There is nothing better than reading a novel from a seasoned writer. Wilbur Smith’s writing style is in engaging and teleports you into the novel’s world. His novel is well- researched with vivid details of its time period from the character’s speech to the description of the various locations the characters travel to and exist in. The cover is eye catching and tells us a little bit about the story before even reading the novel. It’s cover is very simplistic, clean, and eye catching. The cover does have symbolic meaning to the body of the text. However, it adds a mysterious aura for readers to wonder exactly how the burning trees and the elephant relate to the title of the novel. The opening was smooth and captured my attention in just the first paragraph, which made the rest of the novel smooth sailing.