeeming for me as well.
I thought the description of the land was very well done. Other than that, I hated it. Truly. The most vivid and intriguing points in this book seem to be supported on shock value alone. There is one horrific scene that comes to mind of a slave ship sinking with something like 300 souls on board (Dead, sick, and alive). The descriptions of the smell, and the stripes of shit and vomit leaking from the outside of the vessel, and the fact that the inhabitants are all young girls chained and stacked like Tetris blocks, is heartbreaking. The English naval ship tries to capture this vessel as a “prize” and ends up capsizing it instead, drowning most of the slaves. Then the captain of the English vessel goes on a brutal killing spree of the territory that produced these slaves. Maybe I am just not a fan of historical fiction because I believe these parts were well written and probably very accurate. It was just awful to read, and like I was saying before, the only child that was saved from this ship was reduced to a guinea pig for the main character. I think she could have been so much more, she was literally the only survivor from that horrible scene! (28 others were retrieved but all died of illness and malnutrition).
This is the longest review I have ever written, and it had to be because something needs to be said about a book that keeps you stuck in reading limbo for two weeks.
What a cluster f***. Maybe the other books get better, I am unfortunately not brave enough to find out.
A falcon flies is the first novel in the Ballantyne series and tells the story of an English woman and her brother, born to a well-renowned missionary named Fuller Ballantyne. Robyn and her brother Morriss “Zouga” Ballantyne, were born and raised in Africa but early in life migrated back to England with their parents. Having ruined his reputation Fuller has disappeared into the heart of South Africa, which is flourishing still in the dangerous slave trade (that he and his family are most ardently opposed to). Together the brother and sister duo set out on a sponsored expedition to find their father, continue his missionary agenda, report on the slave trade in South Africa, as well as hunt big game, and discover new territory.
Oh, man...
I will start by saying, this experience was exhausting. I physically destroyed this thing, and not because I enjoyed it, but because I was aggressively fidgeting out of annoyance.
There are scenes about hunting elephants and hippos that take up more than 10 full pages apiece, in excruciating, bloody, disgusting detail. I felt more compassion for the slaughtered animals than for any of the actual characters.
There are so many sailing scenes and through the bulk of these drawn-out portions nothing that caters to the one-dimensional characters and their development. The ship scenes are also really difficult to follow, which is fine as I don't know the first thing about sailing, but if you are going to include some good old 'salt speech' in an adventure book at least make it enjoyable and not all about historical accuracy. In saying this, I will also point out that the entire novel is meticulously wordy, and absent a sober editor.
The character introspection is detailed, but not great. I get that it doesn't take place in a female-friendly era, but a woman's inner dialogue doesn't need to always match the outer expectations of the times. I don't need to hear the lead female mentally agonize over how she is not a good “Christian woman” because of her unholy desires and then not find a way to remove herself from these self-deprecating thoughts eventually or learn something worthwhile about herself in the process. These thoughts are otherwise a fruitless dead end for the reader, well, at least for me they are. I felt no kinship with Robyn,
which as it turns out doesn't even matter, because while the description of this book heralds an accomplished female protagonist (who is a damn doctor in the mid 19th century) we hardly get to even see or hear from them other than small sections at the beginning and end of an epic that boasts nearly 700 pages.
None of the characters has any strong attachments. There was literally nothing heartfelt or sentimental to me about this book aside from small fragmental bonds between minor characters and the protag, that I would have liked him to build on more. Like why Does Robyn form such a strong attachment to the one little girl they rescued from a slave ship? Out of 28 others? Let's find out! ..no? She's just going to become a gimmicky sidekick?... Well, ALRIGHTY then. Any spark of sentimentality that showed itself was just as quickly snuffed out. The relationship and feelings Robyn has for Captain mungo St. John is a giant slap in the face to all women. When she Tells him they can't ever marry unless he releases his slaves I could almost taste the build-up of bile in the back of my throat.
There is also a problem with buildup, Like when they find the magical land of Monotanapa which is a highly coveted kingdom that supposedly no white man has seen with his own eyes. I'm fully expecting Indiana Jones vibes, Atlantis, Eldorado, THE GREAT VALLEY! But because I don't have an attachment to these characters, it was unsatisfying. When Robyn is crying for her brother to come and share in her discovery of their father's signature on the cave wall leading to the opening of the land, I felt nothing. It would have been so much better if they had developed a real brother-sister bond and her tears actually moved him in some way. Instead, it felt like she was nagging him during what should have been a pivotal moment. I was so confused.
When they find their father unexpectedly ill, both siblings are disgusted by his infirmity. Even Robyn, who loves her father dearly. When Zouga burns the pages of his father's decade of journals and doesn't give Robyn the chance to look over them herself.... man, what can I say? We are 412 pages in at this point and the man hasn't learned a damn thing but how to glean pounds upon pounds of ivory. I would have liked to witness her shove those tusks up his entitled arse.
There is one impressively written scene in the book with an African witch/oracle that includes a cave and hundreds of dead skeletons and two black mambas that are docile only to the woman. (Much to Zougas horror). I really did enjoy this, It was eerie and I could really feel Zougas fear and curiosity. The parts that followed were somewhat redeeming for me as well.
I thought the description of the land was very well done. Other than that, I hated it. Truly. The most vivid and intriguing points in this book seem to be supported on shock value alone. There is one horrific scene that comes to mind of a slave ship sinking with something like 300 souls on board (Dead, sick, and alive). The descriptions of the smell, and the stripes of shit and vomit leaking from the outside of the vessel, and the fact that the inhabitants are all young girls chained and stacked like Tetris blocks, is heartbreaking. The English naval ship tries to capture this vessel as a “prize” and ends up capsizing it instead, drowning most of the slaves. Then the captain of the English vessel goes on a brutal killing spree of the territory that produced these slaves. Maybe I am just not a fan of historical fiction because I believe these parts were well written and probably very accurate. It was just awful to read, and like I was saying before, the only child that was saved from this ship was reduced to a guinea pig for the main character. I think she could have been so much more, she was literally the only survivor from that horrible scene! (28 others were retrieved but all died of illness and malnutrition).
This is the longest review I have ever written, and it had to be because something needs to be said about a book that keeps you stuck in reading limbo for two weeks.
What a cluster f***. Maybe the other books get better, I am unfortunately not brave enough to find out.