Shangri-La: The Return to the World of Lost Horizon

by Eleanor Cooney, Daniel Altieri

In the remote unexplored highlands of Tibet there is a secret place called Shangri-La. Shadowed by mountain peaks and untouched by time, Shangri-La is a hidden utopia, open only to the most worthy of humankind. The curious and the bold all come searching for paradise, but only a few find it.
Shangri-La is the chilling story of one such seeker. It is spring, 1966, and the atrocities of the Chinese Cultural Revolution have reached Tibet. General Zhang, of the invading People's Liberation Army, is a fortune hunter with plunder on his mind. Nothing is safe from him, especially Tibet's sacred treasures. His path of destruction and desecration leads him ever closer to the very heart of Shangri-La.
Only one person can stop General Hugh Conway, guardian of Shangri-La. As Zhang slowly decodes the riddles that shroud this earthly paradise, Conway must find a way to halt the general's determined progress, even if it means leaving his protected valley and sacrificing himself. Conway's unlikely ally is Zhang's daughter, a young officer in the Chinese army, who must choose between loyalty and love.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy

324 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1996

About the author

Eleanor Cooney is the coauthor (with Daniel Altieri) of three novels set in 7th-century China: IRON EMPRESS (formerly DECEPTION)--A Novel of Murder and Madness in T'ang China; THE COURT OF THE LION: A Novel of the T'ang Dynasty; and SHORE OF PEARLS--A novel of Murder, Plague and the Prison Island of Hainan.

Her critically-acclaimed memoir DEATH IN SLOW MOTION, My Mother's Descent Into Alzheimer's (HarperCollins), was published in 2004 to rave reviews and was translated into four languages. She's recently completed a dark-but-funny literate thriller called THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, set in Wisconsin in the present and in the 1890s. In Oct. of 2019, her true-life memoir MIDNIGHT IN SAMARRA, The True Story of WMD, Greed, and High Crimes in Iraq was published by Skyhorse, NYC.

Her work has appeared in Harper's and Mother Jones magazines. She lives in Mendocino, California.

Daughter of Mary Durant

Reviews

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just re-read James Hilton's Lost Horizon for a book discussion a couple of months ago, so I picked this sequel up while the original story was still fresh in my mind. Well, I couldn't put it down. At first it's a little hard to tell who the narrator of the story is, but after a few pages I caught on. It's more than 30 years after the events in Lost Horizon, and the world has changed. Tibet has been invaded by China, and General Zhang and his son and daughter have been sent to make sure the monasteries and temples are destroyed. Zhang's daughter, Ma Lin, reminds me of Conway himself, and is the narrator through most of the book. General Zhang is determined to find Shangri-La in order to loot the place of its art objects. Will Conway be able to thwart him? More is revealed as to what happened to Conway after he left Shangri-La at the end of Lost Horizon, and how he got back to the valley. We also learn more about how the lamas protect the valley. It's all so interesting. I wish Cooney had included a list of sources she consulted in order to write this book. I would love to know which of these legends and magical practices are real. This book is certainly a worthy successor the Hilton's novel, and, if you've read Lost Horizon, you really must read Shangri-La. Highly recommended!

[Ray Foy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will the refuge for wisdom and beauty known as Shangri-La be able to survive the barbarism of the Chinese Cultural Revolution? Such are the stakes in Shangri-La: The Return to the World of Lost Horizon by Eleanor Cooney and Daniel Altieri. But is their book returning to the world created by James Hilton, or creating a new one?

SHANGRI-LA FACES THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION.

Shangri-La opens with the death of an old Asian man in New York City in 1966. The circumstances around his death are confused, but he seems to basically die from neglect. The narrative then moves to that of a Chinese woman who is caring for her elderly father. The woman is Ma Li Zhang and her father is a general who was ordered years earlier to implement the Cultural Revolution into Tibet after the Chinese take-over.

In his retirement, General Zhang is being interviewed by an Englishman scholar. This interview is the General’s story of his time in Tibet. Besides enforcing the strictures of the Cultural Revolution, the general is tasked, by Chairman Mao himself, with finding the reality of the Tibetan legend of Shambala. To do this, he pursues clues left in the various Buddhist monasteries he loots and destroys. He doesn’t know it, but these clues will take him to the actual Shambala called Shangri-La.

Unknown to anyone, General Zhang’s daughter, Ma Li, has been writing her own secret version of events in Tibet. She relates how she and her brother are captured by emissaries from Shangri-La and taken there. The Shangri-La people are saving her from being send to a “re-education” camp for the crime of letting two old Tibetan sages escape who her brother meant to use as examples of criminal punishment.

In Shangri-La, Ma Li and her brother meet Hugh Conway, Chalmers Bryant, and “Rosie” Brinklow (characters from James Hilton’s novel, Lost Horizon). Ma Li is captivated by the beauty of Shangri-La while her brother, a Chinese officer helping their father with his mission, is repulsed by it.

Based on Ma Li’s word and what they’ve heard on shortwave broadcasts, Conway and the lamas at Shangri-La see the threat of General Zhang finding and destroying their lamasery. So Conway and Ma Li leave on a mission to thwart the general. In undertaking this mission, Conway risks losing the aging-retardant influence of the Blue Moon Valley and dying. He also falls in love with Ma Li.

SCENES AND THEMES REQUIRED OF A LH SEQUEL.

Shangi-La is meant to be a sequel to Lost Horizon. As such, it follows a lot of the themes and formats of the older novel. There is the overall theme of protecting fragile beauty and wisdom from the world’s evil. This is the Shangri-La lamas motivation, but their plans to do so strike me as lame. They seem to think they can reveal Shangri-La’s existence and obtain mercy from the world. In Lost Horizon, Father Perrault was under no such delusion.

There is also a love theme that is more explicitly developed than what Mr. Hilton did in Lost Horizon. It is expressed in the relationship between Conway and Ma Li, which just doesn’t seem believable to me. Conway is too passionate and Ma Li is not passionate enough. Even so, there is a “love transcending physical age” aspect that is interesting, though it is more expressed than explored.

Now, there are loose ends in Lost Horizon that any sequel must address. The big two are: what happened during Conway’s “escape” with Mallinson and Lo-Tsen, and how/whether Conway found his way back to Shangri-La. The authors handle both of these items well enough, especially in recounting the death of Mallinson, but they’re notations that don’t extend the LH story or add to the current one being told.

When Conway tells Ma Li the story of his escape with Mallinson and eventual return, it is very much out of place with the surrounding story. I get the feeling it is an “Oh, we have to include this,” section.

There are certain scenes that are obliged to be part of any Lost Horizon sequel. One is the reintroduction of the main characters from Lost Horizon. That’s done in Shangri-La, though I don’t care for the way the authors do it. When first brought “on stage,” these characters are either not named, or they are addressed by names other than their Lost Horizon names. Sometimes titles are used, such as “the lama,” “the old man,” or “Rosie.” I found this annoying.

Another obligatory scene is some version of the Lost Horizon “capture” sequence, where characters are taken by force or subterfuge to Shangri-La. This is pretty well-done in Shangri-La. In fact, it’s probably the best sequence in the whole book and it regained my interest in the story after a certain lull.

The smoking theme of Lost Horizon should be represented in some way in a sequel. It is in Shangri-La with General Zhang being known for his sweet-smelling brand of cigarettes. His offering cigarettes to Conway shows his acceptance of Conway’s scheme. And, of course, Conway lights up now and then. There is not the “whiskey and cigars” slant of Lost Horizon, however. I miss that.

There is also the literary aspect of Lost Horizon where that story is presented as being taken from the words of Conway and put into a manuscript. The implication in LH is that the manuscript became Mr. Hilton’s novel. This is a “breaking the fourth wall” aspect that is not uncommon in nineteenth and early twentieth century storytelling. It is present in Shangri-La with General Zhang and Ma Li’s stories being recorded in manuscripts. Even the Rutherford manuscript from Lost Horizon makes an appearance. I have no problem, overall, with the way the authors handle their use of these manuscripts, though I don’t care for they way they end with them.

GOOD AND NOT-SO-GOOD WITHIN THE FOURTH WALL.

I did like the authors’ physical description of the Shangri-La lamasery and the Blue Moon Valley. It is the most detailed I have read and fills a Lost Horizon hole.

The details and ambiance of the Chinese invasion and implementation of the Cultural Revolution are believably expressed and are even educational. We even get a little sense of Tibet’s history.

Brother and Sister (Ma Li) representing two sides of Chinese culture is well done, though Brother is close to a one-dimensional stereotype.

The accounts of Conway’s escape with Mallinson, Mallison’s death, Lo-Tsen’s behavior, and Conway’s ending up in the Chinese hospital (all being events implied in LH) are well laid out, thoughtful, and believable.

I like that the authors bring in the Rutherford MS without breaking the fourth wall.

Some cringe-worthy aspects include the “ski lift” designed by Chalmers Bryant (Barnard). This device seems out-of-place.

Chang’s mission to NY to beg for mercy at the United Nations is lame and out-of-character.

The cruelties of Tibetan feudalism are given a pass. Rather, the view of Tibet as a spiritual place beyond the world’s materialism is stressed and seems naive. Even in LH, the goodness of Shangri-La is seen as the exception.

The character of Chalmers Bryant is mostly true to LH, but his engineering expertise is, I think, an addition. In any event, it seems too fortuitous.

Miss Brinklow is presented as having changed under Shangri-La’s influence. While she may have mellowed some, her character in LH was pretty hard core. Likely, her radical change is meant to be a foreshadowing of the possibility of change for Brother. Still, it didn’t sit well with me.

WELL WRITTEN BUT NOT SATISFYING FOR AN LH FAN.

Shangri-La: The Return to the World of Lost Horizon is technically a well-written novel. The authors did their research well on both Mr. Hilton’s novel and the time periods in which they place their sequel. They express the cruelty and heartless zeal of the Chinese Cultural Revolution as well as the spiritual tolerance of Shangri-La. Watching these two opposites dance with one another is, I think, the novel’s intent. It is the art in this storytelling but it isn’t done satisfactorily for me. While there is a lot I like about the book, it is just too weak on its depiction of the original Lost Horizon characters and their motivations to work for me. Also, I think the ending is not satisfying.

For all that, the authors have written a good novel on the Chinese side of it. That is, the story of General Zhang and his children working within the horrors of the Cultural Revolution is interesting with Ma Li being the protagonist. For this, I rate the novel as a good read. I just think it is not up to the level it should be for being considered a true sequel to Lost Horizon.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading "Lost in Shangri-La" I decided to search for a copy of the fictional account of the fabled land: "Lost Horizon". That book is not yet electronic (Amazon says it will be on Kindle in May) so I watched the movie. I went back to my search and found Cooney had written a sequel. Cooney and her co-author are enthusiastic members of the "Free Tibet" movement (at least according to the dust cover of the book) and the sequel is about saving Shangri-La from the tyranny of the Chinese invaders. Fairly straightforward book, answers a few questions about the folks in Shangri-La and poses a few new ones. Worth the read.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This book is ultimately a political one, but is okay as a novel. I don't like it as a sequel to James Hilton's novel, though. The romance was unnecessary and the way it plays out strongly contradicts how Hilton's book suggests Shangri-La is supposed to 'work,' at least for the lamas and especially the high lama. So much for a mellowing of passions over time, or for taking things in moderation. The most interesting part, in terms of reading this as a sequel to Hilton's novel, was the authors' take on Conway's return to Shangri-La, though this section was impeded by the authors' choice to quickly and repeatedly jump back and forth between past and present tense in long, otherwise uninterrupted stretches of dialogue. I'm not convinced that Cooney and Altieri's Hugh Conway is even remotely the same character as James Hilton's Hugh Conway. And, in the end, I prefer Hilton's. I think this novel would have been better if none of Hilton's characters had been main characters here, but had instead all stayed mostly in the background. If you read this book, I suggest trying to read it as a standalone novel, mostly unrelated to Hilton's work and simply using it as a touchstone for readers not familiar with the issues or geography that Cooney and Altieri are dealing with but who may already be familiar with Hilton's depiction of Shangri-La.

[Mediaman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zero stars--virtually unreadable book, horribly written and complete nonsense. Instead of picking up on the magic of Lost Horizon, the biased authors use the premise to push political propaganda. The main characters from James Hilton's book aren't even recognized until you get way into the book and the opening chapters make zero sense. It's non-stop political with a preachy message at how horribly the people of Tibet have been treated. Got that point the first time it was made, but by the hundredth time it grew very old and I just didn't care. I think a computer could have written a story that had more value than this mess. I loved Lost Horizon, I hated this book.

[Teresa Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good sequel

[Sanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where is it?