After finishing Kull, I looked for another Robert E. Howard book and found Solomon Kane. By May 28, 2008, I had finished the collection of short stories:
Solomon Kane was the first of Robert E. Howard's epic characters,
preceding Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Conqueror, and Red Sonja.
Kane is described as a pallid-faced Puritan with a brace of pistols
and a dueling sword. His adventures take place in the late 16th
century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The tales of Kane
begin in England and the early adventures are best described as ghost
stories. The format of these tales vary, sometimes just poems that
outline some event (occasionally even historical events). Kane
really comes to life when he travels to Africa and then journeys ever
deeper into that Dark Continent. There he encounters vampires,
harpies, dark magic, the remnants of ancient Atlantis, a lost colony
of Assyria, and other fantastical beasts. In most of these, it is
easy to see Conan in his Hyborian Age rather than a Puritan in the
Elizabethan Age. Clearly, Kane found his way to darkest Africa so
Howard could tell such fantastic tales.
Kane purports to be a very religious man and yet he readily accepts a magical staff from a witchdoctor. In fact, he allies himself with a witchdoctor who would surely burn at the stake in Europe. Kane is an unusually tolerant Puritan. It is also curious that Kane is very chivalrous toward women but never desires them. He has that same indifference toward women that Kull possessed. Also like Kull, Kane is a fount of knowledge. He knows a number of languages so that he can usually converse with African tribesmen wherever he may be. In the stories, Kane is a wanderer, driven by God to punish the wicked or fight evil but we learn that he was once a sea captain, was enslaved by Muslims for some years, learned woodcraft from Indians in Darien (Central America), and was a member of the fleet that repelled the Spanish Armada (1588). He's an expert swordsman, a crack shot, and amazingly strong despite a lanky build. Kane is an interesting but incomplete character. He doesn't understand his own motivation, always saying that he is compelled by a higher power, leaving him as little more than a puppet. Howard was more interested in writing extraordinary events than developing a complex character.
A movie is in the works that will bring Solomon Kane to the big screen (IMDb shows it as scheduled for release this year). It promises to explain the beginnings of Kane, why he abandoned his career as a ship's captain and became a wanderer out to smite evil. This is a tale that Robert Howard never told but I'd like to see.
Kane purports to be a very religious man and yet he readily accepts a magical staff from a witchdoctor. In fact, he allies himself with a witchdoctor who would surely burn at the stake in Europe. Kane is an unusually tolerant Puritan. It is also curious that Kane is very chivalrous toward women but never desires them. He has that same indifference toward women that Kull possessed. Also like Kull, Kane is a fount of knowledge. He knows a number of languages so that he can usually converse with African tribesmen wherever he may be. In the stories, Kane is a wanderer, driven by God to punish the wicked or fight evil but we learn that he was once a sea captain, was enslaved by Muslims for some years, learned woodcraft from Indians in Darien (Central America), and was a member of the fleet that repelled the Spanish Armada (1588). He's an expert swordsman, a crack shot, and amazingly strong despite a lanky build. Kane is an interesting but incomplete character. He doesn't understand his own motivation, always saying that he is compelled by a higher power, leaving him as little more than a puppet. Howard was more interested in writing extraordinary events than developing a complex character.
A movie is in the works that will bring Solomon Kane to the big screen (IMDb shows it as scheduled for release this year). It promises to explain the beginnings of Kane, why he abandoned his career as a ship's captain and became a wanderer out to smite evil. This is a tale that Robert Howard never told but I'd like to see.
That movie did come to pass and I comment on it somewhere ahead. Be patient.
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