Customer Reviews

The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 1: Crimson Shadows

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This almost 500 page collection proves Howard was more than just a sword and sorcery pulp writer. We get fine stories of fantasy; horror; adventure; boxing; humorous western; detective and some good poetry.

We get Conan; Kane; Kull; Bran Mak Morn; Costigan; El Borak; Elkins, and several more brawling anti heroes. When great Pulp mag writers are discussed, Howard was one of the most versatile, and one of the best.

If you have never read any of the late Robert E. Howard's works, then this is a great place to start. Collected in two volumes are many of his most popular stories about his most exciting heroes: Conan of Cimmeria; the grim Puritan, Solomon Kane; the boxer, Steve Costigan, and his bulldog, Mike; Red Sonya of Rogatino; King Kull; and a host of others. These heroes are truly larger than life, ready to do battle with fists and swords. Howard was a master of the short story format, and it shows in his writing style, which is intense, bold, descriptive, and yet concise, pulling the reader inexorably into his visions and leaving one wanting more. We are unlikely to ever again see another writer of his caliber.

Crimson Shadows is the latest in Del Rey's definitive Howard series. The books provide the most authoritative versions of Howard's stories available anywhere, with scholarly notes (in the back, which you need not read, but can be cool to sample) on the original texts.
I have only one caveat about this excellent collection. If (like me) you have previously purchased the previous volumes in the series, namely the Conan, Kane, Kull, and Bran Mak Morn books, then you have already more than half the material in the book. You may find it worth buying anyway, as I did, in order to get Howard stories about lesser known characters (but not written with less passion). Many are well worth the read.
For some one who has not read much of Robert E. Howard, this is a superb place to start. The best Kull story ever (Shadow Kingdom, one of REH's very best) is here. So is the best Bran Mak Morn story (Worms of the Earth). The original version of "The Grey God Passes" is here, etc.
This book is REH at his best. But the overlap with previous volumes in the same series is at least 50%.

I am, first and foremost, a diehard fan of Howard's sword-and-sorcery tales, particular his Conan series and, to a lesser extent, his Kull, Kane, and Bran series (in descending order). What we have in the last two volumes (#7 and #8) of the Ballantine/Del Rey series too often feels like a collection of lesser leftovers. I was never impressed by his Western-themed works nor by his two-cent street boxing efforts. To top it off, Jim and Ruth Keegan seem to have taken the quick way out of illustrating the works, foisting off the easiest possible substitutes for what should be action drawings. (As the simplest example, when Conan and Valeria must escape from a murderous giant snake in the novelette "Red Nails," Gary Manchess [in the same publisher's "Bloody Crown of Conan"] offers us a thrilling picture of the duo taking to their heels, with a slavering reptilian colossus in hot pursuit. In contrast, Keegan offers no better than a ho-hum representation of Conan standing there, utterly relaxed, as if he's about to start filing his friggin' fingernails.) This is made all the more disturbing by the Keegans' foreword that praises the excellence of the works, the outstanding opportunity to illustrate them, and (thank you very much) their own profoundly challenging efforts at slaving away to produce a handful of tres boring charcoals. No, by all means purchase the first six volumes of the series (in order of publication: Conan I; Solomon Kane; Conan II; Bran Mac Morn; Conan III; Kull), but pass on these two!

The only bad thing that could be said about this compilation is that many of Howard's stories/themes/characters/plots are now cliche, simply because they are so old and so copied. This collection has around two stories for many of his characters, as well as a lot of poetry. Anyone interested in a Howard sampler should pick this up before looking into the many volumes that more fully flush out each individual character and storyline. I would recommend this volume to anyone; Robert E Howard was a genius on the level of Einstein, is a true American master of writing, and this tome is an excellent introduction to his many excellent works.

The stories written by Robert E. Howard are distinct and classic in their own right. Thinking back when I first found the Conan series (after first watching Conan The Barbarian) I was immersed in any REH work I could find. At that time it was only Conan. As I read my treasured paperbacks to tatters I looked over the years to replace them with new ones.

Now I have discovered the other wealth of adventure by REH... I only wish it could have been sooner. The elements of style and much of his descriptions carry through to other works yet the other stories are also fresh and different. This man was a brilliant story teller! Read, enjoy and immerse yourself in Howard's many worlds for true adventure! I have read other authors who have done these stories well but no one wrote like the original!

Four stars only because the publisher could've left out most (or even all) of the poetry and added one or two more stories, introducing other characters. Otherwise, it's a great introduction to the characters of REH. I won't review the stories, only mention the names of the main protagonist involved... hopefully this may answer some questions.

Forward
Introduction
01. Kull of Atlantis
02. -Poem-
03. Kull of Atlantis
04. Solomon Kane
05. -Poem-
06. Turlogh Dubh O'Brien
07. -Poem-
08. Bran Mak Morn
09. -Poem-
10. Professor Michael Kirowan
11. -Poem-
12. Sailor Steve Costigan
13. Turlogh Dubh O'Brien, mentioned
14. -Poem-
15. Bran Mak Morn
16. -Poem-
17. Steve Harrison
18. -Poem-
19. Weird West
20. -Poem-
21. James Allison
22. -Poem-
23. Conan the Barbarian
24. Conan the Barbarian
25. -Poem-
26. El Borak
27. Breckinridge Elkins
28. -Poem-

All-in-all, it's a great "best of REH" and would be perfect as a gift for someone you believe might enjoy his works, as it does a great job traveling through his many worlds. It worked for me, it was my intro, and now I'm hooked!

REH in his short life wrote so many stories that they would fill at least 12 fat volumes and maybe more but his fans would not like to admit that he wrote a lot of trash but who could blame him. It was the depression and most sold. This book and the 2nd volume 'Best of REH ; Grim Lands' are the cream of his writings with sampling all the genres he worked with .
I think a 3rd Best of with 'The Iron Man' and 'Skull-Face' and 'Marchers of Valhalla' I can think of now should be published. Also there should be a volume of his poetry.
"Nuff Sed" Buy the 2 Bests !

In the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Howard's writing inspired Stephen King and left a series of stories about a bloodthirsty and crude fantasy world. This is a must have for any fantasy collector.