The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands

By Robert E. Howard

“[Behind Howard’s stories] lurks a dark poetry and the timeless truth of dreams.”
–Robert Bloch

“Howard’s writing seems so highly charged with energy that it nearly gives off sparks.”
–Stephen King

The classic pulp magazines of the early twentieth century are long gone, but their action-packed tales live on through the work of legendary storyteller Robert E. Howard. From his fecund imagination sprang an army of larger-than-life heroes–including the iconic Conan the Cimmerian, King Kull of Atlantis, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mak Morn–as well as adventures that would define a genre for generations. Now comes the second volume of this author’s breathtaking short fiction, which runs the gamut from sword and sorcery, historical epic, and seafaring pirate adventure to two-fisted crime and intrigue, ghoulish horror, and rip-roaring western.

Kull reigns supreme in “By This Axe I Rule!” and “The Mirrors of Tuzan Thune”; Conan conquers in one of his most popular exploits, “The Tower of the Elephant”; Solomon Kane battles demons deep in Africa in “Wings in the Night”; and itinerant boxer Steve Costigan puts up his dukes of steel inside and outside the ring in “The Bulldog Breed.” In between, warrior kings, daring knights, sinister masterminds, grizzled frontiersmen–even Howard’s stunning heroine, Red Sonya–tear up the pages in stories built to thrill by their masterly creator.

And in such epic poems as “Echoes from an Anvil,” “Black Harps in the Hills,” and “The Grim Land,” the author blends his classic characters and visceral imagery with a lyricism as haunting as traditional folk balladry. Lavishly illustrated by Jim and Ruth Keegan, here is a Robert E. Howard collection as indispensable as it is unforgettable.

“Howard had a gritty, vibrant style–broadsword writing that cut its way to the heart, with heroes who are truly larger than life.”
–David Gemmell

“For stark, living fear . . . What other writer is even in the running with Robert E. Howard?”
–H. P. Lovecraft

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 27, 2007
• ISBN: 9780345502506

Reviews for The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2

[melmore_10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Okay, but not as overwhelming as I remembered from my adolescence.

[jimmaclachlan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was probably the best collection of his work that I've ever read & I'm pretty conversant with his work. I have over 40 of his books, half being Conan. I think every type of story he wrote was covered & the very best were picked. There were even a couple of stories that I don't think I had read before, which is surprising. If I have any quarrel with the book, it's the amount of his poetry that is included. It is interspersed among the stories well, but by cutting back on it, perhaps another great story could have been included, such as "The Sowers of Thunder". Still, poetry was something he was apparently good at (I'm no judge, I don't care for it) so I guess it will make the books for some others.There are some good summations of his life & work in the introduction & appendices. They're very much to the point & capture his life as few others have. If you have any interest in pulp fiction, whether Sword & Sorcery, Fantasy, Horror, Detective, Boxing or Western, then this is a good book to read. It has it all.