Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps the best adventure novel I've ever read!
Review: Do not be put down by claims of racism writing (this is as silly as putting "Robinson Crusoe" on the same list).
The plot is magnificent and the pace tremendous, Up there with Verne, Salgari and all other masters of adventure.
A book to read over and over.
Rating: 
Summary: Sunbird basically substandard.
Review: I love Wilbur Smith's novels, but this one must have been a high-school project that he resurrected for some immediate cashflow. The literary device for the transition from modern to ancient settings was clumsy, and much in both halves was just not plausible. The story had potential, but it was not realized.
Rating:
Summary: Only Wilbur Smith book I could not finish
Review: I've read several WS books but by the time I got to the second half of the book, I gave up. The story went nowhere.
Suggest the Seventh Scroll or Birds of Prey, much better.
Rating: 
Summary: Eerie and entertaining
Review: I've recently re-read "The Sunbird" after many years, and found it just as terrific a read as ever. Without giving away any plot points, what got me the first time still gets me, the well-executed parallel stories, modern and ancient. The charge of racism voiced by several reviewers is perhaps understandable, but one has to keep in mind that the book was written at a time (the late 1960s) when the kinds of events described in the "modern" section of the story (tribal Africans taking up arms against descendants of white colonists) were common. I didn't find Timothy Mageba a one-dimensional caricature, but a complex and conflicted man who finds it necessary to sacrifice personal loyalties for what he believes is a larger good. Anyway, I don't want to make the book sound like a Poli Sci text, it's a fast, entertaining read, full of intrigue and romance, and eerie enough to make your hair stand up a little at times. Worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Read
Review: One of the reviewers here claims that 'The Sunbird' is racist in its essence and that W. Smith must have been more careful and write it 'impartially' as the 'Indiana Jones'. I will agree with the first part of this opinion and admit that somewhere I also got annoyed by the implications for the superiority of the 'whites' over the 'blacks'. However, I don't agree with the second part of this view: I prefer Smith writing according to his beliefs and not trying to be 'politically correct', even if that annoys the reader. Further, I believe that this book is so beautifully written and the above issues should only be viewed as secondary. The 'Sunbird' is a magical book that makes you want to read it again and again. Smith's writing is so natural and masterful at the same time that makes the 'Sunbird' an almost classic read. The characters (black and white) are given extremely well, especially Dr. Benjamin Kajin, and the plot always keeps the reader's attention without being predictable. I recommend the 'Sunbird' to everyone- whether you are a Smith fan or not.
Rating: 
Summary: The third part is missing
Review: The first part of this book is readable not a thriller but good, it has to many pages that doesn't have to do with the story of the lost city, the cave and the treasure but you can read it. The second part of the book, the dream of Benjamin Kazin is just a waste of time, but I have to admit that WS has a lot of imagination.
The problem of this book is that doesn't have an end, what happened with the cave? The lost city? The treasure?
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: The Sunbird is one of the best books I've ever read. I listened to it on tape on an auto trip from Florida to Massachusetts, and travel time has never flown by so quickly. The story is split between modern times and the era of the lost city in a most intriguing way, and I commend it to anyone. Wilbur Smith's best work.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: The Sunbird is one of the best books I've ever read. I listened to it on tape on an auto trip from Florida to Massachusetts, and travel time has never flown by so quickly. The story is split between modern times and the era of the lost city in a most intriguing way, and I commend it to anyone. Wilbur Smith's best work.
Rating:
Summary: Another Wilbur Smith masterpiece.
Review: The Sunbird is written by the same author who wrote the highly-acclaimed The Seventh Scroll. And, as is the case with Smith's other novels, the story takes place in Africa. The first half of the novel covers the events in the lives of three people: a brilliant scholar, a wealthy businessman, and a young female understudy. The second half is an ingeniously told flashback through time and what might have been the previous or past lives that these same three have had many centuries ago. There's plenty of adventure, politics, history, and romance in this novel. And, as always with Wilbur Smith, lots of violence. In some ways, Smith reminds me of the American author, Harry Crews. They both love to write about the primitive side of human nature. Plenty of violence, cruelty, greed, and injustice. Smith is different though, in that he is also a writer willing to put great beauty and passionate romance in his novels to balance out the ugly. One cannot read a Wilbur Smith novel and not yearn to visit the African continent. In my opinion, The Sunbird is not quite as good as The Seventh Scroll. However, it is still a great reading experience and definitely better than most adventure novels out there.
Rating:
Summary: IGNORE THE COVER
Review: The two near-collision planes have nothing to do with the story! I almost didn't read the book because I'm not really interested in military stories, but a friend recommended it so highly, I took it home and spent the whole weekend immersed in this enthralling adventure. Modern archeologists are excavating the site of a ruined city in Africa and as they uncover artifacts (vaguely similar to Carthage) they are drawn into, and become, the people who inhabited this mysterious city which vanished centuries ago. Could it be reincarnation? Is that what helped them uncover this city? Whatever the reason, this was a fascinating exploration of an extinct culture and a great read.
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