 1926 reprint | |
| Author | H. Rider Haggard |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Cassell |
Publication date | 1908 |
| Preceded by | Marie |
| Followed by | Allan's Wife |
The Ghost Kings is a 1908 mystery-adventure novel by H. Rider Haggard, [1] set on the borders of Zululand in Africa.
Rachel Dove, a British missionary's daughter who has been trekked almost all her young life around the wilds of Africa while her father preaches the Good Word to the natives and her mother suffers silently. Her life is turned around when fellow teenager Richard Darrien rescues her from a flash flood; their common initials alone may clue the reader in that these two are another pair of Haggard's predestined lovers. Some years later however, Rachel not having seen Richard during all that intervening time, runs afoul of one of the author's patented lustful villains, Ishmael, a renegade Englishman who plots with the Zulu king to have Rachel for his own. This task is made complicated for the rogue when the Zulus come to view Rachel as their Inkosazana y Zoola or Great Lady of the Heavens; the embodiment and incarnation of their goddess. Rachel, accompanied by Noie, her faithful half Zulu attendant discovers a lost civilisations, the Ghost Kings: a dwarf-like tribe of tree worshippers who are able to peer into the future with their bowls of dew. Similarly, Ishmael who practically goes insane with lust over the beautiful Rachel. Noie is the exotic woman who dares much for love and sacrifice more. Rachel's mother and to a lesser degree, Rachel herself are endowed throughout the tale with the gift of second sight, a foreseeing ability that aids her on several crucial occasions. And while the Zulu umtakatis (wizards) do not play a role here. The magic of the Ghost Kings is shown to be very real and not a little eerie.
Mopo, the witch doctor from Nada the Lily also appears in this book.
The Athenaeum magazine described the novel thus:
In this story Mr. Rider Haggard returns to the manner of his earlier romances to such good purpose that, despite its length and somewhat episodic character, interest is kept up from beginning to end. [2]
Discussing The Ghost Kings, E. F. Bleiler wrote: "a excellent long, detailed description of pioneer life on the veldt is a strong point, but the romance is extraneous and weak". [3]
Mary Elizabeth Braddon was an English popular novelist of the Victorian era. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret, which has also been dramatised and filmed several times.
Sir Henry Rider Haggard was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform throughout the British Empire. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential.
King Solomon's Mines (1885) is a popular novel by the English Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the missing brother of one of the party. It is one of the first English adventure novels set in Africa and is considered to be the genesis of the lost world literary genre. Haggard dedicated this book to his childhood idol Humphry Davy.
She, subtitled A History of Adventure, is a novel by the English writer H. Rider Haggard, published in book form in 1887 following serialisation in The Graphic magazine between October 1886 and January 1887. She was extraordinarily popular upon its release and has never been out of print.
Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines, its one sequel Allan Quatermain (1887), twelve prequel novels and four prequel short stories, totalling eighteen works. An English professional big game hunter and adventurer, in film and television he has been portrayed by Richard Chamberlain, Sean Connery, Cedric Hardwicke, Patrick Swayze and Stewart Granger among others.
The World's Desire is a fantasy novel first published in 1890 and written by H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang. It was published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fortieth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in January 1972.
She and Allan is a novel by H. Rider Haggard, first published in 1921. It brought together his two most popular characters, Ayesha from his 1887 novel She, and Allan Quatermain from his 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines. Umslopogaas from Nada the Lily also appears in the novel as a major character. Along with the other three novels in the series, She and Allan was adapted into the 1935 film She.
Nada the Lily is an historical novel by English writer H. Rider Haggard, published in 1892. It is said to be inspired by Haggard's time in South Africa (1875–82). It was illustrated by Charles H. M. Kerr.
Jess is a novel by British writer H. Rider Haggard, set in South Africa.
Heart of the World is an 1895 book by H. Rider Haggard about a lost Mayan city in Mexico. Its importance in the history of fantasy literature was recognized by its republication by the Newcastle Publishing Company as the tenth volume of the Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library in September, 1976.
Benita: An African Romance is a novel by H. Rider Haggard.
Stella Fregelius: A Tale of Three Destinies is a 1904 novel by the British writer H. Rider Haggard about a young inventor who falls in love with a mysterious stranger while he is engaged to another woman. As a novelist, Haggard is known primarily for his adventure novels. Among his most widely read and critically acclaimed novels are King Solomon's Mines, Allan Quatermain and She. After his publication of She, Haggard wrote at least one novel a year every year until his death in 1925.
The Yellow God: An Idol of Africa is a 1908 novel by H Rider Haggard.
The Ivory Child is a novel by H. Rider Haggard featuring Allan Quatermain.
Morning Star is a historical novel with fantasy elements by H Rider Haggard, set in Ancient Egypt.
The Ancient Allan is a novel by H. Rider Haggard.
Red Eve is a historical novel with fantasy elements, by British writer H. Rider Haggard, set in the reign of Edward III. Red Eve depicts the Battle of Crécy and the Black Death, and also features a supernatural personification of Death called Murgh.
Heu-Heu; or, The Monster is a novel by H. Rider Haggard. Allan Quatermain tells the story of a monster in Rhodesia.
Allan Quatermain is an 1887 novel by H. Rider Haggard. It is the sequel to Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines.
The Wizard is a novel by Henry Rider Haggard, first published by Longmans, Green, and Co., in 1896. The Wizard is one of the many examples of imperialist literature. According to Rebecca Stott, author of the article “The Dark Continent: Africa as Female Body in Haggard’s Adventure Fiction,” Haggard's fiction is still popular today and attempts to expose a “cultural and historical definition of white masculinity at its most rugged and its most terrified.”
The Ghost Kings public domain audiobook at LibriVox