Book Description
With Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard created more than the greatest action hero of the twentieth century—he also launched a genre that came to be known as sword and sorcery. But Conan wasn’t the first archetypal
adventurer to spring from Howard’s fertile imagination.
“He was . . . a strange blending of Puritan and Cavalier, with a touch of the ancient philosopher, and more than a touch of the pagan. . . . A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urge to right all wrongs, protect all weaker things. . . . Wayward and restless as the wind, he was consistent in only one respect—he was true to his ideals of justice and right. Such was Solomon Kane.”
Collected in this volume, lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist Gary Gianni, are all of the stories and poems that make up the thrilling saga of the dour and deadly Puritan, Solomon Kane. Together they constitute a sprawling epic of weird fantasy adventure that stretches from sixteenth-century England to remote African jungles where no white man has set foot. Here are shudder-inducing tales of vengeful ghosts and bloodthirsty demons, of dark sorceries wielded by evil men and women, all opposed by a grim avenger armed with a fanatic’s faith and a warrior’s savage heart.
This edition also features exclusive story fragments, a biography of Howard by scholar Rusty Burke, and “In Memoriam,” H. P. Lovecraft’s moving tribute to his friend and fellow literary genius.
Download Description
With Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard created more than the greatest action hero of the twentieth century¿he also launched a genre that came to be known as sword and sorcery. But Conan wasn¿t the first archetypal
adventurer to spring from Howard¿s fertile imagination.
¿He was . . . a strange blending of Puritan and Cavalier, with a touch of the ancient philosopher, and more than a touch of the pagan. . . . A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urge to right all wrongs, protect all weaker things. . . . Wayward and restless as the wind, he was consistent in only one respect¿he was true to his ideals of justice and right. Such was Solomon Kane.¿
Collected in this volume, lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist Gary Gianni, are all of the stories and poems that make up the thrilling saga of the dour and deadly Puritan, Solomon Kane. Together they constitute a sprawling epic of weird fantasy adventure that stretches from sixteenth-century England to remote African jungles where no white man has set foot. Here are shudder-inducing tales of vengeful ghosts and bloodthirsty demons, of dark sorceries wielded by evil men and women, all opposed by a grim avenger armed with a fanatic¿s faith and a warrior¿s savage heart.
This edition also features exclusive story fragments, a biography of Howard by scholar Rusty Burke, and ¿In Memoriam,¿ H. P. Lovecraft¿s moving tribute to his friend and fellow literary genius.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
Super Reader.......2007-09-02
This has a rather interesting biographical introduction of Robert E. Howard, as an added bonus, so, certainly a volume of the Kane tales that is worth having, from that point of view, if you already have them, or most of them. There are also a couple of Solomon Kane poems, including two versions of Solomon Kane's homecoming.
Skulls in the Stars
The Right Hand of Doom
Red Shadows
Rattle of Bones
The Castle of the Devil
Death's Black Riders
The Moon of Skulls
The One Black Stain
The Blue Flame of Vengeance
The Hills of the Dead
Hawk of Basti
Wings in the Night
The Footfalls Within
The Children of Asshur
Kane is tracking, and being hunted by a swamp fiend, and realises when fighting it:
"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."
He finds the man that created the fiend, and adds the man to its list of victims, to appease it.
3.5 out of 5
Kane encounters a man in a tavern who has betrayed a friend who happens to be a necromancer. This leads to an executioner, but the necromancer slices off his hand first and sends it on an errand of revenge.
4 out of 5
Kane comes across Le Loup twice in his life, once after he comes across
a dying girl, one of his kills, and once at the temple of the Black
God. He leaves him mortality challenged, and watches as his underling,
Gulka the gorilla slayer finds a ape who is more than a match for him.
3.5 out of 5
In which Kane enters the Cleft Skull tavern, and finds that is most definitely lives up to its name.
3 out of 5
Just the start of a story, where Kane saves a hanged boy, and meets another wanderer, conversing about the local Baron who had condemned the lad.
3 out of 5
This one is only a short part, so :-
"Black ride the men who ride with Death
beneath the midnight sky,
"And black each steed and grey each skull
and strange each deathly eye.
"They have given their breath to grey old Death
and yet they cannot die."
When Kane shoots one pointblank in the face it does go down.
4 out of 5
After winning a duel, Kane hears the loser confess to selling a girl into slavery. He sets out to track her down. The problem is that she is a prisoner of Nakari, the vampire queen of Negari, and due to be sacrified on the Black Altar in the Tower of Death because she is one of those useful pesky virgins.
4 out of 5
Kane lends a hand when a young man and his girlfriend fall foul of a local rich bloke who is part of a gang of pirates.
4 out of 5
This involves Kane's relationship with N'Longa, and how he came to possess his staff. Also, Kane, Zunna and N'Longa are involved in some vampire hunting and slaying.
3.5 out of 5
Solomon, wandering, runs into an old acquaintance. Jeremy Hawk, your over the top pirate type, who tells him of the horrors he has seen of the locals at Basti.
He tells Kane that a couple of guns and two stout men could take over the place.
3 out of 5
Solomon Kane is deep in cannibal country, when he comes across even worse. Flying man-beasts that are too many for him to fight, and he is overcome.
When he wakens, he realises he is alive, even though he should not be, and is told of the akaanas, or flying-men, and realizes they may be the source of the Mediterranean harpy legend.
Kane has an advantage against them the others do not, he has firearms, and the staff of N'Longa. He sets out to deal with this menace methodically.
3.5 out of 5
Kane is following a band of slavers, and is unable to help himself when he sees them stop and start to whip a girl to death. Despatching many, he is overcome by the dozens of others, and forced to march as a slave.
A nasty supernatural end awaits his captors, where his possession of the Bast-headed staff of N'Longa in the past is no bad thing.
3.5 out of 5
Kane comes across an armoured warrior, who attacks him, they fight, but both lose consciousness. When he wakes, he is a prisoner in a strange offshoot tribe of Assyrians perhaps, and is stuck there for some time.
When another tribe attacks them later on his gaolers are distracted enough that he can overpower one and make a break for it, pausing to rescue a girl from a lion.
3 out of 5
4.5 out of 5
Among his best work.......2007-03-17
I grew up reading Howard's Conan stories and was looking for something fun to read recently. These stories fit the bill. If you want adventure that virtually reads itself try this book.
In a world of gibbering daemons and grinning gods!.......2007-01-04
This is another of the wonderful Del Ray editions of the magnificent work of Robert E. Howard. While Solomon Kane might not be as important as Howard's principal creation, Conan the Cimmerian, this wonderfully brutal English Puritan is a fascinating creation and full of the Howard out worldly magic.
Kane is perhaps a darker character than Conan (who was pretty dark himself), and certainly more mysterious and strange. Kane is an English puritan that feels compelled through some odd, inner voice (perhaps the word of God) to wander, of all places, Africa. The Africa of Solomon Kane is a world of supernatural magic and gibbering daemons - a land where all legends and myths (including the lost kingdom of Atlantis, vampires, and the winged harpies of Jason, to name a few) find a home. Kane faces them all with a sword, flintlock pistol, and a terrible sense of Justice and defense of the weak.
Perhaps my favorite piece was a brief fragment of a story called "Death's Black Riders," where Howard describes death sweeping like a dark wind through the corporal bodies of Solomon Kane and his mount, leaving both mysteriously transformed. It is a beautifully done page or so and suggests that perhaps Howard saw Kane as God's Angel of Death, walking the earth.
What was it about Howard that is so gripping and memorable? Well, he wrote of a kind of epic, romantic heroism - a barbaric purity, that is sorely missing in today's society and certainly in today's writing. He wrote about heroes and kings, black gods and slavering devils. Boys and men will always find something to treasure in Robert E. Howard.
Heck, the magnificent Del Ray editions are even illustrated, this one by Gary Gianni who does a great job in visualizing the stark, harshness of this death dealing puritan. What a Godsend for Howard fans. Highly recommended and then some. -Mykal Banta
Not very entertaining.......2006-08-24
Like many others, I first got acquainted with Howards work through Conan, and lamented the "readability coating" later added to his work by other authors (L. Sprague de Camp, Lynn Carter, etc). Solomon Kane's adventures forced me to review such opinion: they are dull and immature; a work in progress rather than a finished literary work (even by pulp fiction standards).
In Conan's stories, Howard's narrative shortcomings are balanced by the fact that they play a role in the the course of the story. Conan brutishness, ethnocentrism and lack of scruples are understandable and even enjoyable in the excellent setting of the Hiborian Age.
In Solomon Kane's saga, instead, the ethnocentric comments of the author seem totally gratuitous, the setting of the stories is unverisimilar, and half of the time one doesn't understand why the character acts like he does. One is willing to do an intellectual parenthesis for a congenial barbarian of a mythical era, but no so for a somber, socially handicapped and sanctimonious English Calvinst of the XVI century. The character never really connects.
All of the above would be forgivable if the plots were engaging; unfortunately that's not the case, they are far-fetched and uninteresting.
The black ink illustrations by Gari Gianni are the best part of the book: they are so good, that they almost succeed in conferring to the poor stories an aura of verisimilitude and decadence, in a way parallel to how Frazetta did with Conan.
In my eyes, this book only for the very fans of Howard's, or some collector who might want to place the rest of his work in context, but it doesn't have much worth per se. But even this endeavor might be frustrated by the poor binding of the book: it literally comes apart in your hands.
Gonzalo Díaz
Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane!.......2006-06-17
_The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane_ is a republication of the tales of the swashbuckling Puritan, Solomon Kane, by pulp writer Robert E. Howard. Howard, a native of Texas and best known perhaps for creating the Conan character, was a fascinating adventure author who incorporated much of his love of history, Celtic lore, exotic locales, and Atlantean myth in his stories. Howard was a friend and correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft and together their work forms a unique contribution to pulp literature, much of it being printed in the pulp magazine _Weird Tales_. Solomon Kane was an early creation of Howard's and is quite a unique character. He is at once an English Puritan "fanatic" seeking to do God's work on earth by avenging the righteous and "easing evil men of their lives" and a landless wanderer who roams the earth. Howard describes Kane as "a strange blending of Puritan and Cavalier, with a touch of the ancient philosopher, and more than a touch of the pagan . . . A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urge to right all wrongs, protect all weaker things . . . Wayward and restless as the wind, he was consistent in only one respect - he was true to his ideals of justice and right. Such was Solomon Kane." In these stories, Kane seeks to protect the innocents or avenge the lives of dying girls battling monsters and dark forces as well as darker men. Many of the tales take place in the Dark Continent of Africa, where black magic (the power of voodoo and ju-ju) are unleashed upon the land. Kane faces classic villains such as Le Loup (a dastardly French swordsmen who slays a girl who Kane avenges), Queen Nakari (an African vampiress queen), and the Fishhawk and the Brotherhood of pirates. The stories also features a tale of long ago races, including the last of the race of Atlantis. (Indeed, the Atlantean myth was to play a central role throughout Howard's stories.) In some of the later tales, Kane encounters the ju-ju man N'Longa who gives him a special staff with magical powers. This staff which is topped with the head of a cat plays an important role in some of the later stories in this collection. Many have already noted that Howard's tales are certainly not politically correct, although it must be noted that within the tales Kane defends both blacks and whites from monsters and avenges both races equally. Howard's view of Africa was very much a product of his time, and these tales show the conflict between the black and white races. Solomon Kane on the other hand is an individual motivated by the highest traditions of chivalry and honor.
This book includes a brief tribute "In Memoriam" by H. P. Lovecraft written after Howard's tragic suicide. The book also includes the following stories and poems (some of them fragments):
"Skulls in the Stars"
"The Right Hand of Doom"
"Red Shadows"
"Rattle of Bones"
"The Castle of the Devil"
"Death's Black Riders"
"The Moon of Skulls"
"The One Black Stain"
"The Blue Flame of Vengeance"
"The Hills of the Dead"
"Hawk of Basti"
"The Return of Sir Richard Grenville"
"Wings in the Night"
"The Footfalls Within"
"The Children of Asshur"
"Solomon Kane's Homecoming"
"Solomon Kane's Homecoming (Variant)"
The book also includes a brief biography of Robert E. Howard, showing his life as a writer cut short by an all-too-tragic and early death. The book is illustrated by Gary Gianni.
Solomon Kane represents a unique figure in pulp literature, a swashbuckling English Puritan motivated by a desire to see God's justice and vengeance upon the earth. Howard's writing is superb and his historical, geographical, and anthropological knowledge is shown throughout. Howard was widely read in these areas and this book is sure to provide enjoyment to those who enjoy a good tale of swashbuckling adventure set in exotic locations.
Amazon.com
Although posthumously famous for the bloody barbarians Kull and Conan, many critics feel that Howard's most memorable hero was this dour Puritan adventurer. Solomon Kane was in fact one of the first series characters created by the prolific pulp writer, who virtually single-handedly created the subgenre of heroic fantasy. Set in the 1600s, these tales are a striking combination of horror and fantastic adventure that remain among Howard's most intense. A lone swordsman on a mission to rid the world of evil, Kane wanders across Europe and Africa, endlessly fighting mad villains, winged vampires, and black magic. Originally published in the legendary pulp magazine "Weird Tales," the stories have been collected in several variant editions. More recent editions have striven to publish the tales as the author originally composed them--utterly merciless and without any hint of light reaching into Howard's unique vision of darkness. --Stanley Wiater
Customer Reviews:
3 star rating is for this edition.......2005-04-07
Solomon Kane is one of Robert E. Howard's many enduring characters from his pulp-career, but not one that has caught on as much as Conan has, or even Kull. In a lot of ways Solomon Kane is more interesting as a character, as he is a Puritan adventurer. This gives Kane many interesting inner-conflicts. Right away, as a Puritan, he has experienced religious persecution, or seen/known others of his denomination persecuted, for their version of faith in God, which was counter to the dominant version of faith in God at that time in history. That could almost be enough, but you also have this aspect of his character which strives to reconcile how to put his faith to practice: he is not about lip-service, or hypocrisy. Can an injustice be allowed to continue, or go unanswered for? No. This is why when a rape-victim dies in his arms the man travels part of Europe, and sails as far as Africa intending to avenge her (as seen in "Red Shadows"). If there is no one, to help those who need it, to deal justice to those beyond the law of the land, to put wrongs to right, then "by God" Solomon Kane will!
The original stories, as done by Howard are classic and they hold up well today. One should keep in mind when Howard was writing about the past, his narritive voice slipped back in time as well. He approximates how people really thought back then. Also, consider that this was long before political correctness, and there was no such thing as "African-American" as a term. Howard tended to use the expression "black" which was thankfully better than a lot of writers and pulp-writers of that day. There are times when the character of Kane comes off as patriarchal, though well intentioned, but this is not to be seen as a reflection of Howard's own views towards women (which was actually very good, some say even advanced, considering his relative isolation and the era he lived), or other races of people, as much as a fairly accurate portrayal of how a lot of people would have behaved/thought at a given point in history portrayed in a story. Popular arm-chair sycophant literary criticism would have everyone believe that the character is the direct extension of the author, but really all that accompishes is to ruin stories that are fiction -- fiction -- and unfairly characterize writers who may be far from anything like the characters they create.
This edition is not bad. But, it could certainly have been better. If you can't find a better edition of Solomon Kane stories this one may do, but there have been better, and there is a hardcover collection being made available very soon.
Van Helsing IS Solomon Kane..........2004-05-07
...or so he certainly _seems_ to be, if you're at all familiar with, arguably, Robert E. Howard's most fascinating and complex of characters. Very hard to find volumes of Howard's work dedicated solely to Solomon Kane but well worth the find, in my opinion.
Several years back, Marvel Comics produced a fine limited series on the character, called The Sword Of Solomon Kane. Still, it will be nice to see Van Helsing, as I've never known of any work as such to feature the pugnacious Puritan. And if Van Helsing _is_ in fact a "steal" on Kane, let's look at it as flattering and be mindful also of the steals concerning Dracula, Frankenstein and the WolfMan. Simply sit back and enjoy the show...if only for the hypnotic Kate Beckinsale, of course.
The Real Van Helsing.......2004-03-03
I think the new and upcoming Val Helsing movie is really Solomon Kane indisguise. That's not a bad thing, just read this book then go see the movie and tell me you don't agree. Robert E. Howard is fabulous and created some of the greatest heroic pulp fiction ever.
The Heroic Pilgram........2003-10-24
Solomon Kane is a religious adventurer, who has dedicated his life to battling evil in the name of God. He is an eccentric who carries pistols, rapier (sword), and an iron bound Bible. Solomon Kane is Robert E. Howard's most famous charactor after Conan the Cimmerian. Solomon travels all over Europe and Africa fighting vampires, sorcerers, and insane psycotics. This issue of Baen's R.E.H. series is the longest, but it is worth it. "The Wings in the Night" is my favorite story, about Solomon Kane fighting harpies from ancient Greek mythology. Other good ones are "Hills of the Dead", about flying vampires, and "Red Shadows". All of these books are worth buying because Robert E. Howard is a good writer. If you enjoy this book, try All the others in this series.
solemn kane.......2003-04-09
howard's descriptions of the puritan with a sword and a pistol, makes Solomon Kane his most interesting creation. the concept in these stories are great too, and varying. some include magic, there are pirats and vampires. as always howard is unmatched in his combat descriptions. true greatness. one sad thing, though: the "completion" of some stories by Ramsey Campbell. awful. the guy hasn't got a clue. Solomon Kane sudenly tolerates corruption, one story has an incredibly stupid ending. Campbell was definitely the wrong choice. make up for it, get someone else.
Product Description
The only hardcover version of this book available, a special edition of the Science Fiction Book Club. It includes the following material: In Memoriam: Robert Ervin Howard by H. P. Lovecraft, A Short Biography of Robert E. Howard, and Notes on the Original Howard Text.It is profusely illustrated by Gary Gianni, with three full-page plates as well.
Average customer rating:
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Erte: Art to Wear: The Complete Jewelery
Manufacturer: Dutton Studio Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0525933611 |
Customer Reviews:
A Strange Sort of Puritan Fanatic- Part 2.......2005-01-13
"Naught but a wanderer, a landless man, but a friend to all in need."
It is a mistake to simply write off the character of Solomon Kane as 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.
This particular collection includes the later Kane stories:
The Hills of the Dead,
Hawk of Basti,
The Return of Sir Richard Grenville,
Wings in the Night,
The Footfalls Within,
The Children of Asshur,
and Solomon Kane's Homecoming.
The rest of the tales were published by Bantam Books in _Solomon Kane: Skulls in the Stars_.
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Laos (The Horizons travel guides series)
Solomon Kane
Manufacturer: R. Nevue
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 9748944727 |
Customer Reviews:
Description from Publisher & Reviewers.......2007-07-21
BELOW: Information directly from the publisher's product description.
Over sixty years ago, Robert E. Howard created the Solomon Kane character. Since then, thousands of Howard fans worldwide have enjoyed collecting these classic stories.
Now for the first time the Solomon Kane stories are presented in an un-expurgated, artistic and beautiful hard back edition, skillfully illustrated with seven full-color paintings and over two hundred original drawings.
The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane comes complete with gilt-edged paper, a golden foil stamped cover, durable stitch binding, and an embossed slipcase cover.
Each book is individually numbered and signed by the artist. One thousand copies of this deluxe limited edition have been printed. Fifty copies of an ultra-limited collector's edition are also available, bound in goatskin with matching slipcase.
As a bonus, each book comes with a unique compact disc recording of Howard's Solomon Kane poems dramatically read by Paul Blake with background music performed by Paul Berrow, Michael Berrow, Peter Dale, Roger Taylor, and Jake Roberts. Also included is a folder with an extra set of full-color plates of Gianni's art.
The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane contains the complete Solomon Kane stories, unabridged and unexpurgated, including unfinished story fragments and synopses with a complete set of textual notes. One of the stories, "The Footfalls Within," is published here in its original form for the first time since the initial magazine publication in 1931.
OTHER QUOTES:
"In his best work, Howard's writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks. Stories such as "The People of the Black Circle" glow with the fierce and eldritch light of his frenzied intensity. At his best, Howard was the Thomas Wolfe of fantasy..."
- Stephen King
"If there is still someone out there who hasn't read these wonderful stories, I envy you, you're in for a treat, for the rest of you, revisiting Robert E. Howard's grim hero will be good for your soul."
- Gary Gianni
"Howard's work has a gritty vitality that is magnificently raw."
- David Gemmell
"They [the Solomon Kane stories] illustrate clearly the author's bold imagination, his capacity for research, his skill at portraying fast action, unusual settings, strange and supernatural incidents, and bizzare characters ... It is like discovering a combination of Rafael Sabatini, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, and H.P. Lovecraft, all rolled up into a single author named Robert E. Howard."
- Albert E. Gechter
Review from Spectrum, Vol. 1, #18
June 1999
THE SAVAGE TALES OF SOLOMON KANE
By Robert E. Howard; Illustrated by Gary
Gianni: limited edition book published by
Wandering Star
Despite our society's becoming increasingly visually-oriented, new editions of illustrated books have become a rarity, and the ones that are published can usually be found in the children's section of the bookstore.
Such was not always the case. During the "golden age" of illustration, around the turn of the century, numerous artists decorated a multitude of fine books. Probably the most famous of these are the Scribners editions (re-released beginning in the 1980s) illustrated by N.C. Wyeth: Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Robinson Crusoe, Robin Hood, The Last of the Mohicans, and many others. But sharing the spotlight with Wyeth were such giants as Maxfield Parish, Frank Schoonover, Alphonse Parish Jessie Wilcox Smith, Arthur Kackham, Howard Chandler Christy, John R. Neill, and others.
In recent years notable illustrated editions appeared from time to time: an occasional Stephen King novel (The Talisman, for instance); Berni Wrightson's Frankenstein: Alan Lee's The Mabinogion. Though art book collections have provided fans with an abundance of treats during the past twenty years (comprehensive-or nearly comprehensive-editions of everything from Michaelangelo and DaVinci to illustration giants such as J.C. Leyendecker, Alphonse Mucha, Norman Rockwell, and Maxfield Parrish to fantasy/ SF artists such as Frank Frazetta and Michael Whalen), these were not illustrated texts.
In fact, about the only person to carry on the tradition of illustrated books in a substantial way is Barry Moser, the Massachusetts artists whose wood engravings have been much copied (the art you see on Barnes and Noble store sacks and in their stores is done by a Moser clone), but who also works in watercolors, pen and ink, and other media. Some of his editions are monumental: though the quality of John Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland is undeniable, for our money Moser's annotated edition (and the accompanying Alice Through the Looking Glass) stands as one of the greatest illustrated books ever. Nearly as excellent are his editions of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Recently, British publisher Wandering Star decided that Robert E. Howard's work deserved to be treated to a set of exquisite illustrated books. (During the sixties, seventies, and eighties, Donald Grant produced his own high-quality editions of Howard's work, including Conan, but these are out of print.) The first of Wandering Star's editions is now available, and The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane is everything that a book lover (and Robert E. Howard fan) could have hoped for.
Chicago artist Gary Gianni spent a year producing over two hundred-- yes, two hundred illustrations for this book. Spectrum readers will remember him as our feature interview in issue 15 (September 1998). At the time, what we saw and h e a r d about the book certainly sounded impressive; but of Huckleberry Finn. course it's one thing to be dazzled by a handful of promotional illustrations, and quite another to be moved by the finished product.
The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane is, quite simply, the finest illustrated book we've seen in a long, long time. The love for the material is obvious from both Gianni and the publisher. Kane (as, again, our readers may remember) is a sixteenth/seventeenth century wandering Puritan soldier who flees England to escape the persecution that Queen Elizabeth is inflicting upon his faith. At least that's what he tells himself; just as important is his innate restlessness. He refuses to sit idly by while evil takes hold in the world: he will take the battle to the enemy: "I work the will of God. While evil flourishes and wrongs grow rank, while men are persecuted and women wronged, while weak things, human or animal, are maltreated, there is no rest for me beneath the skies, nor peace at any board or bed." [For more details on the Solomon Kane stories, see our article in issue 15.)
What Gianni has managed to do is capture the passion and intensity of the character and the stories and translate them into paintings and pen and ink drawings. The color work pays appropriate tribute to N.C. Wyeth, which is not a bad place to start. Perhaps what stands out most about these paintings is the extraordinary sense of design--elements aren't merely tossed haphazardly onto the canvas, but placed. One such work is deceptively simple: Kane stands over his vanquished, winged creature and looks skyward as more prepare to attack (this is the painting that was the model for the Randy Bowen Kane sculpture). One of the things that sets this apart from your run-of-the-mill sword and sorcery paperback cover is the care Gianni used to intertwine the two main characters. The monster is practically wrapped around Kane, creating a tension and menace that normally would not come from a dead body. It is as if the Khyber Rifles creature has Kane planted to the ground (the monster's arm covers both of Kane's feet), holding him until the winged demons in flight can attack and prevail upon the Puritan.
Another intriguing work, from a formal standpoint, is a scene of Kane on some stairs facing off against a group of pirates below. No matter where the eye starts, Gianni makes sure it moves in a way that provides the viewer with all the information. For us for starting point always seems to be the side of the staircase because it's the brightest large area in the painting. From there the eye goes up the left side of the painting to the archway, where it crosses a second arch behind it. This leads down to the gun in Solomon Kane's right hand. The arm leads up to his face. From there, the painting has three parallel lines of action (the shadow of Kane's left arm on the wall: the arm itself holding the gun: and Kane's left leg pointing to the stairs), all leading to the man at the bottom of the stairs. From there the eye sweeps around the bottom of the painting to the mass of pirates holding the woman hostage, until you're back where you began.
We don't mean to turn this review into a meticulous art appreciation course, but when an artist takes the effort to compose a picture instead of merely cranking it out, it deserves at least a slight pause to admire the work. And yet as good as the color plates are, they actually pale beside the black and white work. Gianni perfectly translates Howard's words into illustrations. In fact, considering the stories themselves, black and white is probably more appropriate for the artwork, anyway. (It's a testament to Gianni's ability that he can put splashes of bright color onto the paintings without ruining the mood established in the stories.)
With the pen and ink drawings, it's easy to trace Gianni's lineage. Primary is Roy Krenkel, whose book The Sowers of the Thunder (Donald Grant, 1973; later reprinted in paperback by Zebra Books, 1975) provided the blueprint for the design of Savage Tales. Krenkel's scratchy pen drawings burst with energy, and his association with Frank Frazetta and Al Williamson provided EC comic book readers with some of the greatest comic art in history. Krenkel himself was an admirer of (among others) Franklin Booth, the influential and extraordinary turn-of-the-century illustrator who managed to create meticulous woodcut effects with pen and ink drawings. Krenkel also admired Booth's contemporary, Joseph Clement Coll, whose dazzling pen and ink work decorated numerous adventure stories. Gianni's comic book work owes an obvious debt to Michael Kaluta (himself a Krenkel Frazetta/Williamson fan), whose Shadow comics contain some of the best pulp-related illustrations ever. (Years later, Gianni would also draw Shadow comics.) Ironically, Kaluta himself illustrated a couple of Howard books The Lost Valley of Iskander: The Swords of Shahrazar; Fax Collector's Editions) in the mid-seventies.
Gianni's Solomon Kane looks a lot like the Shadow, in fact, except for the large white collar: dressed all in black, with a large hat and sometimes a long coat, too. In many drawings the coat snaps about in the wind-- Gianni uses it to make the reader feel the windy African plains. Likewise the reader can feel the oppressive heat and dusty environs. The artist makes the land come alive, whether it's the ancient cities buried away in the jungles, the ruthless pirates, or the hideous monsters. If any complaint could be leveled at Gianni, it is that at times he put too much work into some of the drawings that appear too small for the reader to appreciate the abundance of detail. Crowd scenes, for instance, are rendered with such care that at times we wanted a quarter-page illustration to be given an entire page just so we could better appreciate Gianni's art. Of course, if every drawing were reproduced as large as we wished, the book's page count would explode and make the price prohibitive.
Aside from the artwork, the quality of the book itself is phenomenal. The cloth cover and stitch binding should provide durability that will allow for numerous re-readings (and purchasers will want to re-read these stories). The gilt-edged top matches the gold-embossed front cover that includes the title of the book, a drawing of Solomon Kane, and a facsimile signature of Robert E. Howard's, (The gold looks beautiful set against the dark blue cloth.) The dust jacket cover reproduces another Gianni painting, and yet another painting appears on the embossed slipcase that holds the book.
Production statistics aside, it's what's inside the book that counts, and here the publisher has carefully designed every aspect. Because of the number of illustrations that Gianni created, every double-page spread of text has at least one drawing, and often two (again, much like Krenkel's Sowers of the Thunder). Moreover, Gianni, like Krenkel, has designed an "icon" for each main story that appears throughout that story on the upper right hand page: a sword for "Red Shadows": a skeleton peeking from around a door for "Rattle of Bones": a sword, dagger, and pistol for "The Blue Flame of Vengeance"; Kane's famous "cat-head" staff for "The Hills of the Dead": and so on.
Gianni has written a brief forward to the book introducing the reader to the material. Following that comes a short essay of appreciation for Howard by H.P. Lovecraft. After the stories, Rusty Burke has written a short biography of Howard, And the final section of the appendix contains an extravagance that perhaps only we at Spectrum can appreciate: a word-by-word comparison of the stories as they were originally published in Weird Tales (or elsewhere) versus Howard's manuscripts-- a comma removed here, a hyphen there, etc. It's not that we're going to compare all this, line by line, to the stories in this book. But it shows that Wandering Star was obsessive about being as faithful to Howard as possible. We like that. Finally, every book in the 1050-copy print run is numbered and signed by Gianni.
A couple of bonuses are included in the volume. The first is a folder that includes an extra set of plates. It's a nice addition, though. we're not sure what to do with them except put them in the slipcase next to the book that reproduces the same art. Perhaps less fanatical collector-types would tack them to the wall or something. More extraordinary is a twelve-minute CD that includes a reading of Howard's Solomon Kane poems with a musical score. The reading is by Paul Blake, and the music by Paul and Michael Berrow, Peter Dale, Roger Taylor, and Jake Roberts. When we saw advance announcements listing the CD, we braced ourselves: just how much effort would be put into a limited pressing? Well, Blake's vocal rendering is marvelous, and it is complemented quite nicely by the music. The best is "Solomon Kane's Homecoming." Not only is it the best of Howard's Kane poems (and one of his best poems overall), but its alternating long, soaring high notes and low, metronomic rhythmic beats create a film score-worthy soundtrack that captures both Kane's glorious God-inspired victories and his treks through dark jungles in the heart of darkness.
So is The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane the ultimate Kane book? Its competition are the editions of Red Shadows released by Donald Grant, a 1968 version (reprinted in 197 1) with magnificent illustrations by Jeff Jones, and a 1978 version with all-new Jones art. The first edition is primitive by Grant's later standards-- it is small (5" x 7.5") and contains only four interior paintings and two very small black and white illustrations. The '78 edition is a more elegant affair-the book is larger (6.5" x 9.5") and contains nine interior paintings, three drawings, plus new dust jacket art.
Savage Tales does contain two pieces not in Red Shadows, the fragment "Death's Black Riders," and more importantly a variant version of "Solomon Kane's Homecoming." The design of the entire package-- from the number of illustrations to the slipcase-- also is first-rate. And if the artwork itself doesn't make us forget Jones's stunning earlier paintings, Gianni will surely forgive us, as Jones is one of America's greatest artists.
Finally, there is good news ahead: Gianni is currently working on a follow-up for Wandering Star-- a deluxe edition of Robert E. Howard's Bran Mak Morn stories.
The book retails for $150.
(If you've never heard of Solomon Kane before and don't want to spend $150 to find out if you like the stories, check out the 1995 Baen Books paperback, Solomon Kane. If your tastes are anything like ours, you'll soon want the Wandering Star hardcover as your permanent library edition.)
RATING: * * * * *
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