I’ve noticed that some Robert E. Howard pastiche authors have made use of real life personages and real life legends to, maybe, bring something new to Solomon Kane stories. Howard did that himself, of course, with the mention of Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Francis Drake in Solomon Kane stories and poems. But, I think it is safe to say, modern writers are using that conceit even more.
I liked the 2016 The Legend of Tarzan movie that used the background of King Leopold’s misrule of the Congo and real-life adventurer George Washington Williams to tell a more realistic story. That movie’s Tarzan was a little too lackluster though. I wanted more brutal feral action. The mangani were great but Tarzan came across a little tame, IMHO.
Anyway, onward . . . Author Shaun Hamill used the historical fact of Witch Trials to produce the interesting Solomon Kane novel, Suffer The Witch. And his e-book, “The Lair of the Mari Lwrd” used an old Welsh tradition to good effect. Cavan Scott’s “Where the Whitethorn Meets the Black” used real life Celtic lore in a way that pleased me.
In this quick adventure Steven L. Shrewsbury uses the historical Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory (1560 – 1614) as Kane’s adversary. I first learned of her, as I learn most things, from the movies.
Mr. Shrewsbury tells a decent action story here. Kane is visiting Hungary at the request of an old friend. The friend’s daughter is in danger of being taken by the Blood Countess’s henchmen for use in her de-ageing blood ritual. (The middle ages version of Botox!.)
The action is a mixture of Howard’s violent prose and modern scatological humor. “As founts of crimson shot from his ruined neck, Helmut’s headless body staggered and broke wind, but didn’t fall.”
The author throws in some interesting facts in the story. The term “Puritan” was originally a mocking term. Kane rightly says he prefers the term, “The Godly.” The author also alludes to the fact that Puritans, or The Godly, did not believe that the bread and wine in Communion, or as they called it, The Lord’s Supper, changed into Christ’s flesh and blood.
When Kane encounters Elizabeth Bathory, he thinks, “. . . she looked like any common woman naked and of her age. Bathory was by no means hideous, indeed he would describe her as comely, in some ways . . . ” Kane is too much the precisian. The Blood Countess looked like Ingrid Pitt and she is a total babe.
All in all, it is certainly worth $1.99 and the time spent reading it. And I learned a new word. Precisian. I now need to find a way to use that in a real conversation.
“The Fall of Thoth-Amon” was originally published in Marvel Comics Age of Conan: Valeria # 1-5 (2019). The story takes place before the events described in “The Phoenix on the Sword.”
Thoth-Amon is sitting in splendor upon “his emerald-crusted throne, carved in the shape of a gigantic cobra, the hood of which stretched out over him, shading him like a scaly canopy.” I liked the imagery in the opening paragraph.
Thoth-Amon is very upset. The Crown of Set and a triple-braided staff has been stolen. At this point he still has his serpent ring. Thoth berates his underling about the thefts and plummets him through a snake-filled trapdoor.
Another minion is tasked with tracking down, Anok, the suspected thief. Thoth retreats to his chambers. A captive female, Kimshalla, provides some amusement. He soon discovers his ring is a fake. He realizes Kimshalla is responsible for all the thefts. They scuffle. Thoth overpowers the woman but when guards see that Thoth has been injured they arrest him, realizing his power is gone.
Thoth barely escapes through the trapdoor. But in his attempt to leave the city, he is captured by a slaver. A rival band attack the slavers and Thoth is now forced to serve their leader, Ascalante.
This is a padded out story with lots of dialogue and events that seem to happen just so the author can fill the pages. Thoth comes across as weak and none too bright. It is a very unsatisfying story. Nevertheless, it tells how Thoth came to such a lowly state just before the events in “The Phoenix on the Sword” so it serves a purpose.
“The Get of Garm” appeared in Conan: Serpent War #1 – 4 (2020) in serialized installments. It is a reasonably entertaining story. The title sounds odd but has a meaning. It refers to the offspring of Garm, the terrible hound from Norse mythology.
The story starts as most Solomon Kane stories seem to start. Kane is alone on a spooky road. A howl startles him. “It was a tremendous, ghastly cry, bestial and savage beyond anything he’d heard before.” Considering I’ve read multiple Kane adventures, I’ll just smile and nod.
Kane hears a scream and races to the rescue. A large black dog-like brute has attacked a coach. The beast seems impervious to harm. Thunder roars and the large dog flees. Kane goes to look after the coach’s inhabitants. Several people were mauled to death. There is one survivor who states, “Black Shuck has taken everyone. Everyone but me.” Black Shuck is the name of a historical legendary ghostly black dog from English folklore.
Kane heads to town with the survivor. The local sheriff inquires about the incident and arrests Kane. Kane encountering the dog has put the town in danger. Why the survivor wasn’t treated the same way puzzles me. Kane is bound and locked away. A young man named Uric comes to Kane’s rescue. Uric tells Kane that the sheriff is a warlock and the town hanged his wife for practicing witchcraft. And that the sheriff controls the hound to enact revenge. Urik tells Kane of a rusted Danish sword that controls the beast. Uric tells Kane to destroy the sword to save the town.
Kane is freed and heads to the sheriffs house. He takes the sword but doesn’t destroy it. He confronts the sheriff and finds out Uric is his son. Events change and to divulge more would be a spoiler. Suffice to say, Kane prevails.
This is a decent adventure. The twist is okay, but not surprising. The motivations for the sheriff and his son seem a little convoluted to me though. Why this adventure hasn’t been re-published as an Heroic Legends e-book is anyone’s guess. It is no better or no worse than the others.
I gave a thumb’s up review to Mr. Martinez’s pastiche novel, The Song of Belit. And I can see why the Robert E. Howard Foundation members gave this book the Atlantean Award for 2025. REHF voters know good things when they see it. This blog won the Black Lotus Award in 2024. 🙂
Considering that this book cost $33 I do think you should be aware of what you are getting hence this review. It is a well made case laminate hardcover book. Meaning it has stiff cardboards covers where the artwork is printed directly onto the rigid cover. The book has interior art by Breogan Alvarez, Joe Bocardo and Manoli Martinez, along with color maps and photos of Weird Tales covers. The front cover appears to be AI generated,
The book features a brief introduction, a short biography of Robert E. Howard, short reviews of the King Kull stories, detailed reviews of 21 Conan stories, and an A – Z glossary of Hyborian names, gods, etc., along with a chronology, appendices, and bibliography.
The introduction starts by saying the book should be accessible to both newcomers and longtime fans. There is some interesting discussion about chronological presentation vs. publication order presentation. The author admits reviews can be subjective but that that doesn’t mean they lack value.
The short biography starts with a bang. “Robert E. Howard was born in 1906, in a small town in Texas. He died thirty years later: he got into his car and shot himself in the head with a .38 caliber Colt.” The basic facts of REH’s life are given. Mr. Martinez believes that REH was in a state of chronic depression in his final years. ” . . . I believe also that as his mother’s condition worsened and she became more dependent on him, he felt increasingly trapped and saw no way out.” The author goes on to talk about REH’s rise to fame. From the Breckinridge Elkins British novel to Arkham House (and a Spanish language reprint of Skull-Face and Others in 1947!) to Gnome Press and the multi-million selling Lancer Books which led to the comics and movies.
The short reviews of the Kull stories are succinct and reinforce things that, although said before, are entertaining to read again.
I have been reading Conan story summaries and critiques since Robert Weinberg’s The Annotated Guide to Robert E. Howard’s Sword & Sorcery published in 1976. The Starmont Readers Guide 35 Robert E. Howard by Marc A. Cerasini and Charles Hoffman published in 1987 remains a fave. Story summaries and critiques appear all over the internet (and on THIS BLOG!). So a critic has to work really hard to add something new to the game.
If you haven’t read many critiques (or written them yourself) this section will appeal more to you. Martinez recounts the stories giving details, highlights, and worthy commentary. Highlights are his comments about Conan preferring civilization in “The Phoenix on the Sword” review, and his views of misogyny and murder in “Rogues in the House.”
The Glossary of Hyborian names, gods, etc. is useful in the same sort of way many gamebook sourcebooks are useful. If you are attempting a Conan pastiche these things are indispensable. The remaining material is all very good as well. If you are well-heeled buy the book without reservation.
This is the third James L. Richardson book I’ve reviewed here. The first two books featured what appeared to be AI art. This book’s cover is credited to Jean Carlos Estevez, aka art_doot. I have no idea if any of the text was AI assisted or not. I really don’t care.
The main character of the first story in the book is Cormac Mac Art. An “Author’s Note” states: “Cormac Mac Art is the name of two historical figures. Robert E. Howard wrote an unpublished story that re-imagined the character. In that tradition, Cormac Mac Art has been redrawn, yet again, for this series of books. Though he shares a name with the historical figures and the Howard creation, the Cormac Mac Art in these stories is a brand new creation.”
So, he isn’t the Cormac of “Tigers of the Sea” and other stories. But he carries “an ancient soul, one that knew the shores of fabled Atlantis . . .”
The main plot of the story is straightforward. Young King Arthur has hired Cormac and his band of warriors to assist him in the siege of a castle. Arthur is trying to consolidate his rule and needs all the help he can get.
What makes this “Public Domain Super Heroes” series somewhat interesting to me is the cast of characters the author throws into the mix. In the first book I’ve reviewed Kull of Atlantis fought against the immortal Vivectus. Vivectus returns in this novel but is going under the name Lancelot du Lac. Vivectus/du Lac is initially working for the opposition but becomes Arthur’s confidant. He doesn’t like Cormac and senses Cormac is descended from Kull. He also mentions that “Cimmerian brute.”
Along with Arthur, Merlin, Cormac, and Vivectus/du Lac are The Shining Knight, Ibis the Invincible, and yeah, Merlin is also Shazam (from the old Captain Marvel comics).
The Shining Knight is a young girl, that disguises herself as a boy, in this book. She doesn’t have the winged horse yet. Merlin is dismissive of Ibis’s attempts to get him to assume the Shazam mantle. And Ibis comes across as a behind the scenes mastermind. (Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Dr. Fate type characters were in the previously reviewed Kull and Red SonYa books.) James L. Richardson promises that all these characters and loose ends will come to a crossover finale sometime in the future.
The writing is adequate. No better or worse than a lot of modern Sword & Sorcery. Action scenes are sometimes confusing, but that could be my fault. I tolerate action scenes more than enjoy them these days. The story comes to a logical end and sets the stage for more adventures that I will most likely buy.
Whether Heroic Signatures and/or DC Comics will ever send this guy a “cease and desist” letter is anyone’s guess. Richardson doesn’t appear worried. He gives ERB, Inc. reason to sue him in the second story in the book.
“The Beast of Borneo” features Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, and an invisible man. Most likely the H. G. Wells one. The set up is interesting enough. Young Tarzan spies on a group of men and notices they have a prisoner. Tarzan almost immediately decides to help the captive man. He hides in the trees until nightfall and attempts the rescue. There is an exciting fight with the invisible opponent where Tarzan relies on his senses to stay alive. Tarzan calls for aid from his jungle friends and prevails.
The freed captive introduces himself as Sherlock Holmes and says, “I have been looking for you, Viscount Greystoke, Huishi Zijue.” WTF? Apparently Holmes thinks Tarzan speaks Chinese?
The story ends here promising to be continued in the future.
The book is better than the movie. Probably not much of a surprise in saying that. But the movie was entertaining. The book is quite long. 503 pages in the edition shown below. It consists of four parts. The movie was based on segments of the first part called “The Long Voyage.”
The book was originally published in two parts in Sweden in 1941 and 1945. The complete work was published in English in 1954. This was a golden age period for historical fiction. Thomas B. Costain achieved best seller status with The Silver Chalice in 1952, Anya Seton did the same with Katherine in 1954, Mary Renault, later famous for her Alexander the Great trilogy, published her novel about ancient Greece, The King Must Die in 1958.
And, although not as popular as the above books, L. Sprague de Camp splashed the field with An Elephant for Aristotle, The Bronze God of Rhodes, The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate, The Arrows of Hercules, andThe Golden Wind which were all published from 1958 to 1969.
The Long Ships movie came out in 1964. I was 7 years old at the time. I didn’t see the movie upon its initial release. I saw it around 1967. In those days, studios would keep action movies in constant rotation. After the initial release, the movies recycled to budget neighborhood theatres.
I can’t remember where I saw it but it was either the Roxy or Colonial in Downtown Detroit. The Roxy and Colonial were open 24 hours and featured as many as 3 movies on a constant rotation.
I remember seeing the movie with my brother and his friend Jeffrey Owens. My brother, who was the oldest of our trio, would assign us starring roles in the movie. He was always the main star, in this case, Richard Widmark, I was Russ Tamblyn, and Jeffrey was Sidney Poitier. I remember Jeffrey being visibly upset when Sidney Poitier was crushed by the bell at the end of the movie.
But I’m getting ahead of things… The book and the movie differ in several ways. The book introduces us to thane Toste and his family. Orm is introduced and is the main character. In the movie Orm takes a backseat to Richard Widmark’s Rolfe. In the movie, Krok, is Orm’s father. In the book, Krok is a Viking chief who leads the expedition that kidnaps Orm from his family.
In the book, Orm befriends Toke (the closest character to Widmark’s Rolfe). It is Orm and Toke that rescue Solomon, a Jewish man, who has dived off a rival Viking ship, where he was enslaved. Solomon leads them on an adventure where they acquire some riches, have severe setbacks, and eventually meet Almansur. In the movie’s beginning, Rolfe and his initial crew are shipwrecked during a storm. Rolfe is the only survivor and is rescued by monks. He learns of a large solid gold bell existing on land near a treacherous part of the sea. The bell is called “The Mother of Voices.” Rolfe eventually makes his way back home and steals King Harald’s death ship, and recruits Orm and several other Vikings, in his search for the solid gold bell. The crew hear the deafening peal of the bell but turbulent waters strand them on the shore of Almansur’s (Sidney Poitier’s) kingdom. Almansur’s had tried to capture Rolfe earlier in the movie and he knows of the bell as well. Almamsur threatens Rolfe and and forces the Vikings to search for the bell.
Bengtsson is a humorist similar to de Camp. His characters have foibles. Orm is a hypochondriac and Toke is incredibly self-centered. The superstitious nature of ancient peoples is presented in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The author humorously comments on the religious contradictions among the various peoples: Christians, Norse, Muslim, and Jew. The movie ignored the fact that King Harald converted to Christianity. The movie turns Sidney Poitier into a stock villain, with a white woman in peril (Robert E. Howard fans take note 🙂 ), and a torture device named “The Mare of Steel.” Neither of these things were in the book. In the book Toke is the one who women have to watch out for.
The book has conflicts aplenty but nothing framed in hero/villain stereotypes. Every culture is motivated by the quest for gain, be it religious conversion, slaves, gold, or conquest. Almansur employs the Vikings to be his bodyguards and they help him ransack a Christian outpost where Orm and Toke take possession of a large (not solid gold) bell from the church with the idea to present it to King Harald upon their return home, since Harald is now a Christian.
Sidney Poitier’s playing the part of a North African Islamic prince while everyone else was either white European or American was not a big issue in 1964, But the studio was concerned that southern audiences might react to Almansur’s inter-racial marriage. The movie avoided any scenes where Poitier touched Italian actress Rosanne Schiaffino and the dialogue suggests they haven’t had sexual relations for a long while, if ever.
I’ve done the book (and the movie) short-shrift in this review by only covering the major differences between book and movie. The movie is more “pulp” of course but vastly entertaining. The book is fantastic in a realistic way. It is historically accurate, full of wise humor, and tells a great story. None of the movie’s faults (just who was ringing that bell?) are in the book. Read it! It’s great!
I first heard of Jack Scott from the dedication to him in Dark Valley Destiny. The Robert E. Howard biography gives thanks and elucidates the reader: “To Jack Scott, distinguished newsman and civic leader of Cross Plains, and to all Texans who, in one way or another, remember Robert Howard.”
Jack is first mentioned in the book’s text, where he recounts a humorous story about Doctor Howard. The Scotts (Jack and his wife) were playing cards with friends when Doc Howard appeared and went directly to their kitchen and ate the entirety of a yellow-meated watermelon that the Scotts hadn’t even tasted yet.
The next incident has more poignance. Doc Howard drives to the office of the Cross Plains Review, the town newspaper, where Jack is busy at work, and interrupts his work to recount some philosophy: “I just came from Cottonwood. You know how driving down that road is? The trees grow so close together on either side of the road that they overlap above. The leaves kept falling down on me or floating acoss the road. I just stopped my car and thought about these people, the ones I brought into the world, and the ones I had seen during their last illness. People are like the leaves on the way over to Cottonwood. They live, and then they just float down to earth and die. They’re dead and forgotten.”
The book also tells of a time when Robert, angry over a Cross Plains Review article that he felt slighted his mother, stormed into Jack’s office and angrily tossed the newspaper down on Jack’s deck and said not to send the damned paper to the house anymore. Doc Howard renewed the subscription the next day.
Jack is mentioned again after REH’s suicide and finally in another humorous story about Doc Howard. Jack Scott, being the local newspaperman at the time of REH’s suicide, gave him a certain gravitas regarding REH’s suicide note. Jack’s reminisces were published in Danger is My Business by Lee Server (Chronicle Books, 1993).
Pages 43 – 45 give a succinct bio of REH
The latest REH biography Robert E. Howard: The Life and Times of a Texas Author by Will Oliver (University of North Texas Press, 2025) places doubt on Jack’s story. The couplet was first mentioned in a letter from Doc Howard to E. Hoffmann Price. Doc Howard says the couplet was found in Robert’s wallet. It seems likely that Jack, being a newspaper man, romanticized the story. Similar to the way Oliver himself romanticizes REH’s suicide as an act of freedom and as others do when saying it was a reasoned choice.
In any event, Jack Scott was a keen observer and adds some humor in this recollection from the Transcript of the Oral History of Jack Scott (Friends of the Cross Plains Public Library, 2001):
That last line! It’s funny because it’s sooooo true. 🙂
The final item I have about Jack Scott, is this potentially mind-blowing if it had happened scenario: In a letter to a colleague L. Sprague de Camp wrote that Jack Scott has asked him to go halfsies with him on purchasing the Howard house:
“Some years ago, when we were in Cross Plains, Jack Scott suggested that he and I jointly buy the Howard house. I turned down the proposal, because at that time I had no thought of moving to Texas. If I had had, I might have replied differently.”
Most die-hard Robert E. Howard fans are aware that two poems by Howard were published in the 1933 anthology, Modern American Poetry. REH wrote a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith about the poems and the publisher’s “vanity press” tactics.
Modern American Poetry is an enigma of sorts. There were only four volumes published from 1932 – 1936 and next to nothing is known about the editor, Gerta Aison. No apparent records exist leading archivists to assume the name is possibly a pseudonym.
Despite the editor’s questionable identity and the publisher’s ruse of soliciting poems and then asking for payment to publish them these volumes are a great historical archive of regional poets of the 1930s. Robert E. Howard is the most well-known of the poets published but there are at least two other notable names: Stanton A. Coblentz, a well-known poet and science-fiction writer and editor and Helen Maring, a widely published regional Pacific Northwest poet and editor.
There were two companion publications: American Lyric Poetry and American States Anthology, all published in the middle 1930s.
Robert E. Howard’s two poems appear on page 211.
Robert E. Howard mentioned the poems a second time in a October 1933 letter to August Derleth:
REH sent Novalyne Price a copy of the two poems and one from Weird Tales in a December 1934 letter:
Gerta Aison, Galleon Press, and Robert E. Howard clearly believed that these two poems (despite the publisher’s vanity press trickery) were quite worthy and deserved an audience. No true REH fan would give argument.
“Isle of Swords” is a highly competent pastiche of Robert E. Howard’s Cormac Mac Art stories. Bear in mind that none of the Cormac Mac Art stories sold in REH’s lifetime. The four Cormac Mac Art stories that REH wrote are: “The Night of the Wolf,” “Swords of the Northern Sea,” “The Temple of the Abomination,” and “Tigers of the Sea.”
Matthew John captures a Howardian feel in this short story. Cormac and Wulfhere have washed up on the beach, due to a strange tidal wave, on the Isle of Swords. They soon discover that a rival band is on the isle, searching for the Roman gold that the resident Picts have in their keeping.
Cormac and Wulfhere are captured by “the short men, stout, clad in hide, horn and bone” Picts. A old crone questions them in the presence of Bran’s statue, (Remember the Pict King’s soul resides in the magical statue first featured in Robert E. Howard’s story, “The Dark Man.”
Cormac learns the tidal wave was created by magic. Cormac intelligently respects and flatters the Picts enough to save his and Wulfhere’s lives. He comes up with a plan to help the Picts against the other invaders for a bit of their gold.
I’m still unclear if the Picts use the gold in trade or simply for tribal art. I suspect they use the gold to entice adventurers to their island so they can show off their Bran statue.
All in all, this is a short work that captures the feel of REH’s Cormac Mac Art stories. It is has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It features an exotic locale, bloodshed, and a bit of weird magic. It is a decent story. Would it have sold any better than REH’s other Cormac Mac Art stories back in the day? I prefer not to give an opinion.
Robert E. Howard first mentions his membership in the American Fiction Guild in a May 1932 letter to Tevis Clyde Smith. REH mentions that John Kelley of Fiction House has died (John B. Kelley was the treasurer of Fiction House, the publisher of Fight Stories and Action Stories.) and that he received the information in a AFG bulletin.
In another May 1932 letter to Tevis, REH mentions that he received an AFG bulletin that mentions a possible new market, William Godwin Publishers Inc. It isn’t known by me if he ever submitted anything to them. In any event, he never made a sell to this New York based company founded in 1931. The company was founded by Alex Hillman and named after the English political philosopher.
REH recommended that Tevis, and later H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth should also join this organization. Apparently REH found the bulletins informative and useful. It was in a AFG bulletin that REH found out that Strange Tales had folded. Strange Tales had published both “People of the Dark” and “The Cairn on the Headland.”
REH Bio that appeared in January 1936 AFG Bulletin
The American Fiction Guild founded in 1932 became a popular organization for pulp fiction writers. The organization was founded by Arthur J. Burks and George Bruce. The guild offered writers like REH a supportive network for publishing news and business practices. In a letter to August Derleth, REH mentions several members of the AFG. The most famous, today, being Erle Stanley Gardner, of Perry Mason fame. Other notable members, not mentioned by REH, were Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and L. Ron Hubbard (who was AFG president in 1935).
Arthur J. Burks was nick-named the “Speed Merchant of the Pulps.” Like REH, his first professional sell was to Weird Tales. By the 1930s his work was appearing everywhere. Name a pulp and he most likely was published in it. George Bruce was also a successful pulp writer who later wrote screenplays for The Man in the Iron Mask, The Corsican Brothers, and Two Years Before the Mast among others.
Speaking of screenplays . . . as mentioned, the AFG sent out bulletins to their members, I came across a copy of this postcard sent to REH. It is a request for pulp writers to submit material to Warner Brothers studio:
It is only in our hopeful imagination that REH ever submitted a story or screenplay to Warner Brothers but this was his chance. Thanks to the AFG.
spraguedecampfan 