As a 5 times published novelist and reader of many Wilbur Smith novels, I feel somewhat qualified to comment on his new offering.
If you suspend the critical eye it does the business efficiently enough, in that it entertains the reader. However, it is surprising that after 40 plus years writing Mr Smith still commits structural and presentational sins that novices are warned to avoid. For instance -
1. Stilted and unnatural dialogue made worse by (for instance) 'I am' instead of 'I'm' and 'we do not' instead of 'we don't." He never uses the contractions that make speech natural.
2. Multiple viewpoints, even within the same paragraph.
3. Putting the 'he said,' 'she said,' etc at the very end of a section of reported speech, even ones consisting of several sentences.
4. Two dimensional, steroetyped characters. For instance Hector Cross is Sean Courtney from Mr Smith's first published novel, 'When the Lion Feeds.'

These are just are few of the irritants with which this novel is liberally sprinkled, and I find them distracting. Maybe I should just let myself be carried along and forget playing the literary critic.