Customer Reviews

Child of Storm

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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The story takes place in Zululand, Africa. It happens so that Allan Quatermain stops by his Zulu friend's kraal (to those of you who never read Haggard, Kraal=household) to find that yet another friend is madly in love with the well known beauty: Mameena, or, in other words, Child of the Storm. Allan is curious to see this well known Mameena, but his friend who is in love with Mameena (his name is Saduko) goes on a crazy battle to win 100 cattle for Mameena's dowry. After going with Saduko on his quest and helping him win 600 cattle, Allan meets Mameena, and determines she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and, though at that time Africans were thought of as savages (most unjustly, I have to add), Allan, after observing some treachery done by Mameena while pretending to be unconscious, after knowing she was false, cannot find any reason to resist her love to him, for indeed Mameena tries to engage him in a marriage, but Allan remembers her treachery and tells her no. Many adventures follow after that, until the Zulu King declares Mameena a witch, and Mameena pleads guilty. It is not the kind of Salem witchcraft that is talked about here. It is more like herb-knowledge and doctoring that the Zulus call witchcraft. After recieving her death sentence for many more offenses, including causing a civil war and it's outcome, Mameena makes a last wish. The last wish is... You'll have to figure out this as you read along with the mystery of Mameena's character. Suggested background books: Any Allan Quatermain book. Here are some Allan Quatermain titles: Allan and the Holy Flower, Marie, Allan's Wife, King Solomon's Mines, She and Allan, The Ancient Allan, Et cetera.

My 7th book by Haggard was not a disappointment. He writes as if creating a work of art. Let him lead your eyes around this canvas set in Africa complete with multi-dimensional characters who will both attract and repel. Be prepared for the depiction of tribal wisdom and folly sketched within and without.

My bar is high when it comes to ratings. I try to compare all authors of all times. HR Haggard is at the top of the adventure fiction genre. He takes the reader into the unstable history of Africa where indiginous tribes, english, dutch and portugese settlers carved out a continent still in flux today. Haggard brings characters from all these groups to life with a realism rarely found. As described by the other reviewers this story is 2nd in a series. The books take the reader through the Zulu tribes violent history with the addition of fictional characters full of adventure, passion and commitment. This is a cannot stop reading book in a cannot stop reading series by a cannot stop reading author .

Henry Haggard, author of KING SOLOMONS MINE is a largely forgotten writer and these are great stories in and of themselves and even greater if someone is interested in Africa.