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The Sowers of the Thunder is a short story by Robert E. Howard (published in Oriental Stories, Winter 1932) that takes place in Outremer (the Crusader states) in the time of General Baibars and deals with the General’s friendly/adversarial relationship with Cahal Ruadh O’Donnell, an Irish Crusader with a troubled past cut in the Howardian mold. Both the Siege of Jerusalem (1244) and the Battle of La Forbie feature in the plot.

The tall Englishman, Pembroke, was scratching lines on the earth with his hunting knife, talking in a jerky tone that indicated suppressed excitement: „I tell you, Ormond, that peak to the west is the one we were to look for. Here, I’ve marked a map in the dirt. This mark here represents our camp, and this one is the peak. We’ve marched north far enough.

The long low craft which rode off-shore had an unsavory look, and lying close in my covert, I was glad that I had not hailed her. Caution had prompted me to conceal myself and observe her crew before making my presence known, and now I thanked my guardian spirit; for these were troublous times and strange craft haunted the Caribees.

Once it was called Eski-Hissar, the Old Castle, for it was very ancient even when the first Seljuks swept out of the east, and not even the Arabs, who rebuilt that crumbling pile in the days of Abu Bekr, knew what hands reared those massive bastions among the frowning foothills of the Taurus. Now, since the old keep had become a bandit’s hold, men called it Bab-el-Shaitan, the Gate of the Devil, and with good reason.

Robert E. Howard is famous for creating such immortal heroes as Conan the Cimmerian, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mak Morn. Less well-known but equally extraordinary are his non-fantasy adventure stories set in the Middle East and featuring such hero as Francis Xavier Gordon. Texas gunfighter F. X. Gordon traveled the world before settling in 1920s Afghanistan. The Afghans dubbed him „El Borak” for his quick thinking and skill with a sword and gun. The respected Gordon frequently...

One moment the glade lay empty; the next a man poised tensely at the edge of the bushes. No sound warned the red squirrels of his coming, but the birds that flitted about in the sunlight took sudden fright at the apparition and rose in a clamoring swarm. The man scowled and glanced quickly back the way he had come, fearing the bird-flight might have betrayed his presence. Then he started across the glade, placing his feet with caution. Tall and muscular of frame, he moved w...

Kirby O’Donnell is a Howard hero less familiar to most readers. Howard only wrote three stories about O’Donnell’s exploits, of which only two actually saw print during his lifetime -- „The Treasures of Tartary” and „Swords of Shahrazar” -- neither in Weird Tales.

Francis Xavier Gordon was a living legend in the Middle and Far East. The boars called him El Borac, „Swift,” the title earned by his awkward abilities with a gun, a knife and a sword. Now, the mighty El Borak must stretch its forces to prevent the Turkish uprising, protect the hermits from murders and stop the dangerous amir without allowing him to seize control over India.

From Robert E. Howard’s fertile imagination sprang some of fiction’s greatest heroes, including Conan the Cimmerian, King Kull, and Solomon Kane. But of all Howard’s characters, none embodied his creator’s brooding temperament more than Bran Mak Morn. The last king of the Picts, Bran Mak Morn exists in a brutal, savage world set in the same universe as H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Unlike most of his race, Morn eschewed violence and actively sought peace among the other ...

The singing of the swords was a deathly clamor in the brain of Godric de Villehard. Blood and sweat veiled his eyes and in the instant of blindness he felt a keen point pierce a joint of his hauberk and sting deep into his ribs. Smiting blindly, he felt the jarring impact that meant his sword had gone home, and snatching an instant’s grace, he flung back his vizor and wiped the redness from his eyes.

The Turks, cruelly lead by the scurrilous Bayazid, crushingly defeat a bunch of European Christians who were invading so as to steal land from the Turks, or something. But one of the Europeans, a Scott, Donald MacDeesa escapes with his life and hooks up with Ak Boga, who who had secretly been spying on the carnage. Ak Boga works for the Amir of Samarcand, one Timour the Lame.

Hawks of Outremer is a tight tale. The main character is Cormac FitzGeoffrey, a bastard Norman-Gael who has thrown his lot in with the Crusaders. Once a loose peace was established in Outremer, Cormac returned to Ireland but after a short stint fighting, peace broke out there, too. Cormac returns to the Holy Land (Outremer) seeking to attach himself to a liege, only to learn that his liege of choice has been assassinated. Plots are afoot between Muslims and Christian lords ...

The immortal legacy of Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Cimmerian, continues with this latest compendium of Howard’s fiction and poetry. He will always be best remembered for his sword and sorcery tales but his work was extraordinarily varied. Unlike most of his better known works such as Conan, Kull, Solomon Kane, etc., these stories are all historically based adventure stories. These adventures, set in medieval-era Europe and the Near East, are among the most grippi...

This early work by Robert E. Howard was originally published. ’Hawk of the Hills’ is a story in the El Borak series where El Borak leads a tribe to war in Afganistan. I recommend this book

The castles of the Twelfth Century, fortresses rather than mere dwellings, were built for defense, not comfort. The hall through which the drunken band was hallooing was broad, lofty, windy, strewn with rushes, now but faintly lighted by the dying embers in a great ill-ventilated fireplace. Rude, sail-like hangings along the walls rippled in the wind that found its way through.

Pulp adventure, seemingly a bit crude and dashed off quickly, but good storytelling none the less. Pirates and lost cities – a bit of ’Pirates of the Caribbean’ and ’Indiana Jones’ rolled into one, but also with echoes of one of Howard’s best known tales of piracy, the Conan story ’Queen of the Black Coast’ – a superior story. The writing here is okay, entertaining enough, and even manages a little character exposition, but Howard could do and did do better work.

”I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom’s realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer’s Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue...

Das russische Uebergewicht in Europa wurde vernichtet! Sebastopol! Welche Fülle von Erinnerungen knüpft sich an diesen Namen! war es doch ein furchtbares Ringen um den Besitz dieser Krim-Festung, deren Fall nach fast einjähriger Belagerung den Orient-Krieg entschied, den die Türkei, unterstützt von Frankreich und England, in den Jahren 1853 – 1866 gegen Rußland führte, um dessen Seemacht im Schwarzen Meere zu zerstören. Aber noch ein weiteres Ziel wurde durch diesen endlich...

Sir John Retcliffes historisch-politische Romane sind im ureigensten Sinn mit Abenteuern angereicherte Tendenzromane, die das gesamte politische Geschehen seiner Zeit zum Inhalt haben. „Magenta und Solferino” ist ein historisch politischer Roman. John Ratcliffe, wie immer unübertroffen.

Sir John Retcliffe, eigentlich Hermann Ottomar Friedrich Goedsche (1815-1878), war ein deutscher Schriftsteller. Er benutzte auch das Pseudonym Theodor Armin. Die „Historisch-politischen Romane aus der Gegenwart” von Sir John Retcliffe sind mit Abenteuern angereicherte Tendenzromane, die das gesamte politische Geschehen seiner Zeit zum Inhalt haben. Der indische Aufstand war ein Medienereignis, über das 1857 weltweit berichtet wurde. Indien wird einerseits als tropisches Pa...

Sir John Retcliffe, der eigentlich Herrmann Ottomar Friedrich Goedsche heißt, war ein deutscher Schriftsteller, aber er war auch bei der Preußischen Geheimpolizeit tätig, arbeitete für Redaktionen, war Herausgeber und Kriegsberichterstatter. Sir John Retcliffes historisch-politische Romane sind im ureigensten Sinn mit Abenteuern angereicherte Tendenzromane, die das gesamte politische Geschehen seiner Zeit zum Inhalt haben. „Abenteuer in Sibirien” ist eine autonome Episode a...

Sir John Retcliffe, der eigentlich Herrmann Ottomar Friedrich Goedsche heißt, war ein deutscher Schriftsteller, aber er war auch bei der Preußischen Geheimpolizeit tätig, arbeitete für Redaktionen, war Herausgeber und Kriegsberichterstatter. Er benutzte auch das Pseudonym Theodor Armin. Sir John Retcliffes historisch-politische Romane sind im ureigensten Sinn mit Abenteuern angereicherte Tendenzromane, die das gesamte politische Geschehen seiner Zeit zum Inhalt haben. „Solf...

Gelimer – historischer Roman aus der Völkerwanderung (a. 534 n. Chr.). Rom erzittert vor den wilden kriegen der Vandalen, König Gelimer steht auf dem Höhepunkt seiner Macht. Währenddessen rüstet im Osten Byzanz zum großen Angriff. Glanz und Triumph am kaiserlichen Hof zu Aachen, der Ruhm Karls des Großen strahlt über ganz Europa. Blutige Schlachten mit germanischen Stammesfürsten und den heidnischen Mauren drohen. Aber der Stern des Frankenkönigs steigt unaufhaltsam.

Felix Dahn (1834-1912) war ein deutscher Professor für Rechtswissenschaften, Schriftsteller und Historiker. Zwischen 1882 und 1901 ließ Dahn in 13 Bänden Kleine Romane aus der Völkerwanderung, zwischen 1890 und 1895 ebenfalls in mehreren Bänden eine etwa dreitausendseitige Autobiografie folgen. „Sind Götter? Die Halfred Sigskaldsaga” – eine nordische Erzählung aus dem zehnten Jahrhundert, 1874.