Brilliant Should be made into a BBC Dramatisation

Allan Quatermain, aloong with King Solomon's Mines are two of my top 10 best novels. This audio book is great and Bill Homewood does a great job creating the exciting atmosphere the story generates. The BBC made a dramatisation of King Solomon's Mines with Tim McInnenry and loads of great actors that make it absolutely amazing to listen to! My career requires me to drive many hours during the week, and I have lost count how many times I have listened and got lost in it.

As far as the sequel "Allan Quatermain" goes, I'd say it's on a par with K.S.M.'s in terms of story line - if anyone from the BBC is reading this who is involved in producing the audio dramatisations then PLEASE make this into your next project! Get all the original main cast from the K.S.M.'s (Quatermain, Sir Henry & Cptn Good) and do as good a job with this as you did first time round!

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HARD GOING

Not one of Haggards most inspiring novels. The story is a bit thin for the length of the book. The reader invokes a difficult range of voices but without the drama to maintain the listeners attention listening becomes a bit tedious.

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A very exciting adventure story

I enjoyed this book. The ending is surprising but satisfying. The book is suffused with good Christian principles and is very positive. There is no bad language nor obscenity. It is the kind of book that you can read/listen to over and over again. The narrator did an excellent job with all the voices. You could hear every word. The sound quality is also excellent.

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Bit of a blood bath

Not for the faint hearted or very young, as there are some quite graphic descriptions of animals being hunted or dying, and plenty of war. A good old fashioned romping adventure however, but you must remember it was written in a time when the Zulu etc were 'savages' to the English.

Narrator is very good, even managed to add the clicking noises to the Zulu words. I would like to see how they were written. And his voices for different characters and accents were different and believable. If you know and love this book already, this is a good version, if you've never read the story, check it will be your sort of read before buying!

I liked it very much, but there were some passages which seemed to drag, such as lengthy descriptions of the country, its peoples, the mode of government, dress etc. would have found this more relevant if describing a place that actually exists rather than made up!

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3 people found this helpful

Still a cracking listen and read!

What made the experience of listening to Allan Quatermain the most enjoyable?

I first read this about 50 years ago and I found it ticked all the boxes for adventure and excitement, now some of Haggard's views might make readers cringe with its non-PC, but what a great old fashioned adventure.

What other book might you compare Allan Quatermain to, and why?

King Soloman's Mines or any books by Raphael Sabatini. Slightly old fashioned but such adventure. The reader gives many of the characters forboding menace and belief. Certainly not a character to cross!

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The battle scene when the Masai kidnapped the missionary's daughter. The reader gives Umslopogas the zulu such menace and confidence in victory. I loved the comment when on consideration he told Quatermein "I kill but do not murder. I kill in a fair fight, face to face!"

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I found Allan Quatermain very compelling and excellent company in the car and on some long rambling dog walks.

Any additional comments?

Look for many of the unintended humourous comments in the narration.

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