Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures

Immersing myself in this collection of Robert E. Howard’s writing, my first foray into reading his work, I discovered some of the most direct and explosive tales of action and adventure I’ve ever read. I’ve frequently been attracted to historical fiction, but nothing I’ve read has sparked my imagination as well as Howard’s bold writing style. Beyond the stories in this collection are some unfinished fragments left behind by the author, remembered for decades as creator of famous characters, Conan, Kull, and Solomon Kane, to name but a few. Even these fragments contain the seeds of solid story telling, had they been fleshed out properly. Every tale leaves you hungry for more.Howard’s writing throws you into the action, vividly sketching scenes showing the color of dawn or darkness, the sharp scent of fresh-spilt blood, the grit of dust flying in each battle. Each tale may follow hero and villain in turns, brave knight and errant knave, driven by promise of glory or riches or fame. Most tales herein are set during the various waves of Crusades into the exotic sands and coastlines of the eastern Mediterranean.Characters loom larger than life and take action almost before you’ve properly met them, or their enemies, and part of the fun is to discover their true motivations. One such grim fighting soul is Cormac FitzGeoffrey in The Blood of Belshazzar and other tales:“The giant Norman-Celt was an opportunist. He knew that such chance as had led him into the heart of his foe’s stronghold was not likely to favor him again. Life was uncertain in Outremer; if he waited another opportunity to strike at Nureddin and Kosru Malik, that opportunity might not come. This was his best opportunity for the vengeance for which his barbaric soul lusted.” - excerpt from Hawks of OutremerRobert E. Howard wrote prolifically to meet market demand for his work, diving into his stories, possessed by the need to craft them. I recently watched the film “The Whole Wide World” based on the journals kept by his very close friend Novalyne Price Ellis, and this touching and profound film showcases the passions that drove Howard. Even through the dark days of the Depression and the shrinking of spare income, Howard’s stories sold, and the magazines selling such thrilling tales of adventure and romance and thrilling mystery abounded, publishing as often as three times per month.“‘Such eyes had Editha,’ said he softly. ‘Aye, child, your face bears me back half a century. You shall not fall into the hands of the heathen while the last Saxon king can lift a sword. I have drawn my blade in many a less worthy brawl on the red roads I have walked. I will draw it again, little one.’” - The Road of AzraelHoward could have brought so much wonderful storytelling into the world, had he lived beyond the tender age of 30. Had he seen what came later in so many genres: mystery, fantasy, horror, and beyond. He not only wrote prolifically, he loved the research involved in his craft. Fascinating would have been Howard’s approach, as he might have explored and applied his prodigious talent and writing skill.In the Appendices of this volume, Howard Andrew Jones wrote a helpful study about REH’s writings, entitled “Howard’s Journey: Historical Influences to Historical Triumphs” and it tidily sums up the world, attitudes and time in which these stories were created, explaining the pulp market and the battle of popularity each genre suffered over the years. I found this a helpful way to wrap up the reading of this exciting book.The two stories and one fragment about Dark Agnes, the Sword Woman herself, never saw publication during Howard’s life, possibly due to the greater demand for male protagonists and the more typical plots of sword and sorcery, adventure and mystery tales. Set in France in the mid-1500s, she was born Agnes de le Fere and her bold spirit flares in contrast to the conventional thinking about women in similar swashbuckling tales:“‘Ever the man in men!’ I said between my teeth. ‘Let a woman know her proper place: let her milk and spin and sew and bake and bear children, nor look beyond her threshold or the command of her lord and master! Bah! I spit on you all! There is no man alive who can face me with weapons and life, and before I die, I’ll prove it to the world. Women! Cows! Slaves! Whimpering, cringing serfs, crouching to blows, revenging themselves by — taking their own lives, as my sister urged me to do. Ha! You deny me a place among men? By God, I’ll live as I please and die as God wills, but if I’m not fit to be a man’s comrade, at least I’ll be no man’s mistress. So go ye to hell, Guiscard de Clisson, and may the devil tear your heart!’” - Sword Woman

I say this as a devotee of Howard of over 4 decades, the stories swept together here are not his best. Many have glaring structural errors such as: information dumps, gratuitous name dropping, last page twists that are irrelevant, love interests that are inserted needlessly into the story, mysteries that are not compelling, and heroes whose motivation is left nebulous at best.Of the ten or so short stories assembled here there are a few that stand out and make the book worth acquiring for Howardphiles:First are the pair of stories Hawks of Outremer & The Blood of Belshazzar featuring Cormac FitzGeoffrey crusader & itinerate adventurer of Norman/Celtic descent. This hero is clearly the prototype that Howard would use a couple of years later to flesh out into his best known hero Conan. In fact, reading these two stories is like stumbling upon two lost accounts of the big Cimmerian himself (albeit in slightly lesser plots).Secondly is a rare gem amongst the dross, Red Blades of Black Cathay. A near perfect Howard story that reads like “battle porn” - 28 pages of breakneck action, a compelling plot, with no needless words or exposition.The remaining short stories range from near unreadable (Spears of Clontarf) to above average (The Shadow of the Vulture) and everything in between.If you like Robert E. Howard, before you turn to this one, I would visit Del Rey's three Conan books, the El Borak book, and the Solomon Kane book.

Ever wondered what the Crusades were like? Well here's Robert E. Howard's take on them as well as the Ottoman Turk's invasion of Europe and Siege of Vienna and the Mongol's Siege of of Jerusalem where Christians and Muslims are forced to make common cause and team up to defend the city sacred to both their faiths! This is probably the most violent book I think I've ever read. Even by REH's relentless standards the blood flows non-stop and gore and carnage arrive like clockwork. No fantasy or sci-fi elements in these stories. Pure historical fiction adventure, which Howard wrote just as well as fantasy or horror. Features the first appearance of Red Sonya before Marvel Comics remade her into a Hyborian Age warrior in a chain mail bikini. Howard's version lived in the Rennaissance.

Some series that Howard wrote about a French woman who takes up the sword, plus some other stories unrelated. Good works but probably not popular at the time, otherwise he surely would have kept going with the stories.

Like most people, I first came across Howard's work when I heard about Conan. As I grew older, I sought out more and more of Howard's writing and became deeply enamored of much of it. I've come to enjoy these historical stories even more than his trademark fantasy tales. Among the best here are Hawks over Egypt, Gates of Empire, The Shadow of the Vulture, Lion of Tiberias, and Lord of Samarcand, my personal favorite of the lot. None of these tales are subpar though, and even the somewhat less successful ones have brilliant moments in them. Unfortunately the market for these types of stories dried up shortly after Howard began tapping into it. This sadly means he did not give us more to compliment the excellence here. He did not fully abandon historical writing though, grafting elements from this genre into his Conan series as a way to continue with it. For anyone new to Howard, I recommend starting here. These stories are some of his best writing and serve as a worthwhile introduction to a hugely underrated author.

Die historischen Novellen Howards, die alle in diesem Buch versammelt sind, haben mich gewaltig beeindruckt. Es sind abenteuerliche, blutige, grausame und gnadenlose Erzählungen, manchmal enthalten sie aber auch die eine oder andere humorvolle Szene. Besonders gelungen ist meiner Ansicht nach die Erzählung "Hawks over Egypt" über den verrückten Kalifen Al-Hakim und sein Ende. Robert E. Howard gelingt es, in seine kurzen Novellen mehr Handlung und Dramatik hineinzubringen als mancher Historienautor in einem langen Buch. Die Ausstattung des Werkes mit zahlreichen Illustrationen, Fragmenten unvollendeter Erzählungen und einem langen, informativen Essay läßt keine Wünsche offen, der Kaufpreis ist für ein solches Buch bescheiden, kurz gesagt, eine volle Kaufempfehlung.

Apesar de não estar no nível de Conan, as estórias aqui reunidas também são muito boas. Afinal, estamos falando de Robert Howard (sou suspeito porque é meu autor favorito). Também me interesso pela Dark Agnés.

El plastificado de la portada y lomo llegó despegándose.

Robert E. Howard is most famous for his Conan stories and his role in starting the swords and sorcery genre. While many of his stories feature an element of the supernatural, these stories do not. They are pure historical fiction. No ghosts, no magic, and the only monsters are men.Most of the stories feature Western crusaders from the Middle Ages on through to the Renaissance. These stories often involve a plot of a Crusader finding himself fighting with and against his Islamic foes. The stories range from tales of revenge, to wander-lust, to battle-lust, to intrigue. All are action-packed and written with the incredible clarity and vitality that only Howard can give to action scenes. His battle descriptions are so realistic you feel like you're right in the middle of the action! My favorite of the group is the ultra-bleak Lord of Samarcand. I won't spoil the story other than to say it's bloody, action-packed, grim, gritty, and bleak!Lastly, there are also the stories about Agnes de la Fer, or Iron Agnes, a.k.a. Sword Woman, a.k.a. Red Sonja. Howard never created a character called Red Sonja, but Agnes is his most powerful female heroine. It's a shame she doesn't get any attention in the short introduction, as a previous publication rightly hailed her as perhaps the first feminist fantasy heroine ever. Agnes' story is also bleak. But she is no shrinking violet, and constantly has to prove herself in a world (Renaissance France), and profession, dominated by men. Forced into her way of life by the pig-dog men in her life, she chooses the sword over the yoke of gendered-slavery. She is easily my favorite female Howard character, and is definitely someone you wouldn't want to get angry!Overall, this is an easy five-star volume. There's the odd story that's worth three or four stars, but at over 500 pages, there's more than enough here to satisfy the interests of any Howard-, action-, history-, and even feminist-oriented reader. There's plenty of artwork within the book, of average to good quality (I much prefer the interior picture of Agnes), and there's numerous Howard fragments for the collector. If you like action so real that the sparks seem to fly off the page, stories so gritty you'll spit dust after each chapter, and the promise of an ending that may or may not be happy but it will be bloody, this is definitely the book for you!

Fabuloso volumen que reúne una gran cantidad de relatos de Robert E. Howard! Absolutamente recomendable y necesario en el acervo de los amantes de la Fantasía heroica!!!