She: A History of Adventure

By H. Rider Haggard and C.S.R. Calloway

And now it appeared that there was a mysterious Queen clothed by rumor with dread and wonderful attributes, and commonly known by the impersonal but, to my mind, rather awesome title of She.

With She, H. Rider Haggard polished the literary "lost world" odyssey. Coming upon an underground civilizat

• Language: English
• Publisher: CSRC Storytelling
• Release date: Jan 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9781955382090

H. Rider Haggard

Sir Henry Rider Haggard, (1856-1925) commonly known as H. Rider Haggard was an English author active during the Victorian era. Considered a pioneer of the lost world genre, Haggard was known for his adventure fiction. His work often depicted African settings inspired by the seven years he lived in South Africa with his family. In 1880, Haggard married Marianna Louisa Margitson and together they had four children, one of which followed her father’s footsteps and became an author. Haggard is still widely read today, and is celebrated for his imaginative wit and impact on 19th century adventure literature.

Book preview

Horror Historia:

She

Horror Historia brings together the most influential monsters and original gothic stories in one blood-curdling collection.

Collect each volume and complete the ultimate nightmare pantheon.

Horror Historia Black

Nightmares and boogeymen of the phantasmagoria.

Horror Historia Blue

Kaiju exemplars and monsters from lost worlds..

Horror Historia Brown

Werewolves, hellhounds, and other supernatural beasts.

Horror Historia Green

Carnivorous and lethal vegetation.

Horror Historia Indigo

Practitioners of sorcery and witchcraft.

Horror Historia Pink

Murderers, ghouls, and other monsters of the flesh.

Horror Historia Red

Bloodsuckers and vampire variants.

Horror Historia Violet

Magical beings of folklore and mythology.

Horror Historia White

Ghosts, phantoms, and visitants.

Horror Historia Yellow

Mummies and nightmares of the Nile.

Horror Historia:

She

A History of Adventure

H. Rider Haggard

Horror Historia: She

written by H. Rider Haggard

edited by C.S.R. Calloway

CSRC 0212 SM.png

Published by CSRC Storytelling

Los Angeles, California

ISBNs:

Hardcover: 978-1-955382-07-6

Paperback:  978-1-955382-08-3

Ebook: 978-1-955382-09-0

Cover illustration by Massai

Cover designed by Mena Bo

Copyright © 2022 by C.S.R. Calloway

No part of this book may be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Introduction to the Volume

an immortal woman inspired by an immortal love

In the world of adventure and fantasy literature, few characters are as captivating as Ayesha, the titular character of H. Rider Haggard’s She. A woman with unchecked power, a relentless hunger for more, and a physical form that defies time itself, Ayesha embodies a terrifying force of nature that challenges conventional notions of femininity and power.

Haggard’s novel, first published in 1887, presents a gripping tale of discovery and mystery. The protagonist, Leo Vincey, encounters the enigmatic Ayesha, or She Who Must Be Obeyed, who claims to be the immortal queen of a lost African city called Kôr. Ayesha’s portrayal as a powerful female protagonist was groundbreaking for its time and has earned her the status of a proto-feminist character. Despite her villainous nature, Ayesha’s strength, intelligence, and sexuality were striking departures from the traditional female characters of the late 19th century. As a femme fatale, she exemplifies a seductive and dangerous woman who wields her charms to manipulate and control men. This archetype can be seen in other iconic works, such as Salomé in Oscar Wilde’s play and the infamous Mata Hari in various books and films.

The novel was composed by Haggard in just six weeks during February and March 1886, following the completion of his previous work Jess (1887). Haggard described this period as intensely creative, with the manuscript scarcely needing any corrections. He began writing without a clear plan, only guided by the idea of an immortal woman driven by an eternal love. The rest of the story developed organically around this central figure.

Haggard might have drawn inspiration from the works of Edward Bulwer-Lytton, particularly the stories featuring a mysterious veiled woman named Ayesha (utilized in 1862’s A Strange Story) and the discovery of a subterranean civilization (1871’s The Coming Race). Additionally, the name Kôr for Haggard’s underground civilization originates from Norse mythological romance, where it refers to the deathbed of the goddess Hel.¹ Various traditions of female monarchy on the African continent also served as precursors to She. Lieutenant George Witton’s 1907 book Scapegoats of the Empire references a powerful tribe led by a princess believed to have influenced Haggard’s creation of Ayesha.

Whether intentional or not, Haggard weaves in the horror of white supremacy, making it explicit rather than hidden subtext. While Ayesha is Arabian, she is depicted as true Arabian, or white, as if the idea of a powerful kingdom founded by non-white people is unfathomable.

Upon its publication, She achieved instant critical and commercial acclaim, breaking new ground in the realm of fiction. The captivating narrative of reincarnated love and everlasting passion would later leave a profound imprint on subsequent works, notably in cinema, igniting a trend in portraying enduring love that transcends the bounds of time and space. One such notable cinematic instance is found in the 1932 film The Mummy, where Boris Karloff plays Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian priest resurrected in search of his lost love, Princess Anck-es-en-Amon. According to Imhotep’s conviction, she has been reincarnated as a contemporary woman named Helen (played by Zita Johann). Similarly, the popular 1999 remake follows a comparable formula, with Arnold Vosloo’s portrayal of Imhotep, seeking to revive his lost love, Anck-Su-Namun, who is fully reincarnated in the 2001 sequel.² The theme of reincarnated love resurfaces in the 1972 classic Blacula, where the titular vampire Mamuwalde (William Marshall) searches for his wife Luva (Vonetta McGee), seemingly reincarnated as Tina two centuries later. It was, however, Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 adaptation of Dracula, starring Gary Oldman, that propelled the narrative device of reincarnated love to widespread popularity. In this version, Mina Harker (played by Winona Ryder) is believed to be the reincarnation of Dracula’s beloved Elisabeta. This concept, unique to the film, quickly became an integral part of the character’s story in subsequent adaptations, unbeknownst to most viewers that She had pioneered this theme earlier.

The novel’s influence extends beyond its pioneering depiction of Ayesha and her near-immortal love. It is often regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of the Lost World subgenre, where characters stumble upon hidden or forgotten civilizations. This theme of discovery has left an indelible mark on the development of the adventure genre, inspiring countless stories of exploration and ancient wonders with stories like Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1912) and Edgar Rice Burroughs’s The Land That Time Forgot and A. Merritt’s The Moon Pool (both 1918).³

The legacy of She extends far beyond its original novel form. Ayesha became the central figure in a franchise, with a sequel (Ayesha, 1905), a prequel (Wisdom’s Daughter, 1923), and a crossover with Haggard’s iconic character Allan Quatermain (She and Allan, 1921). Her story has been adapted into various films, starting with the silent film The Pillar of Fire in 1899,⁴ and explored through different media, including a rock-opera by Clive Nolan.

The influence of Ayesha’s character can also be seen in other iconic figures, such as Narnia’s White Witch Jadis, Middle-earth’s Galadriel, and Marvel’s Kismet, who takes on the names Her and Ayesha in the comic stories and assumes the role of a leader in her cinematic portrayals.

Throughout the years, She has left an indelible mark on the literary landscape, resonating with readers and audiences worldwide. Its themes of hidden worlds, ancient wisdom, and powerful women continue to inspire new works of fiction and media, solidifying Ayesha as an enduring and captivating figure in the realms of adventure, fantasy, and popular culture.

Notes on the Collection

Gothic grotesqueries, penny dreadfuls, pulp magazines, and other darkly inventive publications have produced a dread allure across the world, infiltrating culture and influencing language, becoming the source for multiple adaptations across all forms of media. Horror Historia brings together the most influential monsters and original gothic stories in distinctive blood-curdling collections, existing not as an exhaustive tome or panoptic omnibus, but as one hell of a starter kit for the archetypes, conventions and motifs necessary to build the ultimate nightmare pantheon.

To make Horror Historia texts more accessible to the contemporary reader, minor changes have been made with spelling, punctuation, capitalization, italicization, hyphenation, and spacing. British spellings (colour instead of color) have been altered throughout. Obvious typographical errors in the original texts have been corrected. Many of these stories contain depictions common during their day among writers from systemically majoritized backgrounds and cultures, though any outright slurs have been altered or removed. Neither the publisher nor the editor endorses any characterizations, depictions, or language which would be considered ableist, racist, xenophobic, or otherwise offensive.

Each book in the Horror Historia collection is dedicated to Gerardo Maravilla.

She

H. Rider Haggard

Contents

Introduction

I. My Visitor

II. The Years Roll By

III. The Sherd of Amenartas

IV. The Squall

V. The Head of the Ethiopian

VI. An Early Christian Ceremony

VII. Ustane Sings

VIII. The Feast, and After!

IX. A Little Foot

X. Speculations

XI. The Plain of Kôr

XII. She

XIII. Ayesha Unveils

XIV. A Soul in Hell

XV. Ayesha Gives Judgment

XVI. The Tombs of Kôr

XVII. The Balance Turns

XVIII. Go, Woman!

XIX. Give Me a Black Goat!

XX. Triumph

XXI. The Dead and Living Meet

XXII. Job Has a Presentiment

XXIII. The Temple of Truth

XXIV. Walking the Plank

XXV. The Spirit of Life

XXVI. What We Saw

XXVII. We Leap

XXVIII. Over the Mountain

About the Author

About the Editor

IN EARTH AND SKIE AND SEA

STRANGE THYNGS THER BE

- doggerel couplet from The Sherd of Amenartas

Introduction

In giving to the world the record of what, looked at as an adventure only, is I suppose one of the most wonderful and mysterious experiences ever undergone by mortal men, I feel it incumbent on me to explain what my exact connection with it is. And so I may as well say at once that I am not the narrator but only the editor of this extraordinary history, and then go on to tell how it found its way into my hands.

Some years ago I, the editor, was stopping with a friend, "vir doctissimus et amicus neus," at a certain University, which for the purposes of this history we will call Cambridge, and was one day much struck with the appearance of two persons whom I saw going arm-in-arm down the street. One of these gentlemen was I think, without exception, the handsomest young fellow I have ever seen. He was very tall, very broad, and had a look of power and a grace of bearing that seemed as native to him as it is to a wild stag. In addition his face was almost without flaw—a good face as well as a beautiful one, and when he lifted his hat, which he did just then to a passing lady, I saw that his head was covered with little golden curls growing close to the scalp.

Good gracious! I said to my friend, with whom I was walking, why, that fellow looks like a statue of Apollo come to life. What a splendid man he is!

Yes, he answered, he is the handsomest man in the University, and one of the nicest too. They call him ‘the Greek god’; but look at the other one, he’s Vincey’s (that’s the god’s name) guardian, and supposed to be full of every kind of information. They call him ‘Charon.’ I looked, and found the older man quite as interesting in his way as the glorified specimen of humanity at his side. He appeared to be about forty years of age, and was I think as ugly as his companion was handsome. To begin with, he was shortish, rather bow-legged, very deep chested, and with unusually long arms. He had dark hair and small eyes, and the hair grew right down on his forehead, and his whiskers grew right up to his hair, so that there was uncommonly little of his countenance to be seen. Altogether he reminded me forcibly of a gorilla, and yet there was something very pleasing and genial about the man’s eye. I remember saying that I should like to know him.

All right, answered my friend, nothing easier. I know Vincey; I’ll introduce you, and he did, and for some minutes we stood chatting—about the Zulu people, I think, for I had just returned from the Cape at the time. Presently, however, a stoutish lady, whose name I do not remember, came along the pavement, accompanied by a pretty fair-haired girl, and these two Mr. Vincey, who clearly knew them well, at once joined, walking off in their company. I remember being rather amused because of the change in the expression of the elder man, whose name I discovered was Holly, when he saw the ladies advancing. He suddenly stopped short in his talk, cast a reproachful look at his companion, and, with an abrupt nod to myself, turned and marched off alone across the street. I heard afterwards that he was popularly supposed to be as much afraid of a woman as most people are of a mad dog, which accounted for his precipitate retreat. I cannot say, however, that young Vincey showed much aversion to feminine society on this occasion. Indeed I remember laughing, and remarking to my friend at the time that he was not the sort of man whom it would be desirable to introduce to the lady one was going to marry, since it was exceedingly probable that the acquaintance would end in a transfer of her affections. He was altogether too good-looking, and, what is more, he had none of that consciousness and conceit about him which usually afflicts handsome men, and makes them deservedly disliked by their fellows.

That same evening my visit came to an end, and this was the last I saw or heard of Charon and the Greek god for many a long day. Indeed, I have never seen either of them from that hour to this, and do not think it probable that I shall. But a month ago I received a letter and two packets, one of manuscript, and on opening the first found that it was signed by Horace Holly, a name that at the moment was not familiar to me. It ran as follows:—

"—— College, Cambridge, May 1, 18—

"My dear Sir,—You will be surprised, considering the very slight nature of our acquaintance, to get a letter from me. Indeed, I think I had better begin by reminding you that we once met, now some five years ago, when I and my ward Leo Vincey were introduced to you in the street at Cambridge. To be brief and come to my business. I have recently read with much interest a book of yours describing a Central African adventure. I take it that this book is partly true, and partly an effort of the imagination. However this may be, it has given me an idea. It happens, how you will see in the accompanying manuscript (which together with the Scarab, the ‘Royal Son of the Sun,’ and the original sherd, I am sending to you by hand), that my ward, or rather my adopted son Leo Vincey and myself have recently passed through a real African adventure, of a nature so much more marvelous than the one which you describe, that to tell the truth I am almost ashamed to submit it to you lest you should disbelieve my tale. You will see it stated in this manuscript that I, or rather we, had made up our minds not to make this history public during our joint lives. Nor should we alter our determination were it not for a circumstance which has recently arisen. We are for reasons that, after perusing this manuscript, you may be able to guess, going away again this time to Central Asia where, if anywhere upon this earth, wisdom is to be found, and we anticipate that our sojourn there will be a long one. Possibly we shall not return. Under these altered conditions it has become a question whether we are justified in withholding from the world an account of a phenomenon which we believe to be of unparalleled interest, merely because our private life is involved, or because we are afraid of ridicule and doubt being cast upon our statements. I hold one view about this matter, and Leo holds another, and finally, after much discussion, we have come to a compromise, namely, to send the history to you, giving you full leave to publish it if you think fit, the only stipulation being that you shall disguise our real names, and as much concerning our personal identity as is consistent with the maintenance of the bona fides of the narrative.

"And now what am I to say further? I really do not know beyond once more repeating that everything is described in the accompanying manuscript exactly as it happened. As regards She herself I have nothing to add. Day by day we gave greater occasion to regret that we did not better avail ourselves of our opportunities to obtain more information from that marvelous woman. Who was she? How did she first come to the Caves of Kôr, and what was her real religion? We never ascertained, and now, alas! we never shall, at least not yet. These and many other questions arise in my mind, but what is the good of asking them now?

"Will you undertake the task? We give you complete freedom, and as a reward you will, we believe, have the credit of presenting to the world the most wonderful history, as distinguished from romance, that its records can show. Read the manuscript (which I have copied out fairly for your benefit), and let me know.

"Believe me, very truly yours,

"L. Horace Holly.⁵

P.S.—Of course, if any profit results from the sale of the writing should you care to undertake its publication, you can do what you like with it, but if there is a loss I will leave instructions with my lawyers, Messrs. Geoffrey and Jordan, to meet it. We entrust the sherd, the scarab, and the parchments to your keeping, till such time as we demand them back again. —L. H. H.

This letter, as may be imagined, astonished me considerably, but when I came to look at the MS., which the pressure of other work prevented me from doing for a fortnight, I was still more astonished, as I think the reader will be also, and at once made up my mind to press on with the matter. I wrote to this effect to Mr. Holly, but a week afterwards received a letter from that gentleman’s lawyers, returning my own, with the information that their client and Mr. Leo Vincey had already left this country for Thibet, and they did not at present know their address.

Well, that is all I have to say. Of the history itself the reader must judge. I give it him, with the exception of a very few alterations, made with the object of concealing the identity of the actors from the general public, exactly as it came to me. Personally I have made up my mind to refrain from comments. At first I was inclined to believe that this history of a woman on whom, clothed in the majesty of her almost endless years, the shadow of Eternity itself lay like the dark wing of Night, was some gigantic allegory of which I could not catch the meaning. Then I thought that it might be a bold attempt to portray the possible results of practical immortality, informing the substance of a mortal who yet drew her strength from Earth, and in whose human bosom passions yet rose and fell and beat as in the undying world around her the winds and the tides rise and fall and beat unceasingly. But as I went on I abandoned that idea also. To me the story seems to bear the stamp of truth upon its face. Its explanation I must leave to others, and with this slight preface, which circumstances make necessary, I introduce the world to Ayesha and the Caves of Kôr.

—The Editor.

P.S.—There is on consideration one circumstance that, after a reperusal of this history, struck me with so much force that I cannot resist calling the attention of the reader to it. He will observe that so far as we are made acquainted with him there appears to be nothing in the character of Leo Vincey which in the opinion of most people would have been likely to attract an intellect so powerful as that of Ayesha. He is not even, at any rate to my view, particularly interesting. Indeed, one might imagine that Mr. Holly would under ordinary circumstances have easily outstripped him in the favor of She. Can it be that extremes meet, and that the very excess and splendor of her mind led her by means of some strange physical reaction to worship at the shrine of matter? Was that ancient Kallikrates nothing but a splendid animal loved for his hereditary Greek beauty? Or is the true explanation what I believe it to be—namely, that Ayesha, seeing further than we can see, perceived the germ and smoldering spark of greatness which lay hid within her lover’s soul, and well knew that under the influence of her gift of life, watered by her wisdom, and shone upon with the sunshine of her presence, it would bloom like a flower and flash out like a star, filling the world with light and fragrance?

Here also I am not able to answer, but must leave the reader to form his own judgment on the facts before him, as detailed by Mr. Holly in the following pages.

I.

My Visitor

There are some events of which each circumstance and surrounding detail seems to be graven on the memory in such fashion that we cannot forget it, and so it is with the scene that I am about to describe. It rises as clearly before my mind at this moment as though it had happened but yesterday.

It was in this very month something over twenty years ago that I, Ludwig Horace Holly, was sitting one night in my rooms at Cambridge, grinding away at some mathematical work, I forget what. I was to go up for my fellowship within a week, and was expected by my tutor and my college generally to distinguish myself. At last, wearied out, I flung my book down, and, going to the mantelpiece, took down a pipe and filled it. There was a candle burning on the mantelpiece, and a long, narrow glass at the back of it; and as I was in the act of lighting the pipe I caught sight of my own countenance in the glass, and paused to reflect. The lighted match burnt away till it scorched my fingers, forcing me to drop it; but still I stood and stared at myself in the glass, and reflected.

Well, I said aloud, at last, it is to be hoped that I shall be able to do something with the inside of my head, for I shall certainly never do anything by the help of the outside.

This remark will doubtless strike anybody who reads it as being slightly obscure, but I was in reality alluding to my physical deficiencies. Most men of twenty-two are endowed at any rate with some share of the comeliness of youth, but to me even this was denied. Short, thick-set, and deep-chested almost to deformity, with long sinewy arms, heavy features, deep-set gray eyes, a low brow half overgrown with a mop of thick black hair, like a deserted clearing on which the forest had once more begun to encroach; such was my appearance nearly a quarter of a century ago, and such, with some modification, it is to this day. Like Cain, I was branded—branded by Nature with the stamp of abnormal ugliness, as I was gifted by Nature with iron and abnormal strength and considerable intellectual powers. So ugly was I that the spruce young men of my College, though they were proud enough of my feats of endurance and physical prowess, did not even care to be seen walking with me. Was it wonderful that I was misanthropic and sullen? Was it wonderful that I brooded and worked alone, and had no friends—at least, only one? I was set apart by Nature to live alone, and draw comfort from her breast, and hers only. Women hated the sight of me. Only a week before I had heard one call me a monster when she thought I was out of hearing, and say that I had converted her to the monkey theory. Once, indeed, a woman pretended to care for me, and I lavished all the pent-up affection of my nature upon her. Then money that was to have come to me went elsewhere, and she discarded me. I pleaded with her as I have never pleaded with any living creature before or since, for I was caught by her sweet face, and loved her; and in the end by way of answer she took me to the glass, and stood side by side with me, and looked into it.

Now, she said, if I am Beauty, who are you? That was when I was only twenty.

And so I stood and stared, and felt a sort of grim satisfaction in the sense of my own loneliness; for I had neither father, nor mother, nor brother; and as I did so there came a knock at my door.

I listened before I went to open it, for it was nearly twelve o’clock at night, and I was in no mood to admit any stranger. I had but one friend in the College, or, indeed, in the world—perhaps it was he.

Just then the person outside the door coughed, and I hastened to open it, for I knew the cough.

A tall man of about thirty, with the remains of great personal beauty, came hurrying in, staggering beneath the weight of a massive iron box which he carried by a handle with his right hand. He placed the box upon the table, and then fell into an awful fit of coughing. He coughed and coughed till his face became quite purple, and at last he sank into a chair and began to spit up blood. I poured out some whisky into a tumbler, and gave it to him. He drank it, and seemed better; though his better was very bad indeed.

Why did you keep me standing there in the cold? he asked pettishly. You know the draughts are death to me.

I did not know who it was, I answered. You are a late visitor.

Yes; and I verily believe it is my last visit, he answered, with a ghastly attempt at a smile. I am done for, Holly. I am done for. I do not believe that I shall see tomorrow.

Nonsense! I said. Let me go for a doctor.

He waved me back imperiously with his hand. It is sober sense; but I want no doctors. I have studied medicine and I know all about it. No doctors can help me. My last hour has come! For a year past I have only lived by a miracle. Now listen to me as you have never listened to anybody before; for you will not have the opportunity of getting me to repeat my words. We have been friends for two years; now tell me how much do you know about me?

I know that you are rich, and have had a fancy to come to College long after the age that most men leave it. I know that you have been married, and that your wife died; and that you have been the best, indeed almost the only friend I ever had.

Did you know that I have a son?

No.

I have. He is five years old. He cost me his mother’s life, and I have never been able to bear to look upon his face in consequence. Holly, if you will accept the trust, I am going to leave you that boy’s sole guardian.

I sprang almost out of my chair. "Me!" I said.

Yes, you. I have not studied you for two years for nothing. I have known for some time that I could not last, and since I realized the fact I have been searching for someone to whom I could confide the boy and this, and he tapped the iron box. "You are the man, Holly; for, like a rugged tree, you are hard and sound at core. Listen; the boy will be the only representative of one of the most ancient families in the world, that is, so far as families can be traced. You will laugh at me when I say it, but one day it will be proved to you beyond a doubt, that my sixty-fifth or sixty-sixth lineal ancestor was an Egyptian priest of Isis, though he was himself of Grecian extraction, and was called Kallikrates.⁶ His father was one of the Greek mercenaries raised by Hak-Hor, a Mendesian Pharaoh of the twenty-ninth dynasty, and his grandfather or great-grandfather, I believe, was that very Kallikrates mentioned by Herodotus.⁷ In or about the year 339 before Christ, just at the time of the final fall of the Pharaohs, this Kallikrates (the priest) broke his vows of celibacy and fled from Egypt with a Princess of Royal blood who had fallen in love with him, and was finally wrecked upon the coast of Africa, somewhere, as I believe, in the neighborhood of where Delagoa Bay now is,⁸ or rather to the north of it, he and his wife being saved, and all the remainder of their company destroyed in one way or another. Here they endured great hardships, but were at last entertained by the mighty Queen of a savage people, a white woman of peculiar loveliness, who, under circumstances which I cannot enter into, but which you will one day learn, if you live, from the contents of the box, finally murdered my ancestor Kallikrates. His wife, however, escaped, how, I know not, to Athens, bearing a child with her, whom she named Tisisthenes, or the Mighty Avenger. Five hundred years or more afterwards, the family migrated to Rome under circumstances of which no trace remains, and here, probably with the idea of preserving the idea of vengeance which we find set out in the name of Tisisthenes, they appear to have pretty regularly assumed the cognomen of Vindex, or Avenger. Here, too, they remained for another five centuries or more, till about 770 A.D., when Charlemagne invaded Lombardy, where they were then settled, whereon the head of the family seems to have attached himself to the great Emperor, and to have returned with him across the Alps, and finally to have settled in Brittany. Eight generations later his lineal representative crossed to England in the reign of Edward the Confessor, and in the time of William the Conqueror was advanced to great honor and power. From that time to the present day I can trace my descent without a break. Not that the Vinceys—for that was the final corruption of the name after its bearers took root in English soil—have been particularly distinguished—they never came much to the fore. Sometimes they were soldiers, sometimes merchants, but on the whole they have preserved a dead level of respectability, and a still deader level of mediocrity. From the time of Charles II. till the beginning of the present century they were merchants. About 1790 my grandfather made a considerable fortune out of brewing, and retired. In 1821 he died, and my father succeeded him, and dissipated most of the money. Ten years ago he died also, leaving me a net income of about two thousand a year. Then it was that I undertook an expedition in connection with that, and he pointed to the iron chest, which ended disastrously enough. On my way back I travelled in the South of Europe, and finally reached Athens. There I met my beloved wife, who might well also have been called the ‘Beautiful,’ like my old Greek ancestor. There I married her, and there, a year afterwards, when my boy was born, she died."

He paused a while, his head sunk upon his hand, and then continued—

My marriage had diverted me from a project which I cannot enter into now. I have no time, Holly—I have no time! One day, if you accept my trust, you will learn all about it. After my wife’s death I turned my mind to it again. But first it was necessary, or, at least, I conceived that it was necessary, that I should attain to a perfect knowledge of Eastern dialects, especially Arabic. It was to facilitate my studies that I came here. Very soon, however, my disease developed itself, and now there is an end of me. And as though to emphasize his words he burst into another terrible fit of coughing.

I gave him some more whisky, and after resting he went on—

I have never seen my boy, Leo, since he was a tiny baby. I never could bear to see him, but they tell me that he is a quick and handsome child. In this envelope, and he produced a letter from his pocket addressed to myself, I have jotted down the course I wish followed in the boy’s education. It is a somewhat peculiar one. At any rate, I could not entrust it to a stranger. Once more, will you undertake it?

I must first know what I am to undertake, I answered.

You are to undertake to have the boy, Leo, to live with you till he is twenty-five years of age—not to send him to school, remember. On his twenty-fifth birthday your guardianship will end, and you will then, with the keys that I give you now (and he placed them on the table) open the iron box, and let him see and read the contents, and say whether or no he is willing to undertake the quest. There is no obligation on him to do so. Now, as regards terms. My present income is two thousand two hundred a year. Half of that income I have secured to you by will for life, contingently on your undertaking the guardianship—that is, one thousand a year remuneration to yourself, for you will have to give up your life to it, and one hundred a year to pay for the board of the boy. The rest is to accumulate till Leo is twenty-five, so that there may be a sum in hand should he wish to undertake the quest of which I spoke.

And suppose I were to die? I asked.

"Then the boy must become a ward of Chancery and

Reviews for She

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

She by H. Rider Haggard is an adventure novel that was originally published in 1887 after being previously serialized in a magazine. This fantasy adventure is the story of Cambridge professor Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey and their journey to a lost kingdom in the African interior. While the story is very unbelievable, I enjoyed being reminded of how I felt as a child when I would watch old Tarzan movies on “Jungle Theatre”.This story about a two thousand year old sorceress, “She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed” and her tribe of cannibals is sheer balderdash but there were touches of misogynistic attitudes, a great deal of racism, and definite colonial attitudes that gives the reader a good look at the mindset of imperialist Victorians in the 1880s. Although the story is dated, it is a fact that this book was a trailblazer of original adventure stories, and is well remembered and at times copied even today.

[aront-2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What to make of this book?This is the first Haggard book I have read, and one of his earliest books (his second success). The pacing is uneven, the plot is full of holes, and the writing can be terrible—he often runs out of over-blown adjectives so it seems he repeats the word “hideous” 10 times in 3 sentences. Nonetheless he manages to keep the story entertaining and engaging. He certainly is wildly imaginative and deserves props for creating a whole new genre (and being often imitated in books and films).I also don’t find his racism or sexism too off the charts or obnoxious for a 19th century Englishman. The main character ends up longing for the days where polyandry will become the norm and describes positively a female led society. Sure he looks down on savages and poor people, yet he develops a true friendship with a “native” and gives arguments in favor of respecting cultural differences. He also has a deep respect for his old, not too bright servant. The only people Haggard truly despises are Jews (the “Hebrew” race) whom he has She viciously attack not once, but twice. But if Jew-hatred/stereotyping disqualifies English literature there wouldn’t be much to read out there, would there? (Ironically his main biographer was a Jew—Morton Cohen, how’s that for a stereotypical Jewish name?)Finally, to his credit, he does on occasion rise above genre writing and raise interesting philosophical issues regarding sex, aging, culture and society. He puts highly unconventional views (even by modern standards) in the mouth of She and raises ideas clearly influenced by Indian & Chinese philosophies (albeit filtered through Victorian spiritualism). I would give this 3.5 if I could (lost points for bad writing) and definitely recommend this book.In regards to dealing with his uneven writing, I highly recommend listening to The Classic Tales audio book version which offers this book for free. BJ Harrison gives life to Haggard’s purple prose and makes it bearable . His excellent recitation style carries you through the boring bits and somehow makes the blow-hard narrator less insufferable.

[stephkaye-923485 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am not an expert in the African adventure genre, but I think that She (1886) must have been an influential work. I can certainly see its sense of visual drama reflected in movies like The Mummy and even The Lord of the Rings.

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fantasy, romance, adventure novel that set the stage for lost kingdom and lost race stories. She was published as a book in 1887 and is the story of Horace Holly and his charge Leo Vincey who travel to Africa and discover a white queen who is referred to has "she who must be obeyed". Rider also led the way in adventure romance novels. And finally it is a book of Imperialist Gothic literature. The author lived several years in South Africa and in the novel praises England and the Queen and when She (Ayesha) decided to go to England Horace fears what will become of England. A reverse of colonialism. The novel explores female authority and the author describes Horace Holly as a misogynist. In addition the book has themes of race and evolution. In this book, the author portrays the people of Africa as savage and barbarians. The evolution is of racial decline. This is the second book by Rider Haggard that I have read. I really don't like his style much and while his writing was an important contribution in the development of novels and therefore deserves its place on the 1001 books you must read before you die. I did purchase a cheap audible narration and that may have been a big factor in the lack of enjoyment. Reportedly, this novel was very popular to the Victorian reader.

[pilgrimjess · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

"Yea, all things live forever, though at times they sleep and are forgotten."One evening young Cambridge University professor, Horace Holly, is visited in his rooms by a colleague, Vincey, who tells Holly a fantastical tale of his family's history and that he, Vincey, will die before the night is out. Before his departure Vincey begs Holly to bring up his young son, Leo, with instructions that a locked iron box which he brought along with him should not to be opened until Leo's 25th birthday. Holly agrees, and indeed Vincey is found dead the following day. Holly, with the aid of a male nurse Job, raises Leo as his own and on the boy's 25th birthday they open the iron box. Inside they discover a piece of pottery, the "Sherd of Amenartas", which seems to tally with Vincey's unlikely story.Following the instructions on the Sherd the three men travel to eastern Africa where they are shipwrecked. With the exception of their Arab captain, Mahomed, they are the sole survivors of the wreck and the four men travel towards the interior only to be captured by the savage Amahagger people who speak a form of Arabic and are ruled by a fearsome queen, known as Hiya or "She-who-must-be-obeyed" or simply "She".Holly in particular is befriended by Billali, an elder, who introduces the newcomers into the ways of his people, whilst Ustane, a Amahagger maiden, takes Leo as her husband in accordance with tribal traditions. In contrast, Mahomed is seized by a group natives who intend to eat him. In an attempt to save Mahomed Holly accidentally shoots him dead along with several of the attackers. Leo is seriously wounded in the melee and only saved when Ustane throws herself onto his prostrate body and Billali timely entrance.Fearing for their safety and despite Leo being gravely injured Billani takes the three Englishmen to the home of the queen, which lies inside a dormant volcano near the ruins of the lost city of Kôr, a once mighty civilisation that pre-dated the Egyptians. Once there, Holly is presented to the queen, a white sorceress named Ayesha. Ayesha reveals that she has learned the secret of immortality and has lived in the realm of Kôr for more than two millennia, awaiting the return of her lover, Kallikrates (whom she killed in a fit of jealous rage).The next evening She visits Leo to heal him and declares him to be the reincarnation of her former love Kallikrates. On his recovery Leo becomes bewitched by the beautiful Ayesha who in explaining her own history shows him the perfectly preserved body of Kallikrates, which she has kept.In the climax of the novel, Ayesha takes the three Englishmen to see the Pillar of Fire determined that Leo should bathe in the fire to become immortal and that together they can become the all-powerful rulers of the world. On arrival Leo questions the safety of entering the flame and to allay his fears, Ayesha steps into the flames. However, this second immersion, has the opposite of the intended effect, Ayesha reverts to her true age and dies.This novel was first published at the very end of the 19th century when very little was known about the interior of Africa and shows many of the sadder traits of the day, namely misogyny, racism and sexism. Unpleasant as these are what I really disliked was the author's overwritten style which made large parts of it feel very repetitive. In short this is a boy's own adventure that shouldn't be taken too seriously but be read purely as a piece of literary Victorian history that has seen it's day. "There is no such thing as magic, though there is such a thing of knowledge of the hidden ways of Nature."

[cecrow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel won me over, but it's not reflected in my initial impression: a quaint 19th century image of Africa as the European adventurer's romantic playground, abounding with MacGuffins to be discovered. The MacGuffin of choice for this outing is a seemingly immortal woman's kingdom, lying somewhere inland from the coast of Zanzibar (now Tanzania) where the swamps are naturally thickest. While there's a long-lasting family grudge to be motivated by, our heroes seem driven mostly by the thought of wandering into the unknown just to see what happens. Solid pacing and detailed narrative are the primary selling features as the Brits tough it out with stiff upper lips, struggling through deadly swamp gases, cannibals and other hazards like men's men. Haggard perilously stakes everything on successfully introducing She to the stage, a build-up that lasts to the halfway point. Surprisingly, She delivers real tension into the story. She has power and presence, her affect on the adventurers is overwhelming, and a sequence of revelations and key plot points are well orchestrated. Aeysha is like Galadriel from Lord of the Rings, but amoral and somewhat maddened by a lost love. Stiff upper lips mean nothing to her, and she rules the story like she rules her kingdom. It only partly ends like I expected, in a way that I doubt would play well if directly translated to a Hollywood screen (I haven't seen any versions) but it has real impact in novel form. It's what it says on the can, a solid adventure story, and it's only somewhat saddled by 19th century style, language and views. I hear at least some of the sequels are also worthwhile.

[williemeikle-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It had been many years since I read this - sometime back in the early '70s at a guess, and my memories of it have also been colored by the Hammer movie that I've watched several times in the interim. The movie is still watchable, but I fear the book hasn't aged well at all. Where it still stands up is in the imaginative sequences - the lost cities, the immense caverns, the pillar of fire and she-who-must-be-obeyed herself, all of which show Haggard to be capable of stirring the blood, which he also does admirably during the early shipwreck scene.

But it falls down badly on some dreadfully casual racism, the inherently worthy but dull protagonists and some shocking plodding exposition, especially early on. Allan Quartermain lifted several of Haggard's other works above all of this, but in the case of She the old warrior is sorely missed.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bill Homewood's narration really added to my enjoyment of this classic.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very imaginative story that is a little too concerned with female power for my taste.

[mrsdanaalbasha · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first novel I have read as a young girl, I've read it over and over again a lot of times, I bought a new edition because mine was worn out, I love it!! I always wonder why didn't they make it into a movie (A new adaption I mean)?!? It's the best fantasy novel ever!!!

[altheaann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'd never read this classic of adventure-fantasy before. For some reason, I'd always assumed the the author was a contemporary of Robert E. Howard, and that it was published sometime in the 1930s or thereabouts. Not so! It was published in 1887!

The story is fairly simple: An ugly, rather reclusive academic is asked to become ward of a young boy. When the boy, Leo, comes of age, he opens a package left to him by his dead father, and discovers a tale that he is descended from a fabulously long line of Greco-Egyptians, and that somewhere in darkest Africa, there is an immortal goddess who is somehow bound up in his life. Although taking this with a grain of salt, the two are compelled to go investigate the tale - and indeed, they find the fabled, immortal SHE, Ayesha, who believes that Leo is the reincarnation of her long-dead love - who, incidentally, she murdered in a jealous fit.

Although, for his time period, Haggard was apparently considered to be remarkably tolerant and broad-minded, a lot of this book wound be found quite shocking in may ways to most modern audiences.
Haggard does go out of his way to be clear that many of the prejudices in the book are those of his characters - but prejudices of his own (or of the society of his times) can also be found coming through loud and clear. There are definite racist, anti-Semitic and very non-feminist views voiced, as well as the fact that the lower-class Englishman, their servant, is basically a humorous sidekick, his class used for laughs. (which, now that I'm thinking about it, has really kinda become a cliche in this whole genre, even in recent times.)

My copy of the book was from 1972, and I was a bit surprised that it was published unexpurgated, as I know that a bunch of Robert E. Howard's works were censored in their publications from around that time (eliminating references to 'subhuman black savages' and that sort of thing.) (I have mixed feelings about that... I'm generally against censorship, but I'd rather read stories without such content, obviously.)

However, I did enjoy reading this book. It IS an entertaining story, subtexts aside. And it's also interesting, historically, to see the attitudes of the 19th century through the lens of a story like this. It's also interesting to see how much philosophizing, poetics, & etc are included in what was unapologetically written as a sensationalist adventure story - a 'wild romance', as it's referred to in the opening of the sequel!

The attitudes, and the different levels of them, seen in this book could fuel quite a lot of analysis - I'm not surprised that it's been studied in college classes - but right now I'm too tired to get into an extended essay!

[oberon_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

She, along with King Solomon's Mine, are the most famous works by H. Rider Haggard. Considered to be one of the first "Lost World" adventure stories, She is a fun read. The story is centered around She which is short for She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, a nearly immortal queen who presides over the ruins of Kor. The story starts with a mysterious legacy left with Horace Holly who is asked to raise a young boy and give him a locked trunk when he reaches 25. The box contains a potsherd with the fragments of of a story that quickly results in the ward and guardian venturing into southern Africa. Their journey to Kor and what they find there is the heart of the story. It should be recognized that She was published in 1886 and its characters come from the Victorian Age. As such, the native Africans are depicted as cannibals. The ruined glories of Kor are the product of a vanished civilization strongly implied to be something other than African. In addition to the depiction of Africans, the interaction between men and women is also far from modern. She herself is white and such a vision of loveliness so as to be dangerous for any man to look upon unveiled. She is also cruel. Yet that cruelty is somehow forgiven due to her beauty. My favorite quote explaining this phenomena reads "No doubt she was a wicked person . . . but then she was very faithful, and by a law of nature man is apt to think but lightly of a woman's crimes, especially if that woman be beautiful, and the crime be committed for the love of him." She is a fun story set in a time that still had blank spaces on the maps that could be filled in with imagination. Haggard unleashes that imagination to tell a heck of a tale.

[jldobias · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

She By Henry Rider Haggard.

I suppose were I a scholar of those languages the formatting might be a problem.

This is a great book and a great classic and I suppose if I understood even a shred of Egyptian, Greek or Latin then I might be just as incensed as some others about the butchery of those parts of the book.

As it is I thoroughly enjoyed the story and hope that there are not any plot points that are of great import in all that hashed up gobble-de-gook.

I read She because I had read Atlantida by Pierre Benoit which someone had said was a major rip from She.

So to begin I would like to say that Atlantida doesn't come anywhere close to being the intense classic that She is and to make such a claim actually denigrates the work of Henry Ride Haggard. Whatever Atlantida is it is considerably different and so much less in content that any notion that its a copy deserves only a shrug.

She,Ayesha, is liken to an old Trope in history and mythology and literature. Amongst Aphrodite, Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, and Nefertiti-She takes her place. Women known for great beauty and seductive nature whom men will throw down kingdoms and fortunes to their very deaths, to stand beside.

It would seem to some that She of H.R.Haggard is considered the template for further lost world sub-genre. It may be so, although I would argue that it was a new template using an ancient trope.

What's interesting about She is that there are mountains of exposition from one central character, Ayesha, that not only tell the story of her long life but give insight into her philosophy and her ideals about religion. Not only do her arguments twist and sway the narrator but he is also enthralled by her beauty and presence and has perhaps lost a portion of his ability to argue rationally.

The narrator Holly is not a handsome man. He in fact is liken to a Baboon. But the orphan whom he has raised from childhood, Leo, perhaps has a handsomeness that could almost rival the beauty of She.

Of course this wouldn't be a story without the back-story of the family line of Leo. A back-story that may fatefully link Leo to Ayesha.

The story is written in that high and almost florid manner of it's time and might weigh heavy on the readers of this age but I think it still stands well through time with a multilevel examination of several moral and ethical dilemma. Though it often seems that the narrator goes purple the writing is strong and indicative of the writing of the time and the story does not suffer.

J.L. Dobias

[baswood · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Victorian gothic thriller with an element of a lost world scenario, there is both eroticism and adventure, with Haggard intent on placing his novel firmly in the context of his era's fascination with all things archaeological. It has the most marvellous femme fatale with Sigmund Freud claiming it depicted the eternal feminine, the immortality of our emotions (but what did he know). There are reflections on the meaning of life, immortality and death amongst some fine descriptive writing exuding atmosphere, but there is no science fiction and it is not a book for children.It is a Victorian novel written by a man who worked in the colonial apparatus of the time and so by todays standards it is politically incorrect, however within the context of the story I did not find it offensive, (but then I am a white English male, so what do I know) and it is a great story. It starts with a mystery: an old friend turns up at a University professor's (Holly) house, saying he is going to die this very night, but he has one last request. Will he act as guardian to his son and take charge of a casket which must not be opened until Leo comes of age. The years pass and the casket is finally opened and it contains an improbable story of Leo's birth right backed up by hard archaeological evidence. It is too tempting for the two men to resist and they take ship to Africa to search for the lost kingdom of Kor. They and their servant Job, survive a shipwreck and after many vicissitudes they stumble into the land of the Amahaggar tribe; ferocious cannibals ruled by a white queen Ayesha or she-who-must-be-obeyed. Ayesha has discovered the secret of eternal youth and is waiting for the reincarnation of her lover Kallikrates, which of course happens to be Leo. Both Holly and Leo fall in love with Ayesha who is a murdress and has no compunction about killing anyone who gets in her way (one look will do it). The climax of the novel is a perilous journey undertaken by the three men and Ayesha to the pillar of flame that will bestow immortality.Haggard goes to some lengths to lift his novel out of the rut of a typical Victorian gothic romance and I think he is largely successful. He must have realised that with such a fantastic storyline he needed to give it some authenticity, to give it some semblance of reality. Early in chapter III a facsimile of the pottery shard containing the story of Kallikrates is reproduced in uncial Greek, which is translated into classical Greek before being reproduced in English. Haggard takes time to explain the ethnography of the Amahaggar tribe and the lost civilization of the Kors. His central characters discuss religion, morality, the mysteries of the universe, the desire for immortality and the passions of love and desire. This together with an atmospheric depiction of Ayesha's cave complex, a nightmare journey through the swamps and a thrilling edge of the seat climax makes this book fully deserve it's classic status. Haggards characters are reasonably well rounded and in Ayesha he has managed to transmit an eroticism that makes Leo and Holly's actions perfectly understandable.This novel has appeared on lists of early classic science fiction novels, but I did not read it in this way, because Haggard is so intent in placing the story in a contemporary setting with its historicity thoroughly explained that such a reading would in my opinion be perverse. Had this novel been set on another world or had there been any hint of Ayesha not being of this world then I might acknowledge a science fiction element. The novel is nicely structured and I did not mind a more leisurely pace while Haggard filled in the background or took off on one of his more thoughtful, profound passages, it did not feel like info-dumping and it certainly added to the books literary merit. I enjoyed myself with this read and I am tempted to go for [Ayesha: the Return of She] 4 stars

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of Haggard's three best (with King Solomon's Mines and Allen Quartermain), possibly his best. From the intellectual fascination of the "Shard of Amenardis" through all the adventure of finding "she" and ten the great moral question of accepting her offer, followed by her sudden end, it is quite extraordinary.

[traveller1_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Found it somehow not as entertaining as the other AQ novels I have read. Seemed a tad laboured. Also the conception of love went way past obsession into insanity.

[nesum_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After reading King Solomon's Mines, I was really expecting something quite a bit different. Something more in the physical action / adventure category. Sure enough, it started off quite in this manner, with a journey into Africa, encounters with less-than-hospital natives, etc. But once She-who-must-be-obeyed is introduced, the adventure takes a decidedly deeper and more psychological bent to it. The end result is mezmorizing, much like Ayesha herself is said to be. Quite enjoyable.

[rsubber · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've read "She" a number of times, it's always a fascinating read. "She" is a compelling character and the supernatural elements are intriguing to me. The philosophical dialogue about the temptation of eternal life is unsettling: I'm not sure if I would want to live forever, but the prospect of being invulnerable to disease/death, and having the resulting power, is not so easily dismissed. I suppose it's irrational to dwell on it, and thus squander what remains of my appointed time.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

By all rights I probably should reread this before reviewing--I last read this in my teens. I think I'm a little afraid I might find She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed diminished in my esteem, and I'd hate that. I'd rather remember this not only as a rollicking good adventure to read, but above all Ayesha, the "She" of the title, as one of the kick ass heroines of Victorian fiction. Along with King Solomon's Mines, She is the most famous of H. Rider Haggard's novels, and I like this one more. Indeed, this spawned three sequels. There's even one where the hero of King's Solomon's Mines, Alan Quartermain, meets Ayesha--She and Allan. My favorite of the Ayesha books actually is the prequel Wisdom's Daughter, where Ayesha tells her own story--historical fantasy about Ancient Egypt. This particular is the original, published as a serial from 1896 to 1897. It's set 2,000 years after Ayesha was born in the present day of publication. For Ayesha is immortal--and incredibly powerful. And now she's confronted with an Englishman who bears a uncanny resemblance to her old love. And yes, some of the prose, it is purple. I'm not going to claim this is the same order of classic as the best by Charles Dickens, the Brontes, George Eliot or Thomas Hardy. But like Arthur Conan Doyle or Robert Louis Stevenson or Rudyard Kipling, Haggard really could spin a good yarn.

[wjohnston_43 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another book I probably would have enjoyed more when I was younger. I could see this being adapted for an Indiana Jones movie (and there are elements of the IJ movies that may have been borrowed from here). Interested me as much for the insight it gives into Victorian England as for the story itself.I probably would have been better off w/o reading the annotations. I wish the notes had been footnotes rather than endnotes (although I can see this being difficult as the novel itself had footnotes), and I wish there were a way to distinguish between explanatory notes, and notes dealing with changes to the manuscript.

[amydross · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating document, but I had high hopes for this book, and it didn't quite live up to them. Much as I love stories about imperious, sexually dominant women, Ayesha just didn't live up to her hype -- she was cold and beautiful, yes, but also irritatingly vapid and coquettish. Hard to root for her. Still, plenty of stuff to mull over here, relating to sex, race, class, etc.

[bespen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting book indeed. This book, along with King Solomon's Mines, established the universe in which seemingly every subsequent adventure story would be set. Everything you need is here, the Victorian era, lost civilizations, gentlemen explorers, and mysteries that time should have forgotten. The climatic ending of the novel involves a harrowing underground adventure that would make for a good summer blockbuster. Every time you see Indiana Jones or Lara Croft leap across a bottomless pit, know that this is the source.One hundred and twenty-five years on, style can be a potential roadblock. Like many popular Victorian novelists, Haggard can be damned slow sometimes. Stop apologizing that your pen is inadequate to describe the indescribable and get on with it! The book is not near as bad as Sir Walter Scott can be, since Haggard wrote after the invention of photography; he had no need to describe things in exhaustive detail for people who had never been more than 50 miles from home. The thing to know is you can just skip or skim parts that seem slow, and that will keep your interest up without harming the narrative.However, for all that thick prose, you can see a different world through Haggard's works. Some of the things I enjoy about Victorian adventure novels are the places one can visit in the imagination, and the shift in perspective to see the world as the Victorians did. Here we have a work of popular literature with large sections of Greek and Latin, implying both the author had the capacity to compose it, and at least some of the readers to understand it. When our gentlemen adventurers meet the titular She, a great deal of time is spent in philosophical discourse. Since Ayesha has been roughing it for 2500 years, she is in dire need of intellectual stimulation. How different this feels than Robert E. Howard!The lost civilization is located 10 days journey from the coast between Delagoa [Maputo] Bay and the Zambesi river, inside the rift valley volcanoes therein. Rift valleys always make for dramatic landscapes. Also, the history of Arab trade on the east coast of Africa becomes important to the story. I never knew there was a distinction between original Arabs, al-'Arab al-'Ariba, and the descendants of Ishmael, al-'Arab al-mostareba.The dramatic action of the book is most moral. There are harrowing escapes and acts of derring-do, but the true conflict arises from the irresistible attraction our gentlemen explorers feel towards She. She is a creature of supernatural beauty and wisdom, but one who still shares the weaknesses of human nature. Both men love her, almost against their will. I say almost, because they are of divided minds. She is a wicked creature, but they are so smitten with her that they excuse her wrongs even against themselves. They know this, but cannot resist her charms. It is the characteristic sin of males, writ large upon a fantastic backdrop. How many powerful men have been ruined by a pretty face?Ayesha herself is remarkably flawed. She has been given unnaturally long life and superior powers of reasoning, but her conscience has not grown to match. Like a Greek goddess, she is powerful, yet strangely petty. She can have anything she wants, the problem is what she wants. The wicked acts she commits are indeed small, the problem is that she has no sense of the responsibilities that go with great power, and that great things are expected of those who have been given much.While I do like Haggard's work, I would be interested to see this same idea in another author's hands, Tim Powers for example. The cause of this whole expedition was Ayesha's murder of the remote ancestor of one of our gentlemen heroes. This remarkable man refused to abandon his wife for Ayesha in her glorified state, and in a rage she slew him. Twenty-three centuries later, his ancestor simply acquiesces. He is literally powerless against Ayesha. Why was his ancestor made of sterner stuff? There is a mystery here that goes unexplored.While Robert E. Howard may not have philosophical discourses between his characters, Solomon Kane at least would find the grace to resist She.

[eyejaybee · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A rip-roaring adventure story set in East Africa in the mid-Victorian period. As might be expected from the time it was written and the prevailing colonial mores, there are what now seem some unacceptable attitudes towards native African races, though these are less prevalent than in many books from this period. As an adventure story it fairly races along, and encompasses shipwreck, kidnap, brushes with cannibals and a beautiful, ageless African queen with Helen-like powers to captivate men with a single glance.It may all sound somewhat ropey but in vact it hangs together surprisingly well, and certainly kept me reading eagerly through to the end.

[datrappert · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this as an eBook on my Nook Color. I notice that that version includes some text not in my hardcopy edition. A check on the Internet shows that Haggard revised the book more than few times after its initial publication in serial form.So - given that a book like this should probably be read when you are in your teens - how does it hold up for a *somewhat* older reader? Pretty well, I would say. The books deficits are very clear, including lots of long-winded speeches and descriptions in flowery terms that wouldn't be out of place in an early John D. MacDonald attempt at a love scene. However, the essence of what these speeches and narration are trying to convey is pretty good stuff, philosophically, so we plunge right through it fairly easily. At no time does it become quite as exaggerated as Lovecraft or other writers who were inspired by Haggard's work. The other most annoying part of the book is the narrator's constant statements (one per chapter I would say) that something is too fantastic to be described or that words fail him, or more proclamations to that effect. That gets a little old after a while, but in every case the descriptions the narrator is able to provide are pretty good.On the plus side, this book, while an archetype for the lost world type of adventure story, doesn't read like a tired series of cliches. Putting aside the routine though not pervasive racism and the typical English attitudes of its narrator and his adopted son, Leo, who is the impetus of the story, the narrative is less predictable than I expected. Its success, of course, depends upon the character of She, and Haggard succeeds in creating a creature who is a mix of tenderness and coldbloodedness. She leads the narrator and Leo on a journey to a place of fire that is the source of her longevity (over 2000 years!). I won't offer any spoilers as to what happens. Elsewhere in the book, there are scenes that I will certainly continue to recall from time to time for years to come, the unique torches for instance, or my favorite new verb--hotpot!

[diwanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure where I got the idea to read this book, but I'm glad I did. It is a good, classic adventure through Africa and the mysteries that lie therein. Realistic thrills and adventure with a smidgen of the supernatural I can see why it was so popular 120 years ago. If you like Indiana Jones or Allan Quartermaine(also by the same author) you'll enjoy this one.

[thebooknerd · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book will simultaneously amuse and annoy you. It's Victorian origins positively ooze from the pages, filled as they are with British machismo, casual bigotry, and baffling melodrama. And yet, all that is part of what makes this story fun. It's the kind of book you love to hate.

[amerynth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A mysterious package left for a son leads two men -- Leo and Holly on an adventure to Egypt, where they discover links to Leo's past and a story that is an archeologist's dream. I really enjoyed the overall story, but found the writing to be somewhat dense and dry. It's one of those books I'm glad I read, but I probably won't ever pick up again.

[smiley_13 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ripping 19th century adventure fiction that justly competed with Treasure Island. A bit long winded in a few places and some overblown hyperbole that sets it squarely in the late 1800's, but holds up unusually well and the reader can easily trace the novel's influence on much later art from C.S. Lewis to J.K. Rowling the Marilyn Monroe cult and B grade horror films.Freud, Jung and many others had much to say about the psychology implicit in this novel. Not all of it off the mark.

[cbjames_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

She by H. Rider Haggard is one of the worst books I've ever enjoyed. The writing is stilted, the dialogue is ridiculously both overwrought and formal, the plot is absurd, the characters are two dimensional, the laughs are unintentional. I loved it.The story follows an aging Oxford don, "on the wrong side of 40" as he says, Horace Holly and his young ward the handsome Leo Vincey, called the Lion because of his wonderful golden curls. The two set out with their man servant Job in search of a lost African kingdom ruled by a powerful, undying woman, Ayesha called She Who Must Be Obeyed by her terrified subjects. Leo's father, whom he never knew, left him an iron box to be opened on his 21st birthday. The box contains evidence written and physical linking Leo back through a long lineage to a ruler of ancient Egypt who loved Ayesha only to die by her hand. Aeysha is cursed with long life, forced to live over 2000 years alone while she waits for the reincarnation of her beloved Kallikrates to appear. Leo, of course, looks just like the paintings of Kallikrates.Then story starts to get ludicrous. I can understand why She was huge a success when it was first published in 1887. I can even understand why it would spawn three successful sequels. (It has sold over 83 million copies and been translated into 44 languages. I just wish one of them had been English.) At the end of the 19th century powerful women were a major concern among English authors. The New Woman was asserting herself all over the place making more than a few male authors very nervous. Africa was of great interest to the reading public in the 19th century, and Haggard is credited with inventing the lost kingdom genre of adventure fiction with his very popular stories of Allan Quartermain the hero of King Solomon's Mines. (The phrase She Who Must Be Obeyed later resurfaced as the "name" John Mortimer's Rumpole used to call his long-suffering wife.) All this makes sense to me given the culture of the time, but why She and its sequels should still be in print today is a mystery to me. Maybe just for the laughs. Take this passage:"Ah, so!" he answered. "Thou seest, my son, here there is a custom that if a stranger comes into this country, he may be slain by 'the pot' and eaten.""That is hospitality turned upside down," I answered feebly. "In our country we entertain a stranger, and give him food to eat. Here you eat him, and are entertained.""It is a custom," he answered, with a shrug. "Myself, I think it an evil one; but then," he added by an afterthought, "I do not like the taste of strangers, especially after they have wandered through the swamps and lived on waterfowl."Or this one:"My love! my love! my love! Why did that stranger bring thee back to me after this sort? For five long centuries I have not suffered thus. Oh, if I sinned against thee, have I not wiped away the sin? When wilt thou come back to me who have all, and yet without thee have naught? What is there that I can do? What? What? What? And perchance she--perchance that Egyptian doth abide with thee where thou are, and mock my memory. Oh, why could I not die with tjee, I who slew thee? Alas, that I cannot die! Alas! Alas!" and she flung herself prone upon the ground, and sobbed and wept till I thought that her heart must burst.Or this one:"I want a Black Goat, I must have a Black Goat, bring me a Black Goat!" and down she fell upon the rocky floor, foaming and writhing, and shrieking for a Black Goat, affording as hideous a spectacle as can be conceived.See what I mean. In spite of this there were a few scenes in She that came close to brilliant. One in particular described a ritual sacrifice She presided over in one of the many temple chambers in her underground palace. Slaves enthralled to her mysterious powers brought forth the mummified bodies of kings left for centuries in the tombs. Some they threw on a large bonfire while others the put inside holders along the walls lighting their heads as though they were torches. There's an image to haunt your dreams and something a Freudian analyst could really sink his teeth in to.The main reason I was able to enjoy reading this book was not to read it but to listen to it. If you've not discovered it yet Librivox.org is an excellent site for free downloadable audio books. It's an organization run by volunteers. People from all over the world can sign up to read a chapter from a wide selection of works in the public domain. These chapters are then collected and posted as downloadable zip files. Hearing She read by so many different people and with so many different accents made it much more fun. I heard male and female voices from America, England, India, New Zealand and one who struck me as having a Russian accent. Some readers were better than others and each came up with their own way to pronounce Kallikrates, but this added to the overall charm of the project. It was like having your parents read to you, a kind of outsider audio art. I've downloaded several more books, none of them sequels to She.

[djupstrom · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A bit too feministy for my taste. I get it...She-who-must-be-obeyed is a powerful woman. But I just didn't care that much.