Review of 'King Solomon's Mines'

King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard

Following the story of Alan Quartermain - hunter extraordinaire - as he is recruited by Sir Henry Cirtus (along with his companion Captain John Good) to go in search of the famed “King Solomon's Mines” where Sir Henry believes he will also find his brother gone missing during the same such journey. The trip follows the group as it picks up a local guide, Umbopa, as it follows a hand-written map that leads them across a desert, through the pass of “Sheiba's Breasts” (two snow-capped mountains) along Solomon's Road through the land of the Kukuana to the mines located in the middle of three other mountains. An interesting story with a lot of the classical colonial mentality (savagery of the natives, culture of the English, hunting of the wild beasts, etc) – of particular note is the civil war the group eventually causes in the lands belonging to the Kukuana where many thousands are killed. The adventure is quite good with quite memorable characters and magnificant scenery. A good read, if you can overlook the definate “non-politically correct-ness” of the thing.

Rating: “Average, but who wants to be average?”


Genre: Classic