Just Finished Reading: The Horns of the Buffalo by John Wilcox (FP: 2004) [399pp] 

South Africa, 1879. Lieutenant Simon Fonthill is a coward - at least his Colonel thinks so. After apparently fainting and being bedridden for 3 days following the announcement of his regiment leaving for active service in South Africa even Simon isn’t sure. But there’s really only one way to find out. When given the choice of either resigning his commission or shipping out to the Cape he accepts his mission to make his way into Zululand and discover King Cetswayo’s intentions. Despite being erroneously viewed as a horseman and a linguist by the powers that be back home in Horse Guards, Fonthill manages to make contact with an Irish cattleman and friend of Cetswayo. As tensions between the British and the Zulu escalate, Simon and his trusty servant 352 Jenkins are held captive in the Zulu capital. Managing to escape they jump from the frying pan into the fire and are just in time to warn the British forces camped at Isandlwana. Forced to flee once more Lieutenant Fonthill races to warn the nearby hospital station that a massive army of Zulu warriors is coming their way. But can he aid the tiny garrison there if things go badly? If he falls in battle no one will remember his name or where he fell. No one will remember the name: Rorke’s Drift. 

I’ve been meaning to start this series for a while now. The 1964 movie ‘Zulu’ (based around the battle of Rorke’s Drift) is one of my all-time favourite films so I was interested to see how the fictional literary version chimed with the fictional cinema version – closer to the truth apparently! But first the bits I liked about the novel before I get onto a few criticisms. As a well-known fan of characterisation I am pleased to report that all of the main characters, and in particular Fonthill and Jenkins, were very well drawn indeed and I’m already looking forward to their future adventures together. The ‘baddie’ Colonel Covington (Fonthill’s superior officer) is a little bit from central casting and is well designed to hate but is OK despite that. The ‘love interest’ (or in this case two love interests) are reasonably well done but largely unnecessary although I did like the roving reporter Alice Griffith and hope that she appears in future books in the series. Naturally most of the action takes place in South Africa and I thought that part of the book was well done and it gelled with what I already knew of the conflict as well as the foundations for the future Boer War. The smaller fight scenes (including a frankly hilarious one between an unarmed and rather drunk 352 Jenkins a young Zulu warrior complete with Assagai) as well as the larger battles were very well done and very dramatic despite already knowing the outcome going in. 

About the only real criticisms I had here, apart from the rather one-dimensional Covington, was the several detours into exposition. Personally, I’m a big fan of show not tell which both keeps momentum going and actually flatters a reader’s ability to ‘pick things up’ rather than mildly insults them by lecturing them on things they might already know. I would probably have given the author a pass on the briefing Fonthill received from the officers sending him into Zululand but the (at least) two other occasions could have been handled differently. I am, however, going to put this rather minor issue down to this being his first book. Apart from that very small niggle I enjoyed this book very much and am looking forward to Simon’s next adventures across the British Empire at its height. Definitely recommended for all historical action fans. 

[Side Note: This, finally, adds another country to my fictional world tour list. Hopefully at least one more addition before years end.]