Ayesha: By H. Rider Haggard - Illustrated - Softcover

H. Rider Haggard

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Softcover

ISBN 10: 1521972834 ISBN 13: 9781521972830

Publisher: Independently published, 2017

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Unabridged (100% Original content)
Illustrated

About Ayesha by H. Rider Haggard

Ayesha, the Return of She is a gothic-fantasy novel by the popular Victorian author H. Rider Haggard, published in 1905, as a sequel to his far more popular and well known novel, She. It was serialised in the Windsor Magazine in 1904-5.Synopsis: In the book's prologue, the book's anonymous "Editor" receives a parcel. Opening it, he finds a letter from Horace Holly, with an enclosed manuscript containing a second memoir about She. There is also a second letter, from Holly's doctor, to whom Holly has entrusted his letter and manuscript, along with a wooden box, which contains an ancient sistrum. The doctor recounts how, when attending Holly in his last hours, he arrived at the house to find that Holly had risen from his deathbed and made his way to a local ring of ancient standing stones. Following him, the doctor glimpsed a manifestation that appears to Holly, but as the vision vanished, Holly had let out a happy cry and died. When the narrative of Holly's manuscript begins, nearly twenty years have passed since their first adventure in Africa, but he and his ward Leo Vincey are convinced that Ayesha did not die. Following their dreams, they wander for years through Asia, eventually coming to "Thibet" (as it is spelled in the book). Taking refuge over winter in a remote lamasery, they meet the old Abbot Kou-En, who claims to recall a past-life encounter tales with a witch queen from the time of Alexander the Great. The Abbott tries to dissuade them from going on and warns them that, however beautiful, nothing is immortal, even if the Queen was born centuries ago in Ancient Egypt or remembers it from a past life. He believes the Queen is holding on to the distractions of life, which will lead them away from Enlightenment and peace, whether she is a demon, a fallen angel, or only a dream. Despite the Abbot's warning, Leo is compelled to press on and Holly will not abandon his adopted son. When spring breaks, they travel out into the uncharted region beyond the monastery; after a perilous journey and many narrow escapes, they arrive in the city of Kaloon, which is ruled by the evil Khan Rassen and his imperious wife, the Khania Atene, who claim to be descendants of Alexander the Great's ancient Hellenist generals. The people of Kaloon live under an uneasy truce with the people who serve the Hesea, the Priestess of Hes, who dwells on the Mountain, a huge volcano that dominates the region, at the summit of which is a massive natural rock formation in the shape of an ankh. Atene declares her love for Leo, but the jealous and dissolute Rassen (who has been driven mad by the sorcery of Atene and her uncle, the wizard Simbri) wants to kill them.

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From the Back Cover:

"I die not. I shall come again, and shall once more be beautiful. I swear it--it is true!"--SHE
Ayesha's strange last words before her apparent death in She (Dover 0-486-20643-2), Haggard's famous story of adventure, suspense, and the supernatural, come true. Guided by a vision, Leo Vincey, with his companion Holly, searches and finally finds his beloved. Ayesha: The Return of "She" concludes this incredible and thrilling drama of mystery, reincarnation, and immortal love.
The English novelist Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925) is one of the few popular writers who created their own mythological worlds. Ayesha, one of the great mythical creations of the late 19th century, continues to fascinate generations of readers. As Haggard writes, "Who and what was Ayesha, nay--what is Ayesha? An incarnate essence, a materialized spirit of Nature, the unforeseeing, the lovely, the cruel, and the immortal; ensouled alone, redeemable only by Humanity and its piteous sacrifice?" This book, which can be read by itself, continues to explore this mystery in a tale filled with exciting trials, ordeals, and exotic adventures in Asia.
Haggard creates unique and memorable characters--Leo Vincey and Ludwig Horace Holly, both determined to find the object of their quest or die; the Khania Atene of Kaloon, obsessed with love for Leo, and perhaps a reincarnation of the ancient Egyptian princess, Amenartas; the Khan, her mad and insanely jealous husband, with his death-hounds; Simbri, an evil shaman, wizard, and magician; the Hesea of the House of Fire, the high priestess of a cult of Isia worshippers transplanted to Asia; and more. This edition also includes 47 bold and imaginative illustrations by the noted English illustrator and painter, Maurice Greiffenhagen (1862-1931).
Haggard's novels have been called parables, asking "What are science, learning, and consciousness of knowledge and power, in the face of Omnipotence?" They have been called romance. And they have been called excitingly alive and imaginative by almost everyone from Robert Louis Stevenson to George Orwell.

About the Author:

Stephen Coan is an assistant editor of The Natal Witness.

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