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Almuric
The creator of Conan looks to the stars in one of fantasy's most enduring science fantasy classics! Robert E. Howard's Almuric is a savage planet of crumbling stone ruins and debased, near-human inhabitants. Into this world comes Esau Cairn, Earthman, swordsman, murderer. Only he can overthrow the terrible devils that enslave Almuric, but to do so he must first defeat the inner demons that forced him to abandon Earth. Filled with vile beasts and thrilling adventure in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Almuric is one of Howard's few novels, and an excellent yarn from one of America's most distinct literary voices.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
59 people are currently reading
1435 people want to read
About the author
Robert E. Howard
2,978 books2,640 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews
October 9, 2024
Esau Cairn has a rather nebulous background, working as an enforcer for a criminal boss, a politician, still a person needs an income to live . Yet when he kills his employer in self defense or was it murder, either way is he a hood or a good guy? Tough Cairn strong as an ox but a little better looking , goes on the lam and befriends Professor Hilderbrand a scientist far advanced in his field, even today many years later this hasn't changed .The brilliant man has invented a device that can transport humans to an unknown planet, in a distant solar system (NASA could use him) . The inventor and discoverer of this new world called Almuric, never explained how that name came about however sounds good, he asks Escau if he wants to go there? A no -brainer what has the fugitive got to lose (Hilderbrand isn't risking his own neck). After warning the "volunteer" he will be unable to come back, Cairn quickly travels to the new world, it's better than sitting on the hot chair, just once though . Not wasting any time he gets immediately into a sword fight, numerous struggles follow, a man needs a reputation here to endure the savage land. Since that particular weapon is king on Almuric and the expatriate is an expert, he soon receives the nickname Iron Hand. The planet is like ancient Greece, city states war on each other continuously, thus so imperative joining a tribe to survive, not a gang but a family maybe, then he meets Altha , there is always a pretty girl in these books and battles winged devils, evil apes and weird other creatures as if the previous ones aren't strange enough. Fans of legendary Robert E. Howard will not be disappointed by the book , the greatly loved writer who left us much too early in 1936 by his own hand, a superb account in this too short a
novel, however showing his vast talent. Fun in a word happens, can the man civilize this place...hopefully not.
novel, however showing his vast talent. Fun in a word happens, can the man civilize this place...hopefully not.
September 13, 2015
Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths Reviews
Whenever I write a review on a Robert E. Howard story, I always like to begin by tipping my proverbial hat to this master of pulp fiction. In just 10 years, Howard penned approximately 300 short stories, two novels and countless poems featuring numerous characters in a wide variety of genres, including heroic fantasy, western, horror, historical and humor. While Conan the Barbarian might be his most famous creation, he was a prolific creators who dreamed up characters and worlds seemingly at will, as his stable of protagonists span the gamut from Sailor Steve Costigan (1930s tough guy sailor), to Dark Agnes de Chestillon (red-haired 16th century French swordswoman), and onward to notable heroes like Solomon Kane, El Borak, De Montour, Kull the Conqueror, Bran Mak Morn, last king of the Picts, and Esau Cairn, the hero of this sword and planet novel reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom novels.
Since this is a classic “portal” scifi story, Almuric begins on earth, where Esau Cairn is a man born out of his time. What makes it worse is that he realizes it, feeling that life holds no challenges for him, and so he spends his days drifting from place to place, adventure to adventure, seeking a challenge worthy of his near superhuman abilities. Or so the narrator tells a reader, introducing this rugged man and his life up to this point, enlightening his listeners on Esau’s fruitless search to find contentment in the modern world when his blood cried out for a less civilized time.
Naturally, this introduction leads to our hero finally stumbling upon someone who can help him. This someone being a scientist, who uses an invention of the modern, civilized world to exile Esau to another planet far from earth.
Once awakening to his new home, Esau Cairn finds himself among strange creatures, who force him to return to man’s natural state of honorable barbarism. His initial tales of harsh survival setting up his later journey across this alien world to find other intelligent beings.
Eventually, Esau encounters a race of huge apelike men (Naturally, they speak English!), who hide behind massive stone fortifications and zealously guard their females, (Who, naturally, bear a striking resemblance to gorgeous human women!) and must use his physical prowess and sword skill to survive and carve out for himself a place upon this alien world.
From this beginning a rousing tale of sword fights, menacing villains, and unlikely heroism and friendship develops. There isn’t too much here that surprises, but it is entertaining, as only pure sugar-coated pulp fiction scifi can be. Sure, it does read a little like a poor man’s version of Burroughs’ Barsoom, but Robert E. Howard pulls his sword and planet tale off admirable, making Esau Cairn’s story compelling, if not enlightening. So give it a try if you like Howard or Barsoom; it will be well worth your time.
Whenever I write a review on a Robert E. Howard story, I always like to begin by tipping my proverbial hat to this master of pulp fiction. In just 10 years, Howard penned approximately 300 short stories, two novels and countless poems featuring numerous characters in a wide variety of genres, including heroic fantasy, western, horror, historical and humor. While Conan the Barbarian might be his most famous creation, he was a prolific creators who dreamed up characters and worlds seemingly at will, as his stable of protagonists span the gamut from Sailor Steve Costigan (1930s tough guy sailor), to Dark Agnes de Chestillon (red-haired 16th century French swordswoman), and onward to notable heroes like Solomon Kane, El Borak, De Montour, Kull the Conqueror, Bran Mak Morn, last king of the Picts, and Esau Cairn, the hero of this sword and planet novel reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom novels.
Since this is a classic “portal” scifi story, Almuric begins on earth, where Esau Cairn is a man born out of his time. What makes it worse is that he realizes it, feeling that life holds no challenges for him, and so he spends his days drifting from place to place, adventure to adventure, seeking a challenge worthy of his near superhuman abilities. Or so the narrator tells a reader, introducing this rugged man and his life up to this point, enlightening his listeners on Esau’s fruitless search to find contentment in the modern world when his blood cried out for a less civilized time.
Naturally, this introduction leads to our hero finally stumbling upon someone who can help him. This someone being a scientist, who uses an invention of the modern, civilized world to exile Esau to another planet far from earth.
Once awakening to his new home, Esau Cairn finds himself among strange creatures, who force him to return to man’s natural state of honorable barbarism. His initial tales of harsh survival setting up his later journey across this alien world to find other intelligent beings.
Eventually, Esau encounters a race of huge apelike men (Naturally, they speak English!), who hide behind massive stone fortifications and zealously guard their females, (Who, naturally, bear a striking resemblance to gorgeous human women!) and must use his physical prowess and sword skill to survive and carve out for himself a place upon this alien world.
From this beginning a rousing tale of sword fights, menacing villains, and unlikely heroism and friendship develops. There isn’t too much here that surprises, but it is entertaining, as only pure sugar-coated pulp fiction scifi can be. Sure, it does read a little like a poor man’s version of Burroughs’ Barsoom, but Robert E. Howard pulls his sword and planet tale off admirable, making Esau Cairn’s story compelling, if not enlightening. So give it a try if you like Howard or Barsoom; it will be well worth your time.
May 20, 2019
Almuric, il pianeta selvaggio: l'ultimo racconto di uno scrittore tra i massimi esponenti del fantastico/horror del primo Novecento. Pubblicato postumo nel 1939, Almuric racconta di Esaù Cairn, un uomo dalla statura imponente che nell'America degli anni '30 si trova estraneo, tutto quello che succede nel Mondo non lo appassiona, ma un bel giorno scopre una roccia particolare che gli cambierà la vita!
Non mi va di raccontare altro sulla trama, invece vorrei spendere due parole per l'autore. Rober E. Howard nasce nel 1906 in Texas, ha un'infanzia non delle migliori, osteggiato dai suoi coetanei e da suo padre, si chiuderà sempre più in se stesso e nella protezione di una madre possessiva, così inizia da subito a sviluppare una passione spropositata verso i libri, la lettura d'evasione, saranno i suoi veri amici. Così come sviluppa la creatività letteraria già adolescente, scrivendo racconti di avventure. Uomo di stazza imponente, le sue storie hanno come protagonisti dei suoi alter-ego, vedi Conan, che sconfiggono il male e la prepotenza con il temperamento, la forza e l'onestà dei sentimenti. Quando nel 1936 sua madre muore, Robert non regge all'urto e si suicida...
Scrittore straordinario, con una capacità descrittiva inesauribile, riesce ad amalgamare capitoli di forte impatto, come i combattimenti, epici, con spade, martelli, pugni e soprattutto con l'impetuosità, a capitoli dove ci racconta l'ambiente alieno, infine a capitoli dove le storie leggendarie e mitiche riesumano mostri venuti da un lontano passato, diciamo i Grandi Antichi tanto raccontati dal suo amico epistolare Lovecraft.
Almuric è l'esempio più incredibile di racconto fantastico/horror che abbia mai letto. In 182 pagine ci racconta di avventure al limite dell'incredibile e dell'insondabile, insomma imprescindibile per un lettore avvezzo a questo genere!
C'è un'ora del giorno che sembra fatta apposta per imprimere negli uomini inseguiti o incarcerati un senso d'impotenza, di rassegnazione dinanzi all'ineluttabile. E' l'alba. E' il momento di fredda luce grigia in cui l'organismo umano è al suo più basso indice di vitalità, quando nelle corsie d'ospedale i moribondi esalano l'ultimo respiro e le partorienti sgravano più spesso. Ed è l'ora in cui sulla Terra la polizia segreta fa irruzione nelle case dei sospetti ben sapendo di trovarli poco disposti a reagire, o in cui i condannati a morte vengono svegliati per essere condotti storditi e passivi al loro destino.
Non mi va di raccontare altro sulla trama, invece vorrei spendere due parole per l'autore. Rober E. Howard nasce nel 1906 in Texas, ha un'infanzia non delle migliori, osteggiato dai suoi coetanei e da suo padre, si chiuderà sempre più in se stesso e nella protezione di una madre possessiva, così inizia da subito a sviluppare una passione spropositata verso i libri, la lettura d'evasione, saranno i suoi veri amici. Così come sviluppa la creatività letteraria già adolescente, scrivendo racconti di avventure. Uomo di stazza imponente, le sue storie hanno come protagonisti dei suoi alter-ego, vedi Conan, che sconfiggono il male e la prepotenza con il temperamento, la forza e l'onestà dei sentimenti. Quando nel 1936 sua madre muore, Robert non regge all'urto e si suicida...
Scrittore straordinario, con una capacità descrittiva inesauribile, riesce ad amalgamare capitoli di forte impatto, come i combattimenti, epici, con spade, martelli, pugni e soprattutto con l'impetuosità, a capitoli dove ci racconta l'ambiente alieno, infine a capitoli dove le storie leggendarie e mitiche riesumano mostri venuti da un lontano passato, diciamo i Grandi Antichi tanto raccontati dal suo amico epistolare Lovecraft.
Almuric è l'esempio più incredibile di racconto fantastico/horror che abbia mai letto. In 182 pagine ci racconta di avventure al limite dell'incredibile e dell'insondabile, insomma imprescindibile per un lettore avvezzo a questo genere!
C'è un'ora del giorno che sembra fatta apposta per imprimere negli uomini inseguiti o incarcerati un senso d'impotenza, di rassegnazione dinanzi all'ineluttabile. E' l'alba. E' il momento di fredda luce grigia in cui l'organismo umano è al suo più basso indice di vitalità, quando nelle corsie d'ospedale i moribondi esalano l'ultimo respiro e le partorienti sgravano più spesso. Ed è l'ora in cui sulla Terra la polizia segreta fa irruzione nelle case dei sospetti ben sapendo di trovarli poco disposti a reagire, o in cui i condannati a morte vengono svegliati per essere condotti storditi e passivi al loro destino.
February 2, 2012
I'm being generous in my rating. Really, the book doesn't deserve more than a 1.5, a 1.75 at most. I don't think I could have finished it if it had been much longer than the 100 or so pages in my edition (I downloaded it from Amazon's Kindle Store but I can't stand not having a book cover so I'm archiving it under this edition).
Almuric is about a character, the Earthman Esau Cairn, and a setting that obviously didn't inspire Howard much, though the theme of "barbarism" being infinitely superior to "civilization" you find in the Kull and Conan stories is omnipresent. A good example being found early in the book: "My being grew and expanded. I tell you, the natural life of mankind is a grim battle for existence against the forces of nature, and any other form of life is artificial and without realistic meaning."
There's no real set up for Cairn's ensuing adventures on the planet of Almuric. He's running from the law and stumbles across the laboratory of a man who's able to transport him to Almuric, where he finds a culture amenable to his disposition. For Cairn is an atavar - a caveman born 20,000 years too late. The "good life" for him is carousing, fighting & doing manly things with other manly men. And the Guras fit that bill; they are skilled in "war, the hunt, and weapon-making" and "know nothing of painting, sculpturing, or the 'higher' learning."
And then there are the Gura women:
I don't need to spend much more time excoriating the many deficiencies of Almuric. When inspired REH could write some of the best fiction in the genre - "Beyond the Black River," "A Witch Shall Be Born," "Queen of the Black Coast," "The Cat and the Skull," etc. - but this is not one of those works.
Almuric is about a character, the Earthman Esau Cairn, and a setting that obviously didn't inspire Howard much, though the theme of "barbarism" being infinitely superior to "civilization" you find in the Kull and Conan stories is omnipresent. A good example being found early in the book: "My being grew and expanded. I tell you, the natural life of mankind is a grim battle for existence against the forces of nature, and any other form of life is artificial and without realistic meaning."
There's no real set up for Cairn's ensuing adventures on the planet of Almuric. He's running from the law and stumbles across the laboratory of a man who's able to transport him to Almuric, where he finds a culture amenable to his disposition. For Cairn is an atavar - a caveman born 20,000 years too late. The "good life" for him is carousing, fighting & doing manly things with other manly men. And the Guras fit that bill; they are skilled in "war, the hunt, and weapon-making" and "know nothing of painting, sculpturing, or the 'higher' learning."
And then there are the Gura women:
As the men assume all risks and responsibility, they naturally assume all authority....
Yet her lot [woman's] is not so unhappy as it might seem....
The duties of the Gura women are few, concerned mainly with child-bearing and child-rearing [written by a life-long bachelor]. They do no work heavier than the manufacturing of silk.... They are witty, merry, affectionate, playful and docile...and they are content in the protection of their ferocious mates and masters.
I don't need to spend much more time excoriating the many deficiencies of Almuric. When inspired REH could write some of the best fiction in the genre - "Beyond the Black River," "A Witch Shall Be Born," "Queen of the Black Coast," "The Cat and the Skull," etc. - but this is not one of those works.
October 18, 2016
It is truly remarkable how much work pulp author Robert E. Howard managed to accomplish during his brief 30 years of life. Indeed, a look at his bibliography, on a certain Wiki site, should surely flabbergast any reader who knows the Texan writer only as the creator of Conan the Cimmerian, King Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane and, essentially, the entire genre known as Sword & Sorcery. Hundreds upon hundreds of titles can be found there, in such variegated categories as boxing, Westerns, Oriental exoticism, sword & sorcery (natch), horror, fantasy, crime, historical tales, detective stories, adventure...even comedy, "spicy stories," essays and poetry. But of all these myriad story types, one salient fact emerges: Most of them are just that--short stories. Howard, despite his superhuman output, wrote very few (four, I believe) longer pieces during his brief career, and indeed, thinking back, I could only recall having read a single one, "The Hour of the Dragon," aka "Conan the Conqueror," which first appeared as a five-part serial in the 12/35 – 4/36 issues of "Weird Tales." But I hadn't read this great fantasy work since high school (more years ago than I'd care to admit), and thus felt that it was high time for me to finally read his posthumous, stand-alone novel, "Almuric."
"Almuric" initially appeared in "Weird Tales," as well, as a three-part series in the May, June – July, and August 1939 issues, three years after its author's suicide in 1936. In hindsight, it seems remarkable now that this work, now deemed a fantasy classic of sorts, never copped the cover illustration for any of those three issues. It saw its first release in book form as a 1964 Ace paperback (F-305, for all you collectors out there), with a cover price of 40 cents. The version that I recently read, from Paizo's Planet Stories series, cost more than 30 times that, but turned out to be a worthy investment, nevertheless, as "Almuric" has revealed itself to be a very solid, at times relentlessly gripping fantasy work, told with an incredible amount of panache.
In the book, a scientist, Prof. Hildebrand, introduces us to a man named Esau Cairn, an individual of extraordinary dynamism and physical brawn, who feels discontent with his life on Earth and who has inadvertently injured many an opponent in the boxing ring and on the football field. Cairn showed up at the professor's laboratory after killing a crooked political boss, and the professor convinced the big lug that his only chance was to utilize Hildebrand's latest scientific wonder to materialize himself onto a planet that the inventor has dubbed "Almuric." This is soon done, and the rest of the book is narrated by Esau himself. And what a narration it is! After living by himself in the planet's highland wilderness for many months, fighting off an assortment of nasty beasts and Almuric's troglodytic inhabitants, Cairn is taken prisoner by the residents of the city of Koth. He fights the mightiest Kothan, Ghor the Bear, and, narrowly besting the Alley Oop-like brute, is made a citizen. But Esau Ironhand's (as he is now known) troubles are just beginning. When the lovely Kothan maiden Altha is captured by the bat-winged black men of distant Yugga, Cairn follows in hot pursuit, ultimately doing battle with a host of dog-faced apes, a monstrous spider, and an electrified and tentacled slug creature (!)...not to mention uniting the hereditary enemy cities of Koth and Khor to do epochal battle against the Yagas' fortified cliff city and their evil queen, Yasmeena....
"Almuric," to be sure, is a red-blooded (in the figurative and literal sense; the book is extremely violent), rousing action yarn that never lets up and that grows increasingly bonkers as it proceeds. Indeed, the book's final battle sequence is absolutely gripping; you won’t be able to turn those pages quickly enough, I assure you. Howard's imagination must surely have been working overtime as his story proceeded, especially as regards Yasmeena's "Ultimate Horror," as wackadoodle a creation as anything Conan ever had to face. The story is a true fantasy of sorts, and not just as regards the amazing monstrosities that Esau Cairn (a great name, that, isn't it?) encounters. Perhaps the novel's most glaring fantasy element is this notion of Almuric's male residents being hairy, ugly cavemen types, while its women are all smooth skinned and beautiful; a development that arose, Howard tells us, because the females were spared the onerous work and hardships in general that the men allowed themselves to endure. Uh, okay. Putting aside that small matter, though, the reader should happily find himself/herself immersed in one mightily entertaining page-turner. It's nothing deep, to be sure, but it sure is fun, and wonderfully atmospheric...perhaps never more so than when the sun is blotted out, the world turns impenetrably dark, and some monstrous Thing passes over the landscape. (Howard was perhaps influenced here by the truly mysterious, unseen monsters in William Hope Hodgson's 1912 classic "The Night Land.")
At this point, I don't think I need convince anyone what a wonderful, natural storyteller Howard was, with a great command of pulp style and verbiage. Just take this wonderful Almuric sample, however, from the scene in which Esau battles that giant spider:
"...Catching up a heavy block of masonry, I poised it for an instant, and then hurled it straight into the onrushing bulk. Full among those branching hairy legs it crushed, and a jet of nauseous green stuff gushed into the air from the torn torso...."
Or howzabout this wonderful bit of pulp verbiage, as Cairn describes the Yagas:
"...I believe they represented a separate branch on the tree of evolution, and that it is only an incredible freak of coincidence which cast them in a mold so similar to man, instead of the shapes of the abysmal, howling, blasphemous dwellers of Outer Darkness...."
Whew! And speaking of language, this might be as good a place as any to mention that this posthumous novel was, it has long been assumed, put together by "Weird Tales" editor Farnsworth Wright, utilizing Howard's completed first draft and incomplete second draft, and that the slightly unpolished feel of the book might have something to do with that provenance. To be sure, there are many who believe that Howard did not even write the book's concluding section, ending as it does with a happy, almost domesticated note, one very atypical for this author. However, if you will go to YouTube and type in the word "Almuric," you'll find a 30-minute dissertation by a Howard scholar who has used the author's known writing samples, as well as samples of a half dozen other possible suspect "Almuric" contributors, fed into a computer, to prove that Howard was, indeed, the book's sole writer. This YouTube clip, by the way, demonstrates that my love of Robert E. Howard pales into insignificance when compared to some others', a fact that does my heart a great deal of good.
But pleasing as it is, "Almuric" does come freighted with any number of small problems. Frustratingly, Hildebrand not only refuses to tell us the nature of his transporting gizmo, or how he has received Esau Cairn's incredible narrative, but also why he has named this discovered world "Almuric" to begin with. We never learn how it is that the residents of the planet happen to speak perfect English (a conundrum that Esau ponders, at one point), and we never even get a sense of the evil Yasmeena's ultimate fate. On a side note, oddly, the author tells us that the men of Koth worship a being named Thak, which was also the name of the ape creature that Conan battled in the 1934 story "Rogues in the House." Another bit of oddness here: the fact that the only Yaga female to have wings is the queen, Yasmeena; to keep their females subservient, all the other females quite literally "have their wings clipped" at birth.
Still, minor problems and bits of strangeness aside, "Almuric" stands, mainly due to its author's overwhelming storytelling gusto and unbridled narrative sweep. The Paizo edition contains more typos than any book should reasonably be allowed to have, especially with its $13 price tag, but better to read a faulty edition of a true fantasy classic than not to read it at all. As author Joe R. Lansdale says of the book in his enthusiastic introduction, "Man. What a killer."
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most excellent destination for all fans of Robert E. Howard....)
"Almuric" initially appeared in "Weird Tales," as well, as a three-part series in the May, June – July, and August 1939 issues, three years after its author's suicide in 1936. In hindsight, it seems remarkable now that this work, now deemed a fantasy classic of sorts, never copped the cover illustration for any of those three issues. It saw its first release in book form as a 1964 Ace paperback (F-305, for all you collectors out there), with a cover price of 40 cents. The version that I recently read, from Paizo's Planet Stories series, cost more than 30 times that, but turned out to be a worthy investment, nevertheless, as "Almuric" has revealed itself to be a very solid, at times relentlessly gripping fantasy work, told with an incredible amount of panache.
In the book, a scientist, Prof. Hildebrand, introduces us to a man named Esau Cairn, an individual of extraordinary dynamism and physical brawn, who feels discontent with his life on Earth and who has inadvertently injured many an opponent in the boxing ring and on the football field. Cairn showed up at the professor's laboratory after killing a crooked political boss, and the professor convinced the big lug that his only chance was to utilize Hildebrand's latest scientific wonder to materialize himself onto a planet that the inventor has dubbed "Almuric." This is soon done, and the rest of the book is narrated by Esau himself. And what a narration it is! After living by himself in the planet's highland wilderness for many months, fighting off an assortment of nasty beasts and Almuric's troglodytic inhabitants, Cairn is taken prisoner by the residents of the city of Koth. He fights the mightiest Kothan, Ghor the Bear, and, narrowly besting the Alley Oop-like brute, is made a citizen. But Esau Ironhand's (as he is now known) troubles are just beginning. When the lovely Kothan maiden Altha is captured by the bat-winged black men of distant Yugga, Cairn follows in hot pursuit, ultimately doing battle with a host of dog-faced apes, a monstrous spider, and an electrified and tentacled slug creature (!)...not to mention uniting the hereditary enemy cities of Koth and Khor to do epochal battle against the Yagas' fortified cliff city and their evil queen, Yasmeena....
"Almuric," to be sure, is a red-blooded (in the figurative and literal sense; the book is extremely violent), rousing action yarn that never lets up and that grows increasingly bonkers as it proceeds. Indeed, the book's final battle sequence is absolutely gripping; you won’t be able to turn those pages quickly enough, I assure you. Howard's imagination must surely have been working overtime as his story proceeded, especially as regards Yasmeena's "Ultimate Horror," as wackadoodle a creation as anything Conan ever had to face. The story is a true fantasy of sorts, and not just as regards the amazing monstrosities that Esau Cairn (a great name, that, isn't it?) encounters. Perhaps the novel's most glaring fantasy element is this notion of Almuric's male residents being hairy, ugly cavemen types, while its women are all smooth skinned and beautiful; a development that arose, Howard tells us, because the females were spared the onerous work and hardships in general that the men allowed themselves to endure. Uh, okay. Putting aside that small matter, though, the reader should happily find himself/herself immersed in one mightily entertaining page-turner. It's nothing deep, to be sure, but it sure is fun, and wonderfully atmospheric...perhaps never more so than when the sun is blotted out, the world turns impenetrably dark, and some monstrous Thing passes over the landscape. (Howard was perhaps influenced here by the truly mysterious, unseen monsters in William Hope Hodgson's 1912 classic "The Night Land.")
At this point, I don't think I need convince anyone what a wonderful, natural storyteller Howard was, with a great command of pulp style and verbiage. Just take this wonderful Almuric sample, however, from the scene in which Esau battles that giant spider:
"...Catching up a heavy block of masonry, I poised it for an instant, and then hurled it straight into the onrushing bulk. Full among those branching hairy legs it crushed, and a jet of nauseous green stuff gushed into the air from the torn torso...."
Or howzabout this wonderful bit of pulp verbiage, as Cairn describes the Yagas:
"...I believe they represented a separate branch on the tree of evolution, and that it is only an incredible freak of coincidence which cast them in a mold so similar to man, instead of the shapes of the abysmal, howling, blasphemous dwellers of Outer Darkness...."
Whew! And speaking of language, this might be as good a place as any to mention that this posthumous novel was, it has long been assumed, put together by "Weird Tales" editor Farnsworth Wright, utilizing Howard's completed first draft and incomplete second draft, and that the slightly unpolished feel of the book might have something to do with that provenance. To be sure, there are many who believe that Howard did not even write the book's concluding section, ending as it does with a happy, almost domesticated note, one very atypical for this author. However, if you will go to YouTube and type in the word "Almuric," you'll find a 30-minute dissertation by a Howard scholar who has used the author's known writing samples, as well as samples of a half dozen other possible suspect "Almuric" contributors, fed into a computer, to prove that Howard was, indeed, the book's sole writer. This YouTube clip, by the way, demonstrates that my love of Robert E. Howard pales into insignificance when compared to some others', a fact that does my heart a great deal of good.
But pleasing as it is, "Almuric" does come freighted with any number of small problems. Frustratingly, Hildebrand not only refuses to tell us the nature of his transporting gizmo, or how he has received Esau Cairn's incredible narrative, but also why he has named this discovered world "Almuric" to begin with. We never learn how it is that the residents of the planet happen to speak perfect English (a conundrum that Esau ponders, at one point), and we never even get a sense of the evil Yasmeena's ultimate fate. On a side note, oddly, the author tells us that the men of Koth worship a being named Thak, which was also the name of the ape creature that Conan battled in the 1934 story "Rogues in the House." Another bit of oddness here: the fact that the only Yaga female to have wings is the queen, Yasmeena; to keep their females subservient, all the other females quite literally "have their wings clipped" at birth.
Still, minor problems and bits of strangeness aside, "Almuric" stands, mainly due to its author's overwhelming storytelling gusto and unbridled narrative sweep. The Paizo edition contains more typos than any book should reasonably be allowed to have, especially with its $13 price tag, but better to read a faulty edition of a true fantasy classic than not to read it at all. As author Joe R. Lansdale says of the book in his enthusiastic introduction, "Man. What a killer."
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most excellent destination for all fans of Robert E. Howard....)
January 13, 2021
There's nothing quite like Robert E. Howard at his best. His unbridled exuberance, beautiful prose, and talents for depicting eerie, desolate landscapes and otherworldly horrors. Yet I found Almuric, his sole full length sword & planet story, generally unremarkable. To be fair, it's a solid rollicking story, written fairly well, but I've come to expect more from Howard. Given the huge volume of stories he churned out to make his living in his too short thirty years, it's hard to fault him if not everything turned out a masterpiece.
October 21, 2021
Almuric was one of Howard's few novel-length stories, and could arguably be considered his only science fiction. It's a sword-and-planet story in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter stories, and was published in Weird Tales magazine in 1939, a few years after he died. There has been speculation that the manuscript was heavily edited and/or expanded by Otis Adelbart Kline, a stalwart in the sword-and-planet genre in his own right, but that's a question we'll never have answered. Esau Cairn, the protagonist, will never rival Conan or Kane or Kull in the hearts of Howard's fans, but it's a typical pulp adventure, full of flashing swords and derring-do... and, unfortunately, a bit of the implied racism and misogyny typical of the time. Cairn is a boxer who falls prey to the machinations of an evil politician and escapes to a life of planetary romance thanks to a scientist friend who teleports him to Almuric. It's pretty good adventure, but not among his best.
March 29, 2022
It starts out on earth but a man from our planet gets transported to a whole other planet where he goes to battle. Very reminiscent of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but very much done in Robert E. Howard’s style as he does make it his own. Fun read.
July 3, 2021
This was my first foray into Robert E. Howard and I really enjoyed it. We follow a man's man, the ultra Chad, the definition of masculinity Esau after he is expelled from earth by a kindly scientist. He is sent to the planet Almuric where he eventually becomes accepted by the Guras who are like the middle men for men and ape but their women are hairless like humans. I don't know it doesn't really make sense but it doesn't matter because by the time logic kicks in you're so high on testosterone based cocaine that you don't notice. Its just mindless brutal fun from naked start to brutal finish. If you're looking for something that's light as an in-between read i think this is a pretty decent choice. Plus you get winged people, tenticle banana slugs (my phone auto corrected that to testicle at first, fun times), dog-faced dwarves, leopards and giant spiders. Well worth a fast read, I'll probably read more Howard after this.
There it is and there you have it.
There it is and there you have it.
Read
May 16, 2016Almuric, “Barbar Conan” efsanesiyle tanıdığımız yazar Robert E. Howard’ın 1939 yılında ünlü Weird Tales dergisi için kaleme almış olduğu üç bölümlük bir bilimkurgu.
Kitap dünyada aradığını bulamayan ve siyasi mekanizmanın buyruklarına alet olmayı reddeden insan azmanı bir varlığın, Esau Cairn’in hikâyesini konu alıyor. İnsanlar arasında bir ucube olarak anılan ve nereye giderse gitsin dünya üzerinde bu tür yakıştırmalardan kurtulamayan bir kişinin öyküsünü dinliyoruz.
Sonunda onun durumunu fark eden bir profesörden, kendi keşfetmiş olduğu ve evrende dünya harici insanların yaşayacağı tek gezegen olan –profesörün kendince adlandırdığı- Almuric’e gönderilme teklifi alır. Nelerle karşılaşacağını o an umursamayıp, riskleri ve bilinmezlikleri bir kenara atan Cairn’in Almuric’e olan macerası böylece başlamış olur.
Kitap toplamda 12 bölümden oluşuyor. Ama kahramanımızın Almuric’e ayak bastığı andan itibaren üç önemli aşamadan geçtiğini söyleyebiliriz. Bunlardan ilki, bu yeni gezegende yaşadığı yalnız ve vahşi hayat. Daha sonra o dünyanın maymuna benzeyen farklı türlerdeki kıllı barbarlarıyla geçirdiği zaman geliyor. Son olarak Yaga adıyla bilinen uçan iblislere tutsak olduğu ve beraberinde gelişen olayların konu alındığı bölümle nihayete eriyor.
Bu süreçlerde Esau Cairn, farklı bir dünyada yaşamanın ne olduğunu anlıyor. Yine hayal dahi edemeyeceği türden yaratıkların, efsanelerde bile duymadığı iblislerin kol gezdiği bir gezegeni keşfediyor. Tutsak alınıyor, sayısız kez dövüşüyor, derisi bu yeni dünyanın şartlarına uyum sağlıyor, kıl payı ölümlerden kurtuluyor. Anlayacağınız tam bir “barbar” hayatı yaşıyor, bununla birlikte kontrol edemediği öfke nöbetlerine girip vahşet saçıyor. Âşık da oluyor. Anlam veremediği olaylardan bir önceki dünyada bıraktığı zannettiği zekâsıyla baş etmeye çabalıyor.
Türün bilimkurgusal yanı başta profesörün onu Almuric’e göndermesinden ibaret. Yeni bir dünya olsa da bilimkurgu olarak nitelendireceğimiz pek bir şey görmüyoruz. Belki tamamen kişisel fikirlere göre de eleştirimizi devam ettirebiliriz. Bilimkurgu da var, fantastik olaylar da.
Açıkçası romanı okurken büyük keyif aldığımı belirtmek isterim. Zira akıcılığı sayesinde sayfalar su gibi akıp geçerken, romanın ilerleyen bölümlerinde neler olacağını, kahramanın ölmeyeceğini bilseniz dahi ne şekilde hayata devam edebileceğini merak ediyorsunuz. Tamamen ilkel bir hayatın yaşandığı bu dünya yazarın enteresan hayal gücüyle birleşip okunması zevkli bir eser çıkıyor ortaya.
- Hakan TUNÇ
İncelemenin tamamı için: http://www.kayiprihtim.org/portal/inc...
Kitap dünyada aradığını bulamayan ve siyasi mekanizmanın buyruklarına alet olmayı reddeden insan azmanı bir varlığın, Esau Cairn’in hikâyesini konu alıyor. İnsanlar arasında bir ucube olarak anılan ve nereye giderse gitsin dünya üzerinde bu tür yakıştırmalardan kurtulamayan bir kişinin öyküsünü dinliyoruz.
Sonunda onun durumunu fark eden bir profesörden, kendi keşfetmiş olduğu ve evrende dünya harici insanların yaşayacağı tek gezegen olan –profesörün kendince adlandırdığı- Almuric’e gönderilme teklifi alır. Nelerle karşılaşacağını o an umursamayıp, riskleri ve bilinmezlikleri bir kenara atan Cairn’in Almuric’e olan macerası böylece başlamış olur.
Kitap toplamda 12 bölümden oluşuyor. Ama kahramanımızın Almuric’e ayak bastığı andan itibaren üç önemli aşamadan geçtiğini söyleyebiliriz. Bunlardan ilki, bu yeni gezegende yaşadığı yalnız ve vahşi hayat. Daha sonra o dünyanın maymuna benzeyen farklı türlerdeki kıllı barbarlarıyla geçirdiği zaman geliyor. Son olarak Yaga adıyla bilinen uçan iblislere tutsak olduğu ve beraberinde gelişen olayların konu alındığı bölümle nihayete eriyor.
Bu süreçlerde Esau Cairn, farklı bir dünyada yaşamanın ne olduğunu anlıyor. Yine hayal dahi edemeyeceği türden yaratıkların, efsanelerde bile duymadığı iblislerin kol gezdiği bir gezegeni keşfediyor. Tutsak alınıyor, sayısız kez dövüşüyor, derisi bu yeni dünyanın şartlarına uyum sağlıyor, kıl payı ölümlerden kurtuluyor. Anlayacağınız tam bir “barbar” hayatı yaşıyor, bununla birlikte kontrol edemediği öfke nöbetlerine girip vahşet saçıyor. Âşık da oluyor. Anlam veremediği olaylardan bir önceki dünyada bıraktığı zannettiği zekâsıyla baş etmeye çabalıyor.
Türün bilimkurgusal yanı başta profesörün onu Almuric’e göndermesinden ibaret. Yeni bir dünya olsa da bilimkurgu olarak nitelendireceğimiz pek bir şey görmüyoruz. Belki tamamen kişisel fikirlere göre de eleştirimizi devam ettirebiliriz. Bilimkurgu da var, fantastik olaylar da.
Açıkçası romanı okurken büyük keyif aldığımı belirtmek isterim. Zira akıcılığı sayesinde sayfalar su gibi akıp geçerken, romanın ilerleyen bölümlerinde neler olacağını, kahramanın ölmeyeceğini bilseniz dahi ne şekilde hayata devam edebileceğini merak ediyorsunuz. Tamamen ilkel bir hayatın yaşandığı bu dünya yazarın enteresan hayal gücüyle birleşip okunması zevkli bir eser çıkıyor ortaya.
- Hakan TUNÇ
İncelemenin tamamı için: http://www.kayiprihtim.org/portal/inc...
February 22, 2023
Almuric è l'unico romanzo di fantascienza di Robert E. Howard, in cui il classico planetary romance burroughsiano alla John Carter di Marte o Carson Napier di Venere incontra un protagonista più sanguigno, battagliero e picchiatore in perfetto stile howardiano, alla Conan il Barbaro o Cormac Fitzgeoffrey, giusto per citarne qualcuno, il tutto impreziosito da una leggera spruzzatina in salsa horror qua e là.
In poco più di 200 pagine Almuric riesce a condensare un racconto ricchissimo di epica e fantasia, in cui il nostro protagonista Esaù Cairn, uomo dal fisico possente e che non ha mai realmente trovato un proprio posto nella società, viene trasportato da un misterioso congegno su un altro mondo, Almuric appunto. Qui egli sarà costretto a tornare a vivere in un modo a lui più congeniale, primitivo, feroce e a stretto contatto con la natura, tutti elementi che nel mondo moderno, gravato dalle sue infinite prigioni mentali dettate dalla tecnologia e dalle strutture socio-culturali, sono ormai andati del tutto perduti. Ma Esaù scoprirà presto di non essere solo in quel nuovo mondo, e dovrà lottare prima per poter conquistare un proprio spazio in quella stravagante, combattiva e in un certo senso onesta e diretta società, e in seguito per debellare il più misterioso e letale dei nemici delle popolazioni autoctone: i mostruosi uomini alati Yagas, dominati dalla loro crudele regina Yasmeena.
Pur non raggiungendo, visto la sua brevità, la complessità dei mondi raccontati in altri cicli di questo genere, il talento di Howard è indiscutibile e le gesta di Esaù rappresentano una lettura travolgente e che non tralascia di instillare nel lettore riflessioni sulle differenze tra questi due mondi e identità sociali, su ciò che l'umanità ha conquistato ma anche su ciò che, proprio per quella stessa ragione, ha perduto per sempre... Almuric, per quanto mi riguarda, rimane un libro assolutamente da non perdere, tanto per gli amanti di Howard, quanto del planetary romance e del fantastico più in generale.
In poco più di 200 pagine Almuric riesce a condensare un racconto ricchissimo di epica e fantasia, in cui il nostro protagonista Esaù Cairn, uomo dal fisico possente e che non ha mai realmente trovato un proprio posto nella società, viene trasportato da un misterioso congegno su un altro mondo, Almuric appunto. Qui egli sarà costretto a tornare a vivere in un modo a lui più congeniale, primitivo, feroce e a stretto contatto con la natura, tutti elementi che nel mondo moderno, gravato dalle sue infinite prigioni mentali dettate dalla tecnologia e dalle strutture socio-culturali, sono ormai andati del tutto perduti. Ma Esaù scoprirà presto di non essere solo in quel nuovo mondo, e dovrà lottare prima per poter conquistare un proprio spazio in quella stravagante, combattiva e in un certo senso onesta e diretta società, e in seguito per debellare il più misterioso e letale dei nemici delle popolazioni autoctone: i mostruosi uomini alati Yagas, dominati dalla loro crudele regina Yasmeena.
Pur non raggiungendo, visto la sua brevità, la complessità dei mondi raccontati in altri cicli di questo genere, il talento di Howard è indiscutibile e le gesta di Esaù rappresentano una lettura travolgente e che non tralascia di instillare nel lettore riflessioni sulle differenze tra questi due mondi e identità sociali, su ciò che l'umanità ha conquistato ma anche su ciò che, proprio per quella stessa ragione, ha perduto per sempre... Almuric, per quanto mi riguarda, rimane un libro assolutamente da non perdere, tanto per gli amanti di Howard, quanto del planetary romance e del fantastico più in generale.
December 6, 2020
I shall stick with my original 3 star rating. I agree with the introduction in this edition by Joe Lansdale, it’s a shame that REH abandoned this and never finished it. Lansdale suggests that REH could have started a Sword & Planet series to rival ERB’s Barsoom books. I think all but the last chapter were by REH, but I believe if REH finished it, there would have been at least three more chapters.
Alas, we shall never know. What is here is three star worthy and if finished by Howard, may have been 4 star.
I recommend this version published by Paizo Publishing as part of there defunct Planet Stories line. It’s a handsome book.
Alas, we shall never know. What is here is three star worthy and if finished by Howard, may have been 4 star.
I recommend this version published by Paizo Publishing as part of there defunct Planet Stories line. It’s a handsome book.
January 27, 2016
Robert E. Howard is my all time favorite writer, but for many years much of his work was heavily edited. This is my favorite Howard novel. I am a purist when it comes to a writers works. I know some of these stories are no longer PC but they should be read as Howard wrote them and understood that he wrote in another time period. Don't read this book unless you get one of the new versions printed from Howard's original unedited manuscripts. Message me if you need a list of what is a good copy from this awesome fantasy and action writer. Highly recommended
January 3, 2009
This was Howard's entry into the Sword and Planet field established by Burroughs with his John Carter books. Howard puts his own unique spin on the subgenre. However, there's pretty good evidence that Howard didn't actually write the last chapter and there is some mystery as to who completed the novel.
There are several editions of this novel available, including a hardback version.
There are several editions of this novel available, including a hardback version.
August 29, 2018
Το ξαναδιάβασα μετά από 20 χρόνια θαρρώ. Ήταν ένα από εκείνα τα βιβλία που είχα δανείσει και δεν μου επέστρεψαν ποτέ; Ε; Ξέρετε εσείς! Από αυτά που σε κάνουν να μετανιώνεις που δανείζεις. Ο Howard άλλαξε τον κόσμο της εφηβείας μου. Ήταν από τα πρώτα βιβλία του είδους που πήρα στα χέρια μου και μαζί με τις περιπέτειες του Solomon Kane με έκανε να αγαπήσω, να βυθιστώ, να ονειρευτώ. Περιπέτεια φαντασίας! Μαγεία και Ξίφος! Τι άλλο θέλουμε; Κλασικό ως το μεδούλι!
October 17, 2019
7/10 en 2006.
Almuric es el nombre del planeta a donde lanzan, con máquina del tiempo por medio, al exboxeador Essau Cairn, tío cachas y listo y pegón que rápidamente se hace un nombre en el mundo tipo medieval ese.
Fantasía heróica que es divertida de leer si tampoco le pides exquisitez literaria.
Almuric es el nombre del planeta a donde lanzan, con máquina del tiempo por medio, al exboxeador Essau Cairn, tío cachas y listo y pegón que rápidamente se hace un nombre en el mundo tipo medieval ese.
Fantasía heróica que es divertida de leer si tampoco le pides exquisitez literaria.
July 12, 2017
R. E. Howard is my favorite writer regarding action stories.
I have not found any other author who surpasses him in vivid, dynamic description of actions, done with a sense of rhythm and character coherence. When he writes about a character, it becomes recognizable and memorable in its own way. Even if the name itself does not stick, the depiction lives on.
Howard wrote pulp fiction, weird fiction, and he delivered with a touch of a primal sensibility outside our modern times. Primeval, delivering an edge feeling to the reader - of a territory uncharted, mysterious, yet conquerable by will and fiery action.
And what about the novel itself? Almuric is a distant planet, primal and savage. Esau Cairn is a man out of time, a misfit Earthling who ends up there by virtue of unexplained "science" (nicknamed "The Great Secret") which seems more like sorcery in disguise. Then, what starts as another planetary fantasy turns into a grim, dark, somber tale.
"Almuric" has shortcomings. It seems a bit sketched, barely edited, the plot is thin, its beginning is slow to take flight and its genre tropes are abundant. On the other side, it is pure, unrestrained Howard prose, furious and lyrical at times and recognizable for its themes.
I have not found any other author who surpasses him in vivid, dynamic description of actions, done with a sense of rhythm and character coherence. When he writes about a character, it becomes recognizable and memorable in its own way. Even if the name itself does not stick, the depiction lives on.
Howard wrote pulp fiction, weird fiction, and he delivered with a touch of a primal sensibility outside our modern times. Primeval, delivering an edge feeling to the reader - of a territory uncharted, mysterious, yet conquerable by will and fiery action.
And what about the novel itself? Almuric is a distant planet, primal and savage. Esau Cairn is a man out of time, a misfit Earthling who ends up there by virtue of unexplained "science" (nicknamed "The Great Secret") which seems more like sorcery in disguise. Then, what starts as another planetary fantasy turns into a grim, dark, somber tale.
"Almuric" has shortcomings. It seems a bit sketched, barely edited, the plot is thin, its beginning is slow to take flight and its genre tropes are abundant. On the other side, it is pure, unrestrained Howard prose, furious and lyrical at times and recognizable for its themes.
June 7, 2020
Por mantener la atención casi trepidante de la mitad hasta el final del libro creo que merece las cuatro estrellas. En cuanto a la historia en sí, Almuric no es tan elaborada como suelen ser las historias de Howard aunque no esté mal en absoluto, la comparación inevitable con otras de sus obras hace que esta se vea más insulsa en cuanto a complejidad.
Esau Cairn será el protagonista (un nombre que me parece horrible), bastante tosco, bárbaro, como casi cualquier personaje conocido de Howard: mucho músculo y algo de sesos, lo esencial para no aburrirnos. El mundo si bien está dividido, tampoco le presta demasiada atención. Una especie de demonios, bestias primitivas, sitios inhabitados, ciudades rústicas, chica bonita de turno. Y pese a ello, pese a lo predecible, el final es interesante.
Esau Cairn será el protagonista (un nombre que me parece horrible), bastante tosco, bárbaro, como casi cualquier personaje conocido de Howard: mucho músculo y algo de sesos, lo esencial para no aburrirnos. El mundo si bien está dividido, tampoco le presta demasiada atención. Una especie de demonios, bestias primitivas, sitios inhabitados, ciudades rústicas, chica bonita de turno. Y pese a ello, pese a lo predecible, el final es interesante.
April 6, 2020
Deuda lectora desde hace 11 años, uno de los favoritos de mi compañero en su adolescencia. La verdad, no le he encontrado nada favorable, y la excusa de que esté escrito en los años 30 no lo redime.
Quizás en otro universo soy un púber en una época histórica diferente al que le ha hecho gracia este libro, en éste va a ser que no.
Quizás en otro universo soy un púber en una época histórica diferente al que le ha hecho gracia este libro, en éste va a ser que no.
September 24, 2019
Howard clearly had issues with civilization, and with its perceived weaknesses, and perhaps with how much better he was than the rest. Mostly it doesn't bother me - the prose and narratives he crafts are more than good enough to take full advantage of this theme and generally kick ass - but in Almuric it gets a little bit on the nose, and the prose isn't nearly his best either.
But even Howard's worst is pretty good. Grab it if you already read all the Conans and Bran Mak Morns and Solomon Kanes and are looking for him taking a stab at John Carter for a change.
But even Howard's worst is pretty good. Grab it if you already read all the Conans and Bran Mak Morns and Solomon Kanes and are looking for him taking a stab at John Carter for a change.
May 25, 2018
Great fun, full of pulpy weirdness.
A twentieth century fugitive uses the 'Great Secret' to flee to another plant, a planet of primeval apeman and winged Devils.
There's some great writing here and tons of resonance with Conan - for example, Thak a god on the planet of Almuric is very similar to Crom and Esau Cairn is a twentieth century Conan, a man born out of time who thrives on the harsh world of Almuric.
There is some superb action and the final battle is thrillingly well written.
Loved it!
A twentieth century fugitive uses the 'Great Secret' to flee to another plant, a planet of primeval apeman and winged Devils.
There's some great writing here and tons of resonance with Conan - for example, Thak a god on the planet of Almuric is very similar to Crom and Esau Cairn is a twentieth century Conan, a man born out of time who thrives on the harsh world of Almuric.
There is some superb action and the final battle is thrillingly well written.
Loved it!
March 25, 2024
Not one of REH's best, but I found it all in good fun.
I got the feeling Howard was somehow compelled to write an ERB-style sword and planet story, so he did, but under protest (?) dialed it up past the point of reason. Esau Cairn is John Carter after a near-fatal overdose of black market testosterone supplements, making for a crazy-violent male power fantasy on… well… steroids.
I got the feeling Howard was somehow compelled to write an ERB-style sword and planet story, so he did, but under protest (?) dialed it up past the point of reason. Esau Cairn is John Carter after a near-fatal overdose of black market testosterone supplements, making for a crazy-violent male power fantasy on… well… steroids.
May 6, 2024
Robert E Howard's take on the "John Carter of Mars" type of sword and planet tale. It's Howard, so of course it's good, but I hate how he relies constantly on the trope of "the hero gets knocked out and wakes up somewhere else" whenever he needs to move the plot along.
June 8, 2022
Supposedly this was finished by another writer, but it's still fun to read REH's take on a swords & planet story. What could have been!
April 17, 2013
Pre-Review: Started reading this while waiting for Nic to get his hair cut. Still thinking about it now. MUST FINISH BOOK. Urg, Howard, how do you do this to me? I just love your words.
As my pre-review states, I started this book on a whim. It was hot, I was bored, and I had forgotten to bring a book with me.
Yes, yes. Don't worry it won't happen again.
*Ahem* Back to the point....
Anyway, I started reading it because
A: I love Howard
And that's probably the only reason I ever need for anything.
Before I actually begin this review, I should state that if you've never read Howard, it might be worth warning you that there is fair number of debates on his possible misogyny and racism. I wrote about this a little bit on my review for The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, but I am going to reiterate a few things here as well. Howard grew up in the 1920s and in the American South. He grew up at a time where society, especially American Southern society, held different values, perceptions, and ideas than we do today. I'm not saying Howard was a racist, I certainly don't believe that to hold any water at all, but his work can be analyzed from that perspective, just as they can be analyzed for possible his misogyny.
He also wrote for money, something that shouldn't be forgotten if you're ever debating about his use of clichés. Finally, the audience he wrote for was primarily men, which is something one must always consider when reading any work at all.
I'm not here to excuse any of Howard's writing or start a debate, I just wanted to put those facts out there for anyone considering reading this novel or any of his other works. From my own perspective, I tend to ignore some of his more questionable aspects, and enjoy his work, because Howard truly was an amazing writer with an excess of imagination and creativity that should not be missed. He wrote wonderfully, and he's been one of the few writers that has continued to keep me on my toes no matter the circumstance. He's suspenseful, engaging, and creates worlds filled with life that will have you immersed in for ages. And those are the reasons why I read him again and again and again.
Almuric certainly wasn't my favorite of Howard's work, Conan holds that top spot, but its definitely characteristic of his work in general: Strong men, damsels in distress who end up being more than a plot point, monstrous beings/animals/wtfuckery, and evil villains that rock.
In short, its an adventure story, with plenty of suspense, mystery, and action to keep you reading and wondering where its going to go next. It's also carefully plotted, as elements you've (or at least I've), forgotten come back to haunt you later, and everything comes together in a lovely way.
It's well written, though perhaps not as well as some of his Conan short stories, but it's engaging nonetheless. It's characters are well established, and even though they can be slightly stereotypical, surprised me more than once.
All in all, Almuric is a lovely novel for any fan of Howard or the 20s pulp literature in general. It's fun, full of adventure, and a quick read. 4-4.5/5
As my pre-review states, I started this book on a whim. It was hot, I was bored, and I had forgotten to bring a book with me.
Yes, yes. Don't worry it won't happen again.
*Ahem* Back to the point....
Anyway, I started reading it because
A: I love Howard
And that's probably the only reason I ever need for anything.
Before I actually begin this review, I should state that if you've never read Howard, it might be worth warning you that there is fair number of debates on his possible misogyny and racism. I wrote about this a little bit on my review for The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, but I am going to reiterate a few things here as well. Howard grew up in the 1920s and in the American South. He grew up at a time where society, especially American Southern society, held different values, perceptions, and ideas than we do today. I'm not saying Howard was a racist, I certainly don't believe that to hold any water at all, but his work can be analyzed from that perspective, just as they can be analyzed for possible his misogyny.
He also wrote for money, something that shouldn't be forgotten if you're ever debating about his use of clichés. Finally, the audience he wrote for was primarily men, which is something one must always consider when reading any work at all.
I'm not here to excuse any of Howard's writing or start a debate, I just wanted to put those facts out there for anyone considering reading this novel or any of his other works. From my own perspective, I tend to ignore some of his more questionable aspects, and enjoy his work, because Howard truly was an amazing writer with an excess of imagination and creativity that should not be missed. He wrote wonderfully, and he's been one of the few writers that has continued to keep me on my toes no matter the circumstance. He's suspenseful, engaging, and creates worlds filled with life that will have you immersed in for ages. And those are the reasons why I read him again and again and again.
Almuric certainly wasn't my favorite of Howard's work, Conan holds that top spot, but its definitely characteristic of his work in general: Strong men, damsels in distress who end up being more than a plot point, monstrous beings/animals/wtfuckery, and evil villains that rock.
In short, its an adventure story, with plenty of suspense, mystery, and action to keep you reading and wondering where its going to go next. It's also carefully plotted, as elements you've (or at least I've), forgotten come back to haunt you later, and everything comes together in a lovely way.
It's well written, though perhaps not as well as some of his Conan short stories, but it's engaging nonetheless. It's characters are well established, and even though they can be slightly stereotypical, surprised me more than once.
All in all, Almuric is a lovely novel for any fan of Howard or the 20s pulp literature in general. It's fun, full of adventure, and a quick read. 4-4.5/5
May 6, 2015
Ahhh Almuric. As far as I know this is the only full length novel of Howard's that off the top of my head I can think of. While in general I prefer his short stories as the compacted space seemed to better fit his unique style Almuric is by no means a bad book. Quite the opposite in fact. While it's pretty clear that Howard was (heavily) inspired by Burroughs EXCELLENT Barsoom books he does manage to add his own unique style and twist. Enough so that the book holds up as a solidly entertaining read and one I'd recommend to any Howard fan that wanted to read more than just his Conan stories.
Almuric, in short, is about a human, Esau Cairn, that after murdering a fellow earthman finds himself hunted by the law. As can only happen in a story like this from a simpler time he just so happens to find a scientist that has the means to transport him to another world from whence he can never return. Esau, knowing his life on earth is doomed already and having never fit in to begin with, accepts the offer without so much as the bat of an eye. I mean if it were you or I we'd at least have to take a minute or two to think this over right? Right. But that's the simplistic charm of the pulp era of writing. Instead of spending twenty pages hemming and hawing it over our man Esau readily agrees and is soon on a path of adventure the likes of which no earthman (aside from John Carter....) has seen before.
I won't go too in depth as to the story as others should read this entertaining little book for themselves. Suffice to say on his journey he encounters many new, and dangerous, forms of life. Be it rabid dog headed men, winded “devils”, ravenous spiders, giant electric slugs (how great is that?) and, of course, hairy ape men that are what passes for the humans on the planet of Almuric. Oddly, and amusingly, enough the female of this species exactly resembles earth females. It's that kind of convenient plot device that always entertains when it comes to the pulp writers.
Is the book without flaws? Of course not. The pacing can be off at times. More than likely due to the fact that Howard was more used to penning short stories. The book does have themes of racism and chauvinism and while , yes, I absolutely understand these things aren't good in any way I also understand that these were penned in a different time when the world was a much different place. The criticism I see over these factors of Howard's writing always make me shake my head. If you're reading the work of Howard, or any other pulp writer from the 20's and 30's, and are seeking “political correctness” and enlightenment than you probably shouldn't be reading that particular genre.... As noted above this genre and era aren't for everyone but if you can simply enjoy the stories for what they are—rousing adventures with some of the best battle scenes to be found (as only Howard could do) then I highly recommend this book as well as his other works.
In closing while it's not by any means my favorite of Howard's works, those spots are reserved for his tales of Solomon Kane and El Borak, it's worth reading in my humble opinion. Does it stack up to the Barsoom books? Well no but to compare one book to a series that had time to develop is silly to begin with. Just give it a read and enjoy Howard. 'Nuff said.
Almuric, in short, is about a human, Esau Cairn, that after murdering a fellow earthman finds himself hunted by the law. As can only happen in a story like this from a simpler time he just so happens to find a scientist that has the means to transport him to another world from whence he can never return. Esau, knowing his life on earth is doomed already and having never fit in to begin with, accepts the offer without so much as the bat of an eye. I mean if it were you or I we'd at least have to take a minute or two to think this over right? Right. But that's the simplistic charm of the pulp era of writing. Instead of spending twenty pages hemming and hawing it over our man Esau readily agrees and is soon on a path of adventure the likes of which no earthman (aside from John Carter....) has seen before.
I won't go too in depth as to the story as others should read this entertaining little book for themselves. Suffice to say on his journey he encounters many new, and dangerous, forms of life. Be it rabid dog headed men, winded “devils”, ravenous spiders, giant electric slugs (how great is that?) and, of course, hairy ape men that are what passes for the humans on the planet of Almuric. Oddly, and amusingly, enough the female of this species exactly resembles earth females. It's that kind of convenient plot device that always entertains when it comes to the pulp writers.
Is the book without flaws? Of course not. The pacing can be off at times. More than likely due to the fact that Howard was more used to penning short stories. The book does have themes of racism and chauvinism and while , yes, I absolutely understand these things aren't good in any way I also understand that these were penned in a different time when the world was a much different place. The criticism I see over these factors of Howard's writing always make me shake my head. If you're reading the work of Howard, or any other pulp writer from the 20's and 30's, and are seeking “political correctness” and enlightenment than you probably shouldn't be reading that particular genre.... As noted above this genre and era aren't for everyone but if you can simply enjoy the stories for what they are—rousing adventures with some of the best battle scenes to be found (as only Howard could do) then I highly recommend this book as well as his other works.
In closing while it's not by any means my favorite of Howard's works, those spots are reserved for his tales of Solomon Kane and El Borak, it's worth reading in my humble opinion. Does it stack up to the Barsoom books? Well no but to compare one book to a series that had time to develop is silly to begin with. Just give it a read and enjoy Howard. 'Nuff said.
May 19, 2018
As much as I dig Flash Gordon look-alike plots, I don’t tolerate the chaotic plot of Almuric. Stuff keep changing with little to no foreshadowing and are never mentioned again, or are even seen as relevant once they are over. The middle part of the book for example is a complete waste of pages. The girl leaves the city because she doesn’t like living there. This is never brought up again as she becomes a mute damsel in distress thereafter. Cairn goes to save her, fights white freaks and a spider, then gets captured by people of a different city, and then gets captured again by the flying men. You could have taken all of that out, have the girl saying she doesn’t like the life in the city before getting attacked by the flying men, and the plot would still play out in the exact same way.
There is also the silly way Cairn finds out about the secret passage into the enemy city. For some reason he pretends to be asleep and that magically makes the evil queen to infodump next to him a dozen important secrets she had no purpose to mention, since there was nobody around her that asked to be told stuff he didn’t already know about. Not to mention how for plot convenience Cairn finds the ape men already outside the city getting ready for war when he returns. The final battle was also very rushed, as if Howard got bored of his own story and wanted to end the book in ten pages.
I wanted to like Almuric, but my critical side didn’t let me. Flash Gordon is the same thing but way better in how it plays out.
There is also the silly way Cairn finds out about the secret passage into the enemy city. For some reason he pretends to be asleep and that magically makes the evil queen to infodump next to him a dozen important secrets she had no purpose to mention, since there was nobody around her that asked to be told stuff he didn’t already know about. Not to mention how for plot convenience Cairn finds the ape men already outside the city getting ready for war when he returns. The final battle was also very rushed, as if Howard got bored of his own story and wanted to end the book in ten pages.
I wanted to like Almuric, but my critical side didn’t let me. Flash Gordon is the same thing but way better in how it plays out.
December 3, 2008
I really, really, really wanted this book, but in hindsight somewhat regret paying full price.
This is the story you'd get if you were to somehow mix H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Rice Burroughs; a falling civilization on a primal world, with dark menaces just out of the torchlight.
The casual racism and chauvanism were disconcerting.
This is the story you'd get if you were to somehow mix H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Rice Burroughs; a falling civilization on a primal world, with dark menaces just out of the torchlight.
The casual racism and chauvanism were disconcerting.
October 23, 2021
Βιβλοέναυσμα #58: Almuric
(ολόκληρο το άρθρο και στο ιστολόγιό μου Κοιλάδα της Γνώσης: https://www.koiladatisgnosis.gr/logot...)
Τηρώντας την δέσμευσή μου να γράψω για κάθε ιστορία τού Robert E. Howard, δημιουργού τού Κόναν του Βάρβαρου και συγγραφέα πλήθους περιπετειών, σας παρουσιάζω εδώ την νουβέλα ηρωικής φαντασίας Almuric (Wildside Press, 2011, 134 σ.).
Ο Esau Cairn είναι ένας μπόξερ στην Αμερική του ’50, που μετά από έναν φόνο καταφεύγει με την βοήθεια ενός φίλου του επιστήμονα στον… μυστικό πλανήτη Almuric (ναι, τι, πού είναι το περίεργο;). Από τα πρώτα του βήματα, ο Esau έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με τον σκληρό πλανήτη καθώς κινδυνεύει και από το εχθρικό περιβάλλον και από τα σαρκοβόρα ζώα αλλά και από τους… αντίστοιχους ανθρώπους. Πρόκειται για τους Guras, που έχουν χαρακτηριστικά και ανθρώπου και πιθήκου και μιλάνε – όλως τυχαίως – αγγλικά. Ο πολιτισμός του είναι σε πρωτόγονα επίπεδα, ζουν σε πόλεις-κράτη και πολεμούν συνεχώς τόσο μεταξύ τους όσο και εναντίον περίεργων, φτερωτών δαιμόνων, των φοβερών και τρομερών Yagas. Όπως καταλαβαίνετε, όλα συνθέτουν ένα ιδανικό σκηνικό sword-and-sorce… ε… sword-and-planet περιπέτειας…
Παρότι είχα ακούσει εξαιρετικά θερμά λόγια από άτομα που εκτιμώ απεριόριστα, ακόμα και ότι πρόκειται για την καλύτερη ιστορία τού Howard, δεν μπορώ να πω ότι ξετρελάθηκα. Θα έλεγα πως κινείται γύρω στον μέσο όρο, ίσως και λίγο κάτω από τις λοιπές περιπέτειες τού Howard. Το σκηνικό είναι φοβερό, η πλοκή στρωτή, το γράψιμο όμως και οι χαρακτήρες κάπου χάνουν. Τώρα, ο μπόξερ Esau θυμίζει αρκετά Κόναν, ο Howard έχει γράψει πάμπολλες ιστορίες με μπόξινγκ (δυστυχώς οι περισσότερες δυσεύρετες σε έντυπη μορφή), και οι φτερωτοί δαίμονες θυμίζουν αρκετά την ιστορία Wings of the Night με τον Solomon Kane (άρθρο μου για τις περιπέτειες τού Kane εδώ: https://www.koiladatisgnosis.gr/logot...). Έξτρα πόντους για το λαβραφτικό στοιχείο προς το τέλος, την βασίλισσα Yasmeena (θύμισε την βασίλισσα Nakari από το Moons of the Skulls τού Solomon Kane), και για τον τεράστιο δακτύλιο The Girdle που οριοθετεί την κατοικίσιμη περιοχή τού πλανήτη. Πέρα από τον δακτύλιο υπάρχει μόνο άγονη έρημος… Θα ήθελα σίγουρα να μάθω τι μυστήρια κρύβονται εκεί, αλλά…
Εν κατακλείδι, θαρρώ πως η ανάγνωση του Almuric ενδείκνυται σε όσους αγαπούν τις περιπέτειες τού Howard. Μείνετε συντονισμένοι για περισσότερα άρθρα μου για τον Howard και διαβάστε τα ήδη υπάρχοντα για το βιβλίο Κόναν: Η Βασίλισσα της Μαύρης Ακτής & Άλλα Διηγήματα (https://www.koiladatisgnosis.gr/logot...), και για όλες τις ιστορίες με τον Bran Mak Morn (https://www.koiladatisgnosis.gr/logot...) και με τον Solomon Kane (https://www.koiladatisgnosis.gr/logot...).
(ολόκληρο το άρθρο και στο ιστολόγιό μου Κοιλάδα της Γνώσης: https://www.koiladatisgnosis.gr/logot...)
Τηρώντας την δέσμευσή μου να γράψω για κάθε ιστορία τού Robert E. Howard, δημιουργού τού Κόναν του Βάρβαρου και συγγραφέα πλήθους περιπετειών, σας παρουσιάζω εδώ την νουβέλα ηρωικής φαντασίας Almuric (Wildside Press, 2011, 134 σ.).
Ο Esau Cairn είναι ένας μπόξερ στην Αμερική του ’50, που μετά από έναν φόνο καταφεύγει με την βοήθεια ενός φίλου του επιστήμονα στον… μυστικό πλανήτη Almuric (ναι, τι, πού είναι το περίεργο;). Από τα πρώτα του βήματα, ο Esau έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με τον σκληρό πλανήτη καθώς κινδυνεύει και από το εχθρικό περιβάλλον και από τα σαρκοβόρα ζώα αλλά και από τους… αντίστοιχους ανθρώπους. Πρόκειται για τους Guras, που έχουν χαρακτηριστικά και ανθρώπου και πιθήκου και μιλάνε – όλως τυχαίως – αγγλικά. Ο πολιτισμός του είναι σε πρωτόγονα επίπεδα, ζουν σε πόλεις-κράτη και πολεμούν συνεχώς τόσο μεταξύ τους όσο και εναντίον περίεργων, φτερωτών δαιμόνων, των φοβερών και τρομερών Yagas. Όπως καταλαβαίνετε, όλα συνθέτουν ένα ιδανικό σκηνικό sword-and-sorce… ε… sword-and-planet περιπέτειας…
Παρότι είχα ακούσει εξαιρετικά θερμά λόγια από άτομα που εκτιμώ απεριόριστα, ακόμα και ότι πρόκειται για την καλύτερη ιστορία τού Howard, δεν μπορώ να πω ότι ξετρελάθηκα. Θα έλεγα πως κινείται γύρω στον μέσο όρο, ίσως και λίγο κάτω από τις λοιπές περιπέτειες τού Howard. Το σκηνικό είναι φοβερό, η πλοκή στρωτή, το γράψιμο όμως και οι χαρακτήρες κάπου χάνουν. Τώρα, ο μπόξερ Esau θυμίζει αρκετά Κόναν, ο Howard έχει γράψει πάμπολλες ιστορίες με μπόξινγκ (δυστυχώς οι περισσότερες δυσεύρετες σε έντυπη μορφή), και οι φτερωτοί δαίμονες θυμίζουν αρκετά την ιστορία Wings of the Night με τον Solomon Kane (άρθρο μου για τις περιπέτειες τού Kane εδώ: https://www.koiladatisgnosis.gr/logot...). Έξτρα πόντους για το λαβραφτικό στοιχείο προς το τέλος, την βασίλισσα Yasmeena (θύμισε την βασίλισσα Nakari από το Moons of the Skulls τού Solomon Kane), και για τον τεράστιο δακτύλιο The Girdle που οριοθετεί την κατοικίσιμη περιοχή τού πλανήτη. Πέρα από τον δακτύλιο υπάρχει μόνο άγονη έρημος… Θα ήθελα σίγουρα να μάθω τι μυστήρια κρύβονται εκεί, αλλά…
Εν κατακλείδι, θαρρώ πως η ανάγνωση του Almuric ενδείκνυται σε όσους αγαπούν τις περιπέτειες τού Howard. Μείνετε συντονισμένοι για περισσότερα άρθρα μου για τον Howard και διαβάστε τα ήδη υπάρχοντα για το βιβλίο Κόναν: Η Βασίλισσα της Μαύρης Ακτής & Άλλα Διηγήματα (https://www.koiladatisgnosis.gr/logot...), και για όλες τις ιστορίες με τον Bran Mak Morn (https://www.koiladatisgnosis.gr/logot...) και με τον Solomon Kane (https://www.koiladatisgnosis.gr/logot...).
March 15, 2016
My long nightmare is over. I've finished this truly awful book. I think it's time for a dose of something more girly, perhaps the one Jane Austen I've not re-read over the past three or four years.
Esau Cairn is basically a brute, someone who is strong as an ox and also someone who has no self control. Wherever he goes, mayhem is sure to be present. It's not really his fault, he's just a manly man, perhaps the manliest of all men. Other people contrive to piss him off, thereby bringing mayhem upon themselves. Then, there are those who are just not manly enough to stand up to physical competition with him, e.g. when he tried organized forms of mayhem, such as football and boxing. How's it his fault when the damn pussies become permanently crippled or die on him? Suffice to say, he doesn't belong in polite society.
So, an astronomer friend contrives to transport him into another universe, a place where Cairn fits in better. Everyone in the new universe is a brute. The men he meets are all hairy ape men, whose idea of a good life is drinking and brawling. He becomes sort of a major figure in the hairy ape men tribe and leads them off to rescue their women—all lissome and fair—from a race of black, winged men. Something like that.
So if you like brutish behavior and lots of cleaving of skulls and limbs with swords and cracking bones and blood and guts flowing all over and dead bodies heaping up and so forth, perhaps this is a book for you. As for me, it's back to something a bit closer to reality, which in some people's eyes will tend to be a bit on the girly side.
I think this is the last of the pulp books I managed to snag from Munsey's before they got closed down by the lawyers, or something. Some of Munsey's pulp offerings were quite fun, some, like this one, not so much. Still, I'll miss Munsey's. Bummer that for me their lights went out for me, so to speak, on this piece of dreck.
Esau Cairn is basically a brute, someone who is strong as an ox and also someone who has no self control. Wherever he goes, mayhem is sure to be present. It's not really his fault, he's just a manly man, perhaps the manliest of all men. Other people contrive to piss him off, thereby bringing mayhem upon themselves. Then, there are those who are just not manly enough to stand up to physical competition with him, e.g. when he tried organized forms of mayhem, such as football and boxing. How's it his fault when the damn pussies become permanently crippled or die on him? Suffice to say, he doesn't belong in polite society.
So, an astronomer friend contrives to transport him into another universe, a place where Cairn fits in better. Everyone in the new universe is a brute. The men he meets are all hairy ape men, whose idea of a good life is drinking and brawling. He becomes sort of a major figure in the hairy ape men tribe and leads them off to rescue their women—all lissome and fair—from a race of black, winged men. Something like that.
So if you like brutish behavior and lots of cleaving of skulls and limbs with swords and cracking bones and blood and guts flowing all over and dead bodies heaping up and so forth, perhaps this is a book for you. As for me, it's back to something a bit closer to reality, which in some people's eyes will tend to be a bit on the girly side.
I think this is the last of the pulp books I managed to snag from Munsey's before they got closed down by the lawyers, or something. Some of Munsey's pulp offerings were quite fun, some, like this one, not so much. Still, I'll miss Munsey's. Bummer that for me their lights went out for me, so to speak, on this piece of dreck.
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