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Review
"There's no denying [Howard's] ability to craft epic tales with memorable characters in well-researched, colorful surroundings, including some of history's most volatile periods. An excellent essay by Howard Andrew Jones help put these stories and Howard's career in perspective." --Publishers Weekly
“[Behind Howard’s stories] lurks a dark poetry and the timeless truth of dreams.”—Robert Bloch
“The voice of Robert E. Howard still resonates after decades with readers—equal parts ringing steel, thunderous horse hooves, and spattered blood.”—Eric S. Nylund, author of Halo: The Fall of Reach
“Howard had a gritty, vibrant style—broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life.”—David Gemmell, author of Legend and Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow
“[Behind Howard’s stories] lurks a dark poetry and the timeless truth of dreams.”—Robert Bloch
“The voice of Robert E. Howard still resonates after decades with readers—equal parts ringing steel, thunderous horse hooves, and spattered blood.”—Eric S. Nylund, author of Halo: The Fall of Reach
“Howard had a gritty, vibrant style—broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life.”—David Gemmell, author of Legend and Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow
Product Description
The immortal legacy of Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Cimmerian, continues with this latest compendium of Howard’s fiction and poetry. These adventures, set in medieval-era Europe and the Near East, are among the most gripping Howard ever wrote, full of pageantry, romance, and battle scenes worthy of Tolstoy himself. Most of all, they feature some of Howard’s most unusual and memorable characters, including Cormac FitzGeoffrey, a half-Irish, half-Norman man of war who follows Richard the Lion-hearted to twelfth-century Palestine—or, as it was known to the Crusaders, Outremer; Diego de Guzman, a Spaniard who visits Cairo in the guise of a Muslim on a mission of revenge; and the legendary sword woman Dark Agnès, who, faced with an arranged marriage to a brutal husband in sixteenth-century France, cuts the ceremony short with a dagger thrust and flees to forge a new identity on the battlefield.
Lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist John Watkiss and featuring miscellanea, informative essays, and a fascinating introduction by acclaimed historical author Scott Oden, Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures is a must-have for every fan of Robert E. Howard, who, in a career spanning just twelve years, won a place in the pantheon of great American writers.
Lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist John Watkiss and featuring miscellanea, informative essays, and a fascinating introduction by acclaimed historical author Scott Oden, Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures is a must-have for every fan of Robert E. Howard, who, in a career spanning just twelve years, won a place in the pantheon of great American writers.
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Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grim, gritty, and action-packed stories!,
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This review is from: Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures (Paperback)
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!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews) 17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent historical short stories and poems collection,
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures (Paperback)
These eighteen historical short stories and poems display a different Robert E. Howard than the sword and sorcerer fame. The entries are enhanced by a terrific introduction (Scott Oden) and an insightful article (Howard Andrew Jones) that provides the audience insight into the depth of the late great author. The tales bring alive several centuries and locations in the medieval Mediterranean. During the crusades, Cormac FitzGeoffrey follows Richard the Lion-hearted into battle as "Hawk of Outremer". Having cut short her unwanted wedding vows; title character Dark Agnes de la Fere turns to the sword in "Sword Woman" and "Blade for France. In eleventh century Cairo, Spaniard Diego de Guzman thirst for vengeance but to achieve his quest he must pretend to be a Muslim in "Hawks over Egypt". Whether it is "The Road of Eagles" in the year of our Lord 1595 at the Black Sea or traveling on "The Road of Azrael" as Kosru Malik chronicles the road of death, these are terrific historical sword adventures that showcase the late authors depth and width. Artist John Watkiss provides B&W illustrations that enhance the tales. This collection contains entertaining escapades in the first half of the previous millennium.Harriet Klausner 10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent collection of Howard's work!,
By Niels Adair - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures (Paperback)
I loved this collection. Some of those stories I had not come across before and I did not think that that would be possible considering my large collection of Howard's work.These short stories take you away to another time and another place were men of iron cross swords and honor is never taken lightly. The stories in this collection are alive! You can feel the grim determination of Cormac FitzGeoffrey and the passion of Dark Agnes de la Fere. I would highly recommend this book to any of Howard's fans. These are some of his best! 5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Among Howard's best work,
By Jay "SarahsJay" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures (Paperback)
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.
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