The People of the Mist is the tale of a British adventurer seeking wealth in the wilds of Africa, finding romance, and discovering a lost race and its monstrous god.

On finding them, they immediately become embroiled in the turbulent political affairs of the lost race, which is driven by a power struggle between its king and the priests of its giant crocodile god.

"[1] Lin Carter described the book as "a sensational adventure story which explores the dark heart of cryptic Africa, bringing to light a fantastic lost civilization from time's forgotten dawn .

[Haggard] wrote it at the height of his powers, in the full glorious flush of his first successes, and it remains a highwater mark of the imaginative romance, seldom approached, rarely equalled, never surpassed.

"To his right were two stately gates of iron fantastically wrought, supported by stone pillars on whose summit stood griffins of black marble embracing coats of arms and banners inscribed with the device 'Per Ardua ad Astra'.