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The Classic Adventures: Ayesha: The Return of She / Benita: An African Romance
Ayesha: The Return of She
In this sequel to She, Horace Holly & his ward Leo Vincey once again embark on a quest to find the mysterious woman known as Ayesha. Knowing that She is no longer in Africa, they go east, eventually reaching a lamasery in the mountains of Tibet. The abbot warns them against continuing, but they press on & discover an ancient city named Kaloon, which is ruled by the evil Khan Rassen & his imperious wife, the Khania Atene. Near the city is a huge volcano, wherein lives the Hesea, the Priestess of Hes, & her servants. Leo becomes the center of a conflict between Atene & the Hesea, both of whom desire him.
Benita: An African Romance
An adventurous trader, it is said, hearing the legend of a great treasure buried a party of Portuguese hundreds of years before, as a last resource attempted its discovery by the help of a mesmerist. A child was put into a trance, and gave his mesmerist details of the adventures and death of the unhappy Portuguese men and women. With much other detail, the boy described the burial of the great treasure and its exact situation so accurately that the white man and the mesmerist were able to dig for and find the place where it had been -- for the bags were gone, swept out by the floods of the river.
In another trance, the boy revealed where the sacks still lay; but before the white trader could renew his search for them, the party was hunted out of the country by natives whose superstitious fears were aroused, barely escaping with their lives. . . .
In this sequel to She, Horace Holly & his ward Leo Vincey once again embark on a quest to find the mysterious woman known as Ayesha. Knowing that She is no longer in Africa, they go east, eventually reaching a lamasery in the mountains of Tibet. The abbot warns them against continuing, but they press on & discover an ancient city named Kaloon, which is ruled by the evil Khan Rassen & his imperious wife, the Khania Atene. Near the city is a huge volcano, wherein lives the Hesea, the Priestess of Hes, & her servants. Leo becomes the center of a conflict between Atene & the Hesea, both of whom desire him.
Benita: An African Romance
An adventurous trader, it is said, hearing the legend of a great treasure buried a party of Portuguese hundreds of years before, as a last resource attempted its discovery by the help of a mesmerist. A child was put into a trance, and gave his mesmerist details of the adventures and death of the unhappy Portuguese men and women. With much other detail, the boy described the burial of the great treasure and its exact situation so accurately that the white man and the mesmerist were able to dig for and find the place where it had been -- for the bags were gone, swept out by the floods of the river.
In another trance, the boy revealed where the sacks still lay; but before the white trader could renew his search for them, the party was hunted out of the country by natives whose superstitious fears were aroused, barely escaping with their lives. . . .
- GenresSpeculative Fiction
335 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1906
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
H. Rider Haggard
1,567 books1,090 followersSir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and the creator of the Lost World literary genre. His stories, situated at the lighter end of the scale of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential. He was also involved in agricultural reform and improvement in the British Empire.
His breakout novel was King Solomon's Mines (1885), which was to be the first in a series telling of the multitudinous adventures of its protagonist, Allan Quatermain.
Haggard was made a Knight Bachelor in 1912 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as a Conservative candidate for the Eastern division of Norfolk in 1895. The locality of Rider, British Columbia, was named in his memory.
His breakout novel was King Solomon's Mines (1885), which was to be the first in a series telling of the multitudinous adventures of its protagonist, Allan Quatermain.
Haggard was made a Knight Bachelor in 1912 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as a Conservative candidate for the Eastern division of Norfolk in 1895. The locality of Rider, British Columbia, was named in his memory.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 23, 2018
I read She decades ago. I now want to read it again; in fact, the only really disappointing thing about reading this sequel is that, as far as I can tell, the publishers never made a similar volume for the first book. This volume attempts to preserve the format of the original serial, similar to how it would have appeared in Windsor Magazine in 1905 but without the readability problems that plague exact facsimiles. That is, it has been retypeset but retains a multiple-column format. It also retains Maurice Greiffenghagen’s illustrations, as well as the “Synopsis of Foregoing Chapters” ahead of each installment.
The story itself is fascinating, threaded through with English literature, Buddhism, the Christian bible; and probably other allusions I was unable to catch. Leo Vincey seeks the divinely perfect Ayesha, a woman to literally worship. She died at the end of the first book, but in his suicidal despair she spoke to him in dreams, showing him where to find her. And so he and his adoptive father travel across India, Tibet, and probably all of Asia, searching for what Leo saw in his dream.
The bulk of the story, however, is what happens when you find your dreams, especially when you’ve had two decades to build them. What does it mean for man to truly love a god?
The second book, Benita, is a much more standard adventure story for the era. Its most egregious stereotype is of the money-loving atheist Jew, Jacob Meyer; that it treats the African natives as human doesn’t completely redeem it. It is otherwise a better-than-average adventure for the era. The love story especially takes a very different route than expected, and the ghost story remains interesting and mystifying through to the end.
Enjoyable, but not at all as amazing as Ayesha.
The story itself is fascinating, threaded through with English literature, Buddhism, the Christian bible; and probably other allusions I was unable to catch. Leo Vincey seeks the divinely perfect Ayesha, a woman to literally worship. She died at the end of the first book, but in his suicidal despair she spoke to him in dreams, showing him where to find her. And so he and his adoptive father travel across India, Tibet, and probably all of Asia, searching for what Leo saw in his dream.
The bulk of the story, however, is what happens when you find your dreams, especially when you’ve had two decades to build them. What does it mean for man to truly love a god?
The second book, Benita, is a much more standard adventure story for the era. Its most egregious stereotype is of the money-loving atheist Jew, Jacob Meyer; that it treats the African natives as human doesn’t completely redeem it. It is otherwise a better-than-average adventure for the era. The love story especially takes a very different route than expected, and the ghost story remains interesting and mystifying through to the end.
Enjoyable, but not at all as amazing as Ayesha.
Displaying 1 of 1 review