This is an excellent selection of Cave's pulp magazine weird-menace stories, mostly from the 30s and 40s. Evil lurks on every page, but did the unknown monster or a demon in more human form commit the ghastly murders? With stark pen and ink illustration by World Fantasy award winning artist Lee Brown Coye and editied by the late master of modern horror Karl Edward Wagner, this is perfect reading for a dark and stormy night

I first read the book when I was 10. It has since inspired me to aspire to be a novelist. I have written many short stories, and am well into my first novel, and I am still in grade 9.

Wagner does a great job describing the literati purges. His analysis reads like a courtroom drama, with the actions of the players listed in great detail. He gave enough evidence to convince me of his thesis.

This is the very best Conan the barbarian Book. Too bad it is out of print.

"Wide Ruins" is a wonderful reading experience on an interesting topic. Sallie Wagner weaves a personal tale of her experiences as the trader at Wide Ruins, Arizona, in the 1940's. Her story progresses quickly and she seems to provide enough detail of her experiences without lingering too long on any one topic. She vividly describes the role of the trading post and of the traders. The trading post was a general store, a pawn shop, and a safety deposit box. The traders were resourceful businessmen who could conduct business without any actual money trading hands. They were esteemed residents who helped the Navajo people survive a difficult time in America's history.

This memoir is a significant piece of literature because it was written by one who actually lived in a world that few non-Navajos ever get to see. She decribes the Navajo people and the Navajo culture in a way that makes their time and place real. It is not an academic study by a distant scholar of the culture. It is a personal account of a world that no longer exists, and as such, it is a treasure. I would also recommend "Navajo Trader" by Cladwell Richardson in addition to "Wide Ruins".

I really excellent read. Will really chill you through and through.

This collection is an essential purchase for Wagnerphiles. Buy it now.

This book was printed in a hardcover trade edition of only 2000 copies (which is the version being sold here at Amazon) and a limited edition of 100 signed copies. The book is excellent (see the other reviews for details), so do not delay if you are interested in buying a copy. The editorial review for this book should state that this is a very limited offering.

as a student of conducting i think this is an excellent book describing all their is to know about the craft.

This fascinating little book started life as a newspaper article titled "Uber das Dirigiren" in 1869. Wagner directed it at instrumentalists and vocalists, rather than conductors.

It is a practical record of Wagner's experience as a conductor. Besides being a composer, Wagner was a kapellmeister of considerable experience. During his lifetime, the job of conductor was undergoing tremendous change. It is quite interesting to read Wagner's thoughts on the subject.

Highly recommended.

These tapes contain readings of a number of stories from Wagner's "Night Winds" collection (this site contains numerous five-star reviews of that book), including Two Suns Setting and Lynortis Reprise. Unfortunately, its a fairly low-budget affair, and the voice acting leaves something to be desired. I recommend it more as a novelty than as a serious way to get into the stories. Still, if you like books on tape and can't find a print of the written version . . .

If you were immortal, what would your moral code be? Would you gain a reputation as bad Kane's? Would you develop skills like his to survive, especially if you were as certain of the demons that awaited you after death? Kane is not just a violent Sword and Sorcery anti-hero, he is a character you can identify with because you might make the same choices as he does. These are the best fantasy stories I've read, and re-read and read again!

Kane finds himself near death from a recent battle under a strange moon. Taking refuge with his comrades in an inn he is subtley reminded of past transgressions here. A woman he has once wronged has made a pact with the devil promising her child, the result of her union with Kane, as payment for the devil's help in taking Kane's soul/life and repaying the torment he has given her in the life of her daughter. Kane discovers the pact through logic and the hints of his daughter while trying to escape those that pursue him for a different type of justice. Hampered by his wounds and the need to escape his pursuit, Kane must stop the raving woman from sacrificing his daughter to Lucifer and thus losing his own soul in the process. I highly reccomend the entire Kane series to anyone and of all the books this one is perhaps my favorite.

This was such an interesting tale in the beginning. It was a fantasy-based story that reminded me of the movie Predator but set in the Roman era.

I don't know which author started this novel, but he was by far the better writer because, by the middle half, it started to drag and bore me. I could actually feel the steam of the story run out. What a shame...

Great idea that could have panned out for a much better ending.

This is a well-written action novel, though its plot is not quite as original as some other readers may think. Like all good action stories, it avoids dragging passages--but there are no time-outs for character development. There are a couple of weaknesses in the book, however. One shortcoming is the climax, where the final confrontation ends rather quickly and ordinarily; and that is surprising, considering that the entire book up to that point hypes the speed and power of the phile.
Another shortcoming concerns a rogue subplot, about how the hero's teenage son is seduced by a tutor and "converted" into a willing homosexual (yeah, sure)--leading to the hero's nasty revenge against the tutor. That subplot, besides being ridiculous, serves no useful purpose to the main plot and is evidently only a gratuituous expression of the authors' personal bias.

Part history lesson, part absolutely believable science fiction, all thriller.

To put this book in movie terms, imagine a big game hunter from Ancient Rome encountering both an Alien and a Predator at the same time. The hunter should have a short messy end, right? Guess again. The ending will stay with you for a long time.

a good book, the greatest by howard's "successors". great opening. good battle descriptions. but there were also moments where nothimg much happened, and some things didn't feel so natural. but a good book, mind you.

The late and lamented Karl Edward Wagner, who wrote this pastiche, was the first to say that nobody could write like Robert E Howard but Howard Himself. Paradoxically enough, this came from the man who was best qualified to imitate the first and Greatest master of Sword and Sorcery.

This homage has some very good points, the compact, efficient prose with the right word where it is needed, and the often grim atmosphere, the violent and graphic action, natural and not so natural horrors and monsters, horror from indescribable gulf of space and antiquity... these are all elements found in the original stories, and very well rendered by Wagner.

However, Wagner, perhaps trying to outdo the Master, has committed a series of bad mistakes that detract from the book's value as a Conan yarn : First, and to my point of view worst, is getting Conan to a very high post and so close to getting a throne : if such an episode were to be added to his biography, then some of the stories set by Howard after he seizes the throne of Aquilonia would have turned differently, because he would have known of the price of power. Then, there is a problem with atmosphere: Howard's tales are characterized as very grim, this one has far too much humor, even verging on the comic... last, but not least is the fact that in this book, women are treated in a way that could never have happened in a Howard yarn: yes, he was a male chauvinist, (though beware such of his characters as Valeria, Bêlit or Red Sonya), yes his tales are written by the conventions of his times, which no longer apply, still I believe that pastiches should respect some of the original's specifications...

All being said, No, this is not quite the equal of the dark page turners Howard extracted from his tormented mind, but Yes Wagner has still produced a decent story that will please fans of the genre (or of the character) more than the general public, but for those who like a solid adventure yarn, this is your stuff, get it while you can.

Karl Edward Wagner has done a masterful job at creating another fantastic adventure for Conan and the reader. He is a welcome addition to the ranks of Conan authors. There is no shortage of action and intrigue in this Conan novel. For any Conan fan this one is a must and for any who have never read a Conan novel this is a good one to start with. I look forward to more from Wagner...