Customer Reviews

The Ancient Allan

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In this book, one of the 14 that H. Rider Haggard wrote that treats of the adventures of Allan Quatermain, our hero--through the use of the inhaled Taduki drug--views one of his previous incarnations. During that lifetime he was Shabaka, in the age when Egypt had been conquered by the Persians. This book is a direct continuation of the previous Quatermain novel, "The Ivory Child" (which itself is a continuation of "Allan and the Holy Flower"), and a reading of that previous novel is fairly essential when going into this book. Lady Ragnall returns in this one, and shares Quatermain's drug-induced vision. While not as battle intensive as other books in the series, this novel is always interesting, and does feature, amongst other things, a lion hunt, a blind wizard in a cave, a visit to Ethiopia, a fight with a crocodile, and a rousing climactic battle between the forces of the Persians and the allied Egyptian/Ethiopian armies. And for fans of Hans, Quatermain's Hottentot sidekick, there is a previous incarnation of that great character, as well. It's all fascinating and exciting stuff; never a dull moment, and all that. So seek this one out...you won't be disappointed!

This might be good if you are into ancient Egyptian themes, I read Haggard for the Quartmain and Africa adventure. I thought this book was really dull and slow compared to other Haggard books I've read. Like another reviewer mentioned, it's pretty much essential to read 'Ivory Child' (which I really enjoyed) first to get an idea of what is happening.
Allan sees himself as 2000 years ago as an Egyptian. That's about all the plot there is that I care to go in to . The rest was really a disappointment.