Crimson Shadows: The Best of Robert E. Howard, Volume One

Among the great pulp writers whose work continues to enthrall new generations of readers -- Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.P. Lovecraft, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler--few were as versatile as Robert E. Howard. Best known as the creator of Conan, Howard also wrote not only of other memorable fantasy characters, such as Puritan swordsman Solomon Kane and Pictish king Bran Mak Morn, but hundreds of stories of boxing, detection, westerns, horror, weird menace, desert adventure, lost race, historicals, spicies , even true confessions.

Robert E Howard is best known as the father of sword and sorcery fiction, an exciting blend of swashbuckling action and supernatural horror epitomized by his characters King Kull, barbarian usurper of the throne of fabled Valusia, and Conan, who wanders the Hyborian Age to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.

But the young Texas author was far more gifted and versatile than many readers know: in a career that lasted only twelve years before his untimely death, he wrote some 300 stories and 800 poems, covering anastonishing variety of subject matter fantasy, boxing, westerns, horror, adventure, historical, detective, spicy, even confessions running the gamut from dark fantasy to broad humor, from brooding horror to gentle love story. In this volume, and its forthcoming companion, editor Rusty Burke, with help from his fellow Howard fans and scholars, has selected the very best of Howard's work from most of these genres, enabling newer readers to discover the richness of Howard's varied oeuvre, fans of his fantasy tales to sample his other work, and long-time fans to reconnect with old favorites. Crimson Shadows will sweep you into the vivid world of excitement and adventure of master storyteller Robert E Howard.