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Hal & Roger Hunt Adventures #9
Lion Adventure
Hal and Roger are in East Africa, hunting man-eating lions, but they think their hunting days are over when they find themselves adrift in their observation balloon - heading rapidly towards the icy cliffs of Mount Kilianjaro and the barren desert beyond.
189 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
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165 people want to read
About the author
Willard Price
142 books78 followersWillard DeMille Price was born in Peterborough, Ontario, and moved to the US when he was four. He got his MA and Litt.D from Columbia. He held a special interest for natural history, ethnology and exploration and made numerous expeditions for the American Museum of Natural History and the National Geographic Society. Price also went on to edit various magazines on travel and world affairs and spent six years working in Japan as foreign correspondent for New York and London newspapers. He travelled in seventy-seven countries before his death in 1983.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 8, 2009
I'm going to rate all of the Willard Price books as four stars. Not because I think they're all that special (hell, they're basically the works of an eco-terrorism apologist), but because, when I was twelve, they were THE BEST BOOKS I'D EVER READ. I lapped them up. Loved 'em.
July 22, 2020
After the success that was “Safari Adventure”, probably my favourite of all the Hal & Roger hunt novels, I was hopeful for the following one, “Lion Adventure”, as it seemed along a similar theme, just reversed. For where “Safari Adventure” had the Hunts hunting men who were killing animals, they have now been tasked to hunt a couple of lions who are killing and eating men working on the railway a short distance from the National park they had previously been based in.
Catching and killing two lions wouldn’t be too difficult for the brothers and their crew of thirty, but for some reason the local administrator, who calls himself King Ku, has insisted they do it alone. Their attempts are also complicated by the return of Duggan, a hunter who had previously been employed to hunt the lions, but was fired due to a lack of success and needs the Hunts to fail to get his job back. On their first night, the boys fail to kill the lion and this results in the death of a worker, and his son swears revenge on them for letting him die.
“Lion Adventure is a book which seems a bit all over the place, probably because the base idea isn’t quite strong enough to fill an entire novel and so Price has had to pack it out with filler. In this regard, it reminds me of the second novel in the series, “South Sea Adventure”, where the animal side of things wasn’t sufficient and so Price tacked on an unrealistic thriller sub-plot that diverted attention away from the main idea of the novel and which seemed patently ridiculous, with any number of plot holes. Whilst the sub-plot of the balloon ride wasn’t quite as ridiculous this time around, particularly as it had been hinted at earlier, it did stand out as being an addition to the story rather than an integral part of it.
There were also any number of changes of tone through the book which seemed slightly uncomfortable. Price wrote as a natural history journalist for many years before writing these novels and he is keen to show some of the information he has gained during that period. Whilst he is usually better at spreading this around throughout the narrative, the lack of closeness between the Hunts and any other characters means he was unable to do so. The result is an encounter with a couple of American tourists, who Hal seems to give a lecture to, just so Price can show off his knowledge. There are also a couple of coincidental meetings with famous people, anthropologist Louis Leakey and naturalist Joy Adamson, which also seems like Price is showing off a little.
Whilst character building has always been a weakness in Price’s novels, this is even more the case here. King Ku undergoes and extreme attitude change that comes out of nowhere and happens in the background, which is probably appropriate, as despite directly affecting the rules the hunts must work under, he barely makes a ripple on the novel. Duggan and Basu, who at least have their reasons for hating the Hunts explained, also have resolutions to their stories which are too easily accomplished and, again in Duggan’s case, happen without any warning or visible effect on the story. Even when compared to Price’s weaknesses in this area, it is lazy character writing to just toss the characters, or their relevant emotional states, aside when it no longer suits the story to have them.
The basic idea behind the story is a good one and had the focus remained in this area and more time spent on resolving the lion problem, this potentially could have been an exciting and detailed book. But, to paraphrase Ned Flander’s parents in an episode of “The Simpsons”, it appeared that the Hunts had “tried nothing and were all out of ideas” and with this storyline seemingly having nowhere to go, Price instead had to shoehorn in an even less satisfying sub-plot to distract the reader from the fact that the main plot didn’t have enough flesh on the bones to make a novel out of and the result was a weak combination of ideas and name-dropping which didn’t appeal on either attempt.
Catching and killing two lions wouldn’t be too difficult for the brothers and their crew of thirty, but for some reason the local administrator, who calls himself King Ku, has insisted they do it alone. Their attempts are also complicated by the return of Duggan, a hunter who had previously been employed to hunt the lions, but was fired due to a lack of success and needs the Hunts to fail to get his job back. On their first night, the boys fail to kill the lion and this results in the death of a worker, and his son swears revenge on them for letting him die.
“Lion Adventure is a book which seems a bit all over the place, probably because the base idea isn’t quite strong enough to fill an entire novel and so Price has had to pack it out with filler. In this regard, it reminds me of the second novel in the series, “South Sea Adventure”, where the animal side of things wasn’t sufficient and so Price tacked on an unrealistic thriller sub-plot that diverted attention away from the main idea of the novel and which seemed patently ridiculous, with any number of plot holes. Whilst the sub-plot of the balloon ride wasn’t quite as ridiculous this time around, particularly as it had been hinted at earlier, it did stand out as being an addition to the story rather than an integral part of it.
There were also any number of changes of tone through the book which seemed slightly uncomfortable. Price wrote as a natural history journalist for many years before writing these novels and he is keen to show some of the information he has gained during that period. Whilst he is usually better at spreading this around throughout the narrative, the lack of closeness between the Hunts and any other characters means he was unable to do so. The result is an encounter with a couple of American tourists, who Hal seems to give a lecture to, just so Price can show off his knowledge. There are also a couple of coincidental meetings with famous people, anthropologist Louis Leakey and naturalist Joy Adamson, which also seems like Price is showing off a little.
Whilst character building has always been a weakness in Price’s novels, this is even more the case here. King Ku undergoes and extreme attitude change that comes out of nowhere and happens in the background, which is probably appropriate, as despite directly affecting the rules the hunts must work under, he barely makes a ripple on the novel. Duggan and Basu, who at least have their reasons for hating the Hunts explained, also have resolutions to their stories which are too easily accomplished and, again in Duggan’s case, happen without any warning or visible effect on the story. Even when compared to Price’s weaknesses in this area, it is lazy character writing to just toss the characters, or their relevant emotional states, aside when it no longer suits the story to have them.
The basic idea behind the story is a good one and had the focus remained in this area and more time spent on resolving the lion problem, this potentially could have been an exciting and detailed book. But, to paraphrase Ned Flander’s parents in an episode of “The Simpsons”, it appeared that the Hunts had “tried nothing and were all out of ideas” and with this storyline seemingly having nowhere to go, Price instead had to shoehorn in an even less satisfying sub-plot to distract the reader from the fact that the main plot didn’t have enough flesh on the bones to make a novel out of and the result was a weak combination of ideas and name-dropping which didn’t appeal on either attempt.
May 19, 2020
Pertama baca buku ini ketika berumur dua belas tahun, dan judul lain dalam seri ini kira-kira dalam usia yang sama. Hanya empat atau lima judul yang diterjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Indonesia.
Buku ini menjadi penggugah imajinasi saya terhadap petualangan alam bebas, selain buku-buku karangan Karl May, karenanya agak bias ketika membaca lagi dan mencoba menilai di usia sekarang, lebih dari tiga puluh tahun kemudian.
Beberapa fakta di buku ini tidak benar, setelah saya mengetahui dari sumber-sumber yang lebih bisa dipercaya semacam National Geographic dan sejenisnya, alur ceritanya terlalu cepat dan karakter maupun jalinan antara karakternya tidak banyak dikembangkan. Tapi ini adalah novel untuk remaja, atau malah untuk anak-anak yang diterbitkan di rentang waktu 1930 sampai 1960an. Saya sekarang bisa menilai kekurangan buku ini, tapi dulu dia adalah kitab suci yang membantu saya memandang dunia. Sekarang keluarga Hunt mungkin adalah perusak ekologi, tapi dulu mereka adalah pahlawan yang mengenalkan dunia liar pada masyarakat umum melalui kegiatan penangkapan binatang.
Lima bintang untuk pengalaman membaca yang menyenangkan tiga puluh tahun lalu.
Buku ini menjadi penggugah imajinasi saya terhadap petualangan alam bebas, selain buku-buku karangan Karl May, karenanya agak bias ketika membaca lagi dan mencoba menilai di usia sekarang, lebih dari tiga puluh tahun kemudian.
Beberapa fakta di buku ini tidak benar, setelah saya mengetahui dari sumber-sumber yang lebih bisa dipercaya semacam National Geographic dan sejenisnya, alur ceritanya terlalu cepat dan karakter maupun jalinan antara karakternya tidak banyak dikembangkan. Tapi ini adalah novel untuk remaja, atau malah untuk anak-anak yang diterbitkan di rentang waktu 1930 sampai 1960an. Saya sekarang bisa menilai kekurangan buku ini, tapi dulu dia adalah kitab suci yang membantu saya memandang dunia. Sekarang keluarga Hunt mungkin adalah perusak ekologi, tapi dulu mereka adalah pahlawan yang mengenalkan dunia liar pada masyarakat umum melalui kegiatan penangkapan binatang.
Lima bintang untuk pengalaman membaca yang menyenangkan tiga puluh tahun lalu.
March 30, 2020
Disappointing member of the series. The boys are asked to do what is alien to them - hunt and kill magnificient wild animals, in this case Lions who have become man eaters. They manage to not be very good and get four sets of enemies almost for no reason. The chief is one - he is a racist and wont allow them aby black helpers, he hopes they fail and get killed in the process.
The boys decide a teathered balloon would help so they can look out over a wide area. The inevitable happens and the balloon comes loose causing a ludicrous journey across adrica when the survive crashing.
Getting back and seemingly making a miraculous recovery Roger, a 14yo boy, captures the man eating male lion single handedly and unarmed.
5 left in the series now, i have fond memories of the next Gorilla Adventure, hope it is as good as i remember.
The boys decide a teathered balloon would help so they can look out over a wide area. The inevitable happens and the balloon comes loose causing a ludicrous journey across adrica when the survive crashing.
Getting back and seemingly making a miraculous recovery Roger, a 14yo boy, captures the man eating male lion single handedly and unarmed.
5 left in the series now, i have fond memories of the next Gorilla Adventure, hope it is as good as i remember.
February 18, 2023
I adored the Advernture books as a kid and this is the first time I've re-read them. Perhaps an example of leaving things in your past. There are interesting aspects but the characterisation is weak, the concepts and language are very dated (and racist) and the story here is haphazard and cobbled together. My 10 year old kind of liked it (mostly for the animals, which was what hooked me) and he has picked up a few more but I'm not sure these hold up today.
June 7, 2024
I honestly think this was one of my favourite action and adventure book that I have ever read. And I still think that to this day because I’m writing the review basically two years later.i wills definitely recommend this book to people who love animals, lions and adventure.
April 27, 2018
My favorite Book about wild animal.
December 20, 2025
I have to rate this highly as it was tge first book I ever read. I was about 8 and it was a step up from the Tintin graphic novels.
March 27, 2019
Action, adventure, survival, environment, conservation...
I loved these books when I was a kid. At the time, they seemed to border on sci-fi regarding the at-the-time-amazing technology the boys used.
Of course, looking back you can see how these stories are flawed, but I still think they are enjoyable. In fact, it would make for a really interesting middle school science project for children to read one of these books and then compare them with the knowledge of the world and technology we have today.
I loved these books when I was a kid. At the time, they seemed to border on sci-fi regarding the at-the-time-amazing technology the boys used.
Of course, looking back you can see how these stories are flawed, but I still think they are enjoyable. In fact, it would make for a really interesting middle school science project for children to read one of these books and then compare them with the knowledge of the world and technology we have today.
January 6, 2021
Following the success of their poaching busting operation, the Hunt brothers are recruited by a station master in Mtito Andei to rescue his workers from man-eating lions. The plot is closely modeled on the 1898 Tsavo disaster where two male lions killed and devoured a large number of railway workers. This story is told by Hal near the beginning of the book, showing that the author wasn't afraid to acknowledge his source material. Although the Tsavo lions were eventually killed by John Patterson, Price justifies the new generation of man-eaters by claiming that the originals had passed the practice down to their cubs. There are plenty of facts to learn about lions throughout the hunt, not all of them accurate. For instance, the wild claim that lions have a hidden needle in their tail tufts with which to lacerate enemies was most likely inspired by the protruding bone which sometimes hardens to a sharp point.
Besides the lions, the boys must also watch out for three other enemies including King Ku, the racist station master who hates all whites, Bo, the son of a man who dies on their watch, and Dugan, a disgruntled hunter who lost his job to the them. Too many villains definitely over eggs the pudding in this instance, spreading the tension thin and diluting the drama. Meeting with a string of failures, the boys enlist the help of their previous employer and borrow a hot air balloon to use as a lookout perch. When one of their antagonists cut them loose, they are sent on a wild and dangerous flight over the Serengeti. This long section effectively works as an excuse to teach readers about the amazing landscape of East Africa such as Mount Kilimanjaro, the Great Rift Valley, Ngorongoro Crater and more. This is one of the only books in the series where women make an appearance.
Besides the lions, the boys must also watch out for three other enemies including King Ku, the racist station master who hates all whites, Bo, the son of a man who dies on their watch, and Dugan, a disgruntled hunter who lost his job to the them. Too many villains definitely over eggs the pudding in this instance, spreading the tension thin and diluting the drama. Meeting with a string of failures, the boys enlist the help of their previous employer and borrow a hot air balloon to use as a lookout perch. When one of their antagonists cut them loose, they are sent on a wild and dangerous flight over the Serengeti. This long section effectively works as an excuse to teach readers about the amazing landscape of East Africa such as Mount Kilimanjaro, the Great Rift Valley, Ngorongoro Crater and more. This is one of the only books in the series where women make an appearance.
May 10, 2009
This is an ill-structured work. Having not dealt with lions in previous Adventure books, Price dedicates a whole book to the Hunts' efforts to kill a single man-eater. To make a substantial story of this flimsy premise, the Hunts are breathtakingly incompetent in discharging their duty, granting the lion several reprieves, and then getting lost in a balloon. Still, enjoyable, with an element of travelogue inserted into the balloon ride.
January 1, 2019
Wonderful book. Great story telling, good pace, excellent description of lion and other African animal behavior. But I do hate the ending!
*SPOILERS ALERT**STOP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING*
The last 2 pages to be exact. The lions were caught and sold to a zoo, destined to a life of captivity. Extremely and truly disappointing because all through the book, they were described as majestic beasts, the apex animal which all other animals are afraid of.
*SPOILERS ALERT**STOP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING*
The last 2 pages to be exact. The lions were caught and sold to a zoo, destined to a life of captivity. Extremely and truly disappointing because all through the book, they were described as majestic beasts, the apex animal which all other animals are afraid of.
April 28, 2016
Another re-read. I re-read this series very often. Love the books every time.
October 21, 2010
Willard Price really captures suspense in this book.
January 31, 2012
a good book exciting action packed adventure
October 4, 2012
this book was very interesting and had lots of information about africa etc.
February 24, 2014
It still holds up after all these years.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews