Swords Against Darkness

Swords Against Darkness #1

by Andrew J. Offutt (Editor), Robert E. Howard

"We had monsters on Atlantis, but they kept honestly to one shape. You Nephol have had advantages we haven’t. But you say he can devour big beasts, big men. What teeth he must have.”

Swords Against Darkness is a collection of short stories in the tradition of Robert E. Howard...

Robert E. Howard provides weird surprises in a tale of a Spanish opportunist, a “lost” Aztec city, and a centuries-old mage — in what may be the last story REH ever wrote...

The goddess of Chance gambles with a barbarian swordsman — for his life...

The Empire of Rome is threatened with disaster by a barbaric sorcerer who raises mindless killers for the earth itself...

The last survivor of Atlantis is called upon to do battle against a human-eating creature only he can brave — to save a race of giants...

Alongside other all-new tales of menace, high adventure and derring-do, written especially for this volume!

This excellent showcase for heroic fantasy fiction is certainly a must read for any fan of sword and sorcery.


Praise for Richard E. Howard:


"Howard's writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks." - Stephen King

"For stark, living fear... what other writer is even in the running." - H. P. Lovecraft


Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) ranks among the greatest writers of fantasy, action and adventure stories. The creator of Conan the Cimmerian, Kull of Atlantis, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, and many other memorable characters, he wrote well over a hundred stories for the pulp magazines of his day, and is widely regarded as the father of ‘sword and sorcery.'

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Short Story Collection, Heroic Fantasy

183 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1977

About the author

Andrew Jefferson Offutt was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He wrote as Andrew J. Offutt, A.J. Offutt, and Andy Offut. His normal byline, andrew j. offutt, had his name in all lower-case letters. His son is the author Chris Offutt.

Offutt began publishing in 1954 with the story And Gone Tomorrow in If. Despite this early sale, he didn't consider his professional life to have begun until he sold the story Blacksword to Galaxy in 1959. His first novel was Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards in 1970.

Offutt published numerous novels and short stories, including many in the Thieves World series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey, which featured his best known character, the thief Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His Iron Lords series likewise was popular. He also wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard, one on Howard's best known character, Conan, and one on a lesser known character, Cormac mac Art.

As an editor Offutt produced a series of five anthologies entitled Swords Against Darkness, which included the first professional sale by Charles de Lint.

Offutt also wrote a large number of pornographic works under twelve different pseudonyms, not all of them identified. Those known include John Cleve, J.X. Williams, and Jeff Douglas. His main works in this area are the science fiction Spaceways series, most of whose volumes were written in collaboration, and the historical Crusader series.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent S&S collection with a decided emphasis on adventure and swashbuckling against some interesting historical backdrops, as well as occult themes. Among the standouts are Nekht Semerkeht by Robert E. Howard, The Tale of Hauk by Poul Anderson, Straggler from Atlantis by Manly Wade Wellman and Dragons' Teeth by David Drake.

Nekht Semerkeht, the first story featured, is notable as it's considered the last story REH ever (partially) wrote, left unfinished before his suicide later that year. It was completed admirably by Offutt for this collection. Some longish, yet intriguing philosophical musings early in the story reflects what must have been REH's own somber mood leading up to his suicide, as he weighed man's bestial instincts to survive and continue to plod on even when there may be no value or rational purpose left to him. It echoes his own thoughts of death and a preference for dying before becoming bereft of all vitality.

“Hernando de Guzman did not try to deceive himself into believing there was some intellectual reason, then, why he should not give up the agonizing struggle and place the muzzle of his pistol to his head; quit an existence whose savour had long ago become less than its pain. Mother of God, if by some miracle I find my way back to Coronado’s camp and even at last to Mexico or fabled Quivira…there is no reason, none, to believe life would be any less sordid or more desirable than it was before I came tramping northward in search of the Seven Cities of Gold. “Gold,” he muttered again, with a satiric twist of lip. A scar writhed on his sun-darkened face. “The gold we seek is death!””

The story tells the tale of a Spanish Conquistador (unsurprisingly headstrong and barbarian) lost and desperately wandering the great American plains, who stumbles on an unknown inhabited city of magnificent riches and ancient horrors. It may seem initially that the Conquistador's perseverance to continue pushing ahead has paid off, but the city has some surprises in store for him... perhaps it would have been better for him to give up and die peacefully in the wilderness.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice 1970s anthology of Fantasy fiction. Many top rated writers giving you a nice short story to enjoy. Recommended

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very strong collection, only weakened a bit by Offutt's tendency to gush informally and un-informatively in the introductions (still better than Lin Carter's prattle) and by the bizarre "Pride of the Fleet". Many stories are hard to obtain elsewhere and some felt like series that never quite took off.

Like Offutt admits, "Nekht Semerkeht" has a lengthy philosophical monologue bogging down the early part when the action should be ramping up. The story is extremely Howard--burly self-interested protagonist, shapely plotting woman, evil wizard--and ends oddly.

Curiously, Anderson was working in his Northern Thing mode for "The Tale of Hauk", and it felt like it and "Nekht" swapped endings somehow. Or have I come to expect tragedy out of Anderson's viking/Northern fantasies?

Geo W Proctor co-authored the Swords of Raemllyn (I hated the first of the series), and this has a bit of that DNA, particularly the "two rogues and a woman" motif. But I liked the plainspoken craftsmanship and all the activity: a heist, a trap, a background that explains things, and diverse characters. It's a pity that the most interesting character--the sorceress desperate for a bit more power--dies of her own foolishness and greed. Her bloodymindedness counterbalanced the good-natured roguery of the others. I wonder what the other Nalcon story is like.

"Pride of the Fleet" is science fiction (sort of), is driven by visuals, plays with titillation, and is entirely silly in execution. I can see the intended ironic end product, but don't think it was worth it.

"The Ring of Set" was a pleasant discovery: Simon of Gitta is a wizard, but a wizard trained diversely and extensively in a range of skills (even though he gets into trouble by being an idiot). And now he's in possession of a dangerous power source that he doesn't entirely know how to wield. This is a character and series that merits further investigation.

Capella has been unreliable for other stories, but "Largarut's Bane" is an intriguing turnaround for the ordinary-man-fighting-supernatural-menace trope. The story follows Largarut in his quest to destroy a demon plaguing his daughter, but it is how he fits into his own story--is it his story, really?--that makes it powerful. I'm surprised it isn't in more places, especially in collections focusing on female characters and female warriors.

David Drake is very rational and material in his writing, to judge by "Dragon's Teeth", so this fantasy story with horror elements bears the weight of explanation and logic. It never built a mood of horror or mystery, and so felt lacking in sword and sorcery. But I'd like to read more of Drake's historic stuff. His picture of a teetering Roman Empire, beset by bad governance, external threat, and politically-minded military, is compelling and demands more.

Campbell's "The Sustenance of Hoak" shares elements with Karl Edward Wagner's Kane stories, with deep dips into horror elements and a miasma of unease. From the very start there is a sense of wrongness to Hoak, and it up to Ryre to puzzle it out. This is akin to several Conan stories but more complex and wielding menace in new and interesting ways.

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains several short stories in the Sword and Sorcery vein. I would say that most of the stories were excellent. The book contains the following: "Nekht Semerkeeht", this was a decent story. I really liked the attitude of the lost conquistador. I can fully imagine them being like that. The action is quick paced and the ending is almost tragic enough to make me laugh. "Tale of Hauk", pretty much a modern rendition of a classic story a Norse Saga hero taking on a Draugr. Vergy good. "The Smile of Oisia", great story of a theft just gone awry. I particularly enjoyed one of the heroes having to roll the dice with Chance herself. "Pride of the Fleet" Awesome story, never seen the ending coming until right at the end. She was the kind of heroine I would of liked to have more stories of though. "Straggler from Atlantis", I loved this story. I just wish there was a little more to it. "The Ring of Set", excellent story. Wish I could get a hold of a ring like that, well, maybe not..... "Largarut's Bane" A very good story. I think the daughter was my favorite character of the entire story. "Dragons Teeth", now this was an awesome story. Action, magic, and WTF! Interesting times on the Roman frontier. "The Sustenance of Hoak", rounds out the stories in impressive fashion. I couldn't imagine the horror of living in a place like Hoak, but neither could the ones living it, now isn't that a conundrum? Overall a very worthy set of tales, with this being probably the third time I have read this particular book over the years.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, this collection of new, short heroic fantasy stories edited by Andre Offutt, was much stronger than the Flashing Swords series edited by Lin Carter.

This is the first volume and is dynamite. There's not a weak story in the book, and it includes "Nekht Semerkeht," which was a Robert E. Howard draft that was finished by Offutt. It makes for a great collaboration.

This series is notable, too, because it includes a heroic fantasy from Ramsay Campbell, and it was wonderful. I liked it much better than I typically like his horror fiction.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of fantasy type of stories with my two favorites being the Howard/Offutt written “Nekht Semerkeht” and Tierney’s “Ring of Set” both of which feature sorcerey and magic.
The other stories were okay to decent. Nothing too memorable.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

There used to be a distinctive sub-genre of fantasy called swords & sorcery that usually featured brave swordsmen fighting evil magic while having thrilling adventures in mythic pre-technological lands. Howard's Conan was the premiere example, but there were many others like Leiber's Fafhrd & The Grey Mouser, Moorcock's Elric, Jakes' Brak, and on and on. The field was eventually engulfed by novels in seemingly endless series based on or inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and like role playing games and then by various video games. For a while, though, it was a separate (if small) niche. Lin Carter produced a series of original anthologies called Flashing Swords, and andrew j. offutt followed a few years later with five volumes of Swords Against Darkness. The first volume featured a good story that offutt completed from a fragment that Howard left behind and eight others. There's a very good Viking story by Poul Anderson, an excellent tale of ancient Rome from David Drake, a good Atlantis story by Manly Wade Wellman, a compelling dark one from Ramsey Campbell, a memorable story from Richard L. Tierney, etc. I also enjoyed the chatty introductions that offutt contributed to each entry; he surely took his cue from Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions (though he and Ellison were not on good terms at this time). He provided friendly information but avoided the free-wheeling over-the-top type of hype that Carter (who was clearly inspired by F.S. Ackerman) was known. It was an excellent series with many fine stories.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a bang on showcase for sword and sorcery or heroic fantasy fiction. All the stories here are better than average, and the best are amazing. The perfect length for heroic fantasy is probably the novelette, though even the shorter works in this volume do a good job of world building in a short time. It opens with the Robert E. Howard and andy j. offutt collaboration Nehkt Semerkhet, a story Howard left unfinished on his death. I liked the opening of this story,good characterization of Hernando de Guzman, great setting and atmosphere. At some point though, everything goes off the rails and I find the later half of the story to be weak. I don't know where andy offutt picked up, but it is possible that Howard left this story unfinished because he didn't see anywhere useful to go with it. In any case, the atmospheric opening is wasted by what seems like a trite tacked on ending. The second story, The Tale of Hauk by Poul Anderson is one of the best heroic fantasy stories I have read. It is written in the language of the Viking sagas, has a marvelous supernatural element well grounded in the real, and characters that live and breath and make you care. Superb. This is followed by two of the weaker stories, The Smile of Oisia by Geo W. Proctor is fairly well written and is handled decently, but the setting is a little too much like a dungeons and dragons role playing session. I still liked this story, but it took a while to start clicking, and by the end, while I found it likable, I still found it a little unsatisfying. Reminded me a lot of some of the weaker stories in the Thieves World anthologies. The next story by comic writer Bruce Jones is pretty much a gimmick story and I didn't care for it. It would have looked good in a comic book fantasy anthology, but I think it makes a pretty weak story, especially considering whom it is rubbing shoulders with. Next up is one by Manly Wade Wellman, and this one is fun and well written and full of heart. One of my favorites in this anthology. The Ring of Set by Richard L. Tierney is next, and this one also is good, a Roman background, a likeable magician hero, and well written. Fun story, good character. Raul Capella's Lagarut's Bane is atypical, its hero is a fisherman, it is a story full of heart and humanity. A pleasant read. David Drake's Dragons' Teeth also has a Roman setting, is well written, inventive, and doesn't overstay its welcome. The last story by Ramsey Campbell, The Sustenance of Hoak is tied with the Tale of Hauk for best story in this anthology for me. Dark and brooding, with a hero out of Howard, supernatural enemies that would be comfortable in a Lovecraft story, and a great dark atmosphere. Very well done. Overall, this anthology is much recommended if you like heroic fantasy.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swords Against Darkness (the first in a series of five) is both a solid anthology as well as a good introduction to sword and sorcery and heroic fantasy that doesn't rely on reprints. Even the Robert E. Howard offering is new, albeit originally an incomplete tale penned by Howard and finished by the anthology's editor, andrew j. offutt (who fills some mighty big shoes and brings the tale to a close with respectable style). I admit that the works of many of the author's in this collection were unknown to me, as were three of the authors themselves. While I enjoyed some tales more than others, all of them were well-written and entertaining and certainly worth my time. The only misstep I could find was one story, Pride of the Fleet, and that was due in large part to the fact that it really didn't seem to fit the theme and tone of the anthology (the editor readily admits as much in his introduction to the story). While it was a fine tale in its own right, it seemed more suited to a sword and planet collection perhaps, and happening upon it in the middle of the collection threw me for a bit of a loop.

Swords Against Darkness was a very enjoyable anthology and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in heroic fantasy. I could easily see myself dipping back into this work from time to time when I crave a little adventure.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Sword & Sorcery, or Heroic Fantasy if you prefer, especially in the short story to novella format. This draws me towards collections of.

This collection has a mixed assortment. Some are great, some are not so; however, any collection that includes both Manly Wade Wellman and Poul Anderson, two of my favorites, is worth picking up.

I picked this up years ago, as Gary Gygax names Offutt and the Swords of Darkness anthologies in his Appendix N, literary influences upon Dungeons & Dragons; however, he specifically named volume 3, so I’m not sure if this belongs in my Appendix N Shelf or not. It has enough authors attached to it which are absolutely in Appendix N, so I have included it.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really good collection with stories from Poul Anderson, Manly Wade Wellman and Ramsey Campbell,among others. Unfortunately the Bruce Jones story is creepily sexist in showing how the hot protagonist gets her comeuppance from a smart nerd. That gets a zero star, otherwise this might be up to four stars.

[Sean Brodrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories by excellent authors writing on the style of Roberty Howard, and there isn’t a bad one in the bunch. In fact some of them are downright amazing. If you like this style of fantastic fiction, you’ll want to read this book, just to find out which other authors you should be reading.

[Steve Goble · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite series of Sword-and-Sorcery short stories, showing a broad range -- action, horror, wit, humor. Lots of heroic adventure in small doses.

[Alex Budris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm beginning a journey into some swords-and-sorcery and similar literary territories. This anthology seemed an excellent place to start. I have all five volumes. The third one was a bitch to find, but now I have two copies. I also accumulated #1,2,4,5 of the "Flashing Swords" series. They are book-club hardcovers, yet also first editions, as there were no trade copies. Also, #3 was never issued as a hardcover. It is a PBO published by Dell in 1976. It is also a little hard to find; not outright rare like that freakin' third volume of "Swords Against Darkness". I forget if I ordered a copy (of FS #3) or not so I'm not gonna buy another one until I'm sure I didn't buy one already. Maybe that's how I ended up with two copies of SAD #3; the rare one. What I'll do is sell the ragged one hvqt4v 785 types the cat. I found another human food that she (the cat) likes today. She's not like most cats in that regard. She mostly leaves human food alone. So did the cat I had before her (her being Garland; my cat now), but the other cat, the one that came before, is a fanatic for lemon-pepper rotisserie chicken from Wal-Mart. Garland, the cat I have now - not Pollo aka Good Kitty (the cat I had before who like chix) - was getting all hot for scrambled eggs this morning. She hasn’t taken to one of my meals like that since I let her lick the fancy Oui yogurt spoon. The other cat - Pollo aka Good Kitty - the one I had before Garland, is still alive. She lives with my mom and dad. She spends her days begging for chix and growling low at her arch-nermesis, Lusy aka Baby Kitty. Lucy aka Baby Kitty didn’t come before anyone. She came after Pollo aka Good Kitty, and also after Garland (aka Fatty.) She (Lucy) was late to the party but quick to catch up. One of her things is jumping over top of the poor Pollo’s head. The Pollo aka Good Kitty growls low. Garland has nothing to do with these two and yesterday she was hanging out in her cat-basket when the mailman - Garland thinks she’s clever and calls him ‘the female man’ - knocked at the door. Special delivery! he hollered. Not really. But he had a package inside said package was a thick TPB titled SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS but it wasn’t volume 1 or 2 or that pesky 3 etc, etc - it was a newer anthology edited by the always awesome Paula Guran and it is S&S thru and thru, paying close homage to those neato collections from the 70s that I am also reading now

[Scott McPherson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mixed bag. I really wanted to enjoy these stories more, but only a couple really stood out. I'll give a short review of each.

Nekht Semerkeht: 4.5/5

This story was a good starter. The lost Conquistador is a very cool character to follow, and the plot is a classic sword and sorcery yarn, with a tragic twist. Probably my favourite out of all of them.

The Tale of Hauk: 3/5

A Norse tale about a man taking on a dead warrior. Kind of plodding, but then again, I've gotten tired of Viking stuff so that's probably on me.

The Smile of Oisia: 3.5/5

A fun robbery tale. Not too amazing but not terrible either. Unlike this next story...

Pride of the Fleet: 0/5

Yep. The big zero. A sci-fi story in a book full of mainly-past era stories? Sounds amazing! And with a title like that? Must be a really badass ship!

Nope.

This story is horrendously sexed up, and not in the good way. I cringed all the way through this at his depiction of the heroine. I won't say too much in case anyone wants to read this, but it's terrible and disgusting.

Straggler from Atlantis: 4/5

Now this was better. A man washes up from Atlantis and meets a tribe of giants, and hunts down a monster. I wish there was more of this (is there?) because the character was very well written and I could see a novel or a few short stories being written with him.

The Ring of Set: 4/5

Another good historical tale. Based on Simon Magus, the character is a magician ex-gladiator who tries to warn the Roman emperor about a cursed ring from Egypt. I've heard there's more of this character written so I'm definetely going to read more into this. These historically based tales are my favourite.

Largarut's Bane: 2/5

At least this one was short. It seemed rather pointless and I didn't really get it, although the concept could have been cool.

Dragon's Teeth: 4.5/5

Another fun historical tale dealing with Roman legionaries and magical fuckery. I enjoyed it. A lot.

The Sustenance of Hoak: 3.5/5

A mercenary in a very creepy town. A decent closer, better than most of the other offerings in this collection.


Despite my low rating, I will probably seek out the other Swords Against Darkness collections, because I still enjoyed reading these (with the exception of Pride of the Fleet).

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in a five-book anthology series of heroic fantasy stories, edited by an author best known for his CONAN pastiches. Fittingly enough this begins with a Robert E. Howard 'tale' (most likely the briefest outline) finished by Offutt, and it's a familiar enough outing with a nastier protagonist than many and a real-world location for a change. Straight after we're into Poul Anderson's THE TALE OF HAUK, the best in the book, a wonderful story about a viking grappling with his dead father's restless shade: realistic, frightening stuff indeed. Geo W. Proctor's THE SMLE OF OISIA is good too, a fun all-out Conan copy with some intriguing characters, like the sorceress, and bloody action.

PRIDE OF THE FLEET, by Bruce Jones, is the dud here; a queasy sci-fi short with an unpleasantly sleazy feel and awful twist ending. But Manly Wade Wellman's STRAGGLER FROM ATLANTIS picks things up again with a Conanesque hero battling an amorphous horror in a land of giants. Richard L. Tierney's THE RING OF SET is another goodie, offering more black magic shenanigans with a Roman setting this time around; Howard himself would be proud.

Raul Garcia Capella's LARGARUT'S BANE is a lesser affair, more ethereal, about a kid haunted by a dream demon, but it doesn't outstay its welcome. David Drake's DRAGONS' TEETH goes back to the Romans for a horror-tinged story that reminded me of JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, except with a lot more violence. The last story is by horror auteur Ramsey Campbell; THE SUSTENANCE OF HOAK is unremarkable except for an utterly loathsome nightmare creature straight out of one of Lovecraft's darkest dreams.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

No man was alone and friendless if he had a proper sword.

I started collecting this series because the third volume is in AD&D’s “Appendix N”. Even the first volume seems to be at least of the kind of stories that must have influenced D&D. The third story, The Smile of Oisia, is about a ninth-level sorceress, in a party of consisting of a magic-user, a fighter, and a thief, infiltrating a dungeon to dice with the gods. It’s hard to imagine a pre-D&D story that is more D&D-like. Richard Tierney’s The Ring of Set involves a single character who embodies all three of those classes, but whose actions could easily be handled in a D&D game: sticks to snakes, change self, and so on.

The stories are basically, “someone fights something evil”, but that allows for quite a bit of variation. The first story is a Robert E. Howard non-Conan story that wasn’t finished when Howard died; editor Andrew Offutt finished the story, and includes notes on why he did and didn’t do certain things.

The stories vary from fantastic versions of our own history (as the Howard story, in the New World), or a David Drake story set in Rome, to completely made-up worlds, such as the Oisia story and Poul Anderson’s Largarut’s Bane.

This is a very nice collection of “heroic fantasy”.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this (apparently classic) sword-and-sorcery anthology from the early '70s up partly out of curiosity to see how it reads in the present day, but also looking for some exciting stories.

Some older works can feel far ahead of their time on race or gender. This one underperformed. Of the first four stories, two had young ex-noble slave girls and a third where the twist is an incel get the last laugh against the female lead. The best depiction of women in that set is a Poul Anderson tale of Norsemen, in which they get to be homemakers in traditional roles.

In terms of riveting storytelling it's a bit better, with three or four pretty solid stories and only a couple I actively disliked. Still, there are much better choices out there.

[Eero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had this collection in my Kindle library for a long time. It must have been a freebie I grabbed on the strength of the contributors. As far as the content goes, it should be in the 4-5 star range; this was a time when the genre and the authors were in a strong place. There were, I think, only two stories I did not care for too much: one because its use of adjectives and obscure terms reminded me a bit of the infamous piece of bad amateur fiction that apparently circulated as entertainment in cons, and the other was basically just an extended dirty joke.

However, the Kindle edition has apparently been scanned from a paper copy and contains the usual OCR issues: page numbers appearing amid the text, misidentified stuff (for instance "rn" tends to become "m").

[M.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's probably the most excellent collection of classic sword-and-sorcery short stories I've ever read. The last story (about Hoak) ventures a bit into the horror category and doesn't really fit with the rest of the book, and like many collections of short fiction the authors seem to be trying out ideas and practicing their craft. It's very good, and a step above entertaining, but it doesn't quite rise to the level of literary greatness. Given this book's presence on the "reading list" appendix for Dungeons & Dragons, though, it's a must-read for any serious fan of fantasy.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories range in quality, from excellent to unreadable. In my opinion, this collection starts off strongest with the first two shorts by Robert E Howard and Poul Anderson. I couldn't get through Pride of The Fleet, which sits somewhere near the halfway point of the book; it was cringe inducingly bad. The latter half picks up again, finishing with a pretty strong story by Ramsey Campbell. Overall worth a read!

[Hector · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very memorable fantasy-adventure stories here, including Offutt's very good completion of an unfinished Robert E. Howard story, and enjoyable darker stories by maestros Poul Anderson and Ramsey Campbell. Some authors I had never heard of--George Proctor, Richard Tierney, and Raul Garcia Capella--contribute entertaining tales that bring some originality to the sword-and-sorcery formula. Everything in this book moves very quickly--if you like fast-paced stories, your dreams just came true.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but not spectacular

A collection of stories written in homage to Howard and his style of heroic fiction. Some better than others. The lead story made from an unfinished, posthumous Howard manuscript, is pretty typical of the genre. The offerings by veteran David Drake and the venerable Poul Anderson are noteworthy.

[Heiki Eesmaa · Rating 2 out of 5]

An anthology with a few strong entries (I did like Wellman's fairly simple story most) and a memorable weird one ("Pride of the Fleet"). Still, overall I don't think it's a must read. I did kind of read it in my Appendix N reading spree, even though only volume III of the anthology is expressly mentioned there.

[Marbea Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great well written short stories. Very fantasy historical and long winded storyline. These are a forwarded short story about a short story. It gets too wordy and cheesy but it's fantasy and darkness so it's what it's worth.

[Axel M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hatte diese Anthologie vor mehr als dreißig Jahren einmal gelesen und mir jetzt eine eigene Ausgabe gekauft. Dennoch waren mir unheimlich viele Details im Gedächtnis geblieben, vor allem Poul Andersons Wikinger-Wiederganger....

[Will Templeton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit cheeky listing this as a Robert E Howard book, as his sole contribution is providing the notes from which another writer completed a single story in this collection, but there are some decent efforts amongst these heroic fantasy tales.

[Patricia Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice one

Good read kept me interested and involved reminded me of my youth reading Robert e Howard's books thank you for the memory

[Ace McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found in attic amongst old S & S collection. Good set of stories. Story by Ramsey Campbell best.

3.5 stars

Reread

[Christian Ovsenik · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sustenance of Hoak was amazing