The People of the Mist by H. Rider Haggard

[ShenValleyLewis]

I read King Solomon's Mines for the first time a few years ago, and was enchanted. Since then I've gone on to read a few other titles including She, Allan Quatermain, Allan's Wife, and The Saga of Eric Brighteyes. I enjoyed them all greatly, although Eric Brighteyes was more of a challenge than the others, due to being deliberately written in a more archaic style.

Recently I started on The People of the Mist, but I was somewhat disappointed. Coming after several other African "lost race" adventures, I feel he had taken too many trips to the well, so to speak. The situations felt recycled from his earlier novels; also the level of suspension of disbelief required was even greater than usual. I'm curious has anyone else read it, and what did you think?

I'm still planning to read Cleopatra, Montezuma's Daughter, and Nada the Lily, as they all fall within that period which supposedly contained his best work. Also they don't fall within the "lost race" genre, so I'm hoping they will avoid the shortcomings of People of the Mist.

 

[BAYLOR]

You might want to check out King of the Khyber Riffles by Talbot Mundy Talbot
El Borak and Other Desert Adventures by by Robert E Howard
The Ship of Ishtar By Abram Merritt
Lest Darkness Fall by L Sprague De Camp

 

[hitmouse]

I read King Solomon's Mines for the first time a few years ago, and was enchanted. Since then I've gone on to read a few other titles including She, Allan Quatermain, Allan's Wife, and The Saga of Eric Brighteyes. I enjoyed them all greatly, although Eric Brighteyes was more of a challenge than the others, due to being deliberately written in a more archaic style.

Recently I started on The People of the Mist, but I was somewhat disappointed. Coming after several other African "lost race" adventures, I feel he had taken too many trips to the well, so to speak. The situations felt recycled from his earlier novels; also the level of suspension of disbelief required was even greater than usual. I'm curious has anyone else read it, and what did you think?

I'm still planning to read Cleopatra, Montezuma's Daughter, and Nada the Lily, as they all fall within that period which supposedly contained his best work. Also they don't fall within the "lost race" genre, so I'm hoping they will avoid the shortcomings of People of the Mist.

I haven’t heard of this one.

 

[Extollager]

I've read it and about two dozen of Haggard's other books. Montezuma's Daughter is impressive though not a quick read. Nada the Lily might be his most proto-Robert E. Howard novel for its bloodiness. Cleopatra I read about 50 years ago in an abridged (I suspect) edition, so no comment on that one.

The World's Desire should've been better than it was, since the idea of a sequel to The Odyssey, written with the help of Andrew Lang, had strong possibilities. Heart of the World was good and I've wondered if it and Montezuma's Daughter influenced Tolkien without his realizing it.

From later years, When the World Shook, his Atlantean tale, was another one that should've been better. But as time passed Haggard seems to have found that it was easy to spin out the process of composition with dialogue (as is so important for page-producers today!).

 

[psikeyhackr]

You realize what happens with older stuff:

The People Of The Mist by H. Rider Haggard
First Published 1894.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The People Of The Mist, by H. Rider Haggard

gutenberg.org

Books: rider haggard (sorted by popularity)

Project Gutenberg offers 74,268 free eBooks for Kindle, iPad, Nook, Android, and iPhone.

gutenberg.org

I didn't know he had so much stuff.
I wonder if he is better in Finnish.

King--of the Khyber Rifles, by Talbot Mundy

gutenberg.org

The Ship of Ishtar, by Abraham Merritt - Free ebook

Download the free PDF, epub, or Kindle ebook. No registration needed. The story of Kenton, who receives a mysterious ancient Babylonian artifact.

www.globalgreyebooks.com