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Assegai (Novel)

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 (son the Ryder Courtney) and is set in 1906, in modern day Kenya. The events in the story are linked to and precede the outbreak of World War One.

Plot Summary

After a fallout with his father, Leon Courtney leaves home and joins the army with a little help from his uncle - General Penrod Ballantyne. Leon Courtney rises to become a second lieutenant in the King's African Rifles regiment based in Nairobi, and early in the story narrowly avoids being court-martialled by a vindictive superior officer. Despite his acquittal Leon's duties do nothing to improve his falling morale and he considers quitting the army.

General Penrod Ballantyne then recruits Leon to spy on movements of man and machine in German East Africa, suspecting the Kaiser of preparing for war. Leon is placed as apprentice to professional hunter - Percy Phillips. Leon's aptitude for the vocation and learning new languages makes him suitable for the job. His contacts in the local population, specially the Maasai tribe with whom he forges a strong bond, make him adept at espionage.

Among Leon and Percy's colourful clients are Theodore Roosevelt and his son Kermit, and a fifty-two year old dominatrix German princess.

The first half of the story establishes Leon's credentials as the protagonist. Like many of Wilbur Smith's heroes, Leon is a hunter and marksman, comfortable in the wild, and respectful and adaptable to local people and customs.

The antagonist Graf Otto von Meerbach appears in the second half,along with his mistress Eva von Wellbreg. Leon is forewarned by Ballantyne that Meerbach is closely linked with the German war effort and that Leon should keep a eye on his new client. Eva however complicates the matter as Leon falls in love with her at first sight. Meerbach's prowess as a hunter is revealed, along with his true intentions. And in the end Leon is left alone to take down the larger than life enemy.

The major parts of the story are set in the wild outside Nairobi, with rich descriptions of hunters' strategies, local Masai customs, big game hunting and lion hunting.