Allan Quatermain

Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of seventeen H. Rider Haggard novels published between 1885 and 1927, including several published posthumously. He is a professional hunter and trader based in colonial Natal, slightly past his prime, slightly melancholy, with a habit of getting drawn into long expeditions into the African interior in search of lost cities, missing relatives, mythical artifacts, and the occasional immortal sorceress. The publication order does not match the internal chronology, because Haggard kept going back to write earlier episodes from Quatermain's life. King Solomon's Mines (1885) made him famous. Allan Quatermain (1887) supposedly killed him off, but Haggard cheerfully kept writing prequel and side novels for another four decades. Notable titles include Allan's Wife, Maiwa's Revenge, Marie, Child of Storm, Finished, The Ivory Child, The Ancient Allan, and the crossover She and Allan. The books are best read either in publication order or in Quatermain's internal chronological order, starting with Marie and ending with the death scene in Allan Quatermain.