What do you think?
Rate this book
The Sword Woman
"I DRINK, FIGHT, AND LIVE LIKE A MAN-"
The great black-whiskered rogue lunged at me like a great bear as he sought to drag me into his embrace, but as I wrenched out my sword he seemed suddenly sobered by what he saw in my eyes. As if he realized at last that this was no play, he gave back and drew his own blade.
He wielded his sword with strength and craft, and well for me that I had learned the art from the finest blade of all. My quickness of eye and hand and foot was such as no man could match. Blackbeard sought to beat me down by sheer strength, but this availed him no better, because woman though I was, I was all steel springs and whalebone, and had the art of turning his strokes before they were begun.
"Bitch!" he roared in swift fury, his eyes blazing. "I'll have you for that! You drink, fight and live like a man," my enemy mocked,
"BUT SHALT LOVE LIKE A WOMAN!"
Cover Illustration by Stephen Fabian
The great black-whiskered rogue lunged at me like a great bear as he sought to drag me into his embrace, but as I wrenched out my sword he seemed suddenly sobered by what he saw in my eyes. As if he realized at last that this was no play, he gave back and drew his own blade.
He wielded his sword with strength and craft, and well for me that I had learned the art from the finest blade of all. My quickness of eye and hand and foot was such as no man could match. Blackbeard sought to beat me down by sheer strength, but this availed him no better, because woman though I was, I was all steel springs and whalebone, and had the art of turning his strokes before they were begun.
"Bitch!" he roared in swift fury, his eyes blazing. "I'll have you for that! You drink, fight and live like a man," my enemy mocked,
"BUT SHALT LOVE LIKE A WOMAN!"
Cover Illustration by Stephen Fabian
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
7 people are currently reading
302 people want to read
About the author
Robert E. Howard
2,984 books2,650 followersRobert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—Wikipedia
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—Wikipedia
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
November 1, 2024
Note, Oct. 31, 2024: I've just edited this review slightly, mainly to make the meaning of one sentence clearer.
This collection of five short pieces by pulp era master of rough-and-tough fiction Robert E. Howard is a very uneven one. (At 176 pages, it's also a relatively short one, and quite a quick read.) The title story and two others, "Blades for France" and "Mistress of Death" (the latter completed by Gerald W. Page after REH's death) are the only Howard stories that feature one of his most striking and memorable characters, "Dark" Agnes de Chastillon. (She's sometimes called, in medieval/early modern fashion, Agnes de la Ferre, after her home village.) These were a recent common read in the Robert E. Howard fan group I belong to here on Goodreads, which was my reason for reading the book now --though I would have eventually, anyway! (There's another collection that uses the same title story and also includes "Blades for France;" but it only includes one or possibly both of the fragments written by Howard, not Page's completion of the story.) These tales are first-rank parts of the Howard canon, and would have earned a five-star rating from me by themselves. My overall rating for the book, as explained below, is pulled down a bit by the other two selections. All five, however, have a genre and flavor in common: they're violent, gritty tales of historical action-adventure, with a tone like that of the Conan and Kull stories but mostly without supernatural elements. (A wizard does appear as the villain in "Mistress of Death.")
Howard was not as constrained by the sexist attitudes of his day as many of his contemporary pulp writers were. So some of his writings are trail-blazers in terms of female roles; where women in pulp action yarns were usually passive, meek and needing rescue (or sinister and sneaky, wreaking their evil by stealth and treachery), Howard dared to actually portray some women who step out of the passive, domestic, damsel-in-distress mode to pick up lethal weapons and use them; but they don't lose their moral compass as a result, so that they're genuine heroic figures rather than villainesses. Conan sidekicks Valeria in "Red Nails" and pirate queen Belit in "Queen of the Black Coast" come to mind (actually, since I understand that she's Conan's boss in the latter story, one could argue that he's her sidekick there!), as does Red Sonya in "The Shadow of the Vulture." Agnes is cut from similar cloth; but where these other women are all in stories with a male protagonist, Agnes is the protagonist and first-person narrator of her stories, and the only one of the four to appear in more than one tale. That allows her to take center stage much more obviously in the reader's focus, and for Howard to develop her more as a character; in "Sword Woman," he actually gives us her origin story, something he seldom if ever did for his other series characters.
Agnes was reared as a peasant in early 16th-century France, though her abusive father is the out-of-wedlock son of a duke (and uses his father's name as a family name). In a vividly-sketched opening scene, that shows you exactly the kind of drudgery-filled bleakness her life up to then has been, when she's about to be physically forced into an unwanted marriage to a youth she detests (and who knows that), her sister secretly hands her a dagger to commit suicide with. Instead, she uses it to knife her would-be groom/rapist, "with mad glee," and takes to the woods. Circumstances soon give her the chance to get some combat training from a skilled mercenary, which she takes to like a fish to water, instinctively. With a tall physique strengthened by hard work, and quick reflexes, she's a fighter to reckon with, and her embrace of that lifestyle is completely believable. She's resolved to be no man's sexual plaything; motherhood isn't something she wants for herself; and the chance to be free, her own boss, and able to taste the world and its adventures is like a liberating new birth. (And she'll have adventures in spades, with her share of dangerous enemies.) Given her background, I could completely sympathize with the appeal this has for her, and understand her choices. I don't think Howard intends to make an anti-marriage, anti-family statement through her, or to imply that her choice is the only legitimate one for a woman to make. But I think he does have the courage to portray her as the person she is, with legitimate reasons for feeling the way she does; and that he's also questioning the kind of patriarchal, sexist perversions of marriage and family life that could turn those things into a prison (which they were never intended to be) for a woman, and make her willing to choose celibacy to escape it. And then too, he's recognizing that the idea of "primitivism," of escaping from society's constraining rules, roles and routines, that leach every bit of freedom and spontaniety out of life, and being free to carve out your path in the world with your own courage and strength, is just as appealing to a woman as it is to a man, and for the same reasons. If Howard had lived to write more about Agnes, and followed her for more of her life, who knows: she might someday have found a male who didn't want to to imprison and dominate her, whom she might have wanted to be with as an equal, and might even have someday decided she was ready to have a child. (And if she had, I think she'd have been a doggone good mom!) But even if that had ever happened, you can bet she'd never have become any man's slave or drudge.
All three stories exhibit the strengths Howard fans appreciate in his work: strong, exciting story-telling, full of adventure, suspense, and violent action, all of it well-drawn; excellent prose style; and good, vivid characterization. Agnes' character, of course, dominates all three, and she's one of Howard's most memorable figures, round and nuanced. Like her sword-swinging soul-sisters mentioned above, she's no choir girl, but she's not evil in any sense. She doesn't revel in killing (her "mad glee" near the beginning of the first story is an emotional reaction to the thrill of self-achieved deliverance and escape from hell on earth, not homicidal mania as such); on the contrary, she's quite capable of showing mercy even when it's not deserved, of genuine kindness to others, and of putting her life on the line even for an enemy. She's a woman with principles; and while her early life has made her so emotionally repressed that she's never been able to cry, she's still got feelings, and can need comfort at times. (In other words, she's a human being, not an animated stone statue of Superwoman.) But several other characters are also developed with some moral complexity, especially Etienne Villiers. REH was also a serious student of history, and makes effective use of real historical persons and situations to flavor his historical fiction; these tales are no exception. In the third story, IMO, Page imitates Howard's style and character conception quite well; I disagree strongly with critics like Jessica Salmonson who find the story inferior and see Agnes there as an unrecognizable, wimpy parody of herself. (If they weren't dead by the time she's done with them, there are a few male characters there who'd probably dispute the claim that she's wimpy. :-) )
The concluding two pieces have, as far as they go, many of the same positive features as the first three. Both feature strong, Celtic barbarian warrior types whom you don't want as an enemy (but would be lucky to have as a friend!) with a lot in common with Conan (Donn Othna in "The King's Service" even swears by Crom). One is set in India in the 5th century A.D. (Donn Othna previously fought in the battle of Chalons in 451), and "The Shadow of the Hun" on the steppes of Eurasia almost 600 years later (Turlogh O'Brien had been a warrior under Brian Boru, who died in 1014). But the fatal weakness of both, IMO, is that they appear to be first chapters of projected novels that Howard never lived to write. They're well-written enough, but they don't go anywhere constructive (the second one concludes with a cliff-hanger!), and so they're ultimately unsatisfying. The editor of this collection isn't named (Leigh Brackett contributes a worthwhile introduction, but I doubt if she was the editor), but whoever did clearly just threw these in as filler to bulk up the book. They'd be better included in a collection of Howard fragments. The stories cited in the second paragraph would have been better choices, IMO; then the collection would have been a genuinely thematic one showcasing all of Howard's action heroines! But as it stands, I still felt it deserved an overall rating of four stars for the Agnes stories.
This collection of five short pieces by pulp era master of rough-and-tough fiction Robert E. Howard is a very uneven one. (At 176 pages, it's also a relatively short one, and quite a quick read.) The title story and two others, "Blades for France" and "Mistress of Death" (the latter completed by Gerald W. Page after REH's death) are the only Howard stories that feature one of his most striking and memorable characters, "Dark" Agnes de Chastillon. (She's sometimes called, in medieval/early modern fashion, Agnes de la Ferre, after her home village.) These were a recent common read in the Robert E. Howard fan group I belong to here on Goodreads, which was my reason for reading the book now --though I would have eventually, anyway! (There's another collection that uses the same title story and also includes "Blades for France;" but it only includes one or possibly both of the fragments written by Howard, not Page's completion of the story.) These tales are first-rank parts of the Howard canon, and would have earned a five-star rating from me by themselves. My overall rating for the book, as explained below, is pulled down a bit by the other two selections. All five, however, have a genre and flavor in common: they're violent, gritty tales of historical action-adventure, with a tone like that of the Conan and Kull stories but mostly without supernatural elements. (A wizard does appear as the villain in "Mistress of Death.")
Howard was not as constrained by the sexist attitudes of his day as many of his contemporary pulp writers were. So some of his writings are trail-blazers in terms of female roles; where women in pulp action yarns were usually passive, meek and needing rescue (or sinister and sneaky, wreaking their evil by stealth and treachery), Howard dared to actually portray some women who step out of the passive, domestic, damsel-in-distress mode to pick up lethal weapons and use them; but they don't lose their moral compass as a result, so that they're genuine heroic figures rather than villainesses. Conan sidekicks Valeria in "Red Nails" and pirate queen Belit in "Queen of the Black Coast" come to mind (actually, since I understand that she's Conan's boss in the latter story, one could argue that he's her sidekick there!), as does Red Sonya in "The Shadow of the Vulture." Agnes is cut from similar cloth; but where these other women are all in stories with a male protagonist, Agnes is the protagonist and first-person narrator of her stories, and the only one of the four to appear in more than one tale. That allows her to take center stage much more obviously in the reader's focus, and for Howard to develop her more as a character; in "Sword Woman," he actually gives us her origin story, something he seldom if ever did for his other series characters.
Agnes was reared as a peasant in early 16th-century France, though her abusive father is the out-of-wedlock son of a duke (and uses his father's name as a family name). In a vividly-sketched opening scene, that shows you exactly the kind of drudgery-filled bleakness her life up to then has been, when she's about to be physically forced into an unwanted marriage to a youth she detests (and who knows that), her sister secretly hands her a dagger to commit suicide with. Instead, she uses it to knife her would-be groom/rapist, "with mad glee," and takes to the woods. Circumstances soon give her the chance to get some combat training from a skilled mercenary, which she takes to like a fish to water, instinctively. With a tall physique strengthened by hard work, and quick reflexes, she's a fighter to reckon with, and her embrace of that lifestyle is completely believable. She's resolved to be no man's sexual plaything; motherhood isn't something she wants for herself; and the chance to be free, her own boss, and able to taste the world and its adventures is like a liberating new birth. (And she'll have adventures in spades, with her share of dangerous enemies.) Given her background, I could completely sympathize with the appeal this has for her, and understand her choices. I don't think Howard intends to make an anti-marriage, anti-family statement through her, or to imply that her choice is the only legitimate one for a woman to make. But I think he does have the courage to portray her as the person she is, with legitimate reasons for feeling the way she does; and that he's also questioning the kind of patriarchal, sexist perversions of marriage and family life that could turn those things into a prison (which they were never intended to be) for a woman, and make her willing to choose celibacy to escape it. And then too, he's recognizing that the idea of "primitivism," of escaping from society's constraining rules, roles and routines, that leach every bit of freedom and spontaniety out of life, and being free to carve out your path in the world with your own courage and strength, is just as appealing to a woman as it is to a man, and for the same reasons. If Howard had lived to write more about Agnes, and followed her for more of her life, who knows: she might someday have found a male who didn't want to to imprison and dominate her, whom she might have wanted to be with as an equal, and might even have someday decided she was ready to have a child. (And if she had, I think she'd have been a doggone good mom!) But even if that had ever happened, you can bet she'd never have become any man's slave or drudge.
All three stories exhibit the strengths Howard fans appreciate in his work: strong, exciting story-telling, full of adventure, suspense, and violent action, all of it well-drawn; excellent prose style; and good, vivid characterization. Agnes' character, of course, dominates all three, and she's one of Howard's most memorable figures, round and nuanced. Like her sword-swinging soul-sisters mentioned above, she's no choir girl, but she's not evil in any sense. She doesn't revel in killing (her "mad glee" near the beginning of the first story is an emotional reaction to the thrill of self-achieved deliverance and escape from hell on earth, not homicidal mania as such); on the contrary, she's quite capable of showing mercy even when it's not deserved, of genuine kindness to others, and of putting her life on the line even for an enemy. She's a woman with principles; and while her early life has made her so emotionally repressed that she's never been able to cry, she's still got feelings, and can need comfort at times. (In other words, she's a human being, not an animated stone statue of Superwoman.) But several other characters are also developed with some moral complexity, especially Etienne Villiers. REH was also a serious student of history, and makes effective use of real historical persons and situations to flavor his historical fiction; these tales are no exception. In the third story, IMO, Page imitates Howard's style and character conception quite well; I disagree strongly with critics like Jessica Salmonson who find the story inferior and see Agnes there as an unrecognizable, wimpy parody of herself. (If they weren't dead by the time she's done with them, there are a few male characters there who'd probably dispute the claim that she's wimpy. :-) )
The concluding two pieces have, as far as they go, many of the same positive features as the first three. Both feature strong, Celtic barbarian warrior types whom you don't want as an enemy (but would be lucky to have as a friend!) with a lot in common with Conan (Donn Othna in "The King's Service" even swears by Crom). One is set in India in the 5th century A.D. (Donn Othna previously fought in the battle of Chalons in 451), and "The Shadow of the Hun" on the steppes of Eurasia almost 600 years later (Turlogh O'Brien had been a warrior under Brian Boru, who died in 1014). But the fatal weakness of both, IMO, is that they appear to be first chapters of projected novels that Howard never lived to write. They're well-written enough, but they don't go anywhere constructive (the second one concludes with a cliff-hanger!), and so they're ultimately unsatisfying. The editor of this collection isn't named (Leigh Brackett contributes a worthwhile introduction, but I doubt if she was the editor), but whoever did clearly just threw these in as filler to bulk up the book. They'd be better included in a collection of Howard fragments. The stories cited in the second paragraph would have been better choices, IMO; then the collection would have been a genuinely thematic one showcasing all of Howard's action heroines! But as it stands, I still felt it deserved an overall rating of four stars for the Agnes stories.
November 9, 2021
The Sword Woman has deservedly become one of Howard's most popular collections. It contains the two stories he wrote about Dark Agnes, perhaps his best realized female protagonist, and a third which was finished by Gerald W. Page, along with a couple of unpolished and unrelated pieces (one featuring one of his Turlogh characters), in order to flesh out the page count. I don't think any of them were printed in his lifetime, but Blades For France and Sword Woman are certainly among his best works. My Zebra edition has a nice cover and lovely interior illustrations by Stephen Fabian, and an excellent introduction by none other than Leigh Brackett, who compares Agnes to C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry. The Agnes stories are near the top of 1930's pulp adventure.
October 23, 2014
An odd collection of short stories in some ways. The introduction is by Leigh Brackett & well worth reading. My main reason for getting this was Agnes, a peasant girl, who rebels against her life & becomes a sword swinging legend. For any lover of Howard's writings, the first few stories are a must read.
"Sword Woman"
"Blades for France"
"Mistress of Death" (Completed by Gerald W. Page)
These first 3 stories feature Dark Agnes, historical sword swinging & quite good. The last one does have a sorcery & horror in it. Page did a great job of finishing the story which Howard left as 2 drafts. Apparently, he used the second draft until it ended & then used the paragraphs from the end of the first draft, which provided a synopsis, to base his ending on.
"The King's Service" is also historical fiction & did have a female assassin, but it was a small part & she was hardly in keeping with Agnes' character. This was very similar in many ways to other stories of his, but didn't wow me at all. It was anticlimactic & really had no place in this collection.
"The Shadow of the Hun" is a Turlough O'Brien fragment. There are no women in it at all, but it does fill in quite a bit of Turlough's history. Otherwise, it's a mess with a flashback within a flashback & definitely incomplete. Again, I don't know why this was included in this book. It would have been better included in Tigers of the Sea, although that features Cormac MacArt.
So overall, I'm giving this 4 stars simply on the weight of it including some hard to find stories, not because I thought it was a well put together collection.
"Sword Woman"
"Blades for France"
"Mistress of Death" (Completed by Gerald W. Page)
These first 3 stories feature Dark Agnes, historical sword swinging & quite good. The last one does have a sorcery & horror in it. Page did a great job of finishing the story which Howard left as 2 drafts. Apparently, he used the second draft until it ended & then used the paragraphs from the end of the first draft, which provided a synopsis, to base his ending on.
"The King's Service" is also historical fiction & did have a female assassin, but it was a small part & she was hardly in keeping with Agnes' character. This was very similar in many ways to other stories of his, but didn't wow me at all. It was anticlimactic & really had no place in this collection.
"The Shadow of the Hun" is a Turlough O'Brien fragment. There are no women in it at all, but it does fill in quite a bit of Turlough's history. Otherwise, it's a mess with a flashback within a flashback & definitely incomplete. Again, I don't know why this was included in this book. It would have been better included in Tigers of the Sea, although that features Cormac MacArt.
So overall, I'm giving this 4 stars simply on the weight of it including some hard to find stories, not because I thought it was a well put together collection.
December 3, 2022
Dark Agnes de Chastillon Is our protagonist in this collection of short stories set in 16th century France.
After stabbing her unwanted would be groom on what is supposed to be her wedding day and escaping her abusive father, Dark Agnes runs away for a life of adventure.
I enjoyed these stories. We are plunged into action within the first couple of pages. It’s a quick and fun read and it’s a shame Howard never wrote more stories with Agnes. ⚔️
After stabbing her unwanted would be groom on what is supposed to be her wedding day and escaping her abusive father, Dark Agnes runs away for a life of adventure.
I enjoyed these stories. We are plunged into action within the first couple of pages. It’s a quick and fun read and it’s a shame Howard never wrote more stories with Agnes. ⚔️
March 28, 2021
Agnes de Chastillon escapes a life of drudgery, abuse, and crushing poverty when she kills the fat slob to whom she has been betrothed and flees her village into the woods, armed only with a knife provided by her sister to kill herself with. And so this promising character embarks on a career of adventure that is sadly truncated by the fact that author Robert E. Howard wrote only two stories about her, which were published after his death.
Dark Agnes is a natural sword-wielder whose talents are honed by the tutelage of accomplished companions. Her innate courage makes her the equal of any other Howard adventurer. This is an interesting departure for him; he even writes these stories from the first-person perspective of this female character. The two stories, “Sword Woman” and “Blades for France,” are pretty standard historical adventures, but standard Howard makes for entertaining reading. A third story, “Mistress of Death,” existed only in draft form before it was completed by Gerald W. Page, who carries on the proud tradition of inadequate posthumous collaborations established by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp in the Conan collections. Page can’t seem to wrap his mind around the powerful female Howard had envisioned. Page has her “whimpering like a child” and learning that “there is no shame to act as a woman” while wrapped in the “protecting arms” of a man. A couple of non-Agnes trifles fill out the collection to book length.
Dark Agnes is a natural sword-wielder whose talents are honed by the tutelage of accomplished companions. Her innate courage makes her the equal of any other Howard adventurer. This is an interesting departure for him; he even writes these stories from the first-person perspective of this female character. The two stories, “Sword Woman” and “Blades for France,” are pretty standard historical adventures, but standard Howard makes for entertaining reading. A third story, “Mistress of Death,” existed only in draft form before it was completed by Gerald W. Page, who carries on the proud tradition of inadequate posthumous collaborations established by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp in the Conan collections. Page can’t seem to wrap his mind around the powerful female Howard had envisioned. Page has her “whimpering like a child” and learning that “there is no shame to act as a woman” while wrapped in the “protecting arms” of a man. A couple of non-Agnes trifles fill out the collection to book length.
November 14, 2017
Dark Agnes is a rare thing in the writings of Robert E. Howard: a female protagonist. As she says herself, "I drink, fight, and live like a man," and so it is that, once having killed the man she is being forced to marry, she is little different from a myriad other of Howard's fighting heroes. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is a thing. The only real difference is in the attitudes of the men she faces in combat, who inevitably underestimate her strength and skill with a sword, with equally inevitable consequences.
The three stories featuring Agnes are grounded in medieval France, rather than a fantasy world, and the first two are historical adventure stories without any fantasy or supernatural elements. They swing along with the pace and brutality for which Howard is famous, with some nice touches of intrigue. The third Agnes story was edited together from two unfinished versions and has a supernatural twist, which I felt was not needed but neither did it detract from my enjoyment.
Perhaps, had Howard sold the stories (they were published posthumously) and had some success with them, Agnes would have developed into a more distinct character. As it is, they are good Howardian tales with enough of a different slant to make them enjoyably memorable.
The other two stories in this collection are unfinished fragments featuring two of Howard's more usual characterisations: (male) barbarian super-warriors.
Donn Othna is an Irish prince exiled, captured by Vikings and lost at sea, who washes up in India, of all places. This was apparently to be the start of a novel about his battles and intrigues (actually, Howard writes political intrigues rather well) with the various power-blocs of the decadent city-state in which he finds himself. The story ends quite abruptly after the description of a fairly brutal hand-to-hand combat between Donn Othna and a strangler-assassin.
The final story, featuring exiled Irish prince Turlogh O'Brien, is framed as a flashback within a flashback, a nice recession that adds an interesting "Arabian Knights" quality to the tale. O'Brien is telling of his past wanderings amongst the steppe peoples east of the Caucasus. O'Brien is a grim fellow, even by Howard's standards, with a hatred for Vikings that is positively psychopathological (I'm not sure that's a proper word: he really, really doesn't like them, though). This story fragment ends even more abruptly than the last, which is a shame as it was just starting to roll.
There's some debate amongst Howard fans as to whether his fragments are best published as they are - pristine and in Howard's words only - or completed and/or edited by other writers. Providing they are done well (I suppose that's obvious) and in sympathy with Howard's style, then I think I lean to the latter view. These are not works of great literature; they are well-crafted and exciting adventure stories that are great escapism. I want to know the end of the story, and if that means somebody else finishing them, so-be-it. I do prefer to know which are the original words of the master and which the addition of the imitator, rather like those ancient, cracked murals you see in museums: the yellowing plaster and faded paintings filled in with new, white mortar, the amputated limbs of the long-dead people replaced with bright-painted prostheses. The completions add to the enjoyment while leaving you able to appreciate the skill of the original artist.
So, a bit of a patchwork volume, but it all holds together rather well.
The three stories featuring Agnes are grounded in medieval France, rather than a fantasy world, and the first two are historical adventure stories without any fantasy or supernatural elements. They swing along with the pace and brutality for which Howard is famous, with some nice touches of intrigue. The third Agnes story was edited together from two unfinished versions and has a supernatural twist, which I felt was not needed but neither did it detract from my enjoyment.
Perhaps, had Howard sold the stories (they were published posthumously) and had some success with them, Agnes would have developed into a more distinct character. As it is, they are good Howardian tales with enough of a different slant to make them enjoyably memorable.
The other two stories in this collection are unfinished fragments featuring two of Howard's more usual characterisations: (male) barbarian super-warriors.
Donn Othna is an Irish prince exiled, captured by Vikings and lost at sea, who washes up in India, of all places. This was apparently to be the start of a novel about his battles and intrigues (actually, Howard writes political intrigues rather well) with the various power-blocs of the decadent city-state in which he finds himself. The story ends quite abruptly after the description of a fairly brutal hand-to-hand combat between Donn Othna and a strangler-assassin.
The final story, featuring exiled Irish prince Turlogh O'Brien, is framed as a flashback within a flashback, a nice recession that adds an interesting "Arabian Knights" quality to the tale. O'Brien is telling of his past wanderings amongst the steppe peoples east of the Caucasus. O'Brien is a grim fellow, even by Howard's standards, with a hatred for Vikings that is positively psychopathological (I'm not sure that's a proper word: he really, really doesn't like them, though). This story fragment ends even more abruptly than the last, which is a shame as it was just starting to roll.
There's some debate amongst Howard fans as to whether his fragments are best published as they are - pristine and in Howard's words only - or completed and/or edited by other writers. Providing they are done well (I suppose that's obvious) and in sympathy with Howard's style, then I think I lean to the latter view. These are not works of great literature; they are well-crafted and exciting adventure stories that are great escapism. I want to know the end of the story, and if that means somebody else finishing them, so-be-it. I do prefer to know which are the original words of the master and which the addition of the imitator, rather like those ancient, cracked murals you see in museums: the yellowing plaster and faded paintings filled in with new, white mortar, the amputated limbs of the long-dead people replaced with bright-painted prostheses. The completions add to the enjoyment while leaving you able to appreciate the skill of the original artist.
So, a bit of a patchwork volume, but it all holds together rather well.
January 2, 2009
A collection of short stories. The Howard character, Dark Agnes, is a really good characterization of a sword woman, in my opinion.
July 6, 2015
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/20...
A few months ago, I came across the collection The Sword Woman at a used bookstore. I saved it for summertime to read while at the pool, because I knew it wouldn’t require that much concentration or thinking. However, I knew I’d love it, because pulp is my guilty pleasure. I enjoy trashy action stories featuring half-naked heroes and heroines who always manage to beat up the bad guy and save the day. Robert E. Howard is considered to be one of the gold standards for pulpy SF/F, and The Sword Woman does not disappoint.
The Sword Woman is a perfect example of the kind of pulp I love, and yet also a bit of an outlier, because most of the stories in the collection feature a strong female lead (I wish there was more pulp fiction starring badass heroines, but I’ll take what I can get). Dark Agnes begins her story as a young woman who is about to be forced into an arranged marriage by her abusive family. Her sister, wanting to save her from her own fate, gives Agnes a dagger, expecting her to use it to take her life before the ceremony. Instead, Agnes stabs her fiance, runs away, and has adventures. And when someone underestimates her or tries to stop her from living her life the way she chooses, she stabs them too. That’s about as complex as her character gets, and yet she remains awesome, and you can’t help but root for her as she battles highwaymen and necromancers.
My only complaint about The Sword Woman is that I wished that the last two stories weren’t a part of the book, because they didn’t seem to fit. Instead of featuring Dark Agnes, they were completely random stories by completely random people, and the last story in the book was unfinished. I get that this was collection was published posthumously and that’s why the last two stories were included, but I felt like they weren’t ready for publication, and the book didn’t give you any context for them in the intro/cover art/contents. So when I got to them, I kept waiting for Agnes to show up, and was a bit bummed out that she didn’t. Even so, I get that it was 1977 and so you couldn’t really split things up into separate e-books, and instead had to go with a general length that publishers thought that people would buy.
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/20...
A few months ago, I came across the collection The Sword Woman at a used bookstore. I saved it for summertime to read while at the pool, because I knew it wouldn’t require that much concentration or thinking. However, I knew I’d love it, because pulp is my guilty pleasure. I enjoy trashy action stories featuring half-naked heroes and heroines who always manage to beat up the bad guy and save the day. Robert E. Howard is considered to be one of the gold standards for pulpy SF/F, and The Sword Woman does not disappoint.
The Sword Woman is a perfect example of the kind of pulp I love, and yet also a bit of an outlier, because most of the stories in the collection feature a strong female lead (I wish there was more pulp fiction starring badass heroines, but I’ll take what I can get). Dark Agnes begins her story as a young woman who is about to be forced into an arranged marriage by her abusive family. Her sister, wanting to save her from her own fate, gives Agnes a dagger, expecting her to use it to take her life before the ceremony. Instead, Agnes stabs her fiance, runs away, and has adventures. And when someone underestimates her or tries to stop her from living her life the way she chooses, she stabs them too. That’s about as complex as her character gets, and yet she remains awesome, and you can’t help but root for her as she battles highwaymen and necromancers.
My only complaint about The Sword Woman is that I wished that the last two stories weren’t a part of the book, because they didn’t seem to fit. Instead of featuring Dark Agnes, they were completely random stories by completely random people, and the last story in the book was unfinished. I get that this was collection was published posthumously and that’s why the last two stories were included, but I felt like they weren’t ready for publication, and the book didn’t give you any context for them in the intro/cover art/contents. So when I got to them, I kept waiting for Agnes to show up, and was a bit bummed out that she didn’t. Even so, I get that it was 1977 and so you couldn’t really split things up into separate e-books, and instead had to go with a general length that publishers thought that people would buy.
June 28, 2017
So yeah, I'm gradually adding the books I've read in the last year. This was one I'd been looking for a little while, since I'm increasingly drawn to low fantasy (the non-epic sort) and learned there were a few very early such stories written with female protagonists. (These stories, for instance, were written in the 1920's.)
There were a few good ideas and story twists here, but the characters were pretty one-dimensional -- even the heroine leaned too much on stereotypes of the "feisty woman" (from her fiery temper to her red hair). She also tends to be brutal and heartless, maybe because most everyone else (men) she meets is, too (which is a grim, one-note world that wouldn't hold my interest much longer than these few stories).
Still it's nice to think that someone was putting a sword and pistol in the hands of a woman nearly a century ago, letting her reject marriage and stand on her own... not to mention become a mercenary who will take on all comers.
There were a few good ideas and story twists here, but the characters were pretty one-dimensional -- even the heroine leaned too much on stereotypes of the "feisty woman" (from her fiery temper to her red hair). She also tends to be brutal and heartless, maybe because most everyone else (men) she meets is, too (which is a grim, one-note world that wouldn't hold my interest much longer than these few stories).
Still it's nice to think that someone was putting a sword and pistol in the hands of a woman nearly a century ago, letting her reject marriage and stand on her own... not to mention become a mercenary who will take on all comers.
January 16, 2024
The Dark Agnes stories are solid, though I almost wish they had left off the two unrelated fragments that close the volume out.
January 12, 2022
Wow! Talk about Marysue :-D
Agnes de Chastillon, Agnes de la Fére... did Robert choose the name deliberately to attach Agnes to Athos? :-D
This is a wonderful swashbuckling adventure with the sword woman, worth 10 men with her sword. It starts with her killing her fiance on the altar and running away from her village and dastardly father. Then she meets Etienne Villiers (Alexandre Dumas' George Villiers was the Duke of Buckingham :-D), and they start traveling together, but Etienne then sells her to another guy, and we have a fantastic scene of Agnes storming the room, throwing a knife at the buyer killing him instantly, and then beating Etienne up so badly he almost dies.
I imagine she's like 16 or so, because she mentions she wasn't yet a woman, and she was forced to be married :-D I don't think her age was ever mentioned. Or time. They throw around invented names and things like that, but I think it's kind of Three Musketeers fan fiction, so probably somewhere there in time :-D
And it continues like that :-D The first time she holds a sword, she kills half a dozen seasoned villains. :-D
I mean, I am totally giddy about this book - or collection of short stories, what it really is. It's 3 or 4 short stories, 3 written by Howard, and 1-2 (I'm not quite sure how many those are, because they are just continuation of the 3rd story), about 100 pages, so it's really not a book, but anyway, I just want to laugh all the time.
Absolutely fabulous :-D
Agnes de Chastillon, Agnes de la Fére... did Robert choose the name deliberately to attach Agnes to Athos? :-D
This is a wonderful swashbuckling adventure with the sword woman, worth 10 men with her sword. It starts with her killing her fiance on the altar and running away from her village and dastardly father. Then she meets Etienne Villiers (Alexandre Dumas' George Villiers was the Duke of Buckingham :-D), and they start traveling together, but Etienne then sells her to another guy, and we have a fantastic scene of Agnes storming the room, throwing a knife at the buyer killing him instantly, and then beating Etienne up so badly he almost dies.
I imagine she's like 16 or so, because she mentions she wasn't yet a woman, and she was forced to be married :-D I don't think her age was ever mentioned. Or time. They throw around invented names and things like that, but I think it's kind of Three Musketeers fan fiction, so probably somewhere there in time :-D
And it continues like that :-D The first time she holds a sword, she kills half a dozen seasoned villains. :-D
I mean, I am totally giddy about this book - or collection of short stories, what it really is. It's 3 or 4 short stories, 3 written by Howard, and 1-2 (I'm not quite sure how many those are, because they are just continuation of the 3rd story), about 100 pages, so it's really not a book, but anyway, I just want to laugh all the time.
Absolutely fabulous :-D
February 2, 2024
There are TWO reviews I can give for this book; one for the content, and one for this particular edition.
As an edition it is questionable; the "sword woman" of the book is from France- an era I cannot specifically date, but one where pistol and courtly intrigue abound. The cover, and the interior illustrations on the other hand, would have one believe this is another romp of sword and sorcery set in Conan's Hyborea. An additional sin includes putting illustrations in the book pages ahead of the events they depict, and this acting as small spoilers.
Now, as to it's content... It is Robert Howard, which means it's action packed swordplay through and through.
The introduction by Leigh Brackett tells the reader that Black Agnes, the sword woman herself, was a late creation of Howard's with the third story having been unfinished (completed by a different author). This put an air of melancholy about the tales, for as much as I found myself enjoying Howard's take on a French setting with a swashbuckling woman as protagonist, I knew I was doomed to be left wanting.
The sad truth of Howard's early passing is only impressed further by the small snippets of unfinished tails also included. One wonders, hauntingly, what he might have gone on to write as a truly veteran author, considering the volume and imagination of his tales at such a relatively young age?
As for Black Agnes herself, I was thoroughly entertained, even if I do have a few critical thoughts. Just as with the rest of Howard's characters, for all her skill and power, Black Agnes's greatest strength seems to be in meeting legendary characters who, at a critical moment, say or do something dumb that gets them killed so Agnes may come out looking brilliant.
I thought it interesting - the sort of detail one could write much more than I will - that from the second story on, Agnes seems to behave as a man not only in garb and martial desire, but in treatment of women, whom she addresses multiple times as "wenches" and other such derogitories. Does she have special contempt for women who refuse to liberate themselves as she did? Has she absorbed the toxicity of the male peers whose lifestyle she idolizes?
And, as one last critique: the third story, the one that needed to be completed by another author, felt to be a small betrayal of the character. Whether this was Howard's intent, or the design of the other author, I didn't much care to see Agnes whimpering in shell-shocked fear while some guy told her "You did as well as could be expected for a woman". I don't mind the idea of Agnes getting herself a beau but it felt just a little bit patronizing (even as much as I don't blame Agnes for getting spooked by a lich and his hell pit!)
All in all if you're a lover of Howard, you'll like this! Less beastly demons than Conan would fight, but all the same swift paced action!
As an edition it is questionable; the "sword woman" of the book is from France- an era I cannot specifically date, but one where pistol and courtly intrigue abound. The cover, and the interior illustrations on the other hand, would have one believe this is another romp of sword and sorcery set in Conan's Hyborea. An additional sin includes putting illustrations in the book pages ahead of the events they depict, and this acting as small spoilers.
Now, as to it's content... It is Robert Howard, which means it's action packed swordplay through and through.
The introduction by Leigh Brackett tells the reader that Black Agnes, the sword woman herself, was a late creation of Howard's with the third story having been unfinished (completed by a different author). This put an air of melancholy about the tales, for as much as I found myself enjoying Howard's take on a French setting with a swashbuckling woman as protagonist, I knew I was doomed to be left wanting.
The sad truth of Howard's early passing is only impressed further by the small snippets of unfinished tails also included. One wonders, hauntingly, what he might have gone on to write as a truly veteran author, considering the volume and imagination of his tales at such a relatively young age?
As for Black Agnes herself, I was thoroughly entertained, even if I do have a few critical thoughts. Just as with the rest of Howard's characters, for all her skill and power, Black Agnes's greatest strength seems to be in meeting legendary characters who, at a critical moment, say or do something dumb that gets them killed so Agnes may come out looking brilliant.
I thought it interesting - the sort of detail one could write much more than I will - that from the second story on, Agnes seems to behave as a man not only in garb and martial desire, but in treatment of women, whom she addresses multiple times as "wenches" and other such derogitories. Does she have special contempt for women who refuse to liberate themselves as she did? Has she absorbed the toxicity of the male peers whose lifestyle she idolizes?
And, as one last critique: the third story, the one that needed to be completed by another author, felt to be a small betrayal of the character. Whether this was Howard's intent, or the design of the other author, I didn't much care to see Agnes whimpering in shell-shocked fear while some guy told her "You did as well as could be expected for a woman". I don't mind the idea of Agnes getting herself a beau but it felt just a little bit patronizing (even as much as I don't blame Agnes for getting spooked by a lich and his hell pit!)
All in all if you're a lover of Howard, you'll like this! Less beastly demons than Conan would fight, but all the same swift paced action!
September 19, 2024
Sword Woman – The first Dark Agnes story. In 16th century France, Agness refuses to marry. When her father drags her to an arrangement, she stabs the man her father has chosen for her and makes her escape into the forest. She meets Etienne Villiers.
Blades for France – Dark Agnes and Etienne help a young woman who is out to save a a man loyal to the crown. Meanwhile, Agnes is being pursued by a lawman.
Mistress of Death – Dark Agnes and John Stuart fight a sorcerer.
The King’s Service – A fragment. Athelred and his crew, along with Donn Othna land in Nagdragore, a city on the coast of India, after being chased by Assgrimm the Angle around South Africa. Constantius, the king of the city, hires them to be his personal guard. Donn Othna is put to work immediately when a young assassin sneaks into the palace.
The Shadow of the Hun – A fragment. A Turlough O’Brien story. As three warriors await the beginning of a great battle, they each tell stories. O’Brien tells of his long hatred of the Vikings and near death at their hands. Later, recovered, he moves south out of Scandinavia into the Russian steppes and his encounter with Somakeld and his people and their approaching battle with the Huns.
The Dark Agnes stories are slight affairs. She might be an interesting character, but there is little in the stories to make her flesh. If only the fragments had been finished.
Blades for France – Dark Agnes and Etienne help a young woman who is out to save a a man loyal to the crown. Meanwhile, Agnes is being pursued by a lawman.
Mistress of Death – Dark Agnes and John Stuart fight a sorcerer.
The King’s Service – A fragment. Athelred and his crew, along with Donn Othna land in Nagdragore, a city on the coast of India, after being chased by Assgrimm the Angle around South Africa. Constantius, the king of the city, hires them to be his personal guard. Donn Othna is put to work immediately when a young assassin sneaks into the palace.
The Shadow of the Hun – A fragment. A Turlough O’Brien story. As three warriors await the beginning of a great battle, they each tell stories. O’Brien tells of his long hatred of the Vikings and near death at their hands. Later, recovered, he moves south out of Scandinavia into the Russian steppes and his encounter with Somakeld and his people and their approaching battle with the Huns.
The Dark Agnes stories are slight affairs. She might be an interesting character, but there is little in the stories to make her flesh. If only the fragments had been finished.
May 20, 2020
Three tales of the 15th century adventuress Dark Agnes. Rejecting the life of a peasant wife in medieval France, Agnes puts on a pair of pants and takes up the sword instead. As a big buxomed fiery redhead she doesn't fool anyone into thinking she's a man, but her temper and skill with a blade earns her a reputation with the roughest sort of men. These three stories cover Agnes from her days as a peasant girl promised to an unwanted husband through her learning that she is a natural at swordplay and her first days as a hunted woman. It's a good start to a series that REH never finished, which is too bad because Dark Agnes is a very interesting character.
The final two stories are unfinished tales that have no relation to Dark Agnes or any sword women whatsoever. One is the beginning of an adventure of a crew of Vikings traveling to India. The other is the story of Black Turlough as he travels to the Asian steppes and takes on the rampaging Huns. Both show promise, and both end just as the story is beginning to get going.
The final two stories are unfinished tales that have no relation to Dark Agnes or any sword women whatsoever. One is the beginning of an adventure of a crew of Vikings traveling to India. The other is the story of Black Turlough as he travels to the Asian steppes and takes on the rampaging Huns. Both show promise, and both end just as the story is beginning to get going.
July 3, 2018
My latest Robert E. Howard book is Sword Woman. The Three Dark Agnes stories are fun. The third one was completed by Gerald W. Page long after Howard's death. The last two are unfinished manuscripts. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two stories. The tales are full of swashbuckling action and pull no punches on the violence. Agnes de Chastillon is a great character. The third Dark Agnes story has a bit of supernatural in it that her tales do better without. The final story in the book is a fragment of a Turlough O'Brien story.
I had a great deal of fun reading these yarns.
I had a great deal of fun reading these yarns.
October 6, 2018
Much like Leigh Brackett, I'm disappointed to find out that these three (or two and a half) stories are all that we get of Agnes. I appreciate her rage, her refusal to submit, and her sheer bloody-mindedness.
The fragments tacked on at the end threw me a bit, being unfinished and entirely unrelated, but they are fun snippets of Howard prose (shading towards racism, unfortunately, with all the "Aryan destiny" and inherent racial enmities).
A good read for Howard fans, especially women, giving us a chance to see a different hand holding the sword.
The fragments tacked on at the end threw me a bit, being unfinished and entirely unrelated, but they are fun snippets of Howard prose (shading towards racism, unfortunately, with all the "Aryan destiny" and inherent racial enmities).
A good read for Howard fans, especially women, giving us a chance to see a different hand holding the sword.
September 28, 2018
Both fascinating and fun to read an old pulp fantasy by one of the masters. The interesting thing is how strong and empowered Howard was writing his female heroes nearly ninety years ago. The idea of a strong female protagonist is hardly a new one. Recommended for fans of Howard, but if you haven't read him before, you might want to start with one of his better known characters.
March 13, 2024
I loved the first three short stories that included Agnes...what a great, strong female character! The last two stories were interesting, but the book ended in the middle of the last story. No cliffhanger, it was just like the publishing company ran out of paper. It's the first Conan book I've read so I'm assuming the story finishes in the next book. All in all, this was a fun quick read.
November 13, 2023
Interesting ephemera from Robert E. Howard, the author of the Conan stories. A minor diversion in sword and sorcery tales. The Dark Agnes stories were the most fleshed out in terms of plot. The others were more fragmented, though had some promise.
October 18, 2017
I picked this up on the "free" shelf at my library. I read the first part when I was bored one day. It was okay. It really was just that.
June 13, 2019
Contains the only female protagonist written by Howard.
February 15, 2020
This is a collection of three stories featuring Dark Agnes--one of Howard's lesser known characters--and two unfinished fragments. Entertaining, but very minor.
June 26, 2021
This book is Freaking !!! Radicool!!!
If you want to read a book that has a bladed fury (((( Dark Agnes )))) this is the one for you :)
If you want to read a book that has a bladed fury (((( Dark Agnes )))) this is the one for you :)
June 7, 2022
YE GADS! A WOMAN! AND SHE FIGHTS WITH THE FEROCITY OF A MAN! (Imagine this spoken by Matt Berry and you've got Sword Woman).
December 2, 2023
Muchly enjoyed reading this. I admire Howard for cutting edge female dominated heroines way beyond it was accepted.
August 7, 2024
Worth it for the Dark Agnes stories, the rest of interest to completists mainly, in a rough draft sort of way.
August 20, 2024
Even minor Howard is still good Howard.
October 27, 2025
Sans doute inspirée en partie par Jirel de Joiry, mais bien moins flamboyant. Encore un volume completée par des histtoires inachevées
June 15, 2013
I think I've given every Robert E Howard book I've read 3 stars, because the stories and his feeling for them are so badass, but his style is just god awful. He wrote way too much stuff for the amount of time he was alive, like he had never looked back at a single page after he was done with it.
This collection actually only has three stories about the sword woman, who is actually a cliche herself, or has become one since this was written. The other two stories are unrelated, and are actually fragments. The last one, Shadow of the Hun, I think it's called, is a perfect example of everything wrong with Howard's writing. It starts of with a prologue, three dudes on a ship, and one of them starts talking about how he knows the land they are near, and with no notice given to the reader, he jumps right into how he first came there, and met some warrior tribe there, then chapter one "starts" and he just continues on with the same story, totally unrelated to anything that had gone on before. I know it's a fragment only, but I have a pretty good idea where it was going to be headed.
That aside, check out how FUCKING AWESOME some of this prose is:
"And with swift words Turlogh sought to picture for the young Slav that red phase in his restless and battle-haunted life.
"His ship was The Raven which he re-named Crom's Hate after an old heathen Celtic god. Trickery and savage fighting won her, and the scum of the seas manned her. Not one of her crew but had a price on his head. To Turlogh flocked rogues and thieves and murderers, whose only virtue was the reckless abandon of desperate men who have nothing to live for.
"Irish outlaws, Scottish criminals, runaway Saxon thralls, Welsh Freebooters, gallow's birds from Brittany -- these steered and rowed Crom's Hate and fought and looted at their savage lord's command. There were men with cropped ears and slit notses, men with brands on face and shoulder, men whose limbs bore the marks of rack and shackle. They were without love and without hope and they fought like blood-hungry devils."
This collection actually only has three stories about the sword woman, who is actually a cliche herself, or has become one since this was written. The other two stories are unrelated, and are actually fragments. The last one, Shadow of the Hun, I think it's called, is a perfect example of everything wrong with Howard's writing. It starts of with a prologue, three dudes on a ship, and one of them starts talking about how he knows the land they are near, and with no notice given to the reader, he jumps right into how he first came there, and met some warrior tribe there, then chapter one "starts" and he just continues on with the same story, totally unrelated to anything that had gone on before. I know it's a fragment only, but I have a pretty good idea where it was going to be headed.
That aside, check out how FUCKING AWESOME some of this prose is:
"And with swift words Turlogh sought to picture for the young Slav that red phase in his restless and battle-haunted life.
"His ship was The Raven which he re-named Crom's Hate after an old heathen Celtic god. Trickery and savage fighting won her, and the scum of the seas manned her. Not one of her crew but had a price on his head. To Turlogh flocked rogues and thieves and murderers, whose only virtue was the reckless abandon of desperate men who have nothing to live for.
"Irish outlaws, Scottish criminals, runaway Saxon thralls, Welsh Freebooters, gallow's birds from Brittany -- these steered and rowed Crom's Hate and fought and looted at their savage lord's command. There were men with cropped ears and slit notses, men with brands on face and shoulder, men whose limbs bore the marks of rack and shackle. They were without love and without hope and they fought like blood-hungry devils."
November 14, 2021
Det känns som ett utkast till en längre bok men ändå bra då Agnes får ta stor plats och inte mycket spills åt att ursäkta eller förklara hennes resa
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews