The dark hero Solomon Kane leads us into the world of ancient secrets and the monsters that live in the jungles of Africa. With his loyal pistol, rapier and Ju Ju staff opposes the vampire queen, damned creatures, evil men, and evil that is hiding in the old cities and ruins. Always on the side of good, he helps those that attack these dark forces, although it often is in perilous situations, with his strength and mind destroy evil in its path. Writer story of Conan Robert E. Howard, in this boo...

“He was…a strange blending of Puritan and Cavalier, with a touch of the ancient philosopher, and more than a touch of the pagan…A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urge to right all wrongs, protect all weaker things…Wayward and restless as the wind, he was consistent in only one respect—he was true to his ideals of justice and right. Such was Solomon Kane.”“Such was Solomon Kane,” indeed.This book rocks. As much as I’d like to try and sound clinical about this—screw it. I’m not a litera...

I’ve been reading Robert E. Howard’s Conan for 30+ years now. I remember – and still have – the Science Fiction Book Club editions edited by the late Karl Wagner and I think any consideration of the best fantasy writing has to include “Beyond the Black River” and “A Witch Shall Be Born,” at the very least, but I was never much interested in reading any of the non-Conan stories Howard wrote.* I was always intrigued, however, by what I heard about “Solomon Kane” – a Puritan soldier-of-fortune who

A group read with Mark and Sarah.Slightly less known than other Howard's character - Conan the Cimmerian - Solomon Kane is a Puritan who wonders wherever he feels like trying to fight injustice in the name of his religion. The book contains everything Howard ever wrote about the guy including short poems and unfinished fragments. First stories were unusual and rare mix of classic adventures and horror. Considering Howard wrote excellent stories in both genres here the result was excellent. I was...

The moon began to rise, lean and haggard, like a skull among the stars.In the very first few pages of reading this, I was reminded again of just how electrifying a writer Howard was. I can’t help but wonder what a legacy he would have amassed by now, had circumstances been different. (Howard passed away at the age of 30; the first Solomon Kane story was published when he was around the age of 22)What are mortals but food for the jaws of the black gods?This is a fantastic collection and I can’t r...

Note, Jan. 9, 2022: When I read short story collections intermittently over a period of time, my reactions are similarly written piecemeal, while they're fresh in my mind. That gives the reviews a choppy, and often repetitive, quality. I've now condensed and rearranged this one into a unified whole.Best known as the creator of Conan the barbarian, pulp-era giant Robert E. Howard enriched literature with several other memorable series characters, including Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Dark Agnes de la Fe...

Since I've read half of this before as Skull in the Stars, I'll only be reviewing the complete stories I've yet to read, no fragments.Hills of the Dead:Solomon Kane and N'Longa go up against a group of vampires in some remote hills. Carnage ensues.It's been a couple years since I read one of the Solomon Kane stories. Howard's Puritan adventurer is quite a bit different from Conan but still quite good. The staff N'Longa give Kane to use proves to be invaluable and I loved the way the vampires wer...

· Jovial Puritans R Us Buddy Read (JPRUBR™) with The Overlord and my Half-Barnacled Son ·Actual rating: 3.565489758965664896213 stars. Super Extra Rigidly Austere Chirpy Solomon Kane ain't as deliciously sexey as My Barbarian Cutie Pie (he'd have to whack more puny humans on their little heads with beef bones for that. And to ditch most of his clothes. Which he would probably find repulsively repulsive. Because he’s ridiculously—and most unnecessarily—rigid like that) but he's got a pretty scrum...

The Solomon Kane character, avenging do-gooder and REH's first S&S hero, and his world are, I think, less richly conceived than the more popular (and less morally upright) Conan, yet served as effective vehicles for Howard's early adventure and dark supernatural story ideas. I picked a handful of these stories to get a feel for them, and while reading I found myself always hoping to find that same unbridled, raw exuberance and passion Conan exudes that caused me to initially fall in love with RE...

I'd like to have been able to give this 5 stars but for various reasons I can only go 4. I first read this book in spurts some years ago. The stories and the character I've known for many ears. Having discovered Conan back in the dark ages of my youth I spent time searching out many of REH's works. Back in the late '60s and '70s there were many reprints and collections of stories based on Howard's work.I like Howard and I like most of his fantasy characters...though I never really got into his s...

Solomon Kane is a wandering Puritan that delivers justice with blade and blunderbuss. He roams the grim wilderness of the 15th century where supernatural danger and haunted ruins lurk in every corner. Vengeful ghosts, bloodthirsty demons, dark sorcerers; the mad avenger Kane challenges them all armed with a fanatic’s faith and a warrior’s savage heart.Dark, violent and adventurous stories. The atmosphere is chilling, the fast-paced bloody action is constantly exciting and the fiends are grotesqu...

Much like Sapkowski's Witcher, Solomon Kane is a character that I like the idea of (and playing video and rpg games about) more than I like actually reading about. I think the problem might be the fact that, as these kinds of stories try to mix horror and fantasy, they tend to be a bit slower and have more build up than your traditional Conan tale. Also, compared to some of Howard's other creations, Kane seems rather bland to me (and that's saying a lot because, as much as I love the work of Rob...

“He was . . . a strange blending of Puritan and Cavalier, with a touch of the ancient philosopher, and more than a touch of the pagan. . . . A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urge to right all wrongs, protect all weaker things. . . . Wayward and restless as the wind, he was consistent in only one respect—he was true to his ideals of justice and right. Such was Solomon Kane.”In discussions of weird fiction, most would know of the names of HP Lovecraft or Robert E Howard. They are, afte...

Executive Summary: This was a disappointment. I signed up to review this for SFF Audio trying something I wouldn't have read otherwise, but I mostly found myself bored.Audio book: Paul Boehmer does a pretty good job here. I'd listened to him before with the Night Angel Trilogy, and enjoyed him again with this book. He does some voices for the various characters. I think if this collection had a bad reader I would have stopped before the end. Full Review I don't normally seem to enjoy older wor...

Standard Howardian disclaimer first: Robert E. Howard was living in a small town in Texas in the 1920s & 30s and writing, very quickly, for pulp magazines, so his stories sometimes feature ... suboptimal portrayals of people of other races & ethnic backgrounds, and ditto portrayals of women (if any).Which, given that Solomon Kane is a "Puritan adventurer" circa 1600 AD, wouldn't seem like it would be an issue, but several of Kane's adventures take him to the heart of Africa, an Africa that would...

I love these stories. In many ways, Kane seems the most dangerous of all of Howard's strong, brooding warrior creations. He's driven not by gold nor sex nor fame, but by a strange fire within his soul that makes him believe he is on an eternal, righteous quest. He feels with his heart the difference between right and wrong, and he acts upon those feelings with the cold, implacable drive of the religious crusader and fanatic. In many ways, I think he's pretty insane. It is his insanity that parti...

Solomon Kane is the strongest, most interesting character i have read by Howard. Kane is perfect for his stories, his somber personality,style creates the weird atmosphere for the stories so seamlessly. There are not many Kane stories and they are not the most consistent collection of stories i have read by Howard. The minor stories are somewhat uneven. But stories like Red Shadows, Hills of the Dead, Wings in the Night is very hard to improve on when it comes to stark atmosphere, quality storie...

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...

SPECIAL DRUNKEN HALLOWEEN REVIEW EDITION!!!!!!!!!God...it pains me, but this was disappointing. Disappointing to the point of aggressive boredom, even. I really like Howard, which is why I put this review off for months. I mean...I WANT to say I liked it as much as his Conan stuff, but I didn't. I don't think it just comes down to the choice of protagonist, either. Conan is certainly more likable with his "gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth" as the author would put it. That single descript...

As always, I read a short story between each novel. This time around it's been Robert E. Howard's The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, a complete collection of all the Solomon Kane stories in one volume. Robert E. Howard, of course, is best known as the creator of Conan, but he was a prolific author during his short life, creating several other notable protagonists. Del Rey has re-published the works of Robert E. Howard in beautiful trade paperback sets that include his complete works. They leave t...