Conan - Blood of the Serpent

S.M. Stirling (Stephen Michael Stirling, b. 1953) is a Canadian-American science-fiction and fantasy author. His literary work includes the Draka, Fifth Millennium, Shadowspawn, and Emberverse series titles. He also co-authored The General series with David Drake and teamed with Jerry Pournelle for two Falkenberg's Legion books. My first experience with Stirling is his recent Conan novel, Blood of the Serpent, published by Titan Books in 2022. It is the first official Conan novel since 2011's novelization of Conan the Barbarian. 

Blood of the Serpent takes place after the events in Conan the Buccaneer and before the novella “Red Nails". Conan, in his late 30s, has joined up with the Free Companions working for the leader, Zarallo. In the book's opening pages, Conan is in a bar in the southwestern portion of Stygia. It's here that he first sets eyes on Valeria, a female privateer in the Red Brotherhood. After Conan saves a gambling man's life, Valeria herself runs afoul of a reckless Stygian commander. In quick fashion, Valeria wins the fight and embarrasses the leader. 

The book's first adventure has Conan, Valeria and other mercenaries guiding a Stygian shipment of supplies and slaves to one of their massive mines. In an odd twist, Conan and Valeria must protect the Stygians when the slaves revolt, kill off their masters and run the mercenaries off. Conan admits that if he were enslaved, he would have done the same. With the slave uprising, the Stygian command is fragmented, making a perfect getaway for Conan and Valeria to conduct a gold heist. After some fights with crocodiles and other reptiles and animals, the gold heist doesn't quite work out. But, this sets up the next part of the narrative when Valeria is forced to kill the Stygian commander she skirmished with earlier. She then flees on her own, but Conan learns that the commander's brother is going to trail her, hoping for a vengeful surprise kill away from prying eyes and allies. 

The second half of the novel has Conan battling Abomean warriors deep in the jungle. He makes love to a native, frees her people, and then aligns with the Abomeans. There's also battles with apelike creatures that were right out of an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, but I received vibes that closely compared with that of Thak, the ape-man creatures that Conan fought in “Rogues in the House”. There were some odd moments with Conan and the native girl swinging on vines through the jungle, but eventually the book pairs right up to the opening paragraphs of “Red Nails” with Conan finding Valeria. 

Many have compared this novel to the Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney Jr.) Conan books, and that might be a fair comparison. But, Stirling is rougher around the edges, incorporating lots of gore and ultra-violence. He's far from Robert E. Howard (isn't everybody?), but still can tell a quality story that has the overall feel of Conan. I would have preferred the titular hero to do less talking, have a little more bravado compared to Valeria, and be more authoritative. I don't believe de Camp, Howard, or Carter's versions of Conan would have a return of the gold, but instead would have involved some way for the hero to lose it in a self-serving, selfish attempt to get rich quick.

I enjoyed Stirling's flashbacks to classic Conan adventures from the past. Conan recounts events from “Rogues in the House” and “Tower of the Elephant”, and I also really liked the purposeful continuity right into Howard's “Red Nails” novella. It is seamless, and maintains the same pace and formula that made that story so outstanding. As a bonus, the book even has “Red Nails” at the end to preserve one long story. If you bought the hardcover, there are also illustrations by Roberto De La Torre included. If you wanted to finish this particular portion of Conan's life, Roland Green's Conan and the Gods of the Mountain completes this story arc and dismisses Valeria's future participation. 

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Conan - The Curse of the Monolith

Worlds of Fantasy magazine featured “Conan and the Cenotaph” in their first published issue in 1968. The story was authored by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp and was later featured in the 1969 Lancer paperback Conan of Cimmeria under the title “The Curse of the Monolith”. It was also featured in the 1971 anthology Warlocks and Warriors as well as Sphere Books' 1989 collection The Conan Chronicles. The story was later adapted into comic form in Savage Sword of Conan #33.

The story takes place right after “The City of Skulls” and finds the titular hero serving as a captain to King Yildiz of Turan. He's assigned the duty of delivering a letter to King Shu of Kusan, a minor kingdom in Khitai far to the East (and almost off the map). The letter is to encourage an alliance between Turan and Kusan, an alliance that Shu happily agrees to. Upon meeting Conan, he sends his agreement in the way of a letter to be carried back to King Yildiz. He also sends Duke Feng, a guide and escort to accompany Conan back to the western border of Kusan. Feng has two servants and avoids any sort of manual labor, a trait that Conan fiercely despises. But, when Feng offers Conan a treasure, his interest and possible kinship is peaked. 

Feng explains to Conan that he knows where a large treasure is held at the top of a mountain nearby. He encourages Conan to suit up in armor and to accompany him to a black monolith of stone to acquire the treasure. Why does he need Conan? Apparently there are savages nearby that could attack Feng while he is dealing with the treasure grab. With Conan by his side, watching his back, the treasure can be gained and split. Conan agrees and the two go to the monolith.

Once they arrive, Conan feels a strong magnetic force and is shocked to find that he is nothing more than a fridge magnet. With the armor on, Conan is thrust to the monolith due to the magnetism possessed in the stones of the mountain. Feng explains to Conan why he has trapped him here. Further, a jellylike monster guards the monolith and drops flesh-eating acid on its prey. With Conan trapped by Feng and facing a torturous death by the equivalent of The Blob, he must use his strength to break the power of magnetism. 

"The Curse of the Monolith" weighs in at just 20 pages and is an average story at best. There's nothing to overly dislike about the plot other than its simplistic premise. Carter and de Camp's description of the mountains and monster was vivid and provided just enough atmospheric touch to place the readers into the story. However, this was just another short Conan adventure that was rich with descriptive details but not particularly memorable. This isn't a necessary read.

Red Sonja #02 - Demon Night

Created by Roy Thomas Jr. and Barry Windsor Smith, Red Sonja made her debut in Conan the Barbarian #23 in 1973. The fiery red-headed barbarian was placed in Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Kingdom as a companion to Conan, but she flourished as a lone hero in comics, magazines, graphic novels, and other pop-culture. She also appeared in a six-book series of Ace paperbacks in the 1980s. I read and enjoyed the series debut, 1981's The Ring of Ikribu, and was gifted four more of the paperbacks by my wife as an anniversary present. I celebrated by reading the series second installment, Demon Night, published in 1982.

Red Sonja is in Eastern Zamora when she awakens to find she is the prime suspect in the assassination of Captain Voss. In reality, Lieutenant Keldum killed Voss to gain one more rung of power, setting up the strange flame-haired warrior as the fall girl. Escaping the posse, Sonja journeys into the desert and rides upon a mysterious city called Elkad. Outlining the city's gateway are the bodies of six women, clearly tortured, mutilated, and very dead. 

Sonja is welcomed into the city and learns that the Elkad are a primitive people that sacrifice virgins to an ancient alien race called the Earth-Folk. Learning of this sort of nonsense, Sonja quickly leaves (in a roundabout way) and heads into the nearby mountains to find a magician that has some control over the Earth-Folk. Aside from a few events, this is really where Sonja's portion of the story leaves off.

I enjoyed the book, but my complaint would be that it was really about a young virgin named Tiamu, an Elkad servant. When Keldum and his henchmen pursue Sonja to Elkad, they enter the city and begin throwing around their weight. Tiamu is fearful that she may be the next sacrifice to the Earth-Folk (a horrible way to die), but is raped by Keldum's rival, and second-in-command. In a sequence of events that mirrors Sonja's origin (raped and then supernaturally gifted), Tiamu begins a reign of terror on Elkad and the invading military. We're talking Carrie at the prom sort of terror. She also has a love interest with a magician's apprentice. 

Demon Night is a weird book that incorporates a lot of sorcery and fantasy elements. I'm not a fan of magic, preferring sheer, sharp-edged violence to battle the monsters and dastardly villains of the Hyborian Kingdom instead. I kept picturing the Earth-Folk aliens, buried in their mountain hideaway, as an L. Ron Hubbard creation right out of Scientology 101. Not my thing, but it didn't detract from the narrative. The authors meander a bit here and there, but overall it's a satisfactory adventure tale worth the investment and exploration. Recommended.

Conan - Black Colossus

“Black Colossus” is a Robert E. Howard story starring Conan the Cimmerian. It originally appeared for the first time in Weird Tales, June 1933. It was reprinted in the 1954 Gnome Press collection Conan the Barbarian with edits made by author L. Sprague de Camp. The website spraguedecampfan points out that de Camp's edits were very minor. Additionally, the de Camp's edited version appeared in the Lancer collection Conan the Freebooter (1968) and subsequent printings by Sphere, Prestige, and Ace. Howard's original version, without de Camp's edits, appeared in Black Colossus (1979), The Conan Chronicles Vol. 1 (2000), Conan of Cimmeria Vol. 1 (2003), and The Weird Writings of Robert E. Howard Vol. 1 among others. The comic adaptation appears in Savage Sword of Conan #2. 

Shevatas is a legendary thief that readers are introduced to in the early pages. He possesses a special combination that will open a long sought after room in an ancient, abandoned Stygian temple. Once inside, Shevatas is nearly blinded by the glare of gold, silver, and heaps of diamonds. But, a recurring theme in Howard's books, is that the thief never gets the precious goods. In this case, a primeval Stygian sorcerer named Thugra Khotan awakens from a 3,000 year slumber and readers are left to their own conclusions that Khotan kills the thief.

By saying his last name backwards, Khotan takes on the name Natohk (clever, right?) and begins building an evil empire. He crushes and conquers Hyborian nations one by one, amassing their armies into his. The next destination is Khoraja, a country that is led by a brother-sister combination. The king becomes a prisoner in nearby Ophir and the queen, a beauty named Yasmela, hits the streets and pubs seeking a new military leader based on the wisdom she receives from her god Mitra. 

Yasmela, spiritually guided, locates a very drunk Conan at a local bar and convinces him to follow her back to her family's castle. There, she offers Conan the job of leading her royal armament, military, and commanders into a fierce battle with Natohk's controlled forces. A Lord Thespides (a general), is shocked by Yasmela's choice in Conan. Thespides defiantly contends Conan's leadership, but the entire military might of Khoraja soon arrives at the Well of Altaku to battle Natohk's forces. In grand fashion, the field of battle spills onto the page as Howard describes the chaos of the fight and the technical aspects of this confrontation. 

“Black Colossus” is a near-masterpiece of extraordinary battle scenes, large-scale invasion, and a classic showdown between Conan and the evil Natohk. Howard's imagination runs wild with vivid imagery, exceptional descriptions of these barbaric, iron-clad warriors, and a sense of quick plot development considering the short length. I can imagine “Black Colossus” as a full-fledged 500+ pager. 

There are a couple of interesting aspects to the story. The first is Howard's use of Biblical history, particularly Moses. In this story, Natohk throws a spear or staff on the ground and it transforms into a serpent. This mirrors the account in Exodus when the Lord asks Moses to throw his staff to the ground. When Moses obliges God, the staff turns into a serpent. On a much higher level, I believe Howard used Exodus as a blueprint for this story. When Yasmela asks Conan to lead Khoraja's military, the muscular hero questions her choice. He's a lone-wolf, inexperienced leader and the most unlikely military commander. The same could be said for Moses. God asks Moses, an unlikely leader lacking experience, to lead the nation of Israel. The similarities are striking. 

As an enjoyable reading experience, “Black Colossus” provides plenty of action-adventure, sorcery, chase sequences, and steel-meets-steel rallies. It's nearly perfect, flawed only by complicated character names and unnecessary backstory. Further, it is Conan's early development as an emphasis of the story. This work is forming the origins of Conan's eventual rise to King of Aquilonia, so it's important to the overall Conan mythos. Just as a stand-alone story, with no inkling of past or future events, it's still a rip-roaring good time. 

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Conan - The City of Skulls

In the very first edition of the Lancer Conan (1967) paperback, the table of contents lists a Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp story “Chains of Shamballah”. But, on page 189 the story title appears as “The City of Skulls”, and in future editions of the book, both the TOC and page 189 both lists “The City of Skulls”. It's one of those oddities in Conan literature. But, drilling down to the review of the story, this is only one of two stories in Conan that is authored by both Carter and de Camp. The other story is “The Thing in the Crypt”. All of the remaining stories in the collection are combinations of Robert E. Howard/Carter or de Camp. The story is also included in Sphere's 1989 omnibus The Conan Chronicles (pictured).

Like “The Hand of Nergal”, Conan is serving as a mercenary soldier for Turan's military. His detachment has been assigned the duty of escorting Princess Zosara to her wedding date with a powerful nomad. As the entourage crosses the plains at the base of a large, and snowy, mountain range, they are overrun by a tribe of savage warriors. Conan's entire squad is massacred, leaving him with two survivors, his friend Juma and the Princess Zosara. 

In an epic, short-lived 20ish pages, the three are forced through bitter cold winds, across the mountains, and into a warm jungle environment called Shamballah, the City of Skulls. It's here that Zosara is promised to a Toad-God-Thing named Jalung Thongpa and Juma and Conan are sold into slave labor aboard a ship. In a violent, brutal struggle, Conan is forced to row for days as he's whipped by a slave master and nearly starved. In an upheaval, Conan and Juma escape the ship and head back to save Zosara. 

In a book that contains Howard classics like “The Tower of the Elephant” and “Rogues in the House”, I'm surprised at how much enjoyment the two Carter/de Camp stories brought me. “The City of Skulls” feels epic, which is really impossible considering it's 33 pages. The story locations are described so well and thrust these characters – unwillingly – into the heart of madness with high altitudes and low temperatures. Mix in the ruthless rowing expedition as testaments to Conan's internal fortitude to soldier on. That's why we read these harrowing adventure tales. Carter and de Camp can tell a great story and I feel like “The City of Skulls” is a worthy addition to this stellar Conan collection. Recommended. 

* An interesting addition to the story is the introduction of a regular character in Juma. His backstory is explained in detail, placing him on the same path as Conan in terms of tragic childhood and harsh lessons in the terrifying wastelands of the Hyborian Age. Juma is featured in both Conan the Buccaneer and Conan the Hero novels. I believe he is also featured in many issues of Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan. 

** “The City of Skulls” was adapted into comic form in the Savage Sword of Conan #59 and very loosely in Conan the Barbarian #37.

*** The Conan: The Adventurer animated television show used a portion of this story, specifically the "Ship of Blood" chapter for Season 1/Episode 2/"Blood Brother". The episode was written by Christy Marx, who had previously provided comic writing for Red Sonja, Conan the Barbarian, and Savage Sword of Conan. The show swaps out the story's character of Juma with an ongoing character named Zula. 

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Conan - The Hall of the Dead

As most Robert E. Howard fans know, literary agent Glenn Lord located several boxes of the author's unfinished manuscripts in 1966. In an effort to collect the manuscripts into printable short stories, Lord acquired the talents of Howard scholars Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp to assist in editing and re-writing these stories. 

One of these stories, “The Hall of the Dead”, was a fragmented Conan the Cimmerian document created by Howard and then re-worked by L. Sprague de Camp. This version was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science-Fiction's February 1967 issue. It was also placed in the popular Conan paperback published by Lancer in 1967 and later reprinted by Ace. It also appears in 1989's Sphere publication The Conan Chronicles. Howard's original version, unedited by de Camp, was later published in the 2000s in two separate omnibus editions, The Conan Chronicles Vol. 1 and Conan of Cimmeria Vol 1.

Like many other stories, the era of “The Hall of the Dead” is set during Conan's thieving years, around 18-20ish. It picks up when Conan enters an abandoned, ancient city called Larsha. In a hot-pursuit is a group of Zamorian soldiers who have been assigned to arrest Conan for theft. These soldiers are led by Captain Nestor, who somehow escapes a trip-wire that befalls the entire group of men with an avalanche of rocks. With Conan in the abandoned city, Nestor enters hoping to solely capture him. 

de Camp is often criticized for not “getting” Conan, and there may be sufficient evidence for that argument, but in stories like “Hall of the Dead”, it is all about telling an exciting story. Whether it was Howard or de Camp describing the empty streets, desolate houses, crumbled buildings, etc., the visual imagery is very evocative. It sets up the story and the atmosphere quite well. 

As Conan engages in urban exploration, a giant slug squirms into the narrative to wreak havoc on the trespasser. This is typical “boss level” writing for sword-and-sandal or fantasy, when the hero matches power and strength with a big baddie. But, alas, this isn't the final boss. When the two characters decide to team-up and steal precious, forgotten treasures in Larsha's Royal Palace, a host of scary monsters appear to harass the thieves. This sets up the final boss battle.

There's nothing to really dislike about “The Hall of the Dead”, but loyalist complaints favor Howard's original version, which is shorter and features some differences in Nestor's actions in the story and the disappearance of the giant slug. In essence, I felt the story as a whole, regardless of writer, effectively placed Conan in a gloomy post-apocalyptic setting of an abandoned city, albeit a very short visit. Fans of Conan literature will easily recognize the moral preaching – bad things come to thieves. It's a recurring theme for these stories that feature a criminal-minded Conan on a self-serving mission to steal treasure. But, the fun is watching the struggle and inevitable loss. For that reason alone, “The Hall of the Dead” is worth the price of admission. Recommended. 

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Conan - The Treasure of Tranicos

The first issue of the short-lived Fantasy Magazine was published in February, 1953. It's a notable issue  due to the inclusion of a previously unpublished Robert E. Howard story, “The Black Stranger”. The backstory on how this story appeared in the magazine, and its evolution into the later, novella-length version, The Treasure of the Tranicos, is interesting. 

“The Black Stranger” in the 1930s:

Like many of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, “The Black Stranger” was submitted to various publishers in the 1930s, but wasn't purchased for print. Re-working the story without Conan, Howard morphed “The Black Stranger” into “Swords of the Red Brotherhood”, a pirate story featuring one of his lesser known heroes, a 17th century Irish peasant named Terence Vulmea, or simply Black Vulmea. This story wasn't published in Howard's lifetime, instead first appearing in the 1976 hardcover Black Vulmea's Vengeance in 1976 by Donald M. Grant.

“The Black Stranger” and “The Treasure of Tranicos”:

According to L. Sprague de Camp's introduction in Conan the Usurper, a 1967 Ace paperback collection first featuring “The Treasure of Tranicos”, de Camp discovered unpublished manuscripts written by Howard in 1951. With one of the manuscripts, “The Black Stranger”, de Camp took the liberty of editing and re-writing the story as an adaptation into the Conan saga, specifically Aquilonian revolution. Lester del Rey, editor of Fantasy Magazine, made further additions and deletions and published the manuscript as “The Black Stranger”. The story was re-titled to The Treasure of Tranicos and included the same year in a Gnome Press hardcover omnibus called King Conan. de Camp explained that the title change was a result of too many of Howard's Conan stories containing the word “black” in their titles.

The Treasure of Tranicos after 1953:

In Conan the Usurper's introduction, de Camp further explains he edited and revised the original “The Black Stranger” manuscript again for its inclusion into Ace's collection. He elaborates that he omitted del Ray's edits and additions to align the story even more with the Conan mythology. It was this version that was released as an Ace paperback in 1980. Howard's original manuscript, before any of de Camp's edits, was included in the Tor novella collection Echoes of Valor in 1987. It has since appeared in numerous collections and omnibus editions.

Review:

My review of The Treasure of Tranicos is based on the story's appearance in Conan the Usurper. It is essentially the “truest” version that relates to Conan. In the story's beginning, the titular hero is running through the Pictish Wilderness, crossing Thunder River and brushing up against the Western Sea. Chased by Picts, Conan is shocked when the painted, savage warriors refuse to venture forward. Instead, as if scared of this part of the mountainous shoreline, they retreat. Conan, puzzled by the experience, finds a wooden door recessed into the mountain. Forcing it open, he discovers a dark cavern filled with preserved bodies and shiny piles of hidden treasure. But, he's quickly choked by hands that appear out of a dark mist. Then, Conan disappears for the bulk of the narrative's first half. 

In the next chapters, readers learn that this shoreline is a residence inhabited by Count Valenso. The Count, and his people, became shipwrecked and trapped on the shore months ago. Caught between the ocean and the savage Picts, the Count built a fort and has defended it since. Two rivals appear before the Count's fort, both greedy, savage pirates with a multitude of nefarious crewmen. It turns out that they have read pieces of a treasure map that points to the shoreline's location as home to hordes of precious loot. But, as Conan learned, it might come with a deadly price.

I can see that Howard's original manuscript was borderline Conan material. The Cimmerian isn't necessarily integral to the story, but by adding in a few descriptive details, and a brief mention of Aquilonian history, it works as another installment of the Conan mythos. As an aside, Howard scholars have previously noted that Howard's story has a western-frontier feel to it. Conan is mentioned as a “white man” and it isn't lost on readers that the Picts could be Native Americans. The shoreline fort is similar to the American southeast, notably the Carolinas and Floridian forts braced for French, Spanish, and English invasions. 

If you enjoy a rousing, men's action-adventure story or novella, then The Treasure of Tranicos is sure to please. Conan fans, like myself, will obviously flock to anything written, or partially created, by Robert Howard. As a Conan tale, it's a little off-center, but possesses enough villains, sorcery, and barbaric action to keep it within the realm. 

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Conan - The God in the Bowl

Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian short story “The God in the Bowl” wasn't published in the author's lifetime. It was rejected by pulp magazine Weird Tales, and after Howard's death, went undiscovered until 1951. It was then edited by L. Sprague de Camp and first published in Space Science-Fiction's September, 1952 issue. It has since appeared in collections like The Coming of Conan (1953), Conan (1967), and Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (unedited, 2022) among others. 

Of the Howard Conan short stories, “The God in the Bowl” is easily one of the strangest. It doesn't really feel like a Conan story and fails to represent what we all know and love about the savage hero, or anti-hero. The premise reveals that “thief” Conan accepts a job from Nemedia's Governor's son to break into an antique house to steal a precious diadem. This diadem is being kept in a sarcophagus that was apparently discovered in the dark realm of Stygia. But why hire Conan? I assume the nobleman owes money for gambling debts or whoring and he wants the job done discreetly and efficiently. 

There's a sense of Golden Age Detective fiction when the antique house's overnight clerk is found dead. All fingers point to Conan as the murderer, and in a unique twist, the titular hero is forced to defend himself verbally. The accusation that Conan killed the clerk is hotly debated inside the museum, but as the discussion intensifies, things seem to be amiss. Between the police, the nobleman, and Conan, lies a monster in waiting. By the story's end, Conan is the victor, but it's an odd trip to get there. 

Other than the boss fight at the end, and a well-timed decapitation, this isn't your typical Conan story. Howard depicts Conan in a way that makes him seem weak, indisposed, and timid. At one point, the hero struggles with the conversation and is described as just shaking his head in puzzlement. It's similar in the way that Howard describes Conan in “Rogues in the House”. In that story, there's a scene where this priest is explaining a series of tubes he created that uses mirrors to create an illusion. Conan doesn't understand it and dismisses it as witchcraft. There's a difference between savagery and neanderthal dumbness, which is sometimes blurred in these stories, but I also understand that a hint of humor is injected through the befuddlement. That was Howard's intent, but I thought it cast a poor light on the hero here. 

Overall, I can recommend “The God in the Bowl”, but there are plenty of other Conan stories you should be reading before this one. Your mileage may vary. 

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Conan - The Tower of the Elephant

Robert E. Howard scholars typically cite “The Tower of the Elephant” as the best representation of Conan the Cimmerian literature. The story first appeared in the March 1933 issue of Weird Tales. It later appeared in the 1946 Arkham collection Skull-Face and Others, the 1953 Gnome Press hardcover The Coming of Conan, the 1968 Lancer paperback Conan, and a 1975 hardcover collection by Donald Grant simply titled The Tower of the Elephant. It was adapted into comic form three times, Conan the Barbarian #4, Savage Sword of Conan #24, and Conan #20-22. 

The story begins with a young Conan arriving in Arenjun, the “City of Thieves”. It’s in this city that he overhears a conversation involving some drunk men talking about theft and coveted wealth. A boisterous Kothian mentions a place called The Tower of the Elephant, and the impossibility of ever robbing it of its vast riches. Conan, who loves a sparring challenge, disputes the notion, matching wits with the Kothian over the possibility. Agitated with the conversation, a candle is extinguished and Conan quickly kills the loud-mouthed Kothian under cover of darkness. Challenge accepted - rob the Tower of the Elephant!

At night, Conan begins his attempt to climb the smooth-walled tower. He finds that the structure itself is surrounded by rings of thick shrubbery, like a grassy moat. Surprisingly, another thief, a seasoned pro named Taurus, “Prince of Thieves”, has the same plan to infiltrate the tower and runs into Conan. Taurus kills deadly, fierce lions with poison gas and Conan strangles one of the guards. Using a grappling hook, both Taurus and Conan ascend the tower and enter through a window. It’s here that Taurus is somehow poisoned in a doorway, and Conan finds an alien being named Yag-kosha. This alien explains to Conan that he became imprisoned in the tower by an evil sorcerer named Yara. For Conan to capture the riches, and a famed ruby elephant heart, he must contend with the sorcerer, a giant, hideous spider, and figure out a way to free Yag-kosha.

Howard’s endless imagination just flows onto the page with this wild, action-packed adventure. It quickly pulls you into the story with just a few opening paragraphs. The author's prose is just so smooth and stimulating, providing excellent plot development and pacing. 

Considering this is a tale concerning a savage, alpha male, Howard is still able to create a colorful, cautionary tale about greed and its effect on the human condition. Metaphorically, Yag-kosha could be the billionaire trapped by his own wealth. Or the idea that the upper class is a very ugly thing. Conan’s role as the anti-hero, purely a rouge scoundrel that's self-serving, justly receives his comeuppance. Regardless of its social, not-so-preachy commentary, "The Tower of the Elephant" is an enjoyable, rousing pulp sword-and-sorcery tale that lives up to its long-lasting legacy. It doesn’t get much better than this. Highly recommended. 

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Conan - Rogues in the House

The Conan the Cimmerian short story “Rogues in the House” first appeared in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in January, 1934. That same year, it was also featured in a short story collection, Terror by Night, published by Selwyn and Blount. Other appearances of the story can be found in Skull-Face and Others (1946), More Not at Night (1961), Conan (1967), and The Conan Chronicles (1989). Additionally, the story was adapted into comics by both Marvel and Dark Horse. 

A lot of Conan scholars and fans point to “Rogues in the House” as a prime example of Robert E. Howard's literary greatness. Visually, Frank Frazetta's  cover art for the 1967 Lancer paperback Conan depicts the famed scene from the story when Conan is fighting Thak, the hideous ape-creature. That may resonate in some way with fans gravitating to the story as well. But, there's no denying that it is a fantastic Conan offering and one that is certainly treasured for specific reasons.

The premise is that an aristocrat named Murilo has committed illegal affairs with foreign powers. A priest named Nabonidus, who is probably involved in the corruption as well, threatens Murilo by gifting him a box containing a co-worker's bloody ear. Murilo understands that he could be on a hit list and needs protection. Murilo visits Conan, who has been arrested for public intoxication, in the local jail. He bribes him that he will provide an escape as long as Conan agrees to kill Nabonidus that night. 

Things don't necessarily go as planned, and the subsequent events all culminate with Murilo, Conan, and Nabonidus all meeting at the priest's cavernous house. In a wild exchange, Conan and Murilo learn that Nabonidus has laid out a number of deadly traps throughout his house to enslave or kill rivals. One of these traps is a large enclosure where Thak, a wild ape-creature, prowls around. When Nabonidus' and Murilo's rivals arrive at the house, the trap is set for Thak to kill them. Again, things don't go as planned and the three are caught in their own trap with the savage Thak.

As I mentioned above, this is a great Conan story with a well designed plot considering the story's length. The political intrigue at the story's beginning propels the story, which leads to a familiar exchange between a government leader and Conan. In stories like “The Hall of the Dead” and “The God in the Bowl”, readers see that Conan is often sought after by government officials or becomes a partner in some sort of heist. This extends that theme with Conan and Murilo's mutual agreement that each needs something the other has – assassination skills and freedom. It's a wonderful criminal balance.

The complex housing structure that Nabonidus has created hosts the bulk of the story. With the addition of Thak, a wild creation by Howard, the story features the inevitable showdown between man and beast. The action is blood-soaked as Conan battles Thak with a razor sharp poniard, a scene that seemingly channels Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan, which was published 22 years before this Conan story. The government treachery, dialogue, and awe-inspiring action is a great blend that easily catapults “Rogues in the House” into the top echelon of Howard's Conan stories. Highly recommended. 

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Fairy Tale

Another Stephen King 600 pager has arrived, 20 years and 27 books after he suggested his retirement to the Los Angeles Times in 2002. It's aptly titled Fairy Tale, because it is one. But, like the most wicked Game of Thrones episode, King morphs Grimm's into a psychotic, rambunctious, and sinister story involving electrified zombies, dead mermaids, homicidal giants, and brutal “to the death” sporting events. It's The Running Man meets Snow White as only the King of Horror can deliver.

Fairy Tale is mostly presented as three parts – the introduction to the main character up until he leaves this world (yep, that happens), the monomyth journey through the other world, and then prison. In typical King fashion, this probably could have been condensed into 300 pages, but it takes the author three pages just to make a cup of coffee. Apparently, it just needs elaboration.

The book is presented in the first-person by an older version of Charlie Reade (sounding like Charlie McGee of Firestarter) describing the harrowing events that transformed his life when he was 17. He swears no one will believe his story, including you, the Constant Reader. This story begins with Charlie explaining how his mother was killed on a wobbly bridge by an errant motorist. Charlie and his father sail into years of mourning, capsizing with his father's descent into the seas of alcoholism and regret. These early pages chronicle alcoholism well, complete with the AA stance and the narrow road to sobriety. It's the feel-good uplift. 

Charlie's life changes when he hears Howard Bowditch's dog barking. Bowditch is the stereotypical spooky old guy that lives in the crumbling Psycho house in the neighborhood. Charlie comes to the aid of Radar, a fun German Shepherd that leads him to rescue his owner Bowditch from the a long fall from a ladder – if rescuing means calling the rescue squad and promising to keep Radar. Soon, Charlie finds himself at the aid of Bowditch. The lonely old man has no one else and Charlie needs to mature from star athlete and childhood prankster to a civilized caring youngster. The two strike up a bond and Charlie agrees to be Bowditch's care guide, prescription deliverer, carpenter, landscaper, dog feeder, friend, and gold hauler. Gold?!?

It turns out that Bowditch has a big 'ole secret he keeps hidden in the wood shed. If you want to know the secret and not necessarily spoil the fun, continue to read the next THREE paragraphs. If you want to skip to how I felt about the book, feel free to skip these THREE paragraphs. 

Bowditch has something like $100,000 in gold nuggets he keeps in a safe. He asks Charlie to visit a local jeweler associate who will buy some gold nuggets so that Bowditch can pay off his hospital bill and also pay Charlie for his services. Where is this old recluse gaining this kind of loot? After a few chapters, Bowditch explains to Charlie that there is a secret world inside of his woodshed. Due to some rather dire circumstances, Charlie steps into the shed and descends into another world.

Charlie soon learns that the other world, seemingly hundreds of feet under Bowditch's property, is a cursed fairy tale land. Yeah, there's mermaids, kings, princesses, giants, talking horses, and lots of gold, but there is also a visible doom and gloom that has enveloped the entire kingdom. People are no longer whole, like Charlie, but instead are missing things like mouths or ears. They have seemingly lost these things due to a corrupt hierarchy that have awakened an evil thing in a Hellish well. Keep in mind that King wrote Fairy Tale during the pandemic in 2020. Considering his white-hot hatred for Republicans (he's from Maine for God's sake!), it's easy to see his inspirations for the novel – cursed land, an ill civilization, a corrupt monarchy, fighting the establishment, contending with the maaaaaaaan. You get the idea.

But, the land is important to Charlie because it possesses a sundial that can be used to reverse aging, a side-story that involves Radar's old age and debilitating physical condition. Charlie loves the dog so much that he is willing to battle through unknown terrors to turn the clock back on Radar's dog years. I'd do the same for my beloved canines Lily, Rose, and Carly. Maybe my hedgehog too. Regardless, this journey to the sundial involves a lot of adventure that eventually places Charlie in prison and forced to fight to the death in gladiator-styled sporting events. Wild and wacky stuff. 

So, does this Happily Ever After thing really work for Stephen King and his loyal fan base? Yeah, probably. It has similarities to so many of his other books and the formula he uses of parallel worlds. He used the idea for Lisey's Story, Rose Madder, The Talisman, and obviously the massive series of Dark Tower fantasy novels. Plus, there are countless short stories by the author that involve some sort of unlikely hero flirting with the idea of another world within our own. The question everyone asks is if Fairy Tale has any Dark Tower references. Yes, but nothing overly striking. I've only read the first three Dark Tower novels, but nothing detracts from Fairy Tale if you aren't familiar with Roland's epic journey. 

I appreciated King's references to plenty of Paperback Warrior material, specifically Dan Marlowe's The Name of the Game is Death, Cornell Woolrich's The Bride Wore Black and The Black Angel, as well as mentions of Ray Bradbury and H.P. Lovecraft. King loves his vintage fiction as much as we do. In fact, it's hard to ignore the comparisons to other “underground world” literary works by the likes of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lin Carter, and Jules Verne. Fairy Tale fits right in, but cleverly shifts the heroism to a less muscular man instead of the typical barrel-chested jungle crawler. 

Overall, I enjoyed Fairy Tale but won't ever read it again. It was too long, contained a ton of characters, and the story was formulaic and predictable. King is no longer at his artistic apex, but can still write his ass off and pull off crime-fiction, horror, science-fiction, and fantasy with the best of them. Fairy Tale was probably written more for himself than his Constant Reader. During 2020's unrest, a year that will forever alter human history, writing this novel was probably a means of catharsis for the author. It's King's Fairy Tale. For us, it's just a story about a boy and his dog. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Zanthodon #01 Journey to the Underground World

As a longtime fan of science-fiction, fantasy, and the works of Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lin Carter (1930-1988) authored a number of novels and series titles using unfinished manuscripts from his literary idols or by utilizing a pastiche to contribute future installments of established, classic titles. Using the Pellucidar series, written by Burroughs between 1914-1963, Carter created his own “hollow Earth” concept with the Zanthodon series. The five-book run, also inspired by Jules Verne and Arthur Conan Doyle, was published by DAW Books between 1979 and 1982. It has been reprinted by Wildside Press as one of their digital Megapacks featuring all five books for an affordable price. I'm starting with the series debut, Journey to the Underground World. 

The book's star is Eric Carstairs, the stereotypical 1970s action-hero that can pilot, captain, shoot, salvage, and deal with the best of them. He's in North Africa looking for work when he saves a professor named Potter from muggers. At the bar, where Carstairs stores his steep tab, he discusses Professor Potter's interesting proposition. Potter explains that he needs Carstairs to pilot a helicopter into an inactive volcano in an effort to locate the middle of the Earth, a place called Zanthodon. He provides evidence that many ancient cultures knew about Zanthodon and wrote about its whereabouts. The origin stems from a giant meteor that crashed to Earth, plunging through the volcano and making an impact on our planet's central core. The “Big Bang Theory” would have created a miniature Earth inside Earth. Make sense? Potter wants to locate it.

Carter doesn't waste the reader's time, and by page 40 both Carstairs and Potter have crashed the helicopter miles below the volcano. They crawl out of the aircraft and discover that Zanthodon is an evolutionary paradox. Dinosaurs roam free, along with two different types of humans – Neanderthal, which are the most basic of prehistoric humans and the slightly more advanced, evolved humans known as Cro-Magnon. As we know it, roughly a 350,000 year difference between the two on the evolutionary scale. But, in Zanthodon they are both alive and active, although warring with each other.

Aside from being a fighting man, Carstairs has a key advantage by carrying a .45 handgun to shoo away the pests. But, the duo is soon captured by the Neanderthals and taken on a long trek through the wilderness. It's here that Carstairs meets Darya, the captive daughter of the Cro-Magnon's tribal king, as well as Jorn, a fierce warrior-hunter. The narrative builds around Carstairs' attempts to become free while working together with an unlikely ally in Hurok. The book introduces future plots while familiarizing readers with the series vibrant and dangerous landscape.

As pure popcorn fiction, there's nothing to dislike about Journey to the Underground World. It obviously pays homage, and takes some liberties, from prior works like The Lost World and Journey to the Center of the Earth. Carter spends ample time with each character detailing the separate perils they are facing. The plot is spacious, allowing multiple events to occur in different areas – different enemies and challenges that rotate for the characters. I really liked that aspect of the storytelling. 

As a fast-paced, descriptive adventure novel, Carter delivers the goods. Journey to the Underground World is a journey worth taking. Recommended! 

Buy a copy of this book HERE. Get the eBook omnibus HERE

King Kull

Texas author Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) is considered the grandfather of the sword-and-sorcery genre. His most popular and influential character was Conan, an iconic fixture of film, comics, graphic novels, vintage paperbacks, and the pulps. But, Howard's precursor to the famed barbarian was another sword-wielding hero named Kull (or King Kull). In fact, Howard's very first Conan story, “The Phoenix on the Sword”, was a reworking of a Kull story called “By This Axe I Rule!”. Howard authored 12 total manuscripts and a short poem that starred Kull, but only two were published during his lifetime - “The Silent Kingdom” (Weird Tales Aug 1929) and “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune” (Weird Tales Sep 1929). What happened to the Kull stories after 1929?

Let's leap to 1946 and an Arkham House volume called Skullface and Others that featured “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune”, “The Silent Kingdom”, and the poem “The King and the Oak” (originally published in Weird Tales Feb 1939). Other than this rather limited publication, the Kull stories simply disappeared. In 1966, Glenn Lord, literary agent for the Robert E. Howard estate, located six cartons of the author's papers, including unpublished manuscripts, carbons, and early drafts.* Among these cartons were seven complete, previously unpublished Kull stories, plus three unfinished stories. 

Lord then went to work compiling these stories into an omnibus for Lancer, a publisher that was already reprinting Conan stories as paperbacks, including unfinished drafts and stories that were completed by L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter. It only made sense for Lancer to do the same thing for Kull that they were doing for Conan. So, the first printing occurred in 1967 as King Kull with gorgeous cover art by Roy Krenkel. The paperback included the 12 Kull stories and the poem, three of which were completed by Lin Carter based on Howard's unfinished manuscripts - “Wizard and Warrior”, “Riders Beyond the Sunrise”, and “Black Abyss”. Minor edits were also made to other stories by both Carter and Lord.** Carter also drew out a handy map of King Kull's World for inclusion. 

Ultimately, this King Kull paperback is essential for any sword-and-sorcery, Conan, or Robert E. Howard fan. I really enjoyed the entire collection, but here are three of my favorites:

“The Shadow Kingdom” - Ka-nu is a Pictish ambassador, peaceful to Kull's kingdom of Valusia but sworn enemies to Atlantis. Kull is invited to have a feast with Ka-nu, where he is warned that a Pictish warrior named Brule the Spear-Slayer will appear before Kull at sunset. Kull then travels back to his throne and Brule the Spear-Slayer appears. Brule reveals to Kull that there are secret passageways in Kull's palace that he isn't aware of. Futher, Brule shows Kull that Serpent Men are secretely disguising themselves as palace guards and that the real palace guards are all knocked unconscious and their bodies hidden. The story features furious fighting in the palace and a dose of magic as an imposter Kull is revealed. These Serpent Men become Kull's enemy, although they never appear again in any future stories. But, this is a great reading experience, filled with stirring action sequences. It moves along quickly with an uncanny amount of vivid descriptions of grim settings. This story sweeps away the prior romanticism of fantasy stories and poems and replaces it with a more serious tone. 

“Black Abyss” - This story concerns one of Brule's fellow warriors, a guy named Grogar, seemingly disappearing into a black crevice in the wall. Brule quickly notifies Kull and the two enter this secret doorway into the dark. Inside, they find dark wizardry as Grogar has been tortured and strapped on an altar. When Kull attempts to free him, a giant slithering devil worm enters and the story turns into an action-packed horror story. It was so descriptive and dark, and I really loved the ending, which I assume is credited to Carter's storytelling. This story was also adapted into comic form as The Beast from the Abyss (The Savage Sword of Conan, No. 2 Oct 1974), written by Steve Englehart with art by Howard Chaykin. 

“By This Axe I Rule” - In this story, an outlaw named Ardyon has been employed by four killers. Together, the group proposes a plot to assassinate Kull. The group, assisted by 16 rogue swordsmen, will strike while most of Kull's army has been lured away from the palace. However, Kull learns of the murder attempt from a slave girl, providing him just enough time to prepare for the onslaught of death and violence. In the throne-room, Kull fights 21 men with a sword and battleaxe. Needless to say, this story was brutal, violent, and exhilarating in its good-versus-evil clash. The bloody finale finds Kull destroying the city's old laws and proclaiming, “I am the law.” Powerful stuff. 

Honorable mention goes to Kull's origin story, “Exile of Atlantis” and the “The Skull of Silence” with its dark and brooding Lovecraft elements. 

Sphere Books reprinted the paperback in 1976, then Bantam reprinted it again in 1978 as Kull minus Lin Carter's edits. Donald M. Grant reprinted the novel in 1985, once again titled Kull without Carter's edits. In 1995, Baen Books released the paperback as Kull with Carter's edits removed and a story added, “The Curse of Golden Skull”. Finally, in 2006 a trade paperback was published by Del Rey called Kull: Exile of Atlantis. 

* Information found in Glenn Lord's article “An Atlantean in Aquilonia” (The Savage Sword of Conan, No. 1 August 1974).

** Information found in Lin Carter's article “Chronicles of the Sword” (The Savage Sword of Conan, No. 2 October 1974). 

Get the Kull: Exile of Atlantis book HERE.

The Eternal Champion #01 - The Eternal Champion

Michael Moorcock is a British science-fiction and fantasy author that began writing novels and stories in the late 1950s. His literary work is mostly composed of series titles that all links to an epic multiverse of various worlds and time periods. I'm familiar with Moorcock through his musical contributions to Blue Oyster Cult and Hawkwind, but haven't seriously dissected his bibliography. To sample his work, I decided to try The Eternal Champion, often referred to as the Erekose series. The trilogy's eponymous debut, originally appeared as a novella in Science Fantasy #53 in 1962. After Moorcock modified and expanded the story, it was published by Dell in 1970 with a Frank Frazetta cover.

The novel is presented in the first-person by John Daker, a man from present day Earth who has been summoned by King Regenos to become a supernatural swordsman known as Erekose, meaning the one who is always there. Daker can remember bits and pieces of his past life, including the various incarnations of himself under names like Elric, Cornelius, Corum, Hawkmoon, and others. Regenos explains that the human race is facing genocide from a race of beings called Eldren. With Erekose's tactical strategy and battleground prowess, mankind can be saved by this messiah. 

The sword-and-sorcery adventure places Erekose on a wooden long-ship sailing to the Eldren capital city. En-route, Erekose witnesses Regenos' unethical tactics when he strikes down an Eldren leader during a truce. Later, the humans wipe out the Eldren's seaport city, slaughtering everyone other than their princess, a woman named Ermizhad. With her as a prisoner, Erekose begins to see a different perspective of the Eldren. As the action shifts to the kingdom commanded by Regeno, Erekose questions his purpose and fate.

If you are a casual sword-and-sorcery fan, or just enjoy a great adventure, then you will easily become enthralled in The Eternal Champion. It can be enjoyed as a simple, yet exciting, action yarn without any deep analysis. The formula is somewhat elementary from a sky-level interpretation – hero is born from the ashes, leads the humans to fight the invaders, questions the motives, then becomes an ally of the invaders. It is a fast-paced, swift action-adventure that is absolutely top-notch. 

However, Moorcock never goes with the grain. He is always questioning the realms of fantasy and the stereotypical flavors and trappings of the genre. As a deep dive, The Eternal Champion positions Erekose as questioning his cursed fatalism. Why is he destined to live out these tragic lifespans in a cycle of the future becoming the past? Is he mankind's savior in a physical sense? The idea that Erekos arrives in an empty tomb places him in a Christ-like position of immense power. As an authority figure, Erekos must decide who needs saving and if warfare truly has rules. Questions of nobility in war, humanity's self-destruction, and the concept of human exceptionalism arise over the course of the narrative. Moorcock's prose, both ultra-smooth and ripe with imagery, presents an appealing and durable protagonist.

The Eternal Champion proves to be timeless classic and worthy of all the critical acclaim and accolades it receives. As a newbie to Moorcock, I think this book may be the welcome drug into an unparalleled library of epic, thought-provoking literature created by a revolutionary scribe. This is sheer perfection, and I want more. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 96

The boys are back in town! On Episode 96, Tom brings you all of the action at the Windy City Pulp and Paper Con from Lombard, Illinois and reviews a vintage Robert Colby paperback called Kim. Eric examines the birth of the Sword & Sorcery genre with Robert E. Howard's Kull character. He also delves into the Lancer paperbacks, Conan, graphic novels and magazines. Listen on any podcast app, paperbackwarrior.com or download directly: https://bit.ly/3lt5NOS

Listen to "Episode 96: Windy City Pulp & Paper and Robert E. Howard's Kull" on Spreaker.

Conan - The Phoenix on the Sword

In 1929, Robert E. Howard submitted a story called "By This Axe I Rule" to magazines like Argosy, Weird Tales, and Adventure. The story starred King Kull, the hero of Howard's published story, "The Shadow Kingdom", which is arguably the grandfather of the sword-and-sorcery genre. "By This Axe I Rule" received the same cold shoulder as 10 of Howard's other Kull manuscripts. Instead of giving up on the story, Howard modified the manuscript to include a different king, a dark haired barbarian called Conan. The story was re-titled as "The Phoenix on the Sword" and published by Weird Tales in December, 1932.

The story begins with an outlaw named Ascalante formulating a plot to assassinate King Conan of Aquilonia, a country that has turned against their king due to his foreign heritage. The Rebel Four (Volmana, Gromel, Dion, Rinaldo) all feel as though they are employing Ascalante's services. In reality, Ascalante plans on betraying the killers so he can seize the crown for himself. Ascalante's ace-in-the-hole is Thoth-Amon, an evil wizard he has enslaved to do his bidding.

A number of events occur that aid King Conan in escaping the assassination. A dead sage (ghost?) appears before Conan and warns him of the plot, allowing the barbarian king to prepare for their arrival. Additionally, this dead sage singes Conan's sword with the symbol of the phoenix, a tribute to a God named Mitra. At the same time, Thoth-Amon gains back a magical ring he lost years ago. To exact revenge on Ascalate for enslaving him, he conjures a large ape-like creature to venture out to hunt and kill Ascalante. All of this culminates in a bloody and vicious fight in Conan's throne room as he battles the Rebel Four, Ascalante, and sixteen of his rogue warriors. 

Obviously, there's a lot to digest over the course of this 9,000 word short story. In the manuscript's original form as "By This Axe I Rule", the magic element is absent, replaced with a simpler approach of Kull being warned of the assassination plot by a slave girl. Perhaps the story was too simple for Weird Tales editor Farnsworth Wright. Thus, Howard injects a magical pageantry to the tale, mystifying readers with political intrigue, monstrous mayhem, and a violent hero to cheer. The story is beautifully constructed with all of these moving, intricate parts blended together to create an artistic apex. This is Howard in brilliant form. "Phoenix on the Sword" is a mandatory read for any action-adventure fan. Perfection. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Drenai Saga #01 - Legend

Former British juvenile delinquent turned bar bouncer, journalist, and author David Gemmell (1948-2006) was a writer of violent men’s adventure stories in a fantasy fiction wrapper. Conventional wisdom says that his finest work is the 1984 novel Legend. So, it seemed like a good place to start.

Like all fantasy novels, there’s a lot of world-building that needs to take place before the plot can truly unfold. Gemmell introduces the readers to the relevant tribes who live distantly with one another and periodically engage in trade and war. As the novel opens, a new war is brewing. Our home team heroes are The Drenai who popularly-elect their rulers. They are about to be invaded from the north by a barbarian tribe called The Nadir under the leadership of a superstitious warlord named Ulric. The Drenai people need to raise and train an army, and time is running out.

Our initial protagonist is Rek the Wanderer. He’s a good-natured former Drenai soldier who travels about on his own while engaging in trade and adventures on the road. He’s good with a sword and a bow, but not a huge fan of indiscriminate killing. While travelling, he meets a female swords-woman named Virae, and they become a pair.

The Drenai have a legend about a warrior named Druss who single-handedly defeated 10,000 enemy warriors in a battle years ago. Druss is long gone - maybe dead or maybe just really old and reclusive. As Ulric’s Nadir army of barbarians comes closer to the populated areas of Drenai, the only hope is finding Druss the Legend and hoping that the old warrior is alive and still has some fight left in him.

You know and I know that Druss isn’t dead. Just look at the book’s cover! Once we finally get to know Druss as a character, this good paperback gets great. I won’t spoil it here, but all the stories you’ve read about once-great heroes coming out of retirement for one last battle apply here. Druss is awesome, and the training and battle scenes are epic, bloody, glorious fun. If the novel has any failing, there just wasn’t enough Druss for me.

Legend is a fantasy novel, but there are no dragons or hobbits. There are psychic albinos who form a warrior priesthood obliged to inject themselves into this forthcoming conflict. Most of the paperback follows Druss, Rek and the Drenai preparing for a battle against Ulric’s giant Army with the book’s climax being the lopsided battle itself. It’s remarkably exciting stuff filled with tactical detail, and the pages will fly by.

Legend is a dense read. There are dozens of important named characters, so I kept my own index to keep track of everybody. The geography of the Drenai World is also relevant, and there’s a useful map available to download from the internet that I consulted frequently. To fully appreciate the greatness of this paperback, the reader has to put in some work. It’s completely worth it, but you want to reserve Legend for a week when you have some time to focus.

Best fantasy-adventure novel ever? I’m no expert on this genre, but it was a damn fine read, and I will probably dip into Gemmell’s other novels detailing the battles of Druss and the people of Drenai. Get a copy HERE

Unmasking Allison V. Harding: The Forgotten “Queen” of Horror

Weird Tales was a popular pulp fiction magazine specializing in horror and dark fantasy stories from 1923 to 1954. Between the years 1943 and 1951, the magazine published 33 tales of terror by an unknown author named Allison V. Harding. Mysteriously, Ms. Harding disappeared from writing altogether after her last submission to the pulp. No more stories. No paperback original novels. It’s like she never existed.

In June 2020, an excellent reprint publisher called Armchair Fiction released a compilation of 16 stories from Weird Tales titled Allison V. Harding: The Forgotten Queen of Horror. The publisher claims that Harding was actually a woman named Jean Milligan who lived from 1919 to 2004, a fact backed up by business records from the offices of Weird Tales showing that Ms. Milligan was paid for the stories bearing Harding’s name.

So Jean Milligan was the talented horror author behind the Allison V. Harding name, right?

Interestingly, it’s not that simple.

A blog called Tellers of Weird Tales did some valuable legwork in 2011 calling the Milligan-Harding connection into question. The evidence is laid out below.

It turns out that Ms. Milligan was married to a mainstream author named Lamont Buchanan who wrote serious books about baseball and American history. Meanwhile, his bride was never known to write anything before or after the eruption of 33 stories using the Harding pseudonym.

Evidently, Mr. Buchanan also had a steady paycheck during the relevant window of time. What did he do? He was the Associate Editor of Weird Tales. If Mr. Buchanan wrote stories for his employer’s magazine, it would have been standard practice to utilize a pseudonym for those stories to not clog up the masthead with his own name. Moreover, he was an author of serious books who wouldn’t want his brand sullied by overtly writing for the pulps. Is it possible that Mr. Buchanan was actually Allison V. Harding and he submitted the stories as if they were coming from his non-author wife?

If these suspicions are valid, why would Mr. Buchanan use a woman’s name for his horror story pseudonym? I can only speculate, but during the key years, the Weird Tales Managing Editor (Mr. Buchanan’s boss) was Dorothy McIlwraith, a woman. This egalitarian editorial hierarchy might have been the perfect place to have a faux female contributor of stories for the consumption of the magazine’s mostly male readership.

It’s also possible that Mr. Buchanan was double-laundering his stories through both the Harding pseudonym and his wife’s name as the submitter. Maybe his boss, Ms. McIlwraith, didn’t even know that her subordinate was the man behind the stories. If so, that’s a fun little scam worthy of a pulp magazine story of its own.

The best way to put this conspiracy theory to a test is to have Paperback Warrior read a sample of the stories and determine if they were written by a man or woman.

Here are the capsule reviews of the three stories we DNA tested:

The Frightened Engineer

In this Lovecraft-inspired story, a turnpike construction project is derailed by Hill 96. Under normal circumstances, dynamite and earth-moving equipment would be used to grade the hill for the highway. In this case, it’s almost as if Hill 96 does not want to be disturbed - as if it were alive. This was a very fun story - like a good Twilight Zone episode - but not particularly terrifying.

The Underbody

The anthology’s cover art is the illustration that originally accompanied this story in Weird Tales. It’s about a boy who finds a man stuck in the soil of a shallow hole behind his house. When the boy brings his father out to see the man in the hole, he’s disappeared. The boy takes to calling the reappearing dirt-man, Mr. Mole. This story was legitimately unsettling and scary - exactly what I seek in pulp horror.

The Damp Man

This was the author’s most popular story spawning two sequels appearing in Weird Tales. A female swimming champion turns to a male reporter for help because she is being stalked by a frightening large man in a dark suit. The stalker is absolutely vile, moist, and menacing. Great horror story.

DNA Test Results:

There is no way hell that these stories were written by a woman of 1940s America. The first two stories have no female characters at all, and the even the third story is told through a male’s eyes. Furthermore, “The Frightened Engineer” has many technical details about turnpike road construction, a stereotypically manly pursuit in the 1940s.

Another large factor supporting this conclusion is that these stories are really good, even excellent. Without question, a female author was capable of excellence. However, I’m not buying for a second that the talented author of these stories threw her typewriter out the window without authoring another published word for the next 53 years of her life.

Regardless of the true authorship, pulp horror fans will enjoy the Armchair Fiction collection of Allison V. Harding stories. Whether or not the author is the “Queen” of horror is up for debate, but the quality of these stories is not. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Monster From Out of Time

Bram Stoker Award winner Frank Belknap Long (1901-1994) was part of the “Lovecraft Circle” of fantasy writers that included contemporaries like Robert Bloch, Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. While primarily focusing on horror and science-fiction, Long also authored a number of fantasy and adventure novels. My first experience with the author is his fantasy novel Monster From Out of Time, published by Popular Library in 1970 with cover art by the famed Frank Frazetta.

In the book's prologue, an engineer named Ames is working a construction zone on a shoreline in Mexico. A young woman named Tlacha is watching the man's labor when a ravine opens in the ground and seemingly swallows Ames in a blinding light. Hoping to retrieve Ames, the young woman is enveloped by the light and disappears.

In Chapter One, this same catastrophic event happens again, only to a scientist named Dorman and his girlfriend Joan. The two are sunbathing on the coast when they witness a large underwater behemoth rise from the depths. Hoping to identity the creature, Dorman and Joan are swallowed by the light and find themselves deposited in a strange place surrounded by ice and snow. After nearly freezing to death, the two eventually find Ames and Tlacha and the couples share their stories and improvise a plan to survive.

Monster From Out of Time is clearly influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series. It follows the proverbial “fish out of water” concept of the average person thrust through time into another world. The concept typically features a central survival element that ascends into an exploratory adventure for the traveler. Long utilizes that same idea for the four main characters. Instead of another world or planet, the location is the Ice Age.

From my research, the general consensus is that Monster From Out of Time isn't a fair representation of Long's literary skills. In fact, many people disliked the novel and found it saturated with dialogue. At 127-pages, I would nearly agree. There is some action, loosely depicted on the cover, but it comes near the very end of the lean paperback. The characters are just average, and the narrative is a slow-burn.

If you collect these types of stories, or just want this for the artwork, I totally get it. For me, I'm more focused on the book's content, and this book just wasn't very good. If someone has a better suggestion for Long's fantasy novels, I'm all ears.

Buy a copy of this book HERE