STEVE CARROLL WRITES

One of Robert E. Howard’s finest short stories is  Worms of the Earth , first published in 1932, a pitch-black, horror-tinged piece of sword and sorcery pulp that features a very different protagonist from his famed Cimmerian, Conan. The tale revolves around the diminutive but powerful Pict King, Bran Mak Morn, and details his willingness to dabble with dark supernatural forces in summoning a race of degenerate subhuman underground creatures to achieve revenge against a Roman governor for the crucifixion of one of his comrades.  The task that stalwart dark fantasy author Karl Edward Wagner takes on in  Legion from the Shadows  is to give readers a direct novel-length sequel to Howard’s story, once again focusing on Bran Mak Morn and his ongoing war against Rome in ancient Britain. Wagner’s scope is impressive as he casts his net large enough to incorporate the mystery of the legendary missing IX Le...

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 bef...