She: A History of Adventure

My edition of this book is 1930 published, cloth covered book, in small print. It is not an easy read, with thin paper, an old fashioned font and a verbose writing style one might expect from a book written in 1886.

I will cut to the chase quickly in this review. While the story is held up for its originality and magnificence at the time of publishing, for me this was a laboured read, and the overwrought verbose nature of the narrative was hard to stay motivated with. The story was good, the characters had enough to make them interesting and I am glad I read it. I probably enjoyed this a little less than King Solomon's Mines (3 stars), and it was a step below Allan Quatermain (4 stars), which was probably to do with the reduced action.

This book is, however, a trailblazer in the lost worlds genre, and the character of Ayesha is a good one, so all is not lost. With some more editing it might have kept its momentum up for for me. I see others enjoyed this more than I did, perhaps I am too impatient at this time of year!

I already own the sequel, and the third of the series (the Allan Quatermain crossover) which I will read in due course I expect.

3 stars