H. Rider Haggard
H. Rider Haggard's Books(4)
King Solomon's Mines
Fantasy "A peculiarly thrilling and vigorous tale of adventure."—Andrew Lang
"It goes and it grips and it moves with all the freshness of youth."—Rudyard Kipling
When Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island was first published, H. Rider Haggard made a five-shilling bet that he could write a better adventure tale. In 1885, he created King Solomon's Mines, a story in which Allan Quatermain, a gentleman adventurer, is hired to locate a man who had disappeared into the heart of Africa while hunting for the legendary lost diamond mines of King Solomon. The book became an instant sensation and has remained popular ever since.
Tales of adventure in exotic settings were the hallmark of Haggard's art; and King Solomon's Mines was no exception. Here were all the elements for which his novels were famous: a gripping tale in a foreign setting, supernatural adventures, terror, passion, and discovery. Praised as "the most amazing story ever written," the book went on to become one of the best-selling novels of the nineteenth century. Allan Quatermain
Fantasy Allan Quartermain is a sequel to the famous novel King Solomon's Mines. Quatermain has lost his only son and longs to get back into the wilderness. Having persuaded Sir Henry Curtis, Captain John Good, and the Zulu chief Umbopa to accompany him, they set out from the coast of east Africa, this time in search of a white race reputed to live north of Mount Kenya. They survive fierce encounters with Masai warriors, undergo a terrifying subterranean journey, and discover a lost civilization before being caught up in a passionate love-triangle that engulfs the country in a ferocious civil war. This novel is based on author's own experience in the African continent.
Excerpt:
'I have just buried my boy, my poor handsome boy of whom I was so proud, and my heart is broken. It is very hard having only one son to lose him thus, but God's will be done. Who am I that I should complain? The great wheel of Fate rolls on like a Juggernaut, and crushes us all in turn, some soon, some late it does not matter when, in the end, it crushes us all. We do not prostrate ourselves before it like the poor Indians; we fly hither and thither we cry for mercy; but it is of no use, the black Fate thunders on and in its season reduces us to powder. 'Poor Harry to go so soon! just when his life was opening to him. He was doing so well at the hospital, he had passed his last examination with honours, and I was proud of them, much prouder than he was, I think. And then he must needs go to that smallpox hospital. He wrote to me that he was not afraid of smallpox and wanted to gain the experience; and now the disease has killed him, and I, old and grey and withered, am left to mourn over him, without a chick or child to comfort me. I might have saved him, too-I have money enough for both of us, and much more than enough-King Solomon's Mines provided me with that; but I said, "No, let the boy earn his living, let him labour that he may enjoy rest." But the rest has come to him before the labour. Oh, my boy, my boy! You might like
Mightier than the Sword
Alphonse Courlander If you had been standing on a certain cold night in January opposite the great building where The Day is jewelled in electric lights across the dark sky, you would have seen a little, stout man run down the steps of the entrance at the side, three at a time, land on the pavement as if he were preparing to leap the roadway, with the sheer impetus of the flight of steps behind him, and had suddenly thought better of it, glance hurriedly at the big, lighted clock whose hands, formed of the letters T-H-E D-A-Y, in red and green electric lights, showed that it was nearly half-past twelve, and suddenly start off in a terrible hurry towards Chancery Lane, as though pursued by some awful thing. The People That Time Forgot
Edgar Rice Burroughs It was supposed to be a standard rescue...
As far as Tom Billings was concerned, all he had to do was set sail for the South Pacific island of Caprona and find the last-known whereabouts of Bowen J. Tyler.
It sounded so simple.
However, arriving on the island with his own private army, Billings becomes separated from his companions after a machine gun fight with what appears to be a prehistoric creature.
Standing between Billings and Tyler is the interior of the island, known to its local population as Caspak. It is a hot, overgrown, and unforgiving land. We accompany Billings step by step as he experiences strange rituals, vicious creatures and ancient tribes—many of whom want to kill him. There are times when he almost resigns himself to death in the face of insurmountable odds. But, true to his nature, he never gives up.
The People That Time Forgot is the second book in the Caspak trilogy, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Since 1918, this science fiction story has delighted and enthralled millions of readers. Preceded by The Land That Time Forgot, this second book in the Caspak trilogy will capture your imagination, by bringing to life the wild, ferocious and dangerous island that is Caspak. The Field of Ice
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (1828-1905) was a French author who pioneered the science-fiction genre. He is best known for novels such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). Verne wrote about space, air and underwater travel before air travel and practical submarines were invented, and before practical means of space travel had been devised. He is the third most translated author in the world, according to Index Translationum. Some of his books have been made into films. Verne, along with Hugo Gernsback and H. G. Wells, is often popularly referred to as the "Father of Science Fiction." Amongst his other works are From the Earth to the Moon (1867), Five Weeks in a Balloon (1869), The Fur Country; or, Seventy Degrees North Latitude (1873), The Blockade Runners (1874), The Field of Ice (1875), The Mysterious Island (1875), Facing the Flag (1879), and An Antarctic Mystery (1899).