Customer Reviews

The Induna's Wife

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Valancourt Books deserves a great deal of praise for resurrecting forgotten authors: John Moore, Francis Lathom, Richard Marsh, Sophia Lee, and John Trevena are just a few of the writers that have entered my life over the past several years through the efforts of James Jenkins. My favorite Valancourt author, however, by a country mile, is Bertram Mitford. His adventure novels are exciting, graphic, and beautifully written.

"The Induna's Wife" is the third of Mitford's Zulu quartet. These novels detail the life Untuswa, a Zulu warrior, who embarks with the followers of Umzilikazi in the early 19th century to escape the despotism of the Zulu king, Shaka. "The King's Assegai" and "The White Shield", the first two books, describe the founding of the Matabele nation (later to become Rhodesia with European colonization in the late 19th century), the despotism of Umzilikazi himself (he usually executes those who displease him by feeding them to crocodiles), and Untuswa's heroics. By the end of "The White Shield", Untuswa becomes Umzilikazi's most trusted induna (or general).

"The Induna's Wife" is the best of the three. In this novel, Untuswa must flee the Matabele nation because of Umzilikazi's increasing paranoia. Traveling south to Zululand, Untuswa joins the army of Dingane (he is the current Zulu king who ascended to power after assassinating Shaka). The year is now around 1838, and Boer settlers are encroaching upon Zululand. The inevitable massacre of the Boer settlers leads to war, Dingane's eventual downfall, and Untuswa's philosophical resignation about declining Zulu power--he and his followers join Mpande, the new Zulu king who gained the throne through the help of the Boers and their superior weapons.

All three novels are well worth the effort. They are full of action, adventure, political intrigue, casual violence, and interesting history. Unfortunately, I believe they have been poor sellers for Valancourt. I hope this fact doesn't dissuade Mr. Jenkins and Professor Monsman from publishing the final novel, "The Word of the Sorceress". This novel, unlike the first three, is completely unobtainable for the average reader--no editions are listed on Amazon or AbeBooks, and Google Books doesn't have a scanned copy available.