A turning point in Smith's career because he stopped writing with one eye on the movies and went full blown novel. It remains one of his most artistically bold works - it consists of two parts, the first is an archeological dig where some whites discover a lost white city, the second where we flash back in time to the destruction of that city.
It seems to be very well researched and is full of technical jargon about digs and ancient civilisations, which felt real to me. Smith felt awkward maybe writing a section about an archeological dig so part one keeps being livened up with action sequences - terrorists/black freedom fighters hijack and plane, there's an attack from a Kalahari bushman, the terrorists raid local villages (raping and killing the bushmen women which felt really bleak). I kept waiting for the terrorist leader (a former associate of the archaeologist hero) to come back but he doesn't - this felt vaguely unsatisfying.
Part two is like being in a Cecil B De Mille epic with this white kingdom - but it's a horrible kingdom, based on slavery and horrid mines. I get the feeling this is Smith working through his feelings about apartheid South Africa - he can see it's horrible, but he feels obliged to stick with it, and defend it against marauding blacks who are savage and worse. He is empathetic to the blacks (his depictions of slavery and the conditions of mines are harrowing to read) but he doesn't seem to support any sort of mutual solution. The section has power because the entire kingdom is wiped out (military I didn't quite buy it - such things happen but generally there needs to be a plague as well).
Like a lot of Smith novels there are two protagonists - a buccaneering rich alpha and a more sensitive beta, though the betas in both sections of the book are pretty super heroic (the part two beta is a hunchback but also super religious, super smart, a super top fighter). At times I laughed in part one at the archeologist going off to fight terrorists then going back to the dig and it was like the violent scenes never happened. Also like a lot of Smith works there's a tough ruthless antagonist who is not British South African - in this case a black Commie in part one and a black leader in Part Two. The part one girl is a little scamp who comes between two friends; in part two she's a vestal virgin type.
I like the boldness, the passion, the research, the fact Smith is prepared to go for it (hero seeing his love kill herself) and is so into it.
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