Black Vulmea's Vengeance

By Robert E. Howard

This early work by Robert E. Howard was originally published in 1938 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'Black Vulmea's Vengeance' is a story in the Black Vulmea series about an Irish pirate sailing the Caribbean. Robert Ervin Howard was born in Peaster, Texas in 1906. During his youth, his family moved between a variety of Texan boomtowns, and Howard – a bookish and somewhat introverted child – was steeped in the violent myths and legends of the Old South. At fifteen Howard began to read the pulp magazines of the day, and to write more seriously. The December 1922 issue of his high school newspaper featured two of his stories, 'Golden Hope Christmas' and 'West is West'. In 1924 he sold his first piece – a short caveman tale titled 'Spear and Fang' – for $16 to the not-yet-famous Weird Tales magazine. Howard's most famous character, Conan the Cimmerian, was a barbarian-turned-King during the Hyborian Age, a mythical period of some 12,000 years ago. Conan featured in seventeen Weird Tales stories between 1933 and 1936 which is why Howard is now regarded as having spawned the 'sword and sorcery' genre. The Conan stories have since been adapted many times, most famously in the series of films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Press
• Release date: Feb 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781473397415

Reviews for Black Vulmea's Vengeance

[vincentdarlage · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not Howard's best, but still a fun & adventurous collection of short stories.

[michael5rimmer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Arrr, me hearties!" is one pirate stereotype that you won't find in this book of three bucaneering tales.

You will, however, find much in the way of the seeking of cursed booty, secret treasure maps, dead men's tales, lost cities, savage tribes-people, villainous Royal Navy captains, treacherous French noblemen and covetous corsairs!

There's actually little time spent ship-board, with most of the action taking place on deserted islands and in dense jungles. The feel is more Indiana Jones than Treasure Island, and, as the stories were written before Disney's adaptation of Stevenson's classic served us up the "hearty" image of piracy, they have a freshness despite their age.

"Black" Terence Vulmea is the hero of the first two stories, Swords of the Red Brotherhood and Black Vulmea's Vengeance. He's cast in Howard's usual mould - a Celtic superman - but he's not simply Conan by another name (despite the fact that Howard adapted the first story into a Conan tale): he's given a distinct (if briefly sketched) background and motivations. I wish Howard had written more than these two stories about his adventures.

The last story, The Isle of Pirates' Doom while written from the viewpoint of a male narrator is more interesting for its female pirate, Helen Tavrel. She could have made a good heroine for a series of Virgin Pirate Queen stories but again, alas, Howard wrote only this one story about her (at least as far as I'm aware). She's beautiful (of course), intelligent and resourceful, and an excellent swordswoman. She seems to be strategically more capable than her male partner, dictating many of their plans, and saves his life more than once (though he does return the favour).

Three excellent examples of escapist fiction by a master of the genre.