Why You Should Read 'King Solomon's Mines'
A winning example of the Victorian-era’s “lost world” craze
King Solomon’s Mines is a grand story of exploration and buried treasure, and a winning example of the Victorian-era’s “lost world” craze, a subgenre which continues to influence adventure stories to this day.
This classic book was reputedly written in response to a challenge, that H. Rider Haggard couldn’t pen a better adventure novel than Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. And even though Treasure Island remains a permanent staple in the adventure genre — by George! I do believe that Haggard did it.
The Bible describes the lost land of Ophir as a place where there was gold and unspeakable wealth. Naturally, the mystery of precisely where Ophir is, or was, has been the source of considerable speculation over the centuries. This is the launching point for Haggard’s fantastical romance.
Allan Quatermain is an aging South African hunter who has lived well beyond the life expectancy for someone in his precarious line of work. But despite his wish to retire from these hardships, he reluctantly agrees to guide an expedition deep into the Dark Continent. Quatermain is admittedly not much of a storyteller. Nonetheless, he deftly narrates his own firsthand account of their perilous journey.
King Solomon’s Mines skillfully balances all manners of intrigue, humour, and brutal violence in a way that is as triumphant as it is uncomfortable; it somehow manages to satisfy the reader’s cry for justice with a mired brand of heroism.
As a raw adventure story goes, you’d be hard-pressed to pick a more rewarding one. And there isn’t even one petticoat!
