Customer Reviews

El Borak and Other Desert Adventures

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
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As an anthology of Robert Howard's nonfantastic Arabian adventures, this book is top-notch. Although less well known than his justifiably famous Conan, Howard's El Borak, Steve Clarney, and Kirby O'Donnell are all powerful characters who dominate the tales Howard writes about them. Of all the stories, Three-Bladed Doom--the long version--is probably the best though I can't think of any I wouldn't recommend. The action is suitably bloodthirsty and well described while Howard's trademark breathless pace is evident throughout each of these desert yarns. As noted in the title of my review, the influence of Harold Lamb and Talbot Mundy is present although subtle at times even as Howard makes this material original enough to be identifiable as his. Thankfully the editors did the yeoman's work of giving us copious background material in both the introduction and the afterword even as the shorter version of Three-Bladed Doom and an untitled O'Donnell fragment serve as a miscellaneous appendix. Appropriately for the material, the artwork is shadowy and gritty much like the characters. This is an improvement for the Keegan's, whose artistic contributions to the Best of Robert E Howard volumes earlier in this series were not nearly up to the level of the artwork by other artists in other volumes. Overall, this is a fine addition to Del Rey's brilliant series, and I hope the publisher plans to continue. Maybe next time they can focus on his westerns or a two-volume collection of all his boxing stories. I hope so anyway.

I was in a book store and unable to find what I was looking for, namely early 20th century setting, non-fantasy exotic adventure until I stumbled upon this. (When did the SciFi/Fantasy section become a spill over zone for Romance novels?) While I knew of Howard's King Kull, Solomon Kane and, of course, Conan, I had never heard of El Borak. Since it was the only thing in the store matching what I wanted to read, I picked it up.

This new-to-me character is, like Howard's other protagonists, an adventurer, but Howard did not create clones. Francis Xavier Gordon has no discernible interest in wealth, tries to smooth things over between conflicting friends and, for those inexperienced enough to be romantics, there is a... wait for it... hand holding scene. Not being entirely without sentimentalism, I thought it was a nice touch from the master of skull cleaving fiction.

The prose is clear, lyrical in places, fast and furious. Mr. Howard knew his craft well.

Robert E. Howard is best known as the creator of Swords & Sorcery heroes like Conan, Kull, and Solomon Kane. But Howard was nothing if not pragmatic as a writer. Working during the Great Depression, Howard went where the work was in sold in any market--any genre he could to make money. Some of Howard's best work in fact was in the field of adventure fiction where he created characters such as Francis Xavier Gordon, aka El Broak, a gunfighter and adventurer from Texas, and Irish American treasure hunter Kirby O'Donnell. These were both early 20th century characters, set in the 1920s, post World War I against the exotic backdrop of the Middle East. Seven El Borak tales and three O'Donnell tales are collected together in this huge new volume and restored back to the definitive Howard version with their original titles. Several stories did not see publication until after Howard's death and thus some of the titles had been altered when previously published.

"Son of the White Wolf" has Gordon on the trail of Turkish troops under the command of Germans who wipe out a village and steal all the women including a beautiful German spy. Gordon sets out to rescue her and get revenge.

In "The Daughter of Erlik Khan" Gordon must rescue a runway princess from the husband who wants her returned and executed and has hired a pair of English assassins to do the deed.

"The Lost Valley of Iskander" finds Gordon discovering a lost civilization that dates back to the time of Alexander the Great and an evil king who wants him dead.

"Three-Bladed Doom" is the longest tale, near novel in length, as Gordon has to track down a ruthless cult that is killing regional leaders who are loyal to the British.

In "The Curse of the Crimson God" O'Donnell is on the trail of a stolen treasure map that leads to a fabulous jeweled idol call the Bloodstained God.

The O'Donnell stories have a distinct "Indiana Jones" type of feel to them as O' Donnell is disguised as an Arab, Ali el Ghazi for much of the time. The stories are filled with a lot of intrigue and loads of two-fisted, sword-swinging, gun-blazing action. These two heroes are more than just modern day versions of Conan. They each have their own unique character traits that set them apart from Howard's other characters. If you love Conan, Kull, or Solomon Kane, you owe it to yourself to check out this collection.

The El Borak stories, while lesser Howard compared to, say, Worms of the Earth, Pigeons From Hell and Queen of the Black Coast, are still Howard. "Still Howard" should pretty well say it for readers familiar with REH's work, the stories are action packed adventures, often rousing and have the REH touch in the use of words. After you've read Conan, Solomon Kane, King Kull, Bran Mak Morn, I recommend checking out El Borak. --PL

These thirteen tales consist of eight starring Francis "El Borak" Xavier Gordon, three headed by Kirby O'Donnell, one very short story led by Steve Clarney and one untitled other El Borak. The tales take place in Asia with the Irish-American heroes battling against the odds at a time when imperialistic Europe tries to retain control of India and Afghanistan, etc. Although the "Wild East entries are fun to read especially those of Texas gunslinger El Borak who risks his life repeatedly for his Asian friends, much of the background seems ancient; in fairness Depression Era rationalization of the world comes clear. Still Fans of Howard will appreciate the heroic escapades of the three expatriate Americans in a vividly described harsh desert and mountainous landscape; but especially the actions of El Borak who comes across as the most realistic and believable than the other two adventurers.

Harriet Klausner

An avid Robert E. Howard reader for about the last 30 years... He seems to come in and out of style... Right now he is very popular; you can even find much of his material for Ipod touch and Iphone applications. I thought that I'd read everything by him and of course over the last 30 years have bought the same book several times, move to a new dwelling, lose them, have and itch to read again... I have had such an itch recently and went on Ebay and saw the "El Borak and Other Desert Adventures..." I was not (and never have been) disapointed by Mr. Howard. It is hard to believe a man who died so young (suicide...) could have accomplished so much.

Typical of most of Howard's work in that most of his heroes were cut from the same cloth, not that anybody minds. 'Three Bladed Doom, Swords of Sharazar, The Fire of Asshurbanipal, and The Trail of the Blood-Stained God" and others missing from this collection were adapted by L.Sprague DeCamp into Conan the Barbarian tales. It's great fun comparing them. This is a great collection for reading at night with a roaring fire going.