Warrior King

Multimillion copy bestselling author Wilbur Smith returns with a brand-new historical epic set in Africa.

The new Courtney Series epic

A BATTLE FOR HONOUR AGAINST A POWERFUL NEW ENEMY

South Africa, 1820

When Ann Waite discovers a battered longboat washed ashore in Algoa Bay, she is stunned to find two survivors: a badly scarred sailor and a little boy. As the man walks away into the morning mist alone, refusing to take the child - Harry - with him, Ann is left with no choice but to raise the boy as her own.

After two years of disaster and hardship in the African interior, desperation drives Ann and Harry back into the path of the mysterious shipwrecked man. Ralph Courtney has recently escaped from Robben Island and is determined to seek his fortune in Nativity Bay, the hidden harbour that his father told him about when he was a boy.

But it isn't long before Ralph, Ann and their fellow settlers learn that Nativity Bay now lies on the borders of a mighty kingdom, where the warrior king Shaka rules. With no means of making their way back to Algoa Bay, Ralph is forced into a bargain with the Zulu king which will lead him to confront the past that he has been running from for his entire life.

BOOK 21 IN THE LONG-RUNNING EPIC HISTORICAL SAGA OF THE COURTNEY FAMILY FROM WILBUR SMITH. DON'T MISS THE NEXT ADVENTURE, FIRE ON THE HORIZON.

Praise for Wilbur Smith

'A master storyteller' Sunday Times

'No one does adventure quite like Smith' Daily Mirror

'Best historical novelist' Stephen King

About the Authors

Wilbur Smith was born in Central Africa in 1933. He became a full-time writer in 1964 following the success of When the Lion Feeds, and has since published over fifty global bestsellers, including the Courtney Series, the Ballantyne Series, the Egyptian Series, the Hector Cross Series and many successful standalone novels, all meticulously researched on his numerous expeditions worldwide. An international phenomenon, his readership built up over fifty-five years of writing, establishing him as one of the most successful and impressive brand authors in the world.

The establishment of the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation in 2015 cemented Wilbur's passion for empowering writers, promoting literacy and advancing adventure writing as a genre. The foundation's flagship programme is the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize.

Wilbur Smith passed away peacefully at home in 2021 with his wife, Niso, by his side, leaving behind him a rich treasure trove of novels and stories that will delight readers for years to come.

Tom Harper is the author of thirteen thrillers and historical adventures including The Orpheus Descent, Black River and Lost Temple. Research for his novels has taken him all over the world, from the high Arctic to the heart of the Amazon jungle. He lives with his family in York.