Dark Crusade (1975) by Karl Edward Wagner

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Long before the term Grimdark became a specific sub-genre of sword and sorcery, there was Karl Edward Wagner and his novels and short stories featuring his anti-hero, Kane, a hulking, amoral, mystic swordsman. Cursed with immortality, the red-haired and bearded brute is a wholly unique blend of Conan, Elric, and Barry Sadler’s Casca as filtered through H.P. Lovecraft. His immortality has enabled Kane to gain knowledge beyond most mortals which he puts to use in areas of warfare and arcane sorceries. 

At their core, the Kane books and stories belie the fact that Wagner was  fundamentally a writer of horror stories. There is pitch black darkness and sense of foreboding nihilism that builds a palpable dread as the plot of Dark Crusade gets underway. It takes a while for things to get established as the reader is forced to wade through some needless history and politics involving the kingdom of Shapeli before focusing on a cult whose leader has become possessed by a dark god and is leading them to conquer the southern kingdoms who are already involved in their own civil war. Kane is brought in as a mercenary to lead an army against the depraved cult and ends up being in a rivalry with Jarvo, another general. 

There is as much a gothic horror vibe as a pulpy adventure vibe and the whole affair continually veers into some really brutal territory. In spite of this, there are character arcs and unexpected redemption, even though Kane remains an unrepentant and self-serving force of nature throughout. Wagner’s greatest strength is his prose, which is simultaneously efficient and beautiful, no matter what atrocity he may be describing. There were times where I had to force myself to stop reading to learn what would happen next in order to simply re-read a passage and enjoy the sheer artistry of descriptions and phrasing. It all ends with a climactic confrontation so fittingly awesome that it could almost stand alone as a self-contained story unto itself. 

I own more books in this series and I am now salivating to read them. This gets my highest recommendation.

Review by Steve Carroll

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