Dark Crusade

Kane #5

by Karl Edward Wagner

Kane the Mystic Swordsman encounters an ancient cult of evil. The cruel cult of Sataki has come to life again, and Orted Ak-Ceddi, a daring outlaw, is its prophet. Orted knows he must have a powerful cavalry to launch a new drive - and Kane is the man who can command the conquest. But Kane intends no final victory for the Forces of Darkness - he intends to rule the earth himself!

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Horror, Pulp, Adventure

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Karl Edward Wagner (12 December 1945 – 13 October 1994) was an American writer, editor and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. His disillusionment with the medical profession can be seen in the stories "The Fourth Seal" and "Into Whose Hands". He described his world view as nihilistic, anarchistic and absurdist, and claimed, not entirely seriously, to be related to "an opera composer named Richard". Wagner also admired the cinema of Sam Peckinpah, stating "I worship the film The Wild Bunch".

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane is...THE...MAN*!!


*Please Note: when I say that, I’m not alluding to the bulging-crotch shot being thrust down on the viewer in the above photo. That’s just the best image of Kane I could find and so I’d hope we can all be mature about this. Thank you.

Among the icons of pulpy, manwich-sized, death-dealing sword jockeys, no one...I will repeat...NO ONE in the sword and sorcery genre is the equal in killing, maiming and raising of ruckus as the immortal, immoral, immodest, ingenious, impeccable...Kane.



Now, before all you Conan water-carriers get all in a tizzy about that statement, let me add the following:

1. The above statement should not be taken as a besmirching of Conan or his ability to sow death. He is the Cromfather from whose loincloth all of the sword-swinging standards (including Kane) sprung. I love Howard’s Conan stories and they rank among my favorite in the genre.

2. Science has spoken and the mathematical proof on the relative badassness between Kane and Conan was detailed Here...so there really is no sense arguing about any further.

In addition, to Conan, there are other testosterone-loaded havoc-unleashers that deserve mention**. Moorcock’s Elric is another favorite and easily wins the trophy for the best weapon (remember, we are being mature about this) and also takes home the titles of clearly “Most Brooding,” “Most Introspective” and the “Most White”.

I also love Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. However, while they possess the necessary physical skills, I don’t think they really belong in this club because, besides being a duo and having to share the glory, they’re too funny and whimsical to be part of this discussion.

**John Carter and Tarl Cabot (aka the Tarnsman of Gor) were both disqualified from consideration. The former because he’s a married family man and thus barred from performing the necessary wenching duties. The latter because the Gor books suck ass and have no business being mentioned in this discussion so let’s just move on before this reviewer gets very upset remembering The Tarnsman Incident.

What makes Kane truly unique among the pantheon of the sword slashers in that he’s not even a decent enough person good to be an anti-hero. He’s an actual villain. He’s evil, ruthless and bent only on conquest and the fulfillment of his personal aims.

He doesn’t battle with his conscience and then, occasionally and reluctantly, give in to his darker impulses ala Elric. He doesn’t follow a harsh but usually understandable code of barbarian justice like Conan.

Kane wants power. He wants to rule the world. He would kill you and your family to do it.
That is a badass. A bad badass.

Add to that single-minded “whatever it takes” mentality that Kane is 1000’s of years old and as brilliant and learned as that amount of time can make you. Same goes for Individual combat and military tactics and strategy. Finally, he’s as cunning, devious and silver-tongued as the Devil himself.

Game...set...match. Winner.

PLOT SUMMARY:

So a former outlaw has been captured by the ancient cult of Sataki and turned into the avatar of their god, a chaos-loving demon whose ultimate aim is the annihilation of all life.


Now, with the aid of its charismatic new prophet and the blackest of magic, the cult’s army is growing as it rapes, pillages and murders its way ever closer to capturing the southern kingdoms as the first step towards enslaving mankind. However, the massive but peasant-comprised army have hit a stumbling block. They are no match for the experience and skill of the south’s legendary calvary.

That is...until they hire Kane to be the army’s general and forge for them a fighting force capable of winning on the field of battle.

Kane accepts the commission...but only because he has plans of his own.

THOUGHTS:

Karl Edward Wagner died way too soon and wrote far too few Kane stories. It is disheartening to realize that I have now read all 3 of the Kane novels and have only a handful of short stories left to enjoy. This is some of the best work the genre has to offer.

Like Jack Vance, Roger Zelazny and Michael Moorcock, Wagner is able to cram an epic tale into less than 200 pages and leave the reader wanting more but not feeling that anything was missing. It’s a gift too few have nowadays.

For Kane, Wagner created a world that is as rich and deep and full of wonder as any I’ve come across in the realm of sword and sorcery (it’s shoulder to shoulder with Moorcock’s Eternal Champion stories). Most of what we get are fragments or legend and snapshots of antiquity, but they are so well drawn and fit so well together that the overall effect is informative. Wagner combines variations on the best parts of Howard’s Hyborian Age, Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos and Clark Ashton Smith’s Hyperborian Cycle to create a fictional history and a cosmology that truly dazzles.

All that said, I didn’t love this one quite as strongly as I did Darkness Weaves and Bloodstone (both of which I wanted to elope with). The main reason is that the story was larger and broader in scope and, consequently, felt less intense and less personal than the previous two installments. Still, this is good, good stuff and if you are a fan of the genre and have not experienced Kane before, do so post haste.

4.5 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm travelin' down the road and I'm flirtin' with disaster
I've got the pedal to the floor, my life is running faster
I'm out of money, out of hope, it looks like self-destruction
Well, how much more can we take with all of this corruption

We're flirtin' with disaster, y'all know what I mean
And the way we run our lives, it makes no sense to me
I don't know about yourself or what you want to be, yeah
When we gamble with our time, we choose our destiny

So sings Southern rock legends Molly Hatchet. I could not help thinking of this as I read Karl Edward Wagner’s 1976 fantasy novel Dark Crusade, since both share cover art from Frank Frazetta. This is one of his Kane books and the Knoxville, Tennessee native describes his hero as such:

“His massive frame exuded an almost bestial strength. The figure might have been of some great ape, clad in black leather trousers and sleeveless vest. Ruthless intelligence showed in the brutal face, framed by nape length red hair and a beard like rust. A red silk scarf encircled his thick neck, and belted across the barrel chest, the hilt of a Carlsultyal sword protruding over his right shoulder. The savage blue eyes held a note in their stare that promised sudden carnage should that huge left hand reach for the hilt”

So of course this is a sophisticated work of quiet refinement, with subtle notes of deliciously wicked and irreverent humor.

NOT.

Wagner has evoked a Robert E. Howard / H.P. Lovecraftian sophomore kegger with all the subtlety of a monster truck rally.

And those are the softer moments.

Actually, in all fairness, Wagner is clearly a gifted writer with a haunting vision that is put to good use. Like Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Lee Van Cleef Wagner knows where his talent lies and where his bread is buttered and he plays to the audience that would pick up a book with a Frank Frazetta cover. Wagner’s scale and vision are far greater than would be expected from what's on the front and this is somewhat reminiscent of Michael Moorcock's fine work.

Certainly not for everyone, but a lot of fun if you go for the sword and sorcery genre.

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today’s fantasy authors are exceedingly adroit at creating new and fanciful worlds, convoluted and clever plots and huge casts of three dimensional characters. Well, some of them are, at any rate.

If, however, you’re looking for something a bit more visceral, something that will make you heady with the excitement of battle, black sorcery and unadulterated, uncompromising (not to mention “not necessarily politically correct”) thrills and spills you may want to backtrack a few years. This is the sort of thing you’ll be looking for: Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane novels.

There’s more than a little Robert E. Howard in here, and some H.P. Lovecraft as well. However, Wagner does have a voice of his own, and it’s a powerful one. As an anti-hero, Kane is everything your mother warned you against becoming (considering that the character has roots in the Cain of the Bible I suppose that isn’t too surprising). This is cool, because frankly, we all should at least have one bad guy to root for. And he is bad. Quite so.

Dark Crusade is the first Kane novel I’ve read. It will not be the last. It's dark and grim and violent and it has a Frank Frazetta cover, which captures the mood perfectly.

Read this and be reminded why you read (dark) fantasy in the first place.

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my fourth Kane book (I've been reading them in the order stated on wikipedia), and I find it amazing how fast he has climbed to the top of my favorite sword & sorcery heroes list. Not that his character is heroic by any loose definition, on the contrary he would be the Evil Overlord of most epics. Death and destruction ride as ever by his side, and if in previous books the mayhem was somewhat limited in scope, The Dark Crusade deals it wholesale on a continent spawning scale. The ancient cult of Sataki is resurrected in the city of Ingoldi and hundreds of thousands of fanatics recklessly swarm over neighboring kingdoms, aided by dark sorceries fed by the blood of cult's victims. What others see as a reign of terror, Kane sees as an opportunity to escape the boredom of his centuries old depression and to forge his own grandiose empire. So, he offers his expert military services to Orted Ak-Ceddi, former outlaw and now prophet of the Sataki cult. From forest trail to desert sea shore, flat steppe to marshy bog, lofty stone towers to moldy catacombs, Kane's journey is haunted by the ancient curse that was born in violence and can result only in more violence.

I found the writing uneven compared with previous Kane books, with moments of inspired prose and vivid imagery mixed with less convincing scenes, but overall this was a worthy addition to the series. Most of my problems I believe came from the logistics of building up and moving around armies of hundreds of thousand of soldiers, with events and character development receiving a rushed treatment. Sword and sorcery works better for me when it focuses on the personal struggles of doomed heroes, rather than the epics of world destruction. The armed conflict scenes remain though one of the strongpoints of Karl Edward Wagner narrative involving heavy cavalry, archers, light infantry, city sieges and most of all Kane double wielding berserker whirlwind of sword and axe and feral brutality. I loved the final scenes in the Tower of Islsl, despite the many loose ends involving secondary characters that made me think the author had a sequel in mind for this particular story. I chose only one quote to illustrate the novel's gloomy and fatalistic tone:
Grovel, little clown.
Life spits in your tears!

I am already nostalgic about running out of Kane books to read. After Dark Crusade there are only two short story collections left on my shelves. If I ever get some wall space for fantasy posters, I think I will put up, side by side, Conan, Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser and Kane. Some of the original covers for the series are amazing.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third & last of Karl Edward Wagner's Kane novels; and with rather less Kane than you might expect.

As in the previous two novels (Darkness Weaves & Bloodstone), Kane is very explicitly Not a Good Guy. He makes an alliance with (in this case) Ortak ak-Ceddi, bandit leader turned prophet of a dark & ancient god and leads the Dark Crusade on a path of conquest & destruction through the southern kingdoms; but both he and Ortak know that theirs is an entirely utilitarian alliance of convenience, to be broken as soon as one a) thinks he no longer needs the other and b) thinks he can take the other off guard.

In this book, as mentioned, there's not a whole lot of on-stage Kane -- most of the story focuses on either the people he betrayed before selling his sword to Ortak, or on Ortak and his fellow-believers. But the action remains fast & bloody and the overall mood is suitably epic & grim, in a 1970s Molly Hatchet album cover sort of way.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff, but perhaps my least favorite of the three Kane novels. There's certainly plenty of gory violence, mostly as part of several large cavalry battles. Yet, the elements I most enjoy from these Kane stories, the chilling, eldritch sorcery and cosmic horrors, don't really swing into full gear until very late in the story. Beyond that, I never felt that any of the supporting characters, mostly villains, took on any depth. The last chapter, full of bizarre, nightmarish hallucinations and eldritch horrors as Kane escapes into an interdimensional void and confronts an ancient demon who attempts to ensare him and feed on his soul makes it all worth it though.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are bad blurbs for books & then this one. The Mystic Swordsman battles the prophet of an ancient cult of evil that began before the birth of Man. Not really or always. Kane will use anything in his dreams of conquest & power. Of course, bending Kane to ends other than his own presents its own problems & that's the setting for another great novel filled with horrific action, great characters, & wild sorcery.

This is the Centipede Press edition, not my old paperback, but both include "In the Lair of Yslsl" as the last chapter. (In Midnight Sun: The Complete Stories of Kane this chapter is broken out as a separate short story.) I'm reading it after Night Winds & Bloodstone as I reread the series in these fantastic editions & in chronological order. As in the others, the artwork is great - not the Frazetta of the original cover, although that's included, but a lot of other scenes. It's unfortunate that one large one is spread across 2 pages so the center is lost in the binding, though.

See my review here for the full chronology:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Arun Divakar · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a dark world, the rules we generously apply to demarcate a hero from a villain in strictly generic terms do not necessarily apply. It would be puerile to call Kane a hero since he has no attributes that one can ascribe to heroism. Kane serves only himself and while we gain a brief glimpse into his motives, the ultimate objective eludes us always. In a far and remote outpost of the planet, a wily bandit is possessed by an otherworldly entity who then proceeds to unleash an orgy of violence founded on religious frenzy . Kane comes across this maelstrom and violence being his mainstay he gladly wades into this pool of muck. Double and triple crosses, vengeance, lust and the quest for world domination all then follow to finally coalesce into a trippy climax.

As a reader I find Kane to be slightly more complicated than a stereotype. He has grand machinations and yet makes mistakes that have serious repercussions, he is cursed with immortality and yet can be wounded gravely in battle, an accomplished sorcerer who still falls victim to his own spells etc. Kane is a mix of the strong and vulnerable and similar to the first book I read of him (Bloodstone), there is an element of tragedy that clings to the character. Wagner chooses not explore this enigma further either and we are left to form our own impressions. The other characters also derive fairly good attention but since only Kane continues from one book to the next, they disappear eventually over the course of the book. It is another adventure in the never ending life of the wanderer called Kane. While Bloodstone was about magic dueling with magic, Dark Crusade is about the heat and blood-lust of hand to hand combat.

Enjoyable and recommended.

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karl Edward Wagner was a vigorous, gifted writer whose swords and sorcery tales about the barbarian Kane—along with his groundbreaking horror fiction—is insufficiently remembered today. I recommend the Kane collection Death Angel’s Shadow and the Kane novel Bloodstone as well, but I cannot give my wholehearted recommendation to Wagner’s second Kane novel Dark Crusade.

Most of this has to do with particular difficulties inherent in the Kane character itself. He’s no rough-around-the-edges hero like Conan, no brooding Byronic wanderer like Elric, but something close to a stone cold psychopath, ancient and accomplished in death and evil, perhaps the original Cain himself.
Because of this, although Kane may be extraordinarily effective in short tales, he lacks the human sympathy necessary to sustain the reader of novels. In Bloodstone Wagner deals with the problem ingeniously and successfully, but he fails to do the same in Dark Crusade.

Wagner tries his best, compensating in four ways: 1) by extending the length of his superbly written battle sequences (Kane is always marvelous in battle), 2) developing the character of Kane’s enemy General Jarvo from a shallow poppycock into a pathetic—almost tragic—figure, 3) building to a climax in which Kane shifts allegiance, ending up of order and truth, and 4) adding an interesting psychedelic coda involving a wild gate-of-worlds in the Tower of Islsl, a narrative which strives to be a meditation on identity, thereby by-passing the problematic character of Kane.

Alas, Wagner’s fourfold method fails: 1) the major battle bores, for it is much too long, 2) Jarvo is only mildly interesting, 3) Kane’s moral reversal comes too late to restore our sympathies, and 4), the last chapter, “The Lair of Islsl” transparently reveals its origins, as a tacked-on, barely relevant short story.

Still, Dark Crusade is not a waste of time, for it is filled with exceptional prose, vivid scenes, horrific effects, and a pervasive irony. It fails as a whole, but—as the polite curate said of the rotten boiled egg—”parts of it are excellent.”

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by American fantasy and horror writer Karl Edward Wagner and it is part of his Kane series (actually the fourth book about Kane).

I first came across Wagner's name very recently, listed next to writers like Michael Moorcock and Fritz Leiber as someone who developed the sword and sorcery genre grown out of the early pulp magazines (R. E. Howard's Conan being perhaps the most famous and almost archetypal example), and having read Wagner's work, I would agree that he certainly deserves to be mentioned next to those writers and in that particular context. His prose style has a clear affinity with Howard's and other of the better pulp writers. It's a vibrant and fitting style to the subject matter and gets the reader into the story quite easily.

Yet, Wagner's stories (like Moorcock's and Leiber's before him) doesn't simply regurgitate sword and sorcery of the classical pulp school. It lovingly reinvents it to some degrees. What makes Wagner's approach extraordinary, to my mind at least, is his lack of focus on his hero of choice, i.e. Kane. Without checking, I am not at all sure if Kane is even in half of the book's chapter, let alone in a lead position in all of the chapters he is actually in. In fact, both the prologue and the first chapter flies by without Kane's presence and when he is finally introduced a bit into the second chapter it still isn't to become the full lead. As such, I would hesitate to call Kane the protagonist of this novel, just as I would hesitate to call him a hero for many other reasons.

The story of the novel is about the rise of a dark power. The vicious ancient god or devil Sataki is somehow incarnated in the rogue Orted who becomes his prophet Orted Ak-Ceddi. Under the prophet the priesthood of Sataki gathers a larger following and the dark crusade begins, a conquest aimed at all the known world. And Kane? Kane has his own ideas about the dark crusade and Orted Ak-Ceddi.

Well worth reading, especially for fans of sword and sorcery in general and Howard, Moorcock and Leiber in particular.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable. While in the vein of Conan the Barbarian, it is fortunately not a pastiche: Wagner wisely distances himself from the original and creates a dark reflection of the Cimmerian. While both characters are larger than life, Kane is driven by dark passions towards incomprehensible goals, and while capable of berzerk bloodlust, for the most part he regards the world with the clinical detachment of a man who has seen too much and lived entirely too long.

He seems intent upon forging his own empire and ruling the world, though it is not clear why, except as a balm for his eternal ennui. This goal is perpetually thwarted by circumstance, perhaps due to some tragic flaw in his character (latent or atrophied moral sense, or the subconscious need to never end the struggle?)

Events in the book range to the disturbing, though Wagner is painting the entirely realistic details of this brutal world. He writes with a keen eye and style, keeping the action coming while also providing intrigue and motivation. While the story turns around Kane, the other characters are interesting (just don't get attached to them).

[Jim Kuenzli · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last part of the book was a five star masterpiece. Kane battles and wanders through a series of psychological torments and eldritch horrors as he battles a demon akin to a Clark Ashton Smith piece. The first 90 percent of the book was fairly weak. Endless filler large scope battles, weak, bland adversaries- nowhere near as good as Bloodstone.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Crusade is the shortest of Wagner's Kane novels, but packs in more fast-paced action than more recent ten volume heroic fantasy series. His writing is a very nice blend of Lovecraft and Howard, with a wilder devil-may-care, damn-the-torpedoes flavor. Whereas Moorcock, for example, had players on the side of law and players on the side of chaos, Kane was on his on own side and didn't consider the consequences, whether the stakes were cosmic or trivial. Kane was an iconic pulp creation with a heavy metal soundtrack and limitless special effects wrapped around a complex and compelling character. This is one of the few books in which the hero lives up to the Frazetta cover.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Burroughs had John Carter.

Howard had Conan.

Moorcock has Elric.

Wagner had Kane.

THE Kane.

The one who was a son of Adam. The one who strangled his brother, Able. The one who claims Eve was his step-mother--therefore it's implied his mother was Lilith, the first wife of Adam. He is cursed for creating the violence he brought upon humanity, in the form of murder, by a mad god. He is cursed to immortality & can only be destroyed by the violence he created; almost dooming him to never meet his match. He is an accomplished swordsman & great sorcerer who walks the earth in search of some form of fulfillment to the empty void he feels inside. His enemy is loneliness.

Being a fan of the first three authors & their characters mentioned at the beginning of this review, I had a conversation with a friend about dark fantasy. He recommended Wagner's Kane to me since the character Elric closely resembled Wagner's cult character--both are victims of their own actions & both own up to their crimes without apology. I decided to seek out the books of Kane & found out they are pretty much out-of-print & the used paperbacks I found were priced into the $20 to $100 range. They are THAT rare. So it was by chance that I found this book--practically new, spine unbroken--for it's actual cover price.

I wasn't disappointed, but I also wasn't totally impressed. It is a novel & if I hadn't known anything about Kane, I probably wouldn't have given this novel the full attention that I did. First off, Kane doesn't appear in the story until about a quarter to half-way through the novel & to most readers, this would anger them. I, on the other hand, was struck by how good of a prose writer Wagner was--especially for a self-professed pulp writer--& I was able to ignore this fact.

The story revolves around a poor, despondent man who is possessed by an ancient evil--a demonic god--to spread a cult around the deity through an unholy war. His army consists of the poor, the sick & the destitute who are brutally beaten down by the lords of their dark lands. Kane, being ever the opportunist, offers his mercenary services to the new found prophet of doom as a general in their army.

But wait, don't think Kane is a worshiper of the new cult. He, behind their backs, laughs at their crusade & seeks to exploit it to his own needs. The Dark Prophet suspects this but doesn't know anything about this mysterious Kane, only legends & even they do not reveal anything about the wizard swordsman to give him some sort of advantage over the murderous immortal. Nevertheless, the Prophet accepts Kane for his prowess in war-mongering & with this alliance, he forges his own destruction.

This is pure Dark Fantasy. At it's best? Yes & no. While I truly believe Wagner has created a great anti-hero of the genre, I found something missing from the story. Where most writers fail at character development, I believe Wagner fails at world development. We are not given a full world that is tangible. We know it's a fantasy world setting, but there is no focus to bring it into it's borders because it seems there are none. Wagner is totally immersed in his character of Kane as well as the supporting casts of all his tales that they are like actors on a dimly lit stage. Is this bad? Actually, no. The fact the characters are fully developed--especially Kane--lets the reader forgive the writer's transgressions to not fully realize the world Kane exists in. Kane himself is Wagner's world & it is a brutal one.

The novels of Kane are good but I believe it's the short stories where Wagner's dark anti-hero truly shines. Check out the short story, "Undertow" in Wagner's collected tales of Kane in Night Winds & you'll see what I mean.

[Karl]

This is copy 40 of 300 signed and numbered copies. Facsimile signed by Karl Edward Wagner and signed by Tom Kidd.

[Lee Broderick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would never have looked for politics in Karl Edward Wagner's work but here it is, a Cold War era fantasy. Whether that was intentional or subconscious is probably beside the point - it's all here: a tyrannical despot, secret police, state-sponsored arts, an intertwining of church and state, a shadow army (literally) and a final showdown consisting of psychological torture... clearly the author had a lot on his mind in the 1970's.

This prism is an unusual but brilliant one through which to defract Wagner's usual Lovecraftian sword and sorcery tales. Eldritch horror is ever-present, as the title suggests, even if perhaps in many cases 'tendrils' might be a more accurate noun than 'tentacles'. Indeed, the centrality of the theme here is perhaps a weakness in the context of swords and sorcery story - there is little of character in general, or of Kane specifically. Occasionally, the writing reflects this tension, as we narrow our focus onto Kane's immediacy for a more visceral experience, only to lift out once again to the continent spanning crusade - it's possibly too big a theme for the format.

Overall, it's an interesting exercise in what swords and sorcery fiction could be - the overt politics differentiates this from others that I've read in the genre as clearly as the explicit philosophy makes Michael Moorcock's Elric so unique.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished Re-reading this book a few days ago. Just as enjoyable as the first time many years ago. Next to Robert E Howard's Conan and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser I like Wagner's Kane the most in the Sword and Sorcery genre. Kane is a bit different from the other characters because he is as more a villain than a hero.
This particular novel bears some similarities to "Darkness Weaves" another Kane story. This one features Kane as leading an army of a criminal who has been possessed by an "elder" type god or demon that is bent on world domination and destruction by dark forces. Kane has other ideas (as usual) which consist of double crossing his "boss" and conquering and ruling his own empire. This story is told in epic fashion with major battles being fought and several turn arounds for himself as well as his enemies.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent barbarian yarn (although the warfare and political scenes struck me as closer to early Medieval Europe than a culture wearing tattered furs and grunting in a mono-syllabic “language”) with intriguing character motivation. Kane is completely amoral while coupled with a certain code that is wholly fascinating.
My only criticism concerns the main antagonist who had an inevitability surrounding his actions early on which gripped you with an icy dread. This dark inevitability was eventually squandered and the antagonist became rather conventional in his processes.

[William King · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest sword and sorcery works of the 70s-- hell, ever! Wagner was a unique voice in the S&S genre, brilliant at characterisation, beautiful prose style, great at describing sweeping action and dramatic violence, better at brooding horror. He even had a (fairly grim) sense of humour. His early death was a great loss. This book demonstrates all of his virtues.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasy masterpiece. A classic that demands to be read by the current generation of Fantasy fans.

If I were to rank the Kane novels in order of my preference, I'd name DARKNESS WEAVES as the best novel with DARK CRUSADE in second and BLOODSTONE third place. Ask me again in 5 years and I might reverse the order.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent - the best of the Kane novels IMHO. Wagner's world-building is particularly good here. Kane gets involved with a mad (or possessed) prophet who launches a religious war. He initially helps the prophet, but soon regrets it!

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite dark fantasy series. Kane is an excellent anti-hero, not really good but not entirely a bad guy either. Excellent story and character. Highly recommended.

[Sotiris Karaiskos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A military story that draws its inspiration from real-world war events. As we would expect the author takes a particularly cynical attitude towards the war, presenting it on the one hand as a conflict of interests and on the other as the result of stupid religious fanaticism. Of course, our hero in such a situation is in his element, offering his services to whoever pays the best, looking after his own interest above all, but he cannot be sure that he is betting on the right horse. A more simple adventure but just as exciting.

Μία στρατιωτική ιστορία η οποία αντλεί την έμπνευση της από πολεμικά γεγονότα του πραγματικού κόσμου. Όπως θα περιμέναμε ο συγγραφέας παίρνει μία ιδιαίτερα κυνική στάση απέναντι στον πόλεμο, παρουσιάζοντας τον από τη μία ως μία σύγκρουση συμφερόντων και από την άλλη ως αποτέλεσμα ανόητου θρησκευτικού φανατισμού. Φυσικά ο ήρωας μας σε μία τέτοια κατάσταση βρίσκεται στο στοιχείο του, προσφέροντας τις υπηρεσίες του σε όποιον πληρώνει καλύτερα, φροντίζοντας πάνω από όλα για το δικό του συμφέρον, δεν μπορεί όμως να είναι σίγουρος ότι ποντάρει στο σωστό άλογο. Μια περισσότερο απλή περιπέτεια αλλά εξίσου συναρπαστική.

[Connor Hassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I'll see you all in Hell, and let's make certain the place is crowded"

Another awesome Wagner novel, filled with blood and brutality, these Kane stories are super fun to read. Probably my least favourite of the three Kane books I've read so far (Night Winds, Bloodstone) but still really enjoyable. Wish Kane took more of a front stage presence in this book over some of the other characters that I didn't enjoy as much.

Wagner's masterful horrorcraft sneaking in at the end, too. A trippy, horrifying, gore-soaked way to end a book!

4.5/5

[Faust · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this down. A gothic high Thumos epic, makes you wanna bulk up to 300lbs of pure muscle and die in a cavalry charge.

Kane is one of the most brilliant characters in modern literature, and this is no accident. Karl Edward Wagner used his formal education in psychiatry to his advantage and built such a complex identity for his antihero, you cannot help but fall prey to his aura.

The story of this novel was straightforward yet full of twist, some may say it feels a bit rushed at times but I enjoyed the quick pace. It was a smoother reading experience than 'Bloodstone'. Which is not to say that I didn't immensely enjoy that novel as well.

The most exciting moment for me was, believe it or not, a chapter in which Kane and his general are playing some arcane board game on a hexagonal board in their tent. Between the dialogue, just enough of the rules and specifics of the game are explained, and I intend to develop this little information into an actual playable game. Wish me luck!

As I'm approaching the end of my journey through all the tales of Kane, I am struck with a premonition of sorrow. I don't know how we're supposed to endure the finality of Wagner's death and the subsequent fact that this series will see no new stories.

Such a beautiful and visceral world, full of unimaginable potential, forever smothered alongside the mind which brought it to life
(There it is, yet another reason to outlaw alcohol consumption worldwide)

[B.J. Swann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent Kane story by the brilliant Karl Edward Wagner.
Dark Crusade sees Kane gamble with his life and the fate of nations as he insinuates himself in a ruthless cult leader’s war of domination. But of course things are not as they seem, and Kane will have to deal with treachery, insanity, and loathsome eldritch forces that can perhaps turn even his steel-trap mind into whimpering putty.
This is another great Kane story from a master storyteller, featuring a sprawling and cinematic narrative that is nothing less than epic in scope. Although Wagner misses a few opportunities for dramatic tension here and there, Dark Crusade is entertaining from start to finish. Even the highly-detailed battle scenes and explorations of military logistics don’t seem to drag. The characters, with one unfortunate exception, are well-realized, compelling, and relatable. The climax is very strong, a masterful excursion into hallucinogenic horror. Though not quite as good as Bloodstone or stories like ‘Raven’s Eyrie’ or ‘The Dark Muse,’ this book is sure to delight fans of the Kane books, as well as fans of eldritch horror, dark fantasy, and gritty sword and sorcery in general.

[Zare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ancient evil is loosed in north when dark being finds a suitable carrier in form of one-time thief and bandit. Soon entire city is under influence and large human wave begins its invasion of southern kingdoms killing and pillaging everyone and everything on their way.[return]At this point Kane enters the stage ancient human sentenced to wander the world and serve the others as punishment for the crime he committed. Misinterpreting the events [and following his dream to establish himself as a ruler instead of being just one of many hired swords] he joins the invasion force by offering his military expertise to train dark legions into formidable army. To do this (and advance his own coup d etat) Kane brings his own men to form the core of the new army and starts the conquest expecting that his time will come soon to take over the new territories for himself.[return]But soon he realizes grave error he made and finally turns against the very evil he served.[return][return]Great story. Cannot wait to get my hands on more Kane stories.

[Antonio Fanelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prima di Martin, se non si volevano elfi orchi e simili, ma neppure culturisti monosillabici buoni solo a roteare lo spadone; prima di tutto questo, c'era Wagner.
Questo romanzo non ha nulla del solito fantasy.
E' cupo, politically incorrect, sanguinario e doloroso.

[Francesco Manno · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://panopticonitalia.blogspot.it/2...

[Bryan Dyke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. Dark Crusade is an excellent, yet flawed addition to the Kane series. It reads well, enhanced by Karl Wagner’s refined Sword and Sorcery/Fantasy prose, specifically his brilliant narration of action, violence, and antiquity. The general plot of the novel is also well-conceived. It’s a lower brand of fantasy than KEW’s other novel-length Kane books, as there is not much in the way of alien species, weird technology, or science fiction elements that sometimes appear in Kane’s world, instead surrendering to more traditional sword and sorcery demons, cultists, large scale battles, and proto-medieval fanfare. The final act, however, as often does with KEW, unleashes much more magic and mayhem.



KEW is one of my favorite short fantasy and sword and sorcery writers. His prose and concepts are well executed, and Kane is his best work… a precursor to grim dark that should have more than enough modern appeal to fans of Game of Thrones et al. Wagner knows just how to pace a book and balance the story into a readable page-turner. In this way, Dark Crusade (mostly) does not disappoint.



Let’s also note that the cover art, Frazetta’s murderous Kane depiction in Dark Kingdom, is one of the greatest pieces of fantasy art ever produced, and perhaps the master Frazetta’s most influential painting ever. That alone makes a copy of this book a “must have”…and do yourself a favor, skip the cheaper route of Kindle nonsense and shell out for an old paperback with the real deal Frazetta image, coupled with the smell of must and mold.



Now for the weak points or flaws;



The book is too short for its motives, it fails to satisfy the exploration of Kane, who like many other books in the series, disappears for long hauls in order to characterize supporting characters. Kane should be mysterious, and I didn’t need much more, but I thought each book should peel back the Kane onion a little more than we get. This book literally gives you nothing.



Typically, the lack of Kane is spent fleshing out great supporting characters, yet KEW fails here in Dark Crusade as well, and never sets up enough with the villain Orted Ak-Ceddi, Jarvo, or the character Erill. The civilizations too, are hardly fleshed out, and thus feel a bit stale and generic. KEW typically accomplishes more here.



KEW could have doubled the page count of this one and Dark Crusade would have benefitted. The book needed 100 more pages to flesh out the concepts he introduces. The ending was a great, weird, hallucination…while it may have been a tacked on short story, I loved the wild unpredictable and trippy execution. Still, there was some dissatisfaction; I could deal with leaving Jarvo’s fate uncertain, but I only wish there had been a better reckoning with the demonic Satakis and Orted. While a lack of comeuppance is no stranger to grim dark fiction, this felt more like unfinished and rushed. As a result, despite the delivery of some hard-boiled sorcery at the end, the book feels like a zero sum game.



The need for more pages forces KEW to a mode of “tell and not show” for great stretches in the form of overbearing information dumps. These are examples where his pacing is uncharacteristically poorly executed. For instance, Kane’s realization of what brand of evil Orted has become and the diabolical nature of his power comes from a random lecture by Kane to a character (Erill) we don’t really care about. These oddly lacking moments detract from what this good novel could have been. Additionally, several of the solutions to conflict in the novel, such as the mysterious relic, come from nowhere and tropishly arrive only to solve, or really postpone the book’s problems.



All in all, though, despite a few gripes, a very worthy Kane novel…highly recommended.