The Sunbird cover art

The Sunbird

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £20.99

Buy Now for £20.99

About this listen

A lost civilisation. A curse reborn.

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 honour that subsequently disappeared without a trace. But what happened to that ancient civilisation? And what is it that connects that lost empire to Ben and the violent dangers he must face in the present day?

An action-packed archaeological adventure from global best seller Wilbur Smith.

©2019 Wilbur Smith (P)2019 Audible, Ltd Action & Adventure Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thriller & Suspense Africa Suspense
All stars
Most relevant
I have read every Wilbur Smith book written - (I read only 1 of his Hector Cross books and will not do so again) and now to have the story and the magic of his imagery come alive in Audible I am "re-reading" these stories which take my breathe away every time, having grown up in South Africa (now living in the UK) watching the tides of political change and experiencing the bush, history and culture of the country I can smell the wood smoke and the sunsets and everything else that he describes so vividly.

I rated the performance slightly lower, although good, not all the South African accents came off so well and tended to grate a little on the ears, but were soon swept up in the story then it did not matter so much!

The magic of Wilbur never ceases...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
From the very first sentence this story gripped me. I felt both the joys and the pains of the main character and didn't want to stop listening until it was finished. The narrator is excellent in the way his voice rose or fell., slowed down or speeded up with the nuances of the story. Excellent.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read this book many years ago and remembered enjoying it. Felt it would be good to go back again through audible. The story did not disappoint. Really enjoyed both parts and the crossovers.
The narrator was great and added to the experience.

Fantastic listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Written in 1972. I’d never heard of it. I’m a big fan of the River God, and Seventh Scroll. If you like those, you will LOVE this.

Classic Wilbur adventure at its best

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent novel, beautifully read with finely tuned different voices making each person recognisable. Gory in parts and some fearful killing of animals (I skipped those bits) but absolutely worth the listen. Terrific adventure story.

Gory but exciting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews