The Triumph of the Sun

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The Triumph of the Sun
The triumph of the sun -- book cover.jpg
First edition (UK)
Author Wilbur Smith
LanguageEnglish
Series The Ballantyne Novels
The Courtney Novels
Publisher Macmillan (UK)
St Martins Press (US)
Publication date
2005
Publication place South Africa
Media typePrint, e-book
ISBN 978-0312939182
Preceded by The Leopard Hunts in Darkness
Blue Horizon  
Followed by Assegai  

The Triumph of the Sun is a novel by Wilbur Smith set during the Siege of Khartoum. [1] Smith himself said the following about the novel:

Contents

"That incident had all the elements of a great story setting because you have the captive characters who are having to interact with each other because there is no escape – siege conditions. Also the river. I’m fascinated by the great rivers of Africa. Played against that was a sort of island setting in the desert. Then it had such powerful influences at work – the British Empire against the revolting Mahdists, the conflict of religions, Gordon and the Mahdi, both of them totally fanatical, believing that they spoke directly to God, and unbendable and unbending." [2]

Smith wrote a series of novels concerning two families, the Courtneys and the Ballantynes. This is his first book where the families meet. "Right from Birds of Prey (chronologically the earliest Courtney book) the Courtneys were pirates, merchants, looking to seize the main chance," said Smith. "They were very much driven by monetary considerations. But with the Ballantynes it was much more empire, patriotism, glory – the soldierly virtues. I’ve kept them intact.” [2]

Smith researched the novel by consulting the diaries of participants, the most valuable of which was Austrian Rudolf von Slatin who was captured by the Mahdi and kept prisoner for thirteen years, and Samuel White Baker, governor General of the Sudan just before the siege. He also used The River War by Winston Churchill. The character of David Benbrook, British ambassador in Khartoum, was fictitious. [2]

One critic described it as "steamy romance alternates with gore, and it's all done by-the-numbers in a good way—like a junky, absorbing miniseries. Fans will not be disappointed." [3]

Plot

The plot is set in 1884, Sudan, beginning shortly before the fall of Khartoum at the hands of the Mahdi. British trader and businessman Ryder Courtney, the younger brother of Waite Courtney, arrives in Khartoum to sell his wares, only to have them commandeered by General Charles George Gordon. General Gordon later has Ryder evacuate citizens from the besieged city on his river steamer, the Intrepid Ibis, but the steamer is attacked and damaged by the Mahdists as it tries to escape, stranding Ryder in Khartoum.

Penrod Ballantyne, a captain in the 10th Hussars and a survivor of the Battle of El Obeid, is tasked by Evelyn Baring with taking messages to General Gordon and David Benbrook, the British consul in Khartoum. While travelling across the desert, Penrod is attacked by Osman Atalan, an emir of the Mahdi who considers Penrod to be a blood enemy after nearly being killed by him at El Obeid, but he escapes and makes it to Khartoum. After delivering his messages, Penrod is recruited by General Gordon to assist in the defense of the city, bringing him into contact with Ryder. The two men work together to bring down a black market grain operation being run by Khartoum's corrupt Egyptian troops. Rebecca Benbrook, the eldest daughter of David, struggles with her romantic feelings towards both men, kissing Ryder and later losing her virginity to Penrod. David's two other daughters, Saffron and Amber, also hold affections towards Ryder and Penrod, respectively.

After intercepting messenger pigeons being used by the Mahdists, General Gordon and Penrod learn that Osman and his troops are being sent to join the Mahdist force moving to intercept General Stewart's relief column. Penrod leaves to warn General Stewart of the upcoming attack, evading Osman on the way again, with both men going on to participate in the Battle of Abu Klea. After the Mahdists are defeated, Osman is able to retreat with the majority of his forces. While Penrod is gone, Ryder, who is still in love with Rebecca despite her tryst with Penrod, makes love to her and proposes marriage to her, but Rebecca declines to answer after learning of the British victory, believing that Penrod may return.

Osman returns to Khartoum before the British, and after convincing the Mahdi not to punish him for losing the battle, he leads an attack on Khartoum, killing General Gordon and taking the city for the Mahdi. Saffron is able to escape with Ryder aboard the now repaired Ibis, but the Mahdists kill David and capture Rebecca and Amber. With the help of her Arabic servant Nazeera, Rebecca is able to convince the Mahdi to take her and Amber into his harem, ensuring their survival and wellbeing. Penrod, who has deserted from the British due to his impatience at Charles Wilson's slow organization, returns to discover what has happened and begins planning to rescue Rebecca and Amber, but he is captured by Mahdist forces and becomes a prisoner of Osman.

When the Mahdi dies, Osman supports Abdullahi al-Khalifa to ensure his succession, and takes Rebecca and Amber as his own. He later begins scouting out the Ethiopian Empire in preparation for a Mahdist invasion, bringing Penrod and the Benbrook girls with him. Penrod reunites with Ryder during this time, and the two of them are able to organize a rescue of Penrod and Amber. Rebecca, who had seduced Osman to ensure the continued safety of herself and Amber and is now pregnant with his child, chooses to remain behind, knowing that she would now be unwelcome in British society. Saffron chooses to remain in Africa, and she and Ryder marry.

Penrod marries Amber, and is recruited by Horatio Kitchener to help train a new Egyptian desert army for the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan. After the Battle of Omdurman, Penrod tracks down Osman and kills him in a swordfight. Rebecca, now broken by her captivity and the mother of two of Osman's children, commits suicide upon seeing this, entrusting her children to Penrod's care.

Background

Smith said he had not planned a novel where the Courtneys met the Ballantynes "because the characters dictated the meeting. They took over the action and, having been in parallel existence for so many years, the time became appropriate for them to meet. It's not a new era, just an island in the stream of my storytelling." [4]

Smith said his use of the Mahdi was not a comment on the War on Terror. "The conflict between Islam and Christianity goes back to Richard Coeur de Lion and The Crusades," he said. "However, the present circumstances are dictated by what happened 100 years ago, so it's a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same." [4]

Smith admitted to having admiration for the men of the British empire. "These men had a very strong paternalistic instinct....I 'm writing about those type of men - Victorian explorers, hunters, traders." [5]

Related Research Articles

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The Battle of Omdurman was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief (sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert Kitchener and a Sudanese army of the Mahdist State, led by Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad. The battle took place on 2 September 1898, at Kerreri, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north of Omdurman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Ahmad</span> Sudanese religious and political leader (1844–1885)

Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Fahal was a Sudanese religious and political leader. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi, and led a war against Egyptian rule in Sudan which culminated in a remarkable victory over them in the Siege of Khartoum. He created a vast Islamic state extending from the Red Sea to Central Africa, and founded a movement that remained influential in Sudan a century later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdallahi ibn Muhammad</span> Sudanese Ansar ruler (1846–1899)

Abdullah ibn-Mohammed al-Khalifa or Abdullah al-Khalifa or Abdallahi al-Khalifa, also known as "The Khalifa" was a Sudanese Ansar ruler who was one of the principal followers of Muhammad Ahmad. Ahmad claimed to be the Mahdi, building up a large following. After Ahmad's death, Abdullah ibn-Mohammed took over the movement, adopting the title of Khalifah al-Mahdi. He attempted to create a kingdom, which led to widespread discontent, and his eventual defeat and death at the hands of the British and Egyptians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Abu Klea</span> Part of the Mahdist War (1885)

The Battle of Abu Klea, or the Battle of Abu Tulayh took place between 16 and 18 January 1885, at Abu Klea, Sudan, between the British Desert Column and Mahdist forces encamped near Abu Klea. The Desert Column, a force of approximately 1,400 soldiers, started from Korti, Sudan on 30 December 1884; the Desert Column's mission, in a joint effort titled "The Gordon Relief Expedition", was to march across the Bayuda Desert to the aid of General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan, who was besieged there by Mahdist forces.

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The Mahdist State, also known as Mahdist Sudan or the Sudanese Mahdiyya, was a state based on a religious and political movement launched in 1881 by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah against the Khedivate of Egypt, which had ruled Sudan since 1821. After four years of struggle, the Mahdist rebels overthrew the Ottoman-Egyptian administration and established their own "Islamic and national" government with its capital in Omdurman. Thus, from 1885 the Mahdist government maintained sovereignty and control over the Sudanese territories until its existence was terminated by the Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1898.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Khartoum</span> 1884–85 Mahdist siege in Sudan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahdist War</span> 1881–1899 Sudanese revolt against Anglo-Egyptian rule

The Mahdist War was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam, and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later the forces of Britain. Eighteen years of war resulted in the creation of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899–1956), a de jure condominium of the British Empire, and the Kingdom of Egypt, in which Britain had de facto control over Sudan. The Sudanese launched several unsuccessful invasions of their neighbours, expanding the scale of the conflict to include not only Britain and Egypt but also the Italian Empire, the Congo Free State and the Ethiopian Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nile Expedition</span> Failed rescue mission

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ginnis</span> Battle in the Mahdist War

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<i>Assegai</i> (novel) 2009 novel by Wilbur Smith

Assegai is Wilbur Smith's thirty-second novel, it follows The Triumph of the Sun in which the author brought the Courtney and Ballantyne series together. Assegai tells the story of Leon Courtney and is set in 1906 in Kenya. The events in the story are linked to and precede the outbreak of World War One.

The River Column was a unit of British soldiers during the Mahdist War.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalifa House Museum</span> Ethnographic museum in Omdurman, Sudan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Abu Hamed</span> 1897 battle of the Mahdist War

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan</span> 1896–99 British and Egyptian campaign during the Mahdist War

The Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan in 1896–1899 was a reconquest of territory lost by the Khedives of Egypt in 1884–1885 during the Mahdist War. The British had failed to organise an orderly withdrawal of the Egyptian Army from Sudan, and the defeat at Khartoum left only Suakin and Equatoria under Egyptian control after 1885. The conquest of 1896–1899 defeated and destroyed the Mahdist State and re-established Anglo-Egyptian rule, which remained until Sudan became independent in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Lupton</span> British sailor

Frank Thomas Miller Lupton, or Lupton Bey, was a British sailor who served as an administrator in the Egyptian Sudan. He was governor of Bahr el Ghazal province in 1881 at the start of the Mahdist War. Cut off from supplies and reinforcements, he had to surrender the province in 1884. After an initial period of freedom he was enchained for ten months. He was freed but struggled to make a living, his health deteriorated and he died in poverty. He had married a local woman who survived him, as did their two daughters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Mahdi's tomb</span> Tomb of Muhammad Ahmad in Omdurman, Sudan

The Mahdi's tomb or qubba is located in Omdurman, Sudan. It was the burial place of Muhammad Ahmad, the leader of an Islamic revolt against Turco-Egyptian Sudan in the late 19th century.

References

  1. The Triumph of the Sun at Wilbur Smith's webpage
  2. 1 2 3 "Greatest Historical Novelist of Our Time? Richard Lee's 2005 interview with WILBUR SMITH", Historical Novel Society accessed 18 May 2013
  3. Review in Publishers Weekly accessed 18 May 2013
  4. 1 2 BOOK REVIEWS: THESPIAN TENDENCIES; Q & A WITH WILBUR SMITH: BUY IT: [0 STAR Edition] Sutton, Henry. The Daily Mirror 25 Mar 2005: 14.
  5. Stalking an old bull elephant: [First Edition] Moss, Stephen. The Age; 2 Apr 2005: 3.