⇒ Download Sons of Natal eBook Ian Carr

Sons of Natal eBook Ian Carr

Download As PDF : Sons of Natal eBook Ian Carr

Sons of Natal eBook Ian Carr

Sons of Natal is a captivating military thriller with the right combination of political intrigue, heart-pounding action, a fantastic setting, clever plotting and pacing, and an imaginative story to package it all in.

I didn't know much about the Anglo-Zulu War or South African history, but Ian Carr's well-researched – and well-told – story soon overcame any of my initial fears of being overwhelmed by names and dates without my having any frame of reference. I very quickly got lost in the story and his mesmerizing descriptions. Captain Wade's character was endearing . . . part underdog, part misfit, but all heroic and honorable. The Dutch and Afrikaans vocabulary sprinkled throughout added a perfect taste of the culture I knew nothing about, and the imagery truly became a character in and of itself.

"Even the recent rains had not yet managed to bring a hint of life back to the drought-ridden land; only the fleshy arms of the aloe plant and the occasional acacia tree brought any hint of colour to the brown veld."

"Then they descended into a valley thick with mimosa thorn trees, before traversing a dry stream and continuing under the lee of a hundred-foot cliff of red rock."

The descriptions were striking enough on their own – even the hilarious mustaches and the fripperies of military costumes – but the details never bogged down the forward pacing of the story.

It was also hard not to be amused by the bureaucratic absurdities common to war-time. Although this wasn't satirical, Sons of Natal brought to mind Joseph Heller's Catch-22, and for me that made the story richer.

"While other armies marched on their bellies, thought Wade, the British army could more accurately be said to march on its belly-aching."

The battle scenes were handled well, paced quickly, and easy to follow. I've read other books where the right balance isn't struck, and instead of getting the heart-pounding effect you should, you end up skipping down to the 'good parts.'

For a debut novel, Ian Carr did an excellent job at bringing seemingly disparate story lines and tying them together for a very satisfying "Aha!" moment. The tension ratcheted up until then, and like a roller coaster's descent, I flew through the last third of the book, unable to put it down. I got very little sleep that night.

Carr's characters were fascinating and often-times laugh-out-loud hilarious. As with his other descriptions, his character sketches had me highlighting and rereading them later. And like with any 'band of brothers' type story, the whole became greater than the sum of its parts. I hope to see some of the secondary characters again.

". . . and it only served to confirm his opinion of the man: that he was rather like a fine gelding, being possessed of all the grace, strength and arrogance of a stallion, but somewhat lacking the necessary killer instinct."

"He was a bookish sort of fellow, with sharp eyes and fuzzy side whiskers that lapped at the corner of his mouth like disheveled terriers."

". . . a man beset by the twin misfortunes of having being scarred by the pox in his youth while already being possessed of an unremittingly ugly countenance."

I would highly recommend this book. It truly transported me to a time and place I'd never have thought to read about, and I enjoyed it. I can't wait for Book 2!


Tags : Amazon.com: Sons of Natal eBook: Ian Carr: Kindle Store,ebook,Ian Carr,Sons of Natal,Endeavour Media,FICTION Historical,FICTION War & Military

Sons of Natal eBook Ian Carr Reviews

Tedious
This was a terrible read. The plot was implausible, the characters were reed thin.
This should have been a good action book, but the author let himself get bogged down with irrelevancies and despite a few interesting parts I gave up halfway through.
Very good
An excellent story with well developed characters and interesting plot. The characters are tied in with actual events and people of the time and place and the story keeps moving along and holds the reader's interest. I am looking forward to reading more of Mr. Carr's books.
Loved this book, hard to find good stuff on the Zulu wars and this was excellent.
Very good job Mr Carr, please keep up the good work.
I don't usually read historical fiction but this book caught my eye and I became curious. I wondered how the author was going to handle a story about British colonialism in Africa considering that it's a history of exploitation and oppression. I was drawn in by the vivid scenes that developed the main characters and got the plot rolling. There were a few parts where the story seemed to play out the trivial rivalries between stuffed-shirt political types, but it didn't take long to get the action going in the African Bush with the main character searching for a chach of stolen rifles. The political intrigue playing out in the British settlements, interspersed with the action in the bush made for a tense build up to the vivid and horrific battle scenes. The risk of being attached by the Zulu tribe grew and grew throughout the story and the payoff was worth the read. I'll be looking for the next title by Ian Carr when it comes out.
Sons of Natal is a captivating military thriller with the right combination of political intrigue, heart-pounding action, a fantastic setting, clever plotting and pacing, and an imaginative story to package it all in.

I didn't know much about the Anglo-Zulu War or South African history, but Ian Carr's well-researched – and well-told – story soon overcame any of my initial fears of being overwhelmed by names and dates without my having any frame of reference. I very quickly got lost in the story and his mesmerizing descriptions. Captain Wade's character was endearing . . . part underdog, part misfit, but all heroic and honorable. The Dutch and Afrikaans vocabulary sprinkled throughout added a perfect taste of the culture I knew nothing about, and the imagery truly became a character in and of itself.

"Even the recent rains had not yet managed to bring a hint of life back to the drought-ridden land; only the fleshy arms of the aloe plant and the occasional acacia tree brought any hint of colour to the brown veld."

"Then they descended into a valley thick with mimosa thorn trees, before traversing a dry stream and continuing under the lee of a hundred-foot cliff of red rock."

The descriptions were striking enough on their own – even the hilarious mustaches and the fripperies of military costumes – but the details never bogged down the forward pacing of the story.

It was also hard not to be amused by the bureaucratic absurdities common to war-time. Although this wasn't satirical, Sons of Natal brought to mind Joseph Heller's Catch-22, and for me that made the story richer.

"While other armies marched on their bellies, thought Wade, the British army could more accurately be said to march on its belly-aching."

The battle scenes were handled well, paced quickly, and easy to follow. I've read other books where the right balance isn't struck, and instead of getting the heart-pounding effect you should, you end up skipping down to the 'good parts.'

For a debut novel, Ian Carr did an excellent job at bringing seemingly disparate story lines and tying them together for a very satisfying "Aha!" moment. The tension ratcheted up until then, and like a roller coaster's descent, I flew through the last third of the book, unable to put it down. I got very little sleep that night.

Carr's characters were fascinating and often-times laugh-out-loud hilarious. As with his other descriptions, his character sketches had me highlighting and rereading them later. And like with any 'band of brothers' type story, the whole became greater than the sum of its parts. I hope to see some of the secondary characters again.

". . . and it only served to confirm his opinion of the man that he was rather like a fine gelding, being possessed of all the grace, strength and arrogance of a stallion, but somewhat lacking the necessary killer instinct."

"He was a bookish sort of fellow, with sharp eyes and fuzzy side whiskers that lapped at the corner of his mouth like disheveled terriers."

". . . a man beset by the twin misfortunes of having being scarred by the pox in his youth while already being possessed of an unremittingly ugly countenance."

I would highly recommend this book. It truly transported me to a time and place I'd never have thought to read about, and I enjoyed it. I can't wait for Book 2!