King Solomon's Mines

By: H. Rider Haggard

Narrated by: Toby Stephens

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

On board a ship bound for Natal, adventurer Allan Quatermain meets Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good. His new friends have set out to find Sir Henry's younger brother, who vanished while seeking King Solomon's legendary diamond mines in the African interior. By strange chance, Quatermain has a map to the mines, drawn in blood, and agrees to join the others on their perilous journey.

The travellers face many dangers on their quest - the baking desert heat, the hostile lost tribe they discover and the evil 'wise woman' who holds the secret of the diamond mines. King Solomon's Mines is an exciting adventure that has gripped generations.

It is the first English story set in Africa and is considered to be the origin of the Lost World literary genre that inspired others such as Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King and HP Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness.

Haggard wrote the novel as a result of a five-shilling wager with his brother to see whether he could write a novel half as good as Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883). The novel ended up becoming the best seller of 1885.

Narrator Biography

Toby Stephens is an award winning actor who has an extensive array of credits over stage, film, television and audiobooks. He narrated Ian Fleming's Bond, From Russia with Love, along with Jeffery Deaver's Carte Blanche: A James Bond Novel. Throughout his stage appearances he has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company appearing in a number of their productions; Theatre Royal Haymarket, The Almeida, The Donmar Warehouse and The Old Vic.

Toby Stephens film credits include the James Bond film, Die Another Day where he plays the villain Gustav Graves, All Things To All Men, Believe, The Journey and the Oscar-nominated film 13 Hours. He is well known for his role of Captain Flint in the Starz series Black Sails, other notable television credits include, And Then There Were None, the role of Edward Fairfax Rochester in a BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre, Walking The Dead, Robin Hood and Wired. In 2018 he will appear as John Robinson in the Netflix remake of the 1965 TV Series, Lost In Space.

©1951 H. Rider Haggard (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Narrator couldn't be better

I tried to read this book about ten years ago, and I literally fell asleep every single time I grabbed the book. I could not go beyond the first eight or ten pages. However, I wanted to give it a try, because so many people had recommended it. It is a classic. In my personal case, Toby Stephens' performance made all the difference. It was like watching a movie in my head, or even better. It is an amazing performance; because of his own wonderful voice, as well as, the different accents and voices he is able to produce. I just loved the pace, rhythm, volume, and intensity of his reading. He made it an interesting and exciting story. I felt kind of sad when "The End" arrived. It is a fun adventure story, but it's old style definitely requires a good narrator.

Definitely dated but interesting for the social structure of the time

Both living and working in east Africa over the last 12 years this is an amazingly stereotyped depiction of both the British and their perception of African peoples and in many ways, themselves. It’s a fantasy adventure story that would have influenced many in the UK to explore their imperial holdings. Not sure I’d listen again but it was interesting.

Good adventure. Narrator excellent

This is a story written in different times, and therefore some things are said or happen which are today considered wrong. Other than that, it is a true adventure and the narration is excellent.

FANTABULOUS!

what a terrific narrator who had me waiting without realizing I wasn't breathing often through this story. I loved every moment of it and now need to sleep!

An Adventure Classic (With admittedly dated language)

Quatermain is a classic adventurer that inspired many others in modern popular culture and here, in this work is his best known adventure. The tale does smack of British imperialism, but given when it was written, that is predictable. Still, beyond those elements, the primordial ooze (so to speak) that would inspire folks to create adventurers who seek treasure in remote places is all here. Fans of films like Romancing the Stone, the Indiana Jones franchise, and such films will find much to like here.

Treasure hunters enter unknown territory

Wonderful story of family reconciliation, political intrigue and sociological growth wrapped around a search for legendary treasure.

Allen Quatermain=Sean Connery

I discovered this book after watching League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and learning that Sean Connery's character in the movie, Allen Quatermain, is taken from HR Haggard's books.

This story is unlikely to disappointment fans of Indiana Jones-type adventure; the plot is well-written and only occasionally requires suspension of disbelief to get through. The narration as well is very good. Overall, a remarkable novel from a different time.

Great performance of a great story

Summary
If you like adventures, get this book, you'll be happy you did.

Detail
Terrific story and the narration was fantastic. I especially liked how Stephens was able to use clearly differentiated voices for the main characters. This story had a great romantic and big-adventure feel. I've read that the Quatermaine character was a key inspiration for Indiana Jones, and I believe it. If you like big sweeping adventures, you'll enjoy this story.

The writing held my attention, drew me into a lost world, and helped me feel as I were actually experiencing the events described. Scenes in the story that were meant to be chilling really were chilling, and scenes that were meant to be amusing really were amusing. The narration added to the experience.

With all that was good, were there any negatives? Yes, the story was written 1885, from the English colonial perspective, and there is no denying that there are very clear and unfortunate underlying elements of colonial racism. It's not so much "elements" as the colonial world view that "the English will civilize the world". I wish people of that time didn't think that way, but they did, so it's not surprising that it comes out in their stories. In some sense, that underlying flawed worldview lends a sense of veracity to the story. Despite the fantastic and incredible elements of the story, it seems real, and it feels as if were written by a real English hunter.

On the whole, the good far outweighs the bad, and this is 8.5 hours of solid entertainment that is way better than most movies.

Family Review

One of the best stories we've ever heard or read! We highly recommend it to all!

Great!

This is a classic story and is the first ever book in the lost world genre. Fantastic narration.