King Solomon's Mines, Allan Quatermain, She: Amazon.ca: H. Rider Haggard: Books

Product Description

"She" is the great mythic creation of the 19th century, while "King Solomon’s Mines" and "Allan Quatermain" are surging tales of adventure, full of sensational fights, blood-curdling perils, and extraordinary escapes.

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Allan and She, May 24 2004

By

Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: King Solomon's Mines, Allan Quatermain, She (Paperback)

H. Rider Haggard really knew how to write exciting adventure novels. These are "ripping good yarns". The characters are fully developed and the situations they find themselves in are very imaginative. All three stories here are about Englishmen discovering lost civilizations, but they are not at all repetitive. I found the character of Ayesha("She") to be one of the most fascinating female characters I ever read about. I could go on and on about the merits of these books, but i will just say that if you like adventure novels (and you don't have a predjudice against books written in a somewhat dated style), you should enjoy these stories.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great stories, great value, Feb 24 2004

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Yossarian (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King Solomon's Mines, Allan Quatermain, She (Paperback)

Well, after years and years of Hollywood-tinged incidental exposure to the world of Allan Quatermain (everything from the reprehensible King Solomon's Mines film starring, among other deadwood, a young Sharon Stone, to the much more recent and oddly entertaining League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), I finally got around to reading the underlying works. Surprise surprise, they're vastly superior to the Hollywood fare. The most pleasant surprises, at least to me, have been in how engaging the characters are. Sure, the stories are old and have some racial aspects that read a bit awkwardly for a modern audience, but they retain all the drama and flare I'd hoped for. One great aspect is Quatermain himself..neither an Indiana Jones-esque bon vivant or a massive-chinned Captain Britannia, he's an over-the-hill elephant hunter who's a passable shot and an self-proclaimed coward. Whether that self-assessment is true or not is part of the fun of reading, and of course an elephant hunter doesn't live to be old unless he's got a few tricks up his sleeve. Strangely enough, Quatermain reminds me of Bilbo Baggins from Lord of the Rings in a number of ways (or vice-versa), particularly his 'along for the ride' persona and how he tends to put up a bit of a fight and then get clonked on the head whenever a tussle starts up.

There are other parallels as well; for example both Haggard and Tolkien share the ability to condense vast amounts of narrative into a few choice phrases. Quatermain and company traverse hundreds of miles of desert in a few evocative paragraphs that nonetheless leave you fumbling for a glass of water. It takes one of Robert Jordan's characters that long just to turn a doorknob.

Lastly, the book itself is a real bargain. You get three unabridged classic novels for less than a typical hardcover new release. Moreover, they're all excellent reads..'She' is particularly interesting in its unexpected quality. Indeed, I think it's one of the earliest femme fatale novels I've encountered to date, which makes it noteworthy in its own right. In any event, you won't go wrong with this collection.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Good Adventure Reading, Jan 20 2004

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Lara Edwards (Knoxville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King Solomon's Mines, Allan Quatermain, She (Paperback)

An enjoyable collection of H. Rider Haggard indeed. Written in the fluent, victorian style thats keeps the prose on a more intellectual level. The flowing, vivid descriptions create images that are larger than life and make the reader look forward to the next page.

Great collection to read to children,but by no means,not written as a children's story. It is intellectual in style but without pomp, and or self-aggrandizement.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Much Better Than the Movie Versions
I thoroughly enjoyed reading both KING SOLOMON'S MINES and ALLAN QUARTERMAIN. They offered more in the way of excitement and adventure than many current novels. Read more

Published on Jan 12 2004 by H. S. Wedekind

5.0 out of 5 stars Dangerous women and mysterious lands
It might be a little bit too much of a good thing to read three H. Rider Haggard novels together in one go-- but it is such a good thing, that I didn't find it overpowering... Read more

Published on July 29 2001 by frumiousb