The Horns of the Buffalo

Simon Fonthill #1

by John Wilcox

In 1879 the redcoats of the British Army are universally regarded as the finest fighting force in the world. Among them is Lieutenant Simon Fonthill, dispatched to South Africa with much to prove: for Colonel Covington, his former Commanding Officer, has slanderously branded him a coward.

In the Cape, tension is high. The Zulus, an independent nation of magnificently militant tribesmen, threaten the colonial government's vision of a united South Africa. And Simon has been chosen for a particularly dangerous mission: to travel deep into Zululand to discover the intentions of the king. Simon encounters violence and imprisonment before he is faced with his greatest challenge. Escaping from the massacre at the Battle of Isandlwana, he must warn the tiny garrison at Rorke's Drift of the threat posed by advancing Zulu impis. He has a chance to prove Covington a liar, but he may pay the ultimate price...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Military Fiction, Africa, South Africa

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2004

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

John Wilcox started out as a local reporter and journalist in Birmingham before spending many years in industry, which took him all round the world. He finally sold his company to devote himself to writing full-time. He lives in Salisbury.

Reviews

[Clemens Schoonderwoert]

Read this book in 2008, and its the 1st volume of the excellent "Simon Fonthill" series, from John Wilcox.

This series is about Simon Fonthill, a young Lieutenant, and be his side the faithful and courageous '352' Jenkins, the year is AD 1879 and they find themselves in South Africa, defending the Empire and Fonthill his reputation after being branded a coward by his commanding officer, Colonel Covington.

Together in the Cape, Fonthill and '352' Jenkins are deep in Zululand to discover the intentions of the Zulu King, a mission full of danger and with talk of war on thier heels.

They will somehow meet with violence while being imprisoned by the Zulus, but right before the moment when the battle and massacre at Isandlwana breaks out, and they will anage to escape to a safe haven.

That haven has to be Rorke's Drift, for they should know about the massive advance of the Zulus, and prepare for the onslaught that is to come.

What is to follow is a fantastic retelling of the battles in South Africa between the British army and the Zulus, and all this is brought to us in a wonderful fashion by the author.

Highly recommended, for this is a sublime begin to this great series, and that's why I like to call this first episode: "A Wonderful Simon Fonthill Start"!

[Malum]

Does anybody else think that the guy on the cover looks like James Franco?

Anyway, this novel takes its time getting into the action and the sidekick is far more interesting than the main character. Despite that, however, this is a fun historical action/adventure that fans of Cornwell's Sharpe series should enjoy (and vice/versa).

[Gary Wallis]

This was a very good book. It`s like watching an old British movie. The characters are good and the story moves well. The battles are very well described..... I wouldn`t want to be a soldier at the battle of Isandlwana. I look forward to the next book..... I particularly like the main characters servant 352 Jenkins. His Welch attitude comes through admirably and is a good addition to the story.

[Bettie]

Bettie's Books

[Michał Hołda]

I'm in love, loving text that is gently waxed and sharply accurate. This story takes as into 60th Rifles Royal Americans The Jaegers in struggle in Anglo-Zulu War.

King Cetshwayo refused Frere's demands for federation, or to disband his Zulu army, as it would mean losing his power. War began in January 1879, when a force led by Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford invaded Zululand to enforce British demands.

And Im very happy its story acros several books. Just like many other greate historcal-nowel series, that I love, and many I am lookong forvard to read in the future.

I still value more biographical books but do enjoy novels more and more.

I also like the posiblity that, whatever books in the series I don't have I can buy on amazon, or google play store and read on my Ipad, if not on kindle. Im saing its possible still to read whole series, if one doese not have one or two volumes.

[Katie Jackson]

Was given this book (not sure why/by whom but definitely not something that i would have picked up myself), wasnt sure what to expect, wasnt sure if i would enjoy it, but surprisingly really enjoyed it. Will look out for the others in the series.

[Patrick]

I'd give it five stars for readability and enjoyment, but there were a few oddities that made me blink here. Mostly I put that down to this being a first book. I did thoroughly enjoy it and am going to just head to the next book in the series.

[Nick]

3.5

[Mark Donald]

Very good book brilliant series

[Veljko]

Not particularly goor or bad, good enough to spend some free time in light reading.

[Dimitri]

An everyman flawlessly entwined into the legendary twin battle of Islawanda and Rorke's Drift. These dramatic events don't need a deep embellishment and John Wilcox grasps this : the novel bends history far less to the demands of fiction as is common, which is neatly charted in his afterword. The greatest asset of its fictional characters is to look into the Zulu perspective even deeper than Stanley Baker's classic movie. The only criticism I can level at this book concerns the chapters leading up to Fonthill's deployment to the Cape. The casual mention of big events in history for the period 1865-such as the Crimean War, Reconstruction, the Great Game, P.M. Gladstone and the Russo-Turkish War could've used a little explanation. For those with an interest in technology, the dawn of electricity under Thomas A. Edison passes by as well. War correspondent for "the Morning Post" Alice, to my surprise, turned out to have a real-life inspiration present at the Commune of Paris and the first Anglo-Boer war, Frances Whitfield.

[Nathan]

English officer and his amusing-yet-surprisingly-canny Celtic NCO sidekick fight the enemies of the crown and woo pretty women while fending off dastardly personal enemies of superior rank. Sounds familiar?

You betcha! This is a Sharpe clone.

And Wilcox is no Cornwell. At least, not yet. There are passages of quite good material here, but they are stuck between longer parts where Wilcox either takes too long to get anywhere (the court scene) or decides that the reader needs their hand held (the lengthy "these are te Zulus, and this is how they live and fight" info dump and the various "oh, superior officer, let me enlighten you about the state of the modern army" snippets).

That being said, it is not without promise, and the pace picks up somewhat about halfway through.

All in all, though, I think I'll wait until Wilcox has a bit more practice before I try again with him.

Rated M for frequent battle violence, brief nudity and moderate language. 2/5

[Derek Perumean]

For some reason Rorke's Drift always fascinated me. This is historical fiction set at that battle. It reminded me a bit of the movie "Zulu" w/Michael Caine; and with the way somethings are written I'm willing to bet the author saw the movie, too. But he also did his homework and wrote a great book with good characters and a story line that will hold your attention. If you like Sharpe or Hornblower type of stories you'll like this one. The main character and his sidekick (there's always a sidekick) continue there adventures in 5 other books in the series and I highly recommend the first one.

[Jonathon Laudinsky]

1879, Lt. Simon Fonthill in South Africa fighting the Zulus. Fights at the battle of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift. Horns of the Buffalo was a pretty good read. It's no Sharpe, and it kind of follows the same formula, Officer (Sharpe/Fonthill) loyal non-English NCO (Irish Harper/Welsh Jenkins) fights in histoical battle. I would still recommend to historical fiction fans. Also check out "Flashman and the Tiger"

[Ron Decaigny]

A great start to an enjoyable series, OK it's not great literature, the characters and plot are somewhat formulaic, but come on, both the high and low water marks of the 19th Century British army, a little romance, a little humour, a little social intrigue and even some budding feminism. That's about all you could ask for. Rorkes Drift. nuff said.

[Sarah Allen]

I re-read this book after around 10 years while on a recent trip to South Africa and it was a marvellous way of refreshing my memory in preparation for a battlefield tour of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift. I love the Fonthill novels and this is an exceptionally good one and really sets the scene and the atmosphere for those terrible events.

[John]

A good read and a bit different take on the Zulu war. I will read more of Font hill and 352 in the future.

[BookwormSally]

Although this is an interesting and well written book, it's not a series I will be continuing. It’s just not a genre I can get invested in.

[Michael]

a stirring tale of adventure in the tradition of a e w mason and rafael sabatini.great stuff.