Solomon Kane in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Jul 18, 2008 Charles rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Solomon Kane has to be one of the most unique characters Howard ever created, and he did so when he was quite young. These are just really wonderful stories.

I also have a collection from Centaur Press entitled "Solomon Kane." ...more

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Oct 05, 2009 Greg (adds 2 TBR list daily) Hersom rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Dressed in black with the tall slouch-hat typical of Puritan fashion, and armed with sword, flint-locks, and, later, an ancient carved staff, Solomon Kane stalks the 16th century world from the remote reaches of Europe to the bloody decks of the high seas, and into the deepest, darkest African jungles. Whether it be a witch-cursed monstrosity, hell-spawned vampire, mutant throw-back, or just a wicked wretch of humankind, Solomon Kane will fight with equal determination and enthusiasm to see good Dressed in black with the tall slouch-hat typical of Puritan fashion, and armed with sword, flint-locks, and, later, an ancient carved staff, Solomon Kane stalks the 16th century world from the remote reaches of Europe to the bloody decks of the high seas, and into the deepest, darkest African jungles. Whether it be a witch-cursed monstrosity, hell-spawned vampire, mutant throw-back, or just a wicked wretch of humankind, Solomon Kane will fight with equal determination and enthusiasm to see good triumph.

Robert E. Howard's tales are so alive, you almost have to check yourself for wounds. Between the lines broods an ancient feeling of melancholy that lends such realism to the writing. And the beautiful, sweeping illustrations in this book by the award-winning artist Gary Gianni bring that classical story-telling feel to the fore-front.

As with all of Howard's heroes, Solomon Kane is larger-than-life, fearless, and inherited of an ancestral fighting prowess and unconquerable spirit. But Kane's adventures are the product of his fanatical obsession to root-out and destroy evil in any form. He seeks no personal reward -- only claims to do the will of God. However, despite his staunch Puritan faith, his inner demons are almost as dark as those he combats. He is a man of violence, filled with a wander-lust to seek out what he judges as evil with a determination and recklessness that is psychotic.

What makes Solomon Kane so endearing to read is, on one hand, Solomon Kane is the archetypal swash-buckler -- much like a character from a Robert Louis Stevenson adventure story. On the other hand (probably the left because left-handedness was once thought to be of the Devil), Kane is as foreboding as what he faces -- most often horrors as nightmarish as anything Edgar Allen Poe ever created.

Reading these stories in this format is like a journey back to my childhood -- when the jungles of an old Tarzan movie were more real than anything documented on the National Geographic channel, and when a horror-comic hidden in a text book at school would make me too scared to sleep that night. It reminded me of when I was too young to be allowed to read such violent and terrifying tales but did so anyway because I knew therein were hidden truths of adventures still left in this world that my parents didn't want me to know about. ...more

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Feb 13, 2009 Michael rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sword-sorcery

The first book I read by Robert E Howard was the Lancer edition of "Conan the Warrior". Before reading Conan I loved adventure stories and swashbucklers like Tarzan, Three Musketeers, Lord of the Rings, Davy Crockett, Western gunfighters, Zorro, etc. Robert E Howard's stories and characters especially Conan is the most deeply satisfying character and stories in any of these genres.
After devouring all of the Conan stories I had to have more. I read Kull, Bran Mak Morn, and another extremely appe ...more

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Jul 05, 2014 Derek rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sword-and-sorcery

Unlike Howard's other protagonists, the physical power behind Solomon Kane is an unyielding strength and unrelenting will, buttressed by a singular purpose and lack of humor. There's an unforgettable scene in "Blades of the Brotherhood"--a fairly straight swashbuckler lacking fantasy or horror elements--where Kane finally and satisfyingly dispatches a dastardly pirate with an excruciatingly slow stab through the heart, driven by Kane's iron will and unyielding strength. (view spoiler) ...more

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Nov 10, 2011 Riju Ganguly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It is often lamented (esp. by the senior citizens) that "good-old" things of the past are not to be found nowadays, since the taste has gone to "dogs"! I do not belong to that age-group, but after reading works of R.E.Howard I am finding everything else, esp. the so-called "saga"-s/"chronicles"/"epics" that have flooded the fantasy market with their herculean size and very high percentage of broodings & ponderings, absolutely stale. It is true that these works may not be politically correct as p ...more

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