I finally finished King Soloman's Mines. The first book I have managed to pick up and read in what feels like a long time. I've just been very busy with my studies and real life unfortunately. And even this book was inspired by the fact I'm going to be studying African colonial history next year and writing my thesis on it, and I haven't a clue about anything to do with Africa, so I'm trying to absorb some cultural material as a starting point.

This book epitomises everything about British colonialism and attitudes to the natives. It is all about white superiority and knowledge and it is the white man who saves the day, and is revered by the natives, even the native King who in any other white society would be supreme leader. Obviously this book was both set and written during a time when these ideas were perpetuated through the whole of society so it really isn't too shocking in the context. However, as a modern day reader it was a little bit of a strange mentality to adjust too. On the other hand, as a historian it was really interesting to delve into a fictional perspective of this mindset and see how people back then perceived the colonies in Africa and the country of Africa.

I really enjoyed the African setting and the mysteries and different landscapes we were introduced to. It made for an interesting tale. The different tribes and weapons that were talked about was a little confusing at times because obviously some of the tribes were fictional, whilst they also talked about the Zulus, who were a very real tribe. So I found the crossover between reality and fiction to be a tad confusing. Furthermore, the narration style of Allan Quartermain was not my favourite style of narrative to read, seeing everything only through his eyes and his recollection of the 'events', certainly skewed the story for me.

I feel like the actual characters were not really the most important aspect of this novel for me because I did not really like them so much. I more enjoyed the storyline, searching for the mystical diamonds and treasures of King Solomon's Mines and the beautiful land of Africa.

Overall, King Solomon's Mines is a fairly short read, a little dry in places, but something that I enjoyed reading, mostly. If you're interested in British colonial history and Africa, then it is maybe something you would be interested in, but otherwise I probably would not recommend as its not the most exciting of reads at times.