As stated in earlier comments: when Howard is focused on story and adventure, he writes at his best, and the result is fun and catchy - as in the stories "The Hoofed Thing," "The Fires of Assurbanipal," "The Dwellers in the Tomb," and about half a dozen others. I enjoyed reading these and can see myself going back to them in the future when I'm in the mood for monsters and swashbuckling and some weirdness.

The rest of the stories in this anthology range from dull to middling. The stories that tie in with the buzzwords and ideas promoted by Lovecraft and Co. do offer an interesting spin on Old Ones and occult works; however each story largely deals with the telling of weird adventures, rather than the showing. For example, in one story (whose title escapes me), a man gives a one-paragraph description of his search for a mummy inside some Honduran ruins; why, I have to ask, didn't Howard just write a short story about that, as opposed to the "horrible" consequences that followed (and turned out to be not very horrible or interesting)? This question greatly confuses me - because in any comparison, mummies win over a man "shaking as with an ague" while sitting in his study.

I have to admit that finishing this anthology is a relief. That Howard's work is being compiled and brought back into print is a good thing, and I applaud all of the editors and writers and publishers who are making this happen and producing a handsome set of books. Unfortunately, Howard, while writing over many topics and genres, did not write over a great range of tone, and taking on as much of his prose as is offered here was tiresome at times. Hence the two years it took me to read enough of this so that I am ready to put it on the shelf, and admire it for the stories that left warm impressions in memory.