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Solomon Kane
Solomon Kane is a sixteenth century anti-hero created by renowned sword and sorcery author Robert E Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian ).
When Solomon Kane meets the Devil's Reaper, he postpones his fate by renouncing violence - a vow that is soon tested by the forces of evil. Compelled to once again strap on his weapons, he embarks on an epic journey of redemption.
When Solomon Kane meets the Devil's Reaper, he postpones his fate by renouncing violence - a vow that is soon tested by the forces of evil. Compelled to once again strap on his weapons, he embarks on an epic journey of redemption.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 19, 2010
28 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
About the author
Ramsey Campbell
868 books1,614 followersRamsey Campbell is a British writer considered by a number of critics to be one of the great masters of horror fiction. T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today," while S. T. Joshi has said that "future generations will regard him as the leading horror writer of our generation, every bit the equal of Lovecraft or Blackwood."
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 17, 2018
Solomon Kane meets his destiny here. Can he save Meredith from the evil magician Malachi and keep his soul? An incredible tale full of adventure, black magic, violence and bloodshed. I reads like a comic. If you've seen the movie you can visualize every scene. I like the dark hero/berserk character Solomon is. Extremely well written, hard, dark and brutal. A clear recommendation. With this book you leave your everyday life for a couple of hours and go to a country you wouldn't want to be in reality. Highly recommended. If you like Howard's Kane you will love Campbell's!
March 20, 2013
A funny thing about film and literature. Films based on books are often considered the pinnacle of the art of film. While books based on films are considered one of the lowest forms of literature. Discuss...
Has there ever been a novelisation of any enduring value? Such sci-fi luminaries as Isaac Asimov, James Blish, Thomas M. Disch, Barry Malzberg, and no doubt many others, have all given it a go. While their efforts were not negligible, none of their books still live. Now, esteemed horror writer Ramsey Campbell – heir of M. R. James and Robert Aickman – has had a go. And it’s not just the book of the film – it’s the book of the film of the book.
Michael Bassett’s film adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s ‘Solomon Kane’ was a good dark fantasy, not particularly faithful to Howard’s puritan-pulp stories, but enjoyable of its kind. Rather than reprint the stories, and draw attention to the film’s many deviations from the original, Campbell – who has had a long association with the fiction of the ‘Weird Tales’ writers, including Howard and Lovecraft – was hired to novelise Bassett’s screenplay. A good choice, by all accounts.
And novelise he does – indeed, it often seems like he has been watching the film with a notepad in his hand, describing scenes as they take place, and touching them up with just a few literary flourishes. Many scenes are virtually word-for-image versions of the film. There’s lots of description, and not much more. It isn’t a bad book, but it does its competent job dutifully and efficiently. I hope they paid him on the nail!
Has there ever been a novelisation of any enduring value? Such sci-fi luminaries as Isaac Asimov, James Blish, Thomas M. Disch, Barry Malzberg, and no doubt many others, have all given it a go. While their efforts were not negligible, none of their books still live. Now, esteemed horror writer Ramsey Campbell – heir of M. R. James and Robert Aickman – has had a go. And it’s not just the book of the film – it’s the book of the film of the book.
Michael Bassett’s film adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s ‘Solomon Kane’ was a good dark fantasy, not particularly faithful to Howard’s puritan-pulp stories, but enjoyable of its kind. Rather than reprint the stories, and draw attention to the film’s many deviations from the original, Campbell – who has had a long association with the fiction of the ‘Weird Tales’ writers, including Howard and Lovecraft – was hired to novelise Bassett’s screenplay. A good choice, by all accounts.
And novelise he does – indeed, it often seems like he has been watching the film with a notepad in his hand, describing scenes as they take place, and touching them up with just a few literary flourishes. Many scenes are virtually word-for-image versions of the film. There’s lots of description, and not much more. It isn’t a bad book, but it does its competent job dutifully and efficiently. I hope they paid him on the nail!
November 17, 2018
This Solomon Kane novelization is so riveting that it has nearly ruined Robert E. Howard for me. Don't get me wrong, Howard is still one of my favorite pulp writers, but this book takes the venerable Solomon Kane character to a fantastic new level.
The pacing, the characterization, and especially the author's descriptions of Kane’s atmospheric surroundings are completely engrossing.
Since this was written by one of Britain's top horror authors, there are several gruesome and bloody scenes, and I'm personally not a fan of that sort of thing. And there are moments when the machinery of the Hollywood plot clanks a little loudly. But since this is a movie novelization, you can hardly hold that against it.
Overall, a top-notch book. This is certainly much better than I expected when I picked this book up on a whim. It's honestly the first novel I've read in years where I literally didn't want to finish it, because I disn't want the story to end.
The pacing, the characterization, and especially the author's descriptions of Kane’s atmospheric surroundings are completely engrossing.
Since this was written by one of Britain's top horror authors, there are several gruesome and bloody scenes, and I'm personally not a fan of that sort of thing. And there are moments when the machinery of the Hollywood plot clanks a little loudly. But since this is a movie novelization, you can hardly hold that against it.
Overall, a top-notch book. This is certainly much better than I expected when I picked this book up on a whim. It's honestly the first novel I've read in years where I literally didn't want to finish it, because I disn't want the story to end.
January 1, 2021
The novelization of the 2009 film sticks close to the film, but still manages to improve it. This is not Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane--the puritan adventurer who deals out justice to supernatural evil--, but it retains much of its pulpy appeal. Kane as a character is more fleshed out, but less mad and less mysterious. Campbell and perhaps the screenwriter/director dive much more into the Christian spirituality of Kane's story, pulling Howard's source material into a more fantasy setting with more fantasy tropes and into more horror conventions as Kane has real interactions with servants of satan.
I watched the film on a whim because it was free and found it to be surprisingly good, despite not featuring a coherent story. Ramsey Campbell weaves the novel into a coherent story, though with much of the horror genre glosses over the larger reasons for such cosmic conflict to be centered around Kane and his companions. A fun novel. Both the novel and the film were far better than I expected.
I watched the film on a whim because it was free and found it to be surprisingly good, despite not featuring a coherent story. Ramsey Campbell weaves the novel into a coherent story, though with much of the horror genre glosses over the larger reasons for such cosmic conflict to be centered around Kane and his companions. A fun novel. Both the novel and the film were far better than I expected.
December 21, 2025
I picked up the Cambell movie novelization quite a while ago now but finally had a chance to read it. And it’s extremely good—better than the movie. Howard created sword & sorcery by infusing horror into fantasy and this makes Campbell an excellent choice for this story. Much of this tale is absolutely grisly, with a lot of action and developed characterizations that don’t get in the way of the story’s flow. Naturally, the book follows the screenplay pretty closely, which means the character isn’t really REH’s Solomon Kane. I’d love to see what Campbell could do with an actual original Solomon Kane pastiche. He proved he could get into the proper frame of mind when he finished those REH Kane stories back in the day. But for now, I can recommend this novelization.
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June 24, 2025A really solid Solomon Kane pastiche. Expanding on the screenplay, it fleshes out a possible origin story for Kane involving the killing of his brother, who was attempting to take advantage of one of the serving girls of the castle.
Was this what the creator of Solomon Kane had in mind when he created the Puritan avenger? Probably not, but we'll never know, because Robert E Howard never got around to writing an origin story--instead, just plunging him into the middle of the action.
Was this what the creator of Solomon Kane had in mind when he created the Puritan avenger? Probably not, but we'll never know, because Robert E Howard never got around to writing an origin story--instead, just plunging him into the middle of the action.
April 3, 2019
Having recently seen the movie again on TV, I can say that this is pretty much Word for Word and shot by shot retelling of the movie, so nothing new there. What author Ramsey Campbell brings to the table is an over-the-top wriging style that perfectly channels Robert E. Howard. A quico and entertaining read full of action and gritty heroics, very faithful to the pulp origins of Salomon Kane.
February 20, 2021
I didn’t really remember the movie that this novel is adapted from. However Robert E Howard’s character Solomon Kane is given a star treatment here by one of Britain’s foremost horror writers. It’s a good story that keeps moving ahead at a fast pace. The end of the book seemed a little abrupt in it’s wrap up but making it longer wouldn’t change the basic story. It’s a 3.5 to 4 so I gave it a 4.
March 20, 2019
Novelization of the movie. Pretty good. This could make a nice fantasy B-movie.
June 26, 2021
This was an entertaining book based on an entertaining movie. Warning, if you decide to read the original Solomon Kane stories based on this book or the movie, they are incredibly racist.
May 20, 2023
Too much blood. Boring
January 28, 2024
The Author has no idea about the character of Solomon Kane. Robert E. Howard probably rolled over in his grave when he found out how they ruined his character!
May 15, 2017
I had enjoyed watching the movie Solomon Kane a few years back, a brisk paced dark fantasy adaptation of the character created by Robert Howard, who had also created the more well known, Conan the Barbarian. When I saw an eBook version of this novel, written by Ramsey Campbell, a master of the horror - fantasy genre, it immediately piqued my interest. A novelisation of the screenplay of the movie, I expected it would expand the story including the mythology of the alternate reality, medieval era England the tale is set it where magic, sorcery and dogma rule.
But it turned out to be an almost word-to-word copy of the screenplay. Solomon Kane is an immoral and ruthless treasure-hunting privateer who has a run-in with the Devil who lays claim to his soul. Hiding from this scourge, he reforms into an ascetic at a monastery. Forced to leave the monastery for some vague reason, he runs into a family of Puritans who take him in as an extended member of their family. But the land is now under the rule of an evil sorcerer and his mind-controlled slave-zombies and disaster strikes the family. Kane, who had renounced violence is forced to seek vengeance which puts him on the path to face up to his evil past.
Look, the movie was breezy with well-executed action sequences and decent special-effects. So, you tend to ignore / not notice plot holes or thinly sketched character motivations. But in a book which repeats all the same mistakes, you get more time to notice them. Kane's motivation for revenge seems unconvincing, the fact that he would risk everything for a family he has barely known for a couple of days. Also, more frustratingly, no effort is made to expand the mythology, give us more information about the nature of the world the story is set in.
An opportunity missed and hence only 3 Stars - that too because the original screenplay, which the book slavishly follows, was good.
But it turned out to be an almost word-to-word copy of the screenplay. Solomon Kane is an immoral and ruthless treasure-hunting privateer who has a run-in with the Devil who lays claim to his soul. Hiding from this scourge, he reforms into an ascetic at a monastery. Forced to leave the monastery for some vague reason, he runs into a family of Puritans who take him in as an extended member of their family. But the land is now under the rule of an evil sorcerer and his mind-controlled slave-zombies and disaster strikes the family. Kane, who had renounced violence is forced to seek vengeance which puts him on the path to face up to his evil past.
Look, the movie was breezy with well-executed action sequences and decent special-effects. So, you tend to ignore / not notice plot holes or thinly sketched character motivations. But in a book which repeats all the same mistakes, you get more time to notice them. Kane's motivation for revenge seems unconvincing, the fact that he would risk everything for a family he has barely known for a couple of days. Also, more frustratingly, no effort is made to expand the mythology, give us more information about the nature of the world the story is set in.
An opportunity missed and hence only 3 Stars - that too because the original screenplay, which the book slavishly follows, was good.
February 24, 2018
Novelizations of movies exist for one reason and one reason only: to expand on that which the movie had no time to, as well as to save us from bad casting (something the novelizations for the Star Wars prequels excel at), and it is there where one can tell whether the book was a success. If it can stand on its own as a novel, then yes, it's a great novelization. However, in this case the novel's fault is being too faithful to the movie it's based on. The author does a word-for-word retelling of the film, with little added beyond mild personal insight from the point of view of the characters, which is nothing James Purefoy failed to convey with his interpretation of the character. And, while an amusing tale of sword and sorcery, it offers nothing new to a reader. If you want to know more of Solomon Kane, stick to the Robert E. Howard stories which inspired the movie. As for this one, you can just watch the movie.
September 8, 2013
Novelisations of movies are rarely worth a second look, but I had some hope that Campbell might have brought something extra to what we saw in the film version of Solomon Kane. This hope remained unfulfilled.
Anyone who has seen the movie will know that it departed rather heavily from the Solomon Kane that we know from Robert E. Howard's original stories. Campbell's novelisation does not even attempt to cross this divide in any way and the character of Solomon Kane remains all too loyal to the movie. Campbell basically describes every scene in the movie very meticulously, but never adds anything that did not already appear on film. In short, there's no reason to read the novel when you can watch the movie. No reason at all.
Anyone who has seen the movie will know that it departed rather heavily from the Solomon Kane that we know from Robert E. Howard's original stories. Campbell's novelisation does not even attempt to cross this divide in any way and the character of Solomon Kane remains all too loyal to the movie. Campbell basically describes every scene in the movie very meticulously, but never adds anything that did not already appear on film. In short, there's no reason to read the novel when you can watch the movie. No reason at all.
September 7, 2022
I absolutely love the book and the film Solomon Kane is a very underrated/underappreciated character in my opinion.
i'm a fan of the actor James Purefoy (he portrayed Solomon Kane in the film)
I enjoyed reading this book, but about halfway through the book, it dragged on a bit and I was impatient to finish reading it, because I don't really care for the pious/devoutly Christian characters in the book.
I have nothing against anyone that is pious or devoutly religious but I find it boring to read about unless it is about a priest, nun, or anyone pious is fighting against evil/demons/witches/exorcising demons etc.. If you like Conan the barbarian, Eras that involves witches, sorcerers, Witch-Hunters demons or similar characters to Solomon Kane then you will like this book.
i'm a fan of the actor James Purefoy (he portrayed Solomon Kane in the film)
I enjoyed reading this book, but about halfway through the book, it dragged on a bit and I was impatient to finish reading it, because I don't really care for the pious/devoutly Christian characters in the book.
I have nothing against anyone that is pious or devoutly religious but I find it boring to read about unless it is about a priest, nun, or anyone pious is fighting against evil/demons/witches/exorcising demons etc.. If you like Conan the barbarian, Eras that involves witches, sorcerers, Witch-Hunters demons or similar characters to Solomon Kane then you will like this book.
November 24, 2020
La película de Solomon Kane (2009) fue, para mi, una profunda desilusión, un proyecto fallido que (junto con la también fracasada Conan de 2011) condena cualquier intento de hacer algo interesante con los personajes de Howard.
Leer la novelización casi siempre resulta un añadido interesante a la visión de una película, a menudo ofrece escenas que no aparecen en el metraje final o permitiendo una mayor profundización en la psicología o la historia de los personajes. Además esta novelización aparecía firmada por Ramsey Campbell, un clásico del terror que, idealmente, podría hacer mucho con el material de la película
http://aventurasextraordinarias.blogs...
Leer la novelización casi siempre resulta un añadido interesante a la visión de una película, a menudo ofrece escenas que no aparecen en el metraje final o permitiendo una mayor profundización en la psicología o la historia de los personajes. Además esta novelización aparecía firmada por Ramsey Campbell, un clásico del terror que, idealmente, podría hacer mucho con el material de la película
http://aventurasextraordinarias.blogs...
August 21, 2020
Campbell's novelisation of the movie under the same name is excellent. Very well written, gutsy, savage and very readable.
Would like to find a copy of Howard's version and read that.
Would like to find a copy of Howard's version and read that.
September 10, 2018
Okay. Plenty of hack 'n' slash.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews