Ballantyne Books in Order
Wilbur Smith has written 8 Ballantyne books, published between 1980 and 2024. The first book is A Falcon Flies / Flight of the Falcon (1980) and the newest is Fire on the Horizon (2024). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 8
- Published
- 1980–2024
- Confirmed
- 8 of 8 titles
- Pages on record
- 3,188 in 6 of 8 books
- Reading time
- 53–80 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,188 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 6 of 8 titles with a page count on record.
Ballantyne is an Africa-set historical adventure grouping credited to Wilbur Smith, running from A Falcon Flies / Flight of the Falcon (1980) to Fire on the Horizon (2024). The catalogue files Ballantyne and Courtney together, and the eight titles take in Men of Men (1981), The Angels Weep (1982), The Leopard Hunts in Darkness (1984), Call of the Raven (1992), The Triumph of the Sun (1992) and King of Kings (2019). Recorded subjects cover the Ndebele people, frontier and pioneer life, medical missionaries, women physicians and wildlife photographers.
How many Ballantyne books are there?
Ballantyne has 8 books, released between 1980 and 2024.
Ballantyne Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 8 Ballantyne books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 11980–4/4
- 219817204/4
- 319824684/4
- 419845764/4
- 519924484/4
- 619925124/4
- 720194644/4
- 82024–3/4
Ballantyne Books in Chronological Order
In story order, Call of the Raven comes first and The Leopard Hunts in Darkness comes last. Chronological order follows the events inside the story rather than the release dates. The 6 books with a recorded story position run in that sequence below.
- 7Call of the Raven1992 · 448 pages · confirmed 4/419924484/4
- 1A Falcon Flies / Flight of the Falcon1980 · confirmed 4/41980–4/4
- 2Men of Men1981 · 720 pages · confirmed 4/419817204/4
- 8Fire on the Horizon2024 · confirmed 3/42024–3/4
- 3The Angels Weep1982 · 468 pages · confirmed 4/419824684/4
- 4The Leopard Hunts in Darkness1984 · 576 pages · confirmed 4/419845764/4
Do you have to read Ballantyne books in order?
You should read the Ballantyne books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Ballantyne book also stands alone.
Where to start with Ballantyne
Start with A Falcon Flies / Flight of the Falcon (1980), the earliest published title. In the chronological order, Call of the Raven comes first.
What is the newest Ballantyne book?
Fire on the Horizon (2024) is the newest Ballantyne book released so far.
Is there a new Ballantyne book coming?
No next Ballantyne book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Ballantyne at a glance
- Still running
- Ballantyne is still running, with a title published as recently as 2024.
- Release pace
- Ballantyne books have appeared about one every 6 years on average.
- Length
- 3,188 pages across the 6 of 8 books with a recorded length, a median of 490 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Ballantyne books, 4 of 8, were published in the 1980s.
- Corroboration
- 7 of the 8 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.
What the Ballantyne books are about
6 of the 8 Ballantyne books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: action & adventure is tagged on 3 of 6. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Action & adventure 3 of 6 books
- Africa 3 of 6 books
- Historical fiction 3 of 6 books
- Women physicians 2 of 6 books
More books by Wilbur Smith
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Wilbur Smith books in order 66 books
Series that include Ballantyne books
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Courtney books in order 26 books