Review: She, By Haggard -- Adilbrand Noblesword's Hall of Warriors

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Date Posted: 12:40:16 04/18/02 Thu
Author: Omega
Subject: Review: She, By Haggard

Amazingly enough, I have never read any of the works of Haggard until now. I have seen his name as one of the major influences on the lituerature I have liked from the 20th century -- from Tolkien to Lovecraft -- and yet, just never actually sat down to read one of his storis.

I decided to get a copy of She and read it. I had read a little about it before, and thought it sounded interesting.

After reading it I can say -- Haggard is a very good storyteller. He knows his art very well, and certainly he has influenced lituerature as we know it. One of the books of Haggard I now own has a comparisson between Howard and Haggard on their descriptive realism, even for battle scenes, and how Howard adapted a lot from Haggard.

The story itself is interesting, although a bit slow at times. She (or She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, or Ayesha) is a white woman in the midst of Africa. According to a family legend of one of the main characters, over 2000 years ago his ancestor, an Egyptian, fled Egypt with an Egyptian princess and came across "She". He was killed, but his wife survived, fleeing Africa, and was able to set up a family line bent on revenge -- revenge on She. She is not normal, she is powerful and mysterious, and has power over death.

The rest of the story explores an expedition to find She, to determine if it waa fanciful history or not, and what happens afterwards. It's a tale of reincarnation, of lost cities and civilizations, and of the power of beauty and love. It's worthy of being called a classic.

When I was reading it, and the descriptions given to She, one thing I kept constantly thinking "This is what Tolkien imagined Galadriel would become if she had taken the ring." That is the kind of person She is -- she is powerful, beautiful, aweful in her majesty, and yet unbearable to look at without full devotion and love.

I would recommend the book to fans of Howard or Tolkien, and I look forward to reading more.

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Replies:

Re: Review: She, By Haggard -- Adilbrand, 12:42:55 04/18/02 Thu
- Re: Review: She, By Haggard -- Omega, 13:30:50 04/18/02 Thu