Vincent Darlage’s Reviews > Swords of the North > Status Update

Finished re-reading "The King's Service," an interesting fragment about a Celt and some Norsemen's journey to India in 459 AD.

Read Appendix 3, the Turlogh Dubh O'Brien fragments, including an untitled fragment and the incomplete "The Shadow of the Hun." Not too bad for what is there.

Finished Appendix 2 (Cormac Mac Art) by reading the two extant drafts of "The Temple of Abomination." The first I can see why it was abandoned. The second was a damn fine beginning to what could have been an amazing story.

Read "Tigers of the Sea," a Cormac mac Art fragment that showed a lot of promise. Too bad he never finished this one.

Read Appendix 1 - James Allison, four fragments left behind by REH. Interesting to read some of his abandoned work.

Read "Ghost in the Doorway" (a new story for me) and reread "Dermod's Bane." Both were simple ghost stories and felt like minor efforts by REH.

Re-read "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth," a fantastic tale perfectly suited for this volume and highlighting Robert E. Howard's talents as an author.

Re-read "The Dark Man," another of my all-time favorite stories. Again featuring Turlogh Dubh O'Brien, this one is set in 1017, three years after "The Grey God Passes." It also features Bran Mak Morn after his apotheosis. The story is atmospheric, violent, and, to be honest, it has inspired more than one RPG campaign for me in my youth.

Reread one of my favorite REH stories, "The Grey God Passes." Still an amazing and powerful story.

Read "The Ballad of King Geraint" and a few other poems. That had to be the longest, bloodiest, and heroic poem I've ever read.