Search Worlds Without End

On his twenty-fifth birthday, Leo Vincey opens the silver casket that his father has left to him. It contains a letter recounting the legend of a white sorceress who rules an African tribe and of his father's quest to find this remote race.

To find out for himself if the story is true, Leo and his companions set sail for Zanzibar. There, he is brought face to face with Ayesha, She-who-must-be-obeyed: dictator, femme fatale, tyrant and beauty. She has been waiting for centuries for the true descendant of Kallikrates, her murdered lover, to arrive, and arrive he does in an unexpected form.

Blending breathtaking adventure with a brooding sense of mystery and menace, SHE is a story of romance, exploration discovery and heroism that has lost none of its power to enthrall.

In this sequel to She, Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey once again embark on a quest to find the mysterious woman known as Ayesha. Knowing that She is no longer in Africa, they go east, eventually reaching a lamasery in the mountains of Tibet. The abbot warns them against continuing, but they press on and discover an ancient city named Kaloon, which is ruled by the evil Khan Rassen and his imperious wife, the Khania Atene. Near the city is a huge volcano, wherein lives the Hesea, the Priestess of Hes, and her servants. Leo becomes the center of a conflict between Atene and the Hesea, both of whom desire him.

Arabian by birth, Ayesha's natural beauty was the cause in her father's kingdom of many wars and conflicts between jealous princes and suitors, leading to a rumor that she was cursed. Swearing an oath of celibacy, to serve Isis the Goddess of the Spirit of Nature and turn away from Aphrodite the Goddess of Love, she seeks to protect herself, until Greek soldier of fortune Kallikrates comes to her for sanctuary and her resolve weakens.

But Kallikrates does not arrive alone--he is pursued by the Pharaoh's daughter who is wildly jealous of Ayesha's beauty and vows to destroy her. Only by staying true to Isis does Ayesha survive, and as a reward Isis leads her to the hidden kingdom of K r in Africa, to herald in a new Golden Age. The kingdom of K r hides many secrets, including The Flame of Eternal Life where ultimately Ayesha's vanity, obsession, and desire lead to her downfall.