YMMV / Wilbur Smith

• Hard-to-Adapt Work: Wilbur claimed that he deliberately set out to write The Sunbird - a novel with two intertwined stories, one in the then present (early 1970s South Africa) and one in the distant past - in such a way as to make it unfilmable. Michael Klinger, the British film producer who produced two adaptations of Wilbur's novels, bought the film rights but nothing ever came of it.
• Sequelitis: River God is generally considered a solid, enjoyable book (and something of a departure for Wilbur, it being the first time he turned his attention to Ancient Egypt). With the possible exception of The Seventh Scroll (which, while definitely related, is set in the present day), the sequels in the Egyptian Series are nowhere near as good. The same could be said of the Courtney novels that have been written since Wilbur started using co-writers.
• Write What You Know: A self-acknowledged case. Most of Wilbur's novels follow similar themes of African history, big-game hunting, gold mining, carousing and romancing women.