She - H. Rider Haggard H. Rider Haggard is one of those "classic" adventure writers I missed as a child while I was devouring Verne, H. G. Wells, and Edgar R. Burroughs. Then there were the Lost Worlds tales of that guy who dabbled in fantasy-adventure when he wasn't writing about a detective-doctor duo. Now that I have read my first Haggard novel, She, I am glad I put him off for so long because he is REALLY BORING!

Tedious descriptions, stiff dialogue and simply mediocre writing is the order of the day in the land of She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. And it takes forever to reach that land. This would be bad enough but there is also the problem of antisemitism and racism throughout the book that is excessive even for its time. I suspect the tale's continuing allure may have more to do with its many film versions than this 19th century hack job. Personally I have many fond memories of the 1965 Hammer film and Ursula Andress will always be She in my dreams.