Solomon Kane [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert E. Howard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1968

PAPERBACK

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 159 pages
• Publisher: Centaur Press (1968)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878180052
• ISBN-13: 978-0878180059
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,310,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

(1906-1936) Robert Erwin Howard was born and rasied in rural Texas, where he lived all his life. The son of a pioneer physician, he began writing professionally at the age of fifteen. Howard killed himself in June 1936 when he learned that his beloved mother had fallen into a coma.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A knight-errant in the garb of a fanatic, November 25, 2001

By 

Michele L. Worley (Kingdom of the Mouse, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solomon Kane (Solomon Kane #1) (Paperback)

"For man's only weapon is courage that flinches not from the gates of Hell itself, and against such not even the legions of Hell can stand." Kane, a knight-errant born as a Puritan, has only one vanity - pride that no one has ever questioned his courage. "A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urge to right all wrongs, protect all weaker things, avenge all crimes against right and justice."

My thanks to the publishers, who have assembled EVERYTHING, including unpublished material (not completed upon Howard's death) fleshed out by Ramsey Campbell, who did a good job. Campbell's introduction spells out, for each such story, who wrote which bits.

"Skulls in the Stars" - On the road to Torkertown, Kane is warned off the shortest route across the moors; a fiend has slain every traveler to pass that way for the last year. Kane takes this as a sign that another task has come his way.

"The Right Hand of Doom" - The necromancer may have deserved death, but Kane had only contempt for his betrayer, the magician's only 'friend' who sold him to the law. Not a good idea to cross a magician who has courage and nothing left to lose, waiting in the condemned cell at Torkertown.

"Red Shadows" - After comforting a dying rape victim, Kane commits himself to tracking down Le Loup and his men. The trail leads from France to Africa, ending with Kane's first meeting and alliance with N'Longa (in case you wondered how they became blood brothers). Don't be put off by N'Longa's poor command of English; when he puts aside his pride in his knowledge of the alien tongue and drops into river dialect, that should clear up any misconceptions about Howard's treatment of his character.

"Rattle of Bones" - Kane, passing through the Black Forest, stays the night at the Cleft Skull Tavern (English translation), meeting Gaston, a flamboyant fellow traveler who seems familiar.

"The Castle of the Devil" (Campbell collaboration) - John Silent, an English mercenary moving on to his next job, meets with Kane in the Black Forest, to learn that Kane cut down a boy from the local Baron's gibbet. As his castle - the Castle of the Devil - is nearby, Kane has a feeling that he will be called upon to ease another evil man of his life...

"Death's Black Riders" - A fragment, concerning a mysterious apparition encountered by Kane in his travels.

"The Moon of Skulls" - Sir John Taferal, upon his death in a duel with Kane, confessed that he had sold his young cousin Marylin to a Barbary rover, faking her death, in an attempt to become the heir of Lord Hildred Taferal. Kane, having rid the world of one Taferal, took on the job of restoring another, tracing her to Negari, ancient city of evil repute, lost colony of Atlantis.

"The One Black Stain: Sir Thomas Doughty, executed at St. Julian's Bay, 1578" - Poem. Solomon Kane, alone of all Francis Drake's men, has the courage to say, "Worthy of death he well may be, but the court ye held was a mockery..."

"Blades of the Brotherhood" - The Fishhawk and his fellow pirates set upon a ship in the Caribbean carrying the daughter of one of Kane's old friends. The trail has led him to an English manor, whose master respects no one and nothing, not even the victor in his latest duel, Jack Hollinster, who stopped at first blood only at a magistrate's orders.

"The Hills of the Dead" - N'Longa's initial gift to Kane - the cat-headed staff - ever afterwards travels with him.

"Hawk of Basti" (Campbell collaboration) - Jeremy Hawk, an old acquaintance from Kane's seafaring days with Grenville, survived shipwreck on the African coast only to stumble across the unknown civilization of Basti. Having set himself up as a god-king, he has been overthrown, and seeks a return to power.

"The Return of Sir Richard Grenville" - Poem. Upon being wakened in the middle of a jungle night by a ghostly warning, Kane isn't one to let wonder get in the way of survival.

"Wings in the Night" - Coming upon the ruins of an African village, Kane learns the truth behind the ancient legends of harpies. He's actually at a serious disadvantage against his winged enemies here.

"The Footfalls Within" - As part of this story, we learn much more about the cat-headed staff and its history, courtesy of one of a party of slavers who capture Kane. That was their first mistake - the second was to open up a sealed tomb deep in the wilderness. (No chance to make a third mistake after that.)

"The Children of Asshur" (Campbell collaboration) - Kane stumbles across a lost civilization (Assyrian, this time). Compare with Howard's "The Voice of El-Lil" if the culture interests you.

"Solomon Kane's Homecoming" - Short poem, relating Kane's return to his hometown after many years' absence.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A strange sort of Puritan fanatic...., November 26, 2002

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Solomon Kane (Solomon Kane #1) (Paperback)

"Naught but a wanderer, a landless man, but a friend to all in need."

It is a mistake to write off the character of Solomon Kane as simply being a Puritan fanatic. It is inaccurate and an injustice. It is a strange sort of fanatic that hates the inquisition and the witch hunters, as much as, he does necromancers and murderers. Kane is in the ancient British and Irish tradition of a man who goes forth to wander the world after he receives the call- guided solely by his deep inner trust in his God. That is why he can walk the dark and wild places of the earth unscathed. That is why monsters and devils hold no terror for him. He simply trusts in the Lord to guide him to where he can do the most good. Kane is a Puritan in the original sense of the word, a single individual that has no tolerance for corruption whether it exists in the World- or the Church. He doesn't preach, for he doesn't need to- his actions, and his sword, speak for him. He needs no priest to mediate between himself and his Creator. Kane has gone beyond faith, for his is the sure and implacable knowledge that God exists. This is what makes him such a dangerous foe- you can't scare him and you can't make a deal with him. He obeys only the inner voice that guides him. I can see why the weak and corrupt would paint such a man as a fanatic.

Solomon Kane was Howard's first creation. In my opinion, he was also his best. There is an element present here that is missing from the later characters- something higher.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant writer, November 19, 2000

By 

Denis Kennefick (Quincy, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solomon Kane (Solomon Kane #1) (Paperback)

I've only recently become aquainted with the works of Robert E. Howard and have been greatly impressed with his writing abilities. The stories of Solomon Kane compiled in this paperback offer an excellent view into Howard's extraordinary ability as a storyteller. His description of a drifting Puritan on a personal mission to rid the world of all the evil that he encounters in his travels are magnificently portrayed. His fantastic method of using the language of the time in such a way that is easy to understand for the contemporary reader leave this (and other) novel very entertaining. At many different points during the course of my reading, I was fascinated by the situations that Solomon Kane would become embroiled in and was delighted by the vivid imagination that Howard obviously possessed to describe the resolution of each circumstance. My personal recommendation for this book is for all people who enjoy fiction regardless of the genre they may personally choose. This writer was excellent! His stories should be encouraged to all who can truly appreciate a master at his craft.