A note about Wilbur Smith

I recently purchased a bunch of books by Wilbur Smith at a book exhibition. Money well spent, I must say... because in the past 2 months, most of the time I would have wasted sitting in a tube, or on the tube station, or on the pot has been rather enjoyably spent in devouring the stories!
I feel it pertinent to mention at this point that some of the best books I have ever read have been penned by Mr. Smith - The Eye of the Tiger, Hungry as the Sea and the one I am reading now - Wild Justice.
Wilbur Smith has authored some rather interesting books. Most of his books centre around very powerful personalities... real tough men, who captivate the imagination and grip the reader by the scruff of his/her neck into a reckless journey through danger and mayhem. Characters are solidly built. You can empathize with the characters, no matter how fleeting or shortlived their appearance in the storyline.
Most of the stories are based in Africa, and are marked by a solid attention to detail and a marvellous ability to paint a vivid picture.
Most of the times, the sequences with action are gory and vividly painted - usually with blood. If anything at all, what this violence fosters is a vague feeling that the story could have gone better. But then it is Mr. Smith's story, so who are we to judge!
The books are eminently readable. Even the most badly written amongst his books are thoroughly entertaining. Having said that, I realize that badly written is not how I would describe them - as they are all indeed well written. It's just that the story of a few of the books did not agree with me.
That brings me to one thing that jars me most about Mr. Smith's books - the titles. If you're reading this post, Mr. Smith - first of all... gosh... I'd never have thought... Ah yes... the titles. I mean cmmon!! Give me a break! I remember the stories of most of the books, but if you asked me to recall the names...
Hell I even forget the name of the book I am reading. The names are usually totally unrelated to the content of the book. For instance - the book I am reading now - "Wild Justice". It would take a big leap of imagination to connect it to the storyline. Or "Shout at the Devil" - in what way did it reflect the topic it addressed? "A Sparrow Falls", "Birds of Prey", "A Falcon Flies", "When the Lion Feeds"... need I go on?
However, having said that, I would recommend everybody to read at least one book by Mr. Smith and marvel at his storytelling genius. But don't expect to remember the title of the book for long afterwards :)