10 things I learned from reading Solomon Kane

[PeteMurray]

1. The difference between Conan and Kane is that one is a whipcord-thin Protestant and the other is a steely-thewed barbarian. All other differences are negligible.

2. When REH decides that a baddie needs to die, that man dies messily.

3. REH writes a good swordfight scene.

4. The human race consists 93% of craven cowards, 6.98% decent but otherwise flawed people, and 0.02% grim-faced warriors.

5. Race relations have come a long way in 60 years, and for the better.

6. There is not one "Not Solomon Kane" mini on the market that resembles the character in the book. The Advanced Heroquest Witchhunter comes closest, but that's about it.

7. Any large, teeming city of thousands will be burned to the ground or destroyed by an earthquake by the end of Chapter 5. Furthermore, Central Africa is littered with Atlantean, Hittite, and Hyborean city ruins, some of which are in excellent condition.

8. The goodness of a girl is directly proportional to the amount of clothing she is wearing when introduced to Solomon Kane.

9. The only things you need to survive a cross-Africa trek are a sword, a pistol, and a magic staff. Food and water are secondary concerns.

10. The difference between REH and Lovecraft is that REH is less interested in the subtle nuances of Dark Gods than Lovecraft is.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

::  very good, Pete, time for me to read Solomone Kane again  

[PeteMurray]

I bought the $10 omnibus edition off Amazon, and it was worth every penny. I have a ton of ideas for a Solomon Kane-style Gloire expansion now!

[Howard Whitehouse]

Hey, I just found a Kane compilation in the dark jungle temple --- no, hold on, it was a charity sale outside the supermarket.

On to my pile 'to read' then ---

[SgtPerry]

I just ordered Gloire and swashbucklers minis from Brigade Games yesterday, and this morning I looked at my REH Books and I saw Salomon Kane.



There's a french rpg in pdf here : http://solomonkane.free.fr

Is there an existing figures of Kane in 28mm ?

Olivier

[Driscoles]

Thanks Olivier !

Visit also this site. Some poems there.
Great for Kane fans !

http://www.solomonkane.com/

Björn

[Mephysto]

... 11) If you are a famed brigand, a bandit whose name your hunters remember even after years, whose accent and manners clearly differ you from the locals - a big hat is enough to conveniently hide your identity. If you take it off, however, prepare to be recognized in an instant.

12) If you have a pistol, use it. It makes life easier. If you have no pistol, wait a while and someone will bring you one.

13) You don't need any weapons when you can have homing gorillas.

Not finished the book yet, but so far a great read. :twisted:

[PeteMurray]

13) You don't need any weapons when you can have homing gorillas.

 ::  ::  ::  ::  ::

Quoted for truth!

[Prof.Witchheimer]

12) If you have a pistol, use it. It makes life easier. If you have no pistol, wait a while and someone will bring you one.

 ::

Welcome aboard!

[Mephysto]

Thanks for the welcome, me 'earties.

And finished the next chapter in the book yesterday. Glad to see that there still are some archetypical cliché pirates around! Yo ho! He didn't get them all! :twisted:

Oh, and by the way:

14) To portray the mechanics of Swashbuckling more accurately, the next supplement of Gloire has to introduce the new character class Puritan (Grade 6).

:wink:

[Operator5]

14) To portray the mechanics of Swashbuckling more accurately, the next supplement of Gloire has to introduce the new character class Puritan (Grade 6).

:wink:

Don't expect to see him in Pirates, but that Puritan Demonbuster may make an appearance afterwards.  :wink:

[PeteMurray]

It's a well known fact that Puritains come in two varieties: Master manipulators of mobs, and steely-thewed master swordsmen. But they won't be Grade 6, because we still need to leave room for Doc Savage somewhere on the Grade system, and the werewolves need a fighting chance.

[Mephysto]

... Pirates...

Aye, I want "Under The Black Flag".
Give it to me.
Now.
Yarrr.
(Can you sense the subtle tone of myself looking forward to this? :wink:)

It's a well known fact that Puritains come in two varieties: Master manipulators of mobs, and steely-thewed master swordsmen. But they won't be Grade 6, because we still need to leave room for Doc Savage somewhere on the Grade system, and the werewolves need a fighting chance.

::

Well, fair enough, methinks. So give the Docs and the dogs a chance, as long as you keep the pirates in! :mrgreen:

[bolislaw]

Ok, this is going to seem really bad.

I didn't know there were SK books? The only exposure I have had to Kane was in the comic mini series and in the backs of others, all done by Marvel.
I thought he was only a comic character, maybe with one graphic novel or something....

 They are still my favorites, right along with Moon Knight and Iron man.

How many books are out there and where can I get them easily?

[PeteMurray]

I didn't know there were SK books?

Solomon Kane was created by Robert E. Howard, the same guy who wrote Conan the Barbarian. The Solomon Kane stories are mostly novellas or short stories, classic serial- and one-off-pulp. An omnibus edition was written a few years ago. You can find it on Amazon or any big bookseller for around $10. It has new artwork, which is done well and compliments the mood of the stories.

REH's Kane stories are very, very similar to the Conan stories, but take a great deal of inspiration from Lovecraft and the Cthulhu genre. The two were close friends; Lovecraft wrote a eulogy to Howard after his suicide.

The one thing that detracts from the stories is that like Lovecraft, Howard was very much into sorting people by "higher" and "lower" races, and he's quite blunt about where his sympathies lie. This is pervasive throughout the stories. You have to take that in the context of the period, where race relations were, shall we say, not quite as egalitarian as they are now. These elements were cleared out of the Marvel comics, and if you're not prepared for them, they're kind of a shock.