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415 of 431 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
STILL ANOTHER WONDERFUL PAGE-TURNER FROM H. RIDER HAGGARD, July 12, 2005
Sir Henry Rider Haggard, the so-called "Father of the Lost Race Novel," didn't write such stories featuring only Allan Quatermain and Ayesha, She Who Must Be Obeyed. For example, his 17th novel, "The People of the Mist" (1894), is a smashing, wonderfully exciting, stand-alone lost-race tale featuring all-new characters. But the first third of the novel is hardly a lost-race story at all, but rather one of hard-bitten African adventure. In it, we meet Leonard Outram, a penniless British adventurer who is seeking wealth in the wilds of the "Dark Continent" after losing his family lands and estates (through no fault of his own, it should be added). He becomes involved in the rescue of a young Portuguese woman from the largest slaving camp in Africa, and this thrilling and quite suspenseful section of the book offers more entertainment value than most entire novels. But it is only after Leonard and Otter (his four-foot-tall Zulu sidekick) rescue Juanna Rodd that the book really takes off, and the hunt for the People of the Mist, and their legendary jewel horde, begins. Once the lost race has been discovered, Leonard & Co. become embroiled in a plot involving the impersonation of gods and priest vs. king politics, and Haggard throws in some violent sacrifices, a giant crocodile god, a "toboggan" escape along a precipitous glacier, some romances and a good deal of humor (thanks to that wonderful Otter character) to keep the reader consistently amused. The theology of this lost race is nicely detailed and, as is fortunately common in a Haggard tale, the author offers many commentaries on the side regarding his philosophies of life. For those readers who have enjoyed other tales by Sir Henry (I've read 30 or so at this point; the man CAN prove addictive!), "The People of the Mist" will resonate all over the place, bringing to mind both earlier and later Haggard works. For example, the character of Soa (Juanna's insanely jealous nursemaid) is similar to Hendrika the Baboon Woman in "Allan's Wife" (1889). Otter himself is a precursor of Quatermain's Hottentot sidekick Hans, especially when he attempts to fight the giant crocodile god, much as Hans would later fight the monstrous snake god in "The Ivory Child" (1916). (These giant animal gods, it should be noted, are likely inspirations for all those similar monstrosities in the tales of Robert E. Howard, just as Hendrika was a likely inspiration for Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan.) But there is no way in the world that a reader--even one familiar with the author--will guess how things turn out for our intrepid explorers, in this continuously engrossing tale. That said, it should be noted that Haggard is guilty of a few slips in the course of the book. A huge gem of the crocodile god is carved from a sapphire; several hundred pages later, it has become a ruby. The motto of Leonard's family is said to be "For Heart, Home and Honour"; later on, that motto is said to be "For Home, Honour and Heart." But these are minor matters that only the sharpest-eyed readers will notice (my personal curse, I suppose). The overwhelming majority of readers, I feel, will be so busy being thrilled and entertained that they will never notice these little goofs. The bottom line is that "The People of the Mist" is still another wonderful page-turner from H. Rider Haggard. Now, when is some respectful filmmaker going to spend $200 million to bring THIS ONE to the big screen?
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103 of 107 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written, exciting, and moving, May 20, 1998
By A Customer
Sir Henry Rider Haggard wrote many great works - "She," "King Solomon's Mines," and this underappreciated treasure, a beautifully written, exciting, and moving tale of adventure, love, sacrifice and a lost civilization in Africa. My favorite character is the African "Otter" who is both funny and heroic, he seems foolish but actually he is far wiser than his white English employers. I first read and loved "People of the Mist" at the age of 15 when is was reprinted as part of that great Ballantine Adult Fantasy series by Lin Carter (which also introduced a new generation of readers to all time fantasy greats like Dunsany, Lovecraft, Cabell, and Clark Ashton Smith). I've read about ten times in the last quarter century and it is still an excellent, sweeping spectacle. Read it, buy it, reprint it. Haggard was the granddaddy of them all, before Burroughs, Mundy and Lamb, before Robert E. Howard, before Buchan and Wilbur Smith, there was Sir Harry.
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81 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absolute MUST READ, April 22, 2003
By A Customer
A beautiful masterpiece, truly Haggard at his best. It depicts an English youth, who lost his fortune and his fiancee's hand. Swearing with his brother to win back their home, he ends up in Africa, trying to make a fortune. It is only afterwards that he rescues a maid from a slave-dealer (for payment, of course!) falls in love with her, and ends up in a place no one has ever heard of. Narrow escape, love, intrigue, and more make this book great! It's worth every penny!
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