The Devil-Tree of El Dorado (1897) is a novel by Frank Aubrey. Set in
the colony of British Guiana, the novel falls into the lost world genre
of science fiction made popular by such writers as H. Rider Haggard,
Jules Verne, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. What he lacks in name-recognition
alongside these titans of popular fiction, Aubrey makes up for with a
keen storytelling ability and a talent for merging history and geography
with unsettling visions of monsters and gods. A staunch imperialist,
Aubrey's novel exhibits troubling depictions of the author's racist
ideology, and remains a difficult yet essential example of the function
of literature in upholding global white supremacy. "Beneath the verandah
of a handsome, comfortable-looking residence near Georgetown, the
principal town of British Guiana, a young man sat one morning early in
the year 1890, attentively studying a volume that lay open on a small
table before him." As all adventurers know, fortune tends to favor the
bold. While this maxim, of course, never ensures success, it does grant
confidence to those bold enough--or crazy enough--to push themselves to
extremes in search of adventure. With nothing to lose and everything to
gain, a small expedition sets out through the jungle to find the lost
city of El Dorado, confident their destination--the treacherous Mt.
Roraima--could hide what remains of a once-vibrant civilization. Despite
the odds, they make it to the top of the plateau, where they discover a
terrible being. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally
typeset manuscript, this edition of Frank Aubrey's The Devil-Tree of El
Dorado is a classic of British science fiction reimagined for modern
readers.
