King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard

A very literal representation of the metaphor, a diamond in the rough. Written by H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon’s mines is a ride into all sorts of incredible. This masterpiece of fiction

has a charm to it that cannot be overshadowed by even the best of authors. Its call to adventure, fantasy, thrill, and twists are guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat till the end.

The beginning takes off as we find out that the book is written by one of the main protagonists of the story, Allan Quatermain, as a tribute to the single most remarkable adventure he had ever encountered in his lifetime. Sets quite the stage doesn’t it?

Allan is, by profession, an elephant hunter who is greeted by two Danes aboard the ship ‘Dunkeld’, Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good. Allan is immediately impressed by the two gentlemen. While in conversation, Sir Henry enquires about Allan’s chance encounter with George Neville, almost two years ago in Bamangwato. Sir Henry Curtis reveals that George Neville is his younger brother, who had not been in contact for almost 3 years. Under unfortunate circumstances, after their father had passed, all the money had been inherited by the eldest of the sons, Henry, which seems to have pissed off our dear Neville more than you’d imagine.

Sir Henry and Captain John had tracked Neville to his last known location, at Bamangwato, and wanted Allan to lead them to where he went next. A bit forward for a day-old relationship if you ask me.

Allan mentions that Neville had started his expedition to Solomon’s mines and goes on to explain its legend that he had picked up from an old partner, Evans, who claimed Solomon’s mines to be the resting place of diamonds untouched for centuries. Allan further produces an old map he had received from a stranger who, on the verge of his death, had attempted to reach Solomon’s mines but had failed.

Thus, Allan quickly composes a group of servants, animals, food and weapons for their oncoming expedition. Very efficient on his part I must say. Almost as if he was expecting it, clever guy.

Let me introduce Umbopa, a very important part of this narrative. He has the most amazing sense of authority in the entire group considering his position in the group is that of a servant. More-so, he doesn’t disappoint for he keeps the three men on their toes and never backs down. Kind of like an adventure style rights activist, but 20th century style. In fact, the guts on this guy are so commendable, you would think the trek would’ve gone a lot better if the group would’ve just taken his advice throughout the journey.

Their journey hits many bumps, bumps being a bit too blasé, I guess. The group encounters moments of extreme dehydration, malnutrition and even death in the weirdest of conditions. Now, I won’t give it away, but there is a scene with an old skeleton and a cave just in case you thought it got boring.

The group further their journey despite the life-threatening circumstances and eventually reach a check point, the Solomon road. As luck would have it however, this doesn’t amount to much as they come across a tribal community, isolated from urban life, the Kukuanas. The group are told they’ve trespassed the territory of Kukuanaland and will have to pay.

Now just for a bit of background, Good in this scenario, was halfway done shaving his mustache, had his pants off for drying, and was wearing a monocle. So, you can picture what that looks like. Unsurprisingly, a sight such as that was very strange for the people of Kukuanaland to see. Allan thinks on his feet and convinces the people that the group are ‘men of the stars’ and enchants them with a bit of good old ‘magic’. The Kukuanas are enthralled and take the group back to Kukuanaland to meet their tyrant king Twala. Talk about being naïve, they wouldn’t last a day in the real world.

Now, pretty interesting things happen. Secrets are revealed, wars are fought and also, just take my word, a romance is ALSO somehow annexed into the story. Simply put, Good falls in love with a court dancer, could’ve done better, just my opinion. The war in itself was a very entertaining act for me. The solidarity and friendship between our favorite characters showed exceptional character growth and maturity, excluding all the death of course. Morbidity and friendship go weirdly hand in hand there, I guess.

The group also faces more trouble as the, hold your breath, witch Gagool, traps them in the diamond mines, but also bizzarely dies in the process herself. Have to blame the group here though, why would you trust the weird scary witch to let you do anything for free anyway, heard of Hansel and Gretel people?

But a stroke of luck helps them find a way out, but unfortunately, the only diamonds they took out were a handful Allan had pocketed during their escape. I mean, you’d think after all that, they would’ve taken a bag at least.

The brother’s entry was maybe the most aggravating thing ever. Now this isn’t a spoiler, but apparently, he had injured himself halfway and had taken shelter in a hut on the side of a MUCH less perilous route. Dude, these three people literally travelled across a desert, saw countless deaths, participated in a multi-faceted war, almost died in a collapsed cave and missed out on diamonds that would’ve definitely lasted years of luxury.

And here you are.

Living in a hut.

A little anti-climactic I should say.

Still, this may be one of the few narratives out in the world that touches so many tenets of storytelling, from drama to romance and mystery. Even in heavy criticism, the worst I could find was the fact that Allan Quatermain had a profession that targeted an endangered species!

Jokes apart, this book is an underdog in the world of adventure fiction, one which surpasses expectations beyond your thinking. It truly deserves all the appreciation it can get; cause believe me, it’s been long overdue.

As far as my rating goes, it’s a steady 8/10.

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