tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post6566565112933196680..comments2024-03-28T13:22:07.685-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Pulp Fantasy Library: The Footfalls WithinJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-28218131815337913732021-11-01T01:32:16.111-04:002021-11-01T01:32:16.111-04:00I'd go one further and say that--not ignoring ...I'd go one further and say that--not ignoring Howard's racism--Solomon Kane is perhaps the first white hero to gladly work for a similarly heroic black superior. N'Longa is clearly calling the shots in several of the stories, and Kane doesn't question his knowledge or his orders--and his trust is proven correct. I can't think of a similar example in genre fiction until John Brunner, and while it's not my field I'd be hard-pressed to find a white author in mainstream 'serious' or 'realistic' fiction doing the same until the eighties.Rigelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17871675202419307863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-64641176873850442872021-10-01T07:43:31.873-04:002021-10-01T07:43:31.873-04:00There are some quite excellent readings of "R...There are some quite excellent readings of "Return" to be found on Youtube, which have only increased my liking for the poem.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-18868820643389690592021-09-28T14:32:04.435-04:002021-09-28T14:32:04.435-04:00Like you, I find Solomon Kane to be my favorite of...Like you, I find Solomon Kane to be my favorite of REH's heroes, if only by the slimmest of margins. I'm also a fan of Howard's poetry and the one that haunts me the most is "The Return of Sir Richard Grenville" (featuring Solomon Kane). And I'm not sure why.John E. Boylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02424841103552780730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-9369661163508518362021-09-27T08:04:15.830-04:002021-09-27T08:04:15.830-04:00Much like you I favor Kane over any of REH's o...Much like you I favor Kane over any of REH's other characters, although the margin between him and Conan or the rather underappreciated Bran Mak Morn is pretty slim. I think for me it stems from how Kane feels more "real" (using the term loosely) than the others due to his place in history. The world he dwells in is much closer to ours, and less definitely fictional than that of Conan or Kull. Some of the tales set in Europe border on historical fiction, albeit always with a supernatural element.<br /><br />There's also the appealingly pragmatic hypocrisy Kane displays about magic. He'll spend pages ranting about how evil it is and its users are tools of Satan, but when he's not shy about using that artifact-grade staff he's lugging around when the situation calls for it, nor does he balk at asking for help from N'Longa - who isn't exactly an angel himself, what with the magical possession stuff he gets up to. As someone who lives in what used to be Puritan country, I find Kane's portrayal surprisingly apt - especially for an author from Texas who wasn't raised with all the history and myth around the loons being force fed to him. :)Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-54800381624211306772021-09-27T05:15:41.129-04:002021-09-27T05:15:41.129-04:00Despite Howard's own shortcomings when it came...Despite Howard's own shortcomings when it came to race, it's nice to see another sign (next to The Pidgeons From Hell) that he did in fact feel passionately about the centuries of horrific, ongoing injustices black people have had heaped on them. Plus, you have N'Longa, a black man in a heroic role.<br /><br />Given the era in which he wrote? The fact that you can tell he was trying to be better is worth giving him a lot of credit for.Paphvulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17793765634686489221noreply@blogger.com