This is one of the first novels of journalist-adventurer Kessel and this is one of his greatest achievements, a novel that seems made to define the genre of the adventure story. The structure of the novel is amazing: three substantially distinct adventures, located in Yemen trays for the first, in the Red Sea for the second, Abyssinia last and featuring three heroes: a Kyrgyz bastard who will remind readers of Corto Maltese immortal Rasputin, a Henry barely Monfreid transvestite and a young bourgeois freedom-loving and adventure, Philippe Lozere. Our three friends, so different but united in action as required by the rules of the genre, will suffer a thousand trials (ah this fight with Russian panther) and especially through the most magnificent scenery and wildlife as each other. The pen Kessel knows perfectly render the sublime in Arabia Felix, its plateaus and oases, virgin forever Ethiopia, its green hills and savannas. We cross the mythical cities such as Mocha, Ta'if or Djibouti; we cross the hostile and arrogant tribes; it is expected, always for fans of Hugo Pratt, Cush to appear on every page. This is pure adrenaline, pure happiness.
