The Best of Robert E. Howard: Grim Lands

by Robert E. Howard

“[Behind Howard’s stories] lurks a dark poetry and the timeless truth of dreams.”
–Robert Bloch

“Howard’s writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks.”
–Stephen King

The classic pulp magazines of the early twentieth century are long gone, but their action-packed tales live on through the work of legendary storyteller Robert E. Howard. From his fecund imagination sprang an army of larger-than-life heroes–including the iconic Conan the Cimmerian, King Kull of Atlantis, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mak Morn–as well as adventures that would define a genre for generations. Now comes the second volume of this author’s breathtaking short fiction, which runs the gamut from sword and sorcery, historical epic, and seafaring pirate adventure to two-fisted crime and intrigue, ghoulish horror, and rip-roaring western.

Kull reigns supreme in “By This Axe I Rule!” and “The Mirrors of Tuzan Thune”; Conan conquers in one of his most popular exploits, “The Tower of the Elephant”; Solomon Kane battles demons deep in Africa in “Wings in the Night”; and itinerant boxer Steve Costigan puts up his dukes of steel inside and outside the ring in “The Bulldog Breed.” In between, warrior kings, daring knights, sinister masterminds, grizzled frontiersmen–even Howard’s stunning heroine, Red Sonya–tear up the pages in stories built to thrill by their masterly creator.

And in such epic poems as “Echoes from an Anvil,” “Black Harps in the Hills,” and “The Grim Land,” the author blends his classic characters and visceral imagery with a lyricism as haunting as traditional folk balladry. Lavishly illustrated by Jim and Ruth Keegan, here is a Robert E. Howard collection as indispensable as it is unforgettable.

“Howard had a gritty, vibrant style–broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life.”
–David Gemmell

“For stark, living fear . . . What other writer is even in the running with Robert E. Howard?”
–H. P. Lovecraft

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Pulp, Horror, Fiction, Adventure, Sword and Sorcery

510 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2007

About the author

Robert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."

He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.

—Wikipedia

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book given to me by my GR friend, Jon (thanks!) & one of the best reads of the year. This collection of Howard's work is an excellent mix of the genres he wrote in, from Sword & Sorcery to Westerns & Horror. If you like his poetry, both volumes have the best collection of them I've ever seen.

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes Howard. I probably have 50 of his books, have been reading him for 40 years & still found stories that I'd never read before. The introduction & appendices added quite a bit to my knowledge of him & his works. A must read for any REH aficionado.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

More manly adventure stories from Robert E Howard. More historical adventures in this volume than volume one. Some good, gritty westerns and a great pirate story.
A couple of good Kulls stories, El Borak returns and a classic Conan story.

Conan is Howard's most famous character, but is the least interesting to me. 'Red Nails' had a good first half but kind of meandered an then wrapped up too quickly. Did like the lady pirate character though.
Not that there is such a thing as a bad Howard story. They are all larger than life tales, just dripping with blood and testosterone.

Good stuff.

[Jon]

4 stars

[Valerio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo volume contiene:

Cimmeria (Poem)
The Tower of the Elephant
Red Nails
The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune
By This Axe I Rule!
The King and the Oak (poem)
The Shadow of the Vulture
Wings in the Night (1932)
Solomon Kane's Homecoming (poem) Ver. 1
Lord of Samarcand
Old Garfield's Heart
The Man on the Ground
Gents on the Lynch
The Bull Dog Breed
Which Will Scarcely Be Understood
Timur-lang
A Song of the Naked Lands
Echoes from an Anvil
Black Harps in the Hills
The Grim Land
Never Beyond the Beast
Musings
Flint's Passing

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume had more stories than the first that I hadn't previously read and/or that weren't part of the previous Del Rey series -- again, in addition to an assortment of Kull, Solomon Kane and Conan, we got boxing stories, Westerns, historical adventures and a few horror stories. I suspect a number of the stories will have been reprinted in the subsequent Del Rey volumes, though.

Again, thunderingly good and surprisingly well-written adventure stories from an author who's only recently begun to get the more widespread recognition he deserved.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert E. Howard is a great story teller and his short stories are, generally, fun reads, but Howard is not a great author as Steven Tompkins purports in twenty-five wasted pages in "Barbarian at the Pantheon-Gates."

Read Howard, don't read about him.

[Κεσκίνης Χρήστος · Rating 5 out of 5]

Και η μαγεία συνεχίζεται. Όπως στο πρώτο μέρος, έτσι κι εδώ, το βιβλίο επιβεβαιώνει τον τίτλο του. Τα καλύτερα του καλυτερου συγγραφέα ΟΛΩΝ των εποχών, μέρος δεύτερο και ίσως καλύτερο από το πρώτο. Αψογο

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely some of Howard's best work, although there are some lesser pieces here I think. Given the fact that the editor wanted a selection from the whole "range" of Howard's work, this and the first volume do an excellent job of giving you tremendous stories and poems while letting you see the incredible range across which Howard worked.

I'd urge readers to skip the introduction initially and go straight to the stories. Then come back and read the intro for some perspective on what you've taken in.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent selection or Robert E. Howard's stories. These are the original unedited stories as Howard wrote them. No one writes action stories like Howard. Very recommend

[Tim Deforest · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent selection of Howard's short stories, novellas and poetry. This book includes

Two of the best King Kull stories, including "By This Axe I Rule," which I like a little better than the version re-written into the first Conan story.

Two of the best Conan tales

My personal favorite Solomon Kane story--"Wings in the Night"

"Lord of Samarcand," which is arguably Howard's grimmest historical adventure.

"Shadow of the Vulture," the novella that introduced the world to Red Sonya (And I would love for someone to one day write a pastiche featuring this 16th Century version of the character rather than the Sword & Sorcery version introduced in Marvel Comics.)

Several of his Westerns--including the hard-hitting "Vultures of Wahpeton" and the humerous "Gents on the Lynch" "Gents," along with the Steve Costigan story "The Bull Dog Breed," reminds us that Howard had a great sense of humor.

"Pigeons from Hell," arguably his best horror story.

Poems such as "Solomon Kane's Homecoming" and "Black Harps in the Hills" showcase his considerable talent as a poet.

These are just the highlights of an anthology full of engrossing tales of adventure, horror, and humor.

[Stuart Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

More REH stories. Two Conan stories, (my two favorites), my favorite Kull story, Solomon Kane, Bran mak Morn, plus Steve Costigan, several cowboy tales, many of which are funny, a pirate tale, some set in Crusade times and other Arabian settings, and above all the very first mentioning of Red Sonya. Shows the amazing range of REH, though admittedly all the heroes are two fisted outcasts. Not just empty entertainment, some examine human failings, most especially "Red Nails", "White Water", and "Black Vulmea's Vengeance". REH was a great writer, easily proven by comparing his Conan stories to any of the Conan stories written by other authors. None can match his style, his prose, his plotting. And those not trying to mimic him but just use his characters in their own works still fail. If Poul Anderson can't write a decent Conan story then REH must be some sort of literary genius.

[Viel Nast · Rating 3 out of 5]

the second volume of Howard's best is less enjoyable than the first. too many western or "cowboy" stories for my taste some pseudo historic stories and quite a few boxing ones sums up for me why the great author lost himself in the path of glory. he didn't have a job and he tried to write stories to earn his living, any stories that could sell. so he lost time and effort writing meaningless stories for magazines that have only small grains of his magnificence. the book has also many poems and a tiring and pompous afterward trying to establish Howard as a great man of literature although none of his fans needed this confirmation. we like Howard not because he deserved a Nobel in literature but because by its writing we escape our world to other worlds of adventure and excitement.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff, but by this point, I had read several of the stories in other volumes. But, for a completist, great stuff!

[Russell Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much repetition with prior Del Rey books. The two best of should have been condensed to one

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent collection of short stories. These weren't quite as strong as the first, I found the Western tales to be a bit meandering like The Vultures of Whapeton. I need my Western stories directed by Italians in the 60s.

Otherwise I enjoyed most of the stories here.

[Andrew Nease · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know quite what to say about this that I didn't already say in my review of volume 1. It seems that this has a more diverse selection of material; there's material from all over the Howard time-and-space atlas, along with an assortment of one-offs and obscurer goodies; historical, horror, westerns, western fantasy (and can I say that I really wish Howard had lived long enough, among other things, to pioneer that particular genre a little more?)... If I were going to nitpick, I'd say that Bran Mak Morn is conspicuous by his absence, but if you view both volumes together, you've got everything you need, at least to get started.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

My feelings on this book are a bit mixed. The stories are generally pretty great adventures and there's a nice range of subject matter here. Of course, there's some Kull, Conan, and Solomon Kane stuff, all of which is pretty fun. Tower of the Elephant is especially good as it's an example of how Howard mixed fantasy with the sort of weird cosmic stuff his contemporaries like Lovecraft were doing. There's also some pretty good Westerns, although the one comedic one was kinda bad, in my opinion. The Steve Costigan story was definitely one of the stand outs, since it's told in a rather different style than the others, and reading about boxing is surprisingly fun when it's told in Howard's action-packed style. Black Vulmea's Vengeance was amazing and would make a great movie. I especially enjoyed the ambiguity as to whether there was a supernatural element or not. And, of course, Pigeons from Hell might have a rather ridiculous name, but it's pretty creepy. My main problem is seeing the various stories all together has made me realize that Howard liked to write the same character a lot, even if they operated under different names. Conan, Kull, El Borak, the Western characters, and even to an extent Solomon Kane are all tough men unfit for civilization and thus much better at their professions of wandering around, killing people and having adventures. The stories aren't necessarily bad, and I don't even mind the flatness of the protagonists so much. It's simply a bit tiring to read about the same guy but in a different hat over and over again. Still, if you want to read some exciting adventure stories and are willing to deal with the racism and other issues of the pulp era, this is a great collection. Plus, it has the original Red Sonya, who is pretty badass.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great selection of Howard's work. Included with this volume are some classic Conan, Solomon Kane, Kull, El Borak, and Steve Costigan tales. There are also some great western tales, a couple of great horror stories, crusades stories, and a fun pirate story. If you are curious about Robert E. Howard's work, this volume, and its companion is a great place to start.

Howard's Conan stories are my favorite, and the two stories: The Tower of the Elephant and Red Nails are both classic. The Tower of the Elephant has the great line: "Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing." Black Vulmea's Revenge is another great story featuring a pirate seeking revenge against the man who tried to execute him.

The illustrations are nice, but bland. Most are character poses with no backgrounds rather than an interpretation of the action taking place.

[Mick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I'd have to say there were not as many great stories in this one as I found in volume 1.

BUT, this thing is worth the purchase, even just for the excellent Conan tale "Red Nails" alone. And on top of that, this one's got a great Solomon Kane story, a very enjoyable El Borak tale, and two great pirate stories to boot.

A few of the others were uneven, but still, there's no doubt in my mind now that Howard deserves a place in the fantasy/adventure pantheon.

But yeah, like many compilations of pulp tales from the early 20th-Century, there are lots of unfortunate bits of not-so-subtle racist and sexist stuff, so be prepared.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume had less of the Conan or Kull stories which I enjoy so much. Red Nails ends the collection on a strong note, leaving a pleasant taste in my mouth after some rather dreary stories.

[Bob Wilkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are all 5 star, but there is a LOT of overlap with all the previous Del Rey books.

[Takipsilim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final "Best of..." from the prolific Texan author.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid mix of entertaining short stories.