Ayesha – The Return of She Ayesha, the Return of She is a gothic fantasy novel by the popular Victorian author H. Rider Haggard. 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 to overwinter 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 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 Kalon, 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 House, 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. Ayesha – The Return of She If you love action-adventure novels, you owe it to yourself to read H. Rider Haggard's Ayesha, one of the undisputed classics of the genre. In this sequel to the ever-popular She, intrepid explorer Allan Quatermain returns to Africa and again encounters a fascinating lost civilization ruled with an iron fist by the enchanting warrior queen Ayesha. Ayesha – The Return of She This carefully crafted ebook: “AYESHA SERIES – Complete Collection: She (A History of Adventure) + Ayesha (The Return of She) + She & Allan + Wisdom's Daughter” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents: “She” is one of the classics of imaginative literature and one of the best-selling books of all time. She was extraordinarily popular upon its release and has never been out of print. The story is a first-person narrative that follows the journey of Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey to a lost kingdom in the African interior. There they encounter a primitive race of natives and a mysterious white queen named Ayesha who reigns as the all-powerful "She", or "She-who-must-be-obeyed". In this work, Rider Haggard developed the conventions of the Lost World subgenre, which many later authors emulated. “Ayesha, the Return of She” is a gothic fantasy novel, a sequel to his far more popular and well-known novel, She. “She and Allan” is a novel, in which Haggard brought together his two most popular characters, Ayesha from She (to which it serves as a prequel), and Allan Quatermain from King Solomon's Mines. Wisdom's Daughter is the final book in the Ayesha series. Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925) was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the Lost World literary genre. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential. His novels portray many of the stereotypes associated with colonialism, yet they are unusual for the degree of sympathy with which the native populations are portrayed. Ayesha – The Return of She