In Search of King Solomon's Mines

April 28, 2003
Travel writer Shah (Sorcerer's Apprentice; Trail of Feathers) paid 600 shekels in a Jerusalem souk for a dubious map of the route to King Solomon's mines; he admits, "I have an insatiable appetite for questionable souvenirs." The London-based writer is also fond of danger: "As soon as there's a bomb, an earthquake, a tidal wave or a riot, I call the travel agent and book cut-price seats." But the ultimate thrill is a challenging mission, and this time, it's finding the biblical land of Ophir, legendary source of the gold for King Solomon's Temple and perhaps of the Queen of Sheba's riches as well. History and geography point to Ethiopia. In Addis Ababa, Shah hires a vocally Christian taxi driver who becomes his guide, and the two set out on the quest. They wander rural Ethiopia, sleeping in brothels, slipping into illegal mines, walking through deserts in camel-led caravans and finally, riding mules to the alleged source of Solomon's gold. Along the way, Shah learns loads of useful things: prostitutes require customers to wash themselves with Coca Cola to avoid AIDS; the hyena-man of Harar feeds the hyenas nightly to keep them from carrying off the village children; gold miners fear disembowelment by thieves trying to extract the nuggets they've swallowed on the job. Does Shah get the gold in the end? Well... he's more Don Quixote than Indiana Jones. Shah is so entertaining, most readers won't realize that while walking on the wild side, they've also just done a quick course in Ethiopian history. 16 pages of b&w photos, one map. (May)Forecast:Given the rave reviews for Shah's previous books, this one should get good media attention, and Arcade plans a 15,000-copy first printing. Shah is a Pashtun Afghan, although his nationality isn't related to anything currently topical.

Starred review from May 1, 2003
Rightfully called the Indiana Jones of contemporary archaeological expeditions, Shah was born into Afghan nobility but grew up in England. Here he sets out to find the mysterious mines of Ophir, where King Solomon, the Bible's wisest king, was supposed to have buried a fortune in gold. Tantalizing biblical passages, one florid novel, and two movies have turned these mines into the stuff of legend, and Shah boldly takes readers on his own journey of discovery. According to his reckoning, the mines should be in modern-day Ethiopia, so he set out on an adventure of a lifetime with a shifty bookseller named (no kidding) Ali Baba. Along the way, readers are treated to his accounts of everything from the California gold rush to a sadistic Sultan. Does he find the mines? If you were told, it would spoil the enjoyment found on every suspenseful, hilarious, and rollicking page of this literary treasure worth just as much as anything King Solomon could have found. Essential for public libraries.-Joseph L. Carlson, Allan Hancock Coll., Santa Maria, CA

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2003
Adult/High School-Studying an old map he purchased in the Jerusalem bazaar that supposedly showed the location of King Solomon's mines ignited in Shah a dormant interest in actually finding them. Arriving in Ethiopia, he hired a taxi driver who rapidly became interpreter, guide, historian, companion, Christian missionary, and more. They visited legal and illegal gold mines, explored ancient sites, and identified and visited areas important to their goal. They experienced total immersion in the cultures of Ethiopia. Transportation became the biggest challenge whether in the form of buses, vans, on foot, or by mule, for roads were often little more than beaten-earth pathways filled with rocks, holes, and other hazards. Tired of various modes of travel, they hired a car, whose driver chewed qat, a mildly addictive and narcotic leaf that manifested itself in the form of erratic driving, and resulted in an impressive amount of roadkill. Snatches of humor helped to alleviate the constant scenario of poverty just as the generosity of the Ethiopians soothed some of the rigors of the trip. Students interested in adventure, history, African culture, or biblical history will find themselves caught up in the book's excitement and drama.-Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2003
From a Jerusalem souvenir vendor, travel author Shah (" Sorcerer's Apprentice," 2001) purchases a bogus and musty map depicting the biblical source of King Solomon's gold in the land of Ophir. Not one to let authenticity stymie a rollicking adventure, Shah alights in Addis Ababa and immediately hires Samson, taxi driver and former gold miner, to be his guide and translator. After preliminary scouting trips out of the capital, Shah and Samson prepare for the main journey to western Ethiopia, where Shah's authorial predecessor, Frank Hayter, sought the mines in the 1920s and 1930s. Their driver, a crazed " qat"-chewer named Bahru, creates so much road kill en route that Shah and Samson switch to more ancient but safer transportation, trekking by camel caravan and later by mule train. The vignettes can be either humorous (concerning his and Samson's discomforts and crises) or sensitive (concerning the hard lives of the miners, drovers, and innkeepers they meet) and amount to a wonderful tactile portrait of contemporary Ethiopia, one whose amusing and disturbing scenes will impress connoisseurs of travel writing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)