The Best Short Stories of Rider Haggard

This is a collection of Rider Haggard's short stories and essays, selected & edited with an introduction by Peter Haining and with a Foreword by Hammond Innes.

Like many anthologies, this is a mixed bag. I won't outline plots, there are too many, but I will offer a rating and a few comments on each...

The real King Solomon's Mines – a non-fiction essay about the circumstances in which Haggard wrote his King Solomon's Mines. /5Hunter Quatermain's Story – A Hunter Quatermain story. **/5

Long Odds – A second Hunter Quatermain story. **/5Magepa the Buck – Ostensibly a Hunter Quatermain story, but it focuses more on another character, the Zulu Magepa. **/5

Black Heart and White Heart – Another Zulu story with a white lead character quite different from Quatermain. **/5The Kiss of Fate – An Ayesha story, set in ancient Egypt. Odd and not particularly engaging. **/5The Tale of Philo – A second Ayesha story. **/5The Trade in the Dead – A non-fiction essay on the removal of artifacts from tombs in Egypt. **/5Smith and the Pharoahs – A fictional story on the same topic as the previous essay. **/5A Ghostly Connection – Terrible */5The Mahatma and the Hare – Incomprehensible */5Only a Dream – Pointless */5Well though was a tough end to the book! The Quatermain and Zulu stories were good, but it was pretty much down hill from there.12 stories - 30 stars, average of 2.5 stars. As I enjoyed the Quatermain and Zulu stories I will round it up to 3.