Wilbur Smith – Vicious Circle

[anaxcrosswords]

Has anybody read this? So far I’ve persisted and got through the first 100 pages but it’s absolutely dreadful. Stilted, unrealistic dialogue, set pieces which seem as flimsy and disjointed as random dreams. Does it get better as the story progresses?
It’s a real shame. I read all of the Courtney books and they were truly memorable and involving.

[maggiebee]

Read all of Wilbur Smith's early novels but haven't read any in years. Sorry I can't be of more help, but sure you'll get many answers from other ABers.

[Samuraisan]

I haven't read this one, but I did read the one before ( I can't remember the title), and that I thought was a load of rubbish and not worthy of Wilbur Smith. His early work was a delight, even up to Monsoon, but I bet he has a " co- writer" now. Have you read any Colin Falconer . I really recommend him. Well, his books !

[poisondwarf]

I started reading Wilbur Smith in 1970, and I am with you on this one. Vicious Circle is by some distance the weakest of all his novels. I prefer the state of the art novels to the historical ones, but I felt that the prequel, Those in Peril was well below par. I have started reading Gerald Seymour again from Harry's Game.

[shaneystar2]

Loved the Courtneys and the Ballantynes and have read most of his stand alone novels.
When he brought out the Egyptian ones ,River God etc .I thought ,great, but they were awful and I've never read anything by him since .
He is getting on now ,must be over 80 so it wouldn't surprise me that his latest are co written .In fact from a review on Amazon in 2013 it says ...

Wilbur has just signed a £15 million deal for 6 more books. He supplies the story line and "selected" writers actually put pen to paper. His previous publishers of 45 years standing, Pan McMillan, didn't like the idea so he has now gone to Harper Collins.

[anaxcrosswords]

Wasn’t aware he was using ghost writers but I suppose, given his age, it’s not that surprising. I do wonder if he gets to vet their work, though I suspect not. This latest novel feels like a cruel parody, and the last to genuinely feel like his own work was probably River God.
BTW I'm racking my brains trying to remember the one which was based on two stories - one ancient, one modern, which eventually converge to a single event. It's ironic that I should have forgotten as it was a brilliantly worked story.

[quizbag]

I hated this book. It was just a nasty portrayal of violence especially against women. I used to enjoy his early books but won't bother with any more.

[shaneystar2]

Probably ,The Sunbird ,anax .The one where the guy discovers an ancient civilisation in Botswana ( I think it was) and then the second part is a sort of parallel of the characters in the first part but they are the ancient peoples.

[anaxcrosswords]

Sunbird! That’s the one – thank you! Might look out for that one to read again.
Just reached the first enormous plot hole in Vicious Circle. Cross has switched his iPhone for the one of the gynae receptionist so he can get info from it courtesy of his expert, Dave. Contact details, photos, videos etc you’d expect. But oh no, Dave has somehow managed to retrieve telephone conversations!!!!

[shaneystar2]

It all sounds very implausible .I'd give up if I were you .My eyes would be glazing over by now :)

[Samuraisan]

I also hate to give up on books and rarely do. But life is too short not to be enjoying the book ones reading ! Give it up and start another.

[anaxcrosswords]

It’s a good call and I know I should. But you know something? I’m now perversely eager to carry on and wait for the next epic plot fail!

[Quizmonster]

I am convinced that Wilbur Smith, like Tom Clancy, starts - or started - a novel by writing the entire story outline in a small notebook. They then study the opening sentence and try to work out a way by which they can expand it into a couple of pages of print. Each of these pairs of pages are then reconsidered and further expanded to create an entire chapter. Gradually an entire novel is built.
Both utterly unreadable in my view and always have been.

[anaxcrosswords]

Well, I persisted. Couldn’t face the idea of wasting another day on it, so saw it through to the end last night. And it finished as it started, as utter drivel.
The worst thing is what separates this from Smith’s early novels, especially the Courtney and Ballantyne series. In those, the characters were so well developed that the reader cared about every event in their lives, even the trivial ones. But Hector Cross?
The book finishes with what should be a hammer blow when the new love of his life walks out – all of that dealt with in less than a page. Forget the flimsy logic of it and the fact that it’s dealt with in such summary fashion. The fact is I just didn’t care enough about Cross (or indeed any of the characters) to care about this final twist.