Publisher's Synopsis
H. Rider Haggard came to literary prominence with the publication of King Solomon's Mines in 1885. Haggard self-consciously modeled the book on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, which Haggard had read. He bet his brother that he could write an adventure story at least as good, and within a year Haggard had published the now-famous novel of adventure. According to some accounts, he wrote the book in under six months.Virginia Brackett calls King Solomon's Mines the "quintessential quest story" (Brackett 1). It includes the archetypal call to adventure (Sir Henry's offer to hire Quatermain), the reluctant hero (Quatermain's lack of desire to go until he knows his son will be provided for), a road of trials (the elephant hunt, the trek through the desert, and so on), the journey to the underworld (the white men's burial in Solomon's treasure chamber and their subsequent escape by going down further into the earth), a quest reward (the diamonds) and a return home (Quatermain's likely retirement to England with Sir Henry and his own son Harry). Various aspects of the novel parallel Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, such as Quatermain's primary motivation to see his son established as a successful man, the various challenges and speeches made before battle, and the single combat between Twala and Sir Henry Curtis. Clearly Haggard was evoking the epic past even as he was helping to develop a new genre of literature.
