Robert E Howard's Solomon Kane

Solomon Kane, a character created by Robert E Howard, is a Puritan with a keen sense of justice and a serious case of wanderlust whose adventures take him from the forests of France to the jungles of Africa. He faces both human and supernatural threats armed with his trusty pistols, a rapier, and a magical carved staff given to him by his friend and blood brother, the African sorcerer N’Longa.

I’ve recently read most of Howard’s story’s featuring Kane for the first time and decided to review them. These are going to be mini, mostly spoiler-free reviews. The stories are ordered by time of publication, which was also the order in which I read them.

RED SHADOW (August 1928)

After coming across a dying girl, Solomon Kane swears to avenge her and stop the bloody reign of violent outlaw Le Loup. The chase will take Kane to Africa, where he encounters dark forces beyond his comprehension.

Too much telling, not showing with Kane’s attacks on Le Loup’s gang. Le Loup is a pretty generic main villain. Rather than being a thrilling chase, the continent hopping makes the story feel disjointed. It’s as if Howard just kept adding things to reach a required number of words. The African bit just feels random, even if it introduces N’Longa, Kane’s sorcerer friend. There’s also a little too much talk of savages, primitive people, and different stages of evolution. Yes, I know when this was written, but Howard manages to be less obvious, and even abandons that kind of talk altogether in the following stories, so I think it’s fair to point that out.

SKULLS IN THE STARS (January 1929)

Solomon Kane is warned about a deadly haunting in the moors, but instead of choosing a safer route, he decides to see what’s going on. At first, he’s sceptical, but when the most recent victim dies in front of him, he must fight for his life.

Much shorter than Red Shadows, too short, in fact. The setup is good and makes you think you’re in for a good old ghost story, but then most of it happens off-page and it all ends too quickly.

RATTLE OF BONES (June 1929)

Solomon Kane and a fellow traveller spend the night at an inn. Kane suspects the owner may have murderous intentions and gets ready to fight, but there’s more than one threat he should be worried about.

Even shorter than Skulls in the Stars, but more effective because the plot is much simpler. I love a good villain monologue, but this one was meh. The ending was predictable but still good.

THE MOON OF SKULLS (June 1930)

Solomon Kane’s search for a kidnapped English girl takes him to the hidden kingdom of Negari, ruled by the beautiful and deadly Queen Nakaris. In an ancient city that hides the secrets of a lost civilization, Kane will face both temptation and death.

Howard finally got the pacing right with this one. It’s long but it could’ve been longer. Sure, we get Kane telling the convoluted story of how he went looking for the girl there, but we also get to follow him as he sneaks around the palace’s secret passageways. This story is suspenseful and thrilling. The long speech about the origins of the city is great worldbuilding. I’d love to read a full story about that and the ascension of Nakaris. All the build-up about the Queen doesn’t quite deliver, but if The Moon of Skulls is ever adapted into a movie or TV series, there’s more than enough material to create an interesting character. The talk about mixing with savages and impure blood comes from someone Kane considers a bad person, but we still get Kane’s inner monologue about how the city’s current occupants are too savage to have built something like that. At least, Howard sets the bloodthirsty people of Negaris apart from the other African tribes. The sudden bout of religiosity in the end with Kane quoting the Bible at length, was both unexpected and unwelcome. Despite its flaws, this was far better than the previous stories, and is also one of my favourites.

THE HILLS OF THE DEAD (August 1930)

Solomon Kane’s lust for adventure takes him back to Africa. To protect his friend in his journey through the dangerous jungle, N’Longa gifts him a magical carved staff. After travelling for days, Kane saves a runaway girl from a lion and decides to escort her back to her village. When he’s nearly killed by two supernatural creatures during the night, the girl tells him about the walking dead men who feed on the living and can’t be killed. Now, Kane must put aside his misgivings about magic and use the staff.

This one is good. I like that Kane isn’t invincible and even ends up taking a backseat to N’Longa and his magic when it’s time to deal with the creatures. We also learn more about the sorcerer, even if Howard doesn’t go into too many details. I think the supernatural problem was solved a bit too easily, even if I liked the execution. It would look great in a movie. Howard clearly loved the contrast between Kane’s austere religiosity and his passion for adventure, but him being a Puritan just feels random. The speech at the end of The Moon of Skulls seemed tacked on, and people don’t need to be religious to have principles and want to do the right thing.

THE FOOTFALLS WITHIN (September 1931)

Solomon Kane comes across an Arab slaver, Hassim, and his men, who are dragging their shackled prisoners through the jungle. He decides to intervene, but though he kills several of the guards, he ends up being captured. One of the Arabs, Yussef, is convinced the magical staff N’Longa gave Kane is from another world and older than Humanity itself. When they find a mysterious locked mausoleum in the middle of the jungle from which sound deep footsteps only Kane can hear, the staff is all that stands between him and the ancient horror within.

Oho, some Lovecraftian horror! We also get more backstory on Kane and the staff. Now, I really want to know more about N’Longa, which will never happen because Howard didn’t write more about him. This combines the randomness of Red Shadows with the shortness of Skulls in the Stars, but unlike in those two stories, The Footfalls Within makes it work. This is probably the story that makes better use of Kane’s religiosity. Yes, it’s a lot, but here it makes sense. The white saviour bit is cringeworthy and we also get a glimpse into Kane’s views on Islam and Arabs, which are of course, negative, yet surprisingly tame. I knew the stories weren’t published in the order they were written, but I only noticed it here when Kane references something that hasn’t shown up yet. It’d probably be better to switch this one with Wings in the Night. I actually think The Footfalls Within could work as an (open) end for the whole series: the staff’s true origins are revealed, and Kane embraces his purpose as an enemy of darkness and evil.

WINGS IN THE NIGHT (July 1932)

Chased by cannibals, Solomon Kane reaches an unfamiliar land. There, he makes several ghastly discoveries: a deserted village with roofs destroyed and what’s left of its inhabitants scattered around; and a wounded, dying man tied high up on a tree. Before he dies, the man accuses the village priest and his own brother of having been the ones who put him there, and cries fearfully about wings. Kane dismisses this as the ravings of a dying man until he’s attacked by a humanoid creature with leathery wings, fangs, and taloned hands. Severely wounded, he’s taken in by the dying man’s tribe, the Bogonda, who tell him how the akaanas have been attacking them for decades and beg for his help in dealing with the winged monsters.

I liked the reveal about the origin of the akaanas, but this one isn’t good. The fight scenes are really repetitive, and it’s hard to believe Kane wouldn’t have died of one his many terrible wounds. I like gore, but Howard went too far with his physical torment. Kane’s madness (there’s even a chapter titled 'The Madness of Solomon') is so OTT, even for Howard, that it almost becomes unintentionally funny. The ending is basically a retread of The Hills of the Dead, except N’Longa did it better. Maybe that’s why Howard has Kane decide not to use the staff to contact the sorcerer. The really flimsy excuse is that the akaanas aren’t supernatural. Yes, N’Longa told Kane the staff would help him if his mortal weapons failed, but that doesn’t mean Kane couldn’t try to communicate with him. Since he’s much older than he seems, it’s possible he’d know something useful about them. Anyway, be prepared for Kane as a white saviour, again, and of course, savage cannibals with filed teeth.

I guess I should rank the stories, so here goes:

1 – The Moon of Skulls (it has issues, but I’m a sucker for world-building)

2 – The Hills of the Dead (N’Longa is awesome)

3 – The Footfalls Within (Lovecraftian horror + character and artifact backstory)

4 – Rattle of Bones (less is more)

5 – Wings in the Night (only because of the akaanas’ origins)

6 – Skulls in the Stars (at least it’s short)

7 – Red Shadows (too long, lame villain, feels disjointed)

Most of the Solomon Kane editions I’ve come across only include these seven stories, but according to Wikipedia, there are two more finished stories featuring Solomon Kane: Brotherhood of the Blades, which pits Kane against pirates; and The Right Hand of Doom, about a vengeful sorcerer, in which Kane’s presence is minimal. At one point, Brotherhood was edited and partially rewritten by another writer to add a supernatural element. I was going to wait until I had read all of the Kane stories to write this post but changed my mind. They don't sound promising and I really don't feel like buying a whole new book because of them.  If I ever read them, I’ll just add those two reviews to the others.

By Danforth