The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane

Zusatztext 75543697 Informationen zum Autor Robert E. Howard Klappentext 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. Leseprobe Skulls in the Stars He told how murderers walk the earth Beneath the curse of Cain, With crimson clouds before their eyes And flames about their brain: For blood has left upon their souls Its everlasting stain. Hood I There are two roads to Torkertown. One, the shorter and more direct route, leads across a barren upland moor, and the other, which is much longer, winds its tortuous way in and out among the hummocks and quagmires of the swamps, skirting the low hills to the east. It was a dangerous and tedious trail; so Solomon Kane halted in amazement when a breathless youth from the village he had just left, overtook him and implored him for God's sake to take the swamp road. "The swamp road!" Kane stared at the boy. He was a tall, gaunt man, was Solomon Kane, his darkly pallid face and deep brooding eyes made more somber by the drab Puritanical garb he affected. "Yes, sir, 'tis far safer," the youngster answered his surprized exclamation. "Then the moor road must be haunted by Satan himself, for your townsmen warned me against traversing the other." "Because of the quagmires, sir, that you might not see in the dark. You had better return to the village and continue your journey in the morning, sir." "Taking the swamp road?" "Yes, sir." Kane shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "The moon rises almost as soon as twilight dies. By its light I can reach Torkertown in a few hours, across the moor." "Sir, you had better not. No one ever goes that way. There are no houses at all upon the moor, while in the swamp there is the house of old Ezra who lives there all alone since his maniac cousin, Gideon, wandered off and died in the swamp and was never found - and old Ezra though a miser would not refuse you lodging should you decide to stop until morning. Since you must go, you had better go the swamp road." Kane eyed the boy piercingly. The lad squirmed and shuffled his feet. "Since this moor road is so dour to wayfarers," said the Puritan, "why did not the villagers tell me the whole tale, instead of vague mouthings?" "Men like not to talk of it, sir. We hoped that you would take the swamp road after the men advised you to, but when we watched and saw that...

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Robert E Howard, Robert E. Howard, Robert Ervin Howard
• Con la collaborazione di: Gary Gianni (Illustrazione)
• Editore: Del Rey
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 29.06.2004
• EAN: 9780345461506
• ISBN: 978-0-345-46150-6
• Pagine: 414
• Dimensioni: 157 mm x 235 mm x 23 mm
• Categoria: Narrativa > Science Fiction, Fantasy