Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 18, 1990 TAG: 9107060028
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: reviewed by Larry Shield
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A TIME TO DIE. By Wilbur Smith Random House. $19.95.
After reading these two books, I was fascinated by the divergent paths taken by the authors.
With 15 books to Robert Ludlum's credit and 20 to Wilbur Smith's, both men have devoted readers. Recently however, Smith's readers have been better served.Ludlum's recent novels have become derivative and repetitive while Smith's have continued to inform and excite.
In `The Bourne Ultimatum,` David Webb, a.k.a. Jason Bourne, continues his battles with Carlos the Jackal, terrorist extraordinary. Once again, the CIA andFBI are unable to help him. Once again he must marshall his group of irregulars to do battle against all things evil in the world. Once again, Bourne again. The lack of interesting plot and narrative description is
graphically represented by the number of italics Ludlum or his editors used to try to move the action. Open the book to any page and find at least three occurrences of artificial excitement. After reading `The Scarlatti Inheritance` and `The Gemini Contenders,` it is sad to see how Ludlum's skills have slipped. In `A Time to Die,` Wilbur Smith offers a fast-paced
story set in southern Black Africa_Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The novel opens with a fascinating description of big-game hunting.
Sean Courtney, a veteran of the guerrilla wars in the area, is leading a hunting party in search of lions and elephants. The hunting narrative is informative and engrossing. Even rabid animal-rights activists cannot ignore thepower of the descriptions and the quality of argument Smith uses to defend the practice of safari hunting.
When the safari blunders between the Frelimo and Renamo forces at war in Mozambique, the hunters become the hunted, and are forced to assume tactics used by those animals so recently hunted. Smith's view of Africa and hunting may not agree with some readers, but his ability to move a plot and to sculpt interesting characters makes the book extremely exciting and thought-provoking.
\ Larry Shield writes software
by CNB