This book is very difficult to read because it is not well-written and also because there are too many details. Furthermore, the author introduces so many characters in each chapter but never talks about them again later in the book. So it is difficult to determine who is important and who is not important.

I find it impossible to believe that one reviewer found this book "neither too skimpy nor too detailed." How else do I know that this book is truly too detailed and inaccessible for most readers? One of the translators, Edward Wagner, concedes in another book ("Korea: Old and New") that this book was, in fact, too detailed.

I read this book to get an understanding of the history of korea in the greater sense, and also as one of a group of books on Korean history. It is very comprehensive, coverinig gthe range of Korean history from a brief synopsis of the prehistory of Korea, through the major part of ancient Korean history to the bulk of more modern history. I enjoyed this book finding it to be an interesting read, with a lot of details, would make a good history text for a class on korean history, which is exactly what I wanted from this book.

This book provides an excellent overview of Korean history. It is neither too skimpy nor too detailed. It also contains a number of useful photographs (black and white) and illustrations (black and white), which helped me read this book through. While many books (either written in English or translated into English) on Korean history deal almost exclusively with Korean War, only a few books are available that describe the history of Korea from its prehistoric beginnings to the modern colonial occupation of Korea by Japan. Although Korea is the most important neighboring country of Japan, the history textbooks used in Japanese schools spare very little space for this topic. I recommend this book to anyone, who is interested in learning Korean history, as a first book to read.

Other teachers and I love this book! It has helped many students transition from Spanish to English with friendly characters that they love. I would recommend this to anyone helping a student find the words to express their knowledge!

Karl Wagner and artist friend, Kent Williams, sold the idea for a "Mature" graphic novel to DC's "mature readers" line, VERTIGO. Karl left the project before it was finished. Kent Williams got John Ney Reiber to step in and script the finished art. {I am told that this was John Reiber's big break into the comic book biz. - He is currently writing "Books of Magic" for Vertigo.} I understand that John never saw Karl's original script. If you like mature dark horror, this is a fun read with wonderful Kent Williams art.

Wagner has compiled another really good collection of some really good stories. There are plenty here that I considered to slowly sneak up and scare me. Then to top it off, Wagner, while providing a biography for each author, comes up with a theory involving cats and coffee that is as fun to read. I found myself looking forward to the biographies as much as I was looking forward to the stories. Consider this collection recommended. Some of my favorites are below.

"The Ripper's Tune" by Gregory Nicoll - Jack the Ripper lays claim to a rock song.

"One Size Eats All" by T.E.D. Klein - A typo? Or not?

"Resurrection" by Adam Meyer - A scary tale of life after death, after death...

"David" by Sean Doolittle - A stranger has a request which he insists gets done.

"Ridi Bobo" by Robert Devereaux - It's a clown's world after all.

"Momento Mori" by Scott Thomas - The dead speak through tombstones.

"Ice Cream and Tombstones" by Nira Kiriki - A story most people can probably relate to.

I have been a fan of Mr Howard for nearly 12 years now, which in my opinion, makes me a bit of a connoisseur, and frankly this book was a bit of a disappointment. Undoubtedly the contributing writers are well-respected and immensely able but their writing lacked the Howardian flavour I have come to love. Ghor's sudden personality shifts are hard to follow and the various ideas in the story lack sufficient depth. This book is not the way Mr Howard would have written it. Nevertheless, this should be read because the original idea belonged to the great REH.

Ghor is a nice blend of Conan and the Cthulhu Mythos together. Abandoned as a child because of a deformity, Ghor is adopted by a pack of wolves. Raised by them, he adopts the ways of the wolf, yet when he meets up with humanity joins them. Constantly struggling with his wolf upbringing and his human surroundings, Ghor becomes a mighty war hero wherever he goes.

This is an excellent adventure book that takes a Conan like hero and plots him against all sorts of evil (and good), including some Cthulhu creations as well.

Originally Ghor was an unfinished story by Conan creator Robert Howard. Upon finding this unfinished story, a magazine decided to finish it. What they did was have a different chapter every month written by a different top fantasy writer. It made the reading interesting.

While most of the chapters were great. Some were excellent. Unfortunately there were a couple chapters that I just wanted to get through to reach the next writers' chapter. Overall a really good read.

I WAS VERY SUPRISED ABOUT HOW WELL THIS STORY CAME OFF. THE VARIUOS WRITERS DID AN EXCELLENT JOB IN WRITING AN EXCITING BOOK THAT FLOWED SMOOTHLY. IT DID NOT COME OFF AS A SERIES OF SHORT STORIES. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR ROBERT E. HOWARD FANS, AND FANS OF FANTASY IN GENERAL.

I've read the first of the three novels in this omnibus edition, and it was something of a disappointment on two levels. The first level is a matter of taste; I don't really like the writing style or the characters. (The plot is average for this sort of thing.) Wagner is very wordy, constructing long descriptions that employ "fancy" words like "eldritch" and "coruscating" and labor much too hard to build up an oppressive and dark atmosphere. (Wagner seems to be working under the influence of H. P. Lovecraft, but in my opinion the Lovecraft bleakness and over the top verbosity don't mesh well with an invincible-and-immortal-like-John-Carter lead character.) Kane is some kind of superhero, the best swordfighter in the land, the best archer in the land, a skilled diplomat and spy, a gifted scholar and expert on occult subjects, etc., as well as an unsympathetic brute and backstabber. The rest of the characters are cardboard cannon fodder. If you want to read sword fighting adventure stories with monsters and/or wizardry, I recommend trying Burrough's Mars books, Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser "Swords" books, or Moorcock's Elric and Corum books before this. Even Lin Carter's silly Callisto books were more fun.

Even if I had liked Wagner's tale, I still would have been disappointed with Night Shade Book's poor production of this omnibus edition. The part of Gods in Darkness that I read is full of typos; I swear every third page has a glaring error on it, like a period in the middle of a sentence, a spelling mistake, or what have you. (Could these be artifacts of the electronic scanning of an old manuscript?) Also, different pages are printed in different fonts; compare pages 17, 28, and 29... I swear these are three different fonts. Anyway, I have a first edition, perhaps Night Shade will resolve some of these issues in later printings.

Gods in darkness is stunning dark fantasy containing three novels about unforgettable anti-hero named Kane.Kane is cursed to wander the world immoral until he is destroyed by the violence that he himself has created!the first book:Bloodstone, Kane has found a ring that part of ancient alien empire that will give him incredible power which he will use for conquest not knowing that he himself is being used by the Ring's sinsister masters in the bid to enslaving the planet! This story itself has terrifying scenes of monsters, magic and battles as Kane uses his army of froglike beasts in pursue of his goal!
Second Book: Dark Crusade finds Kane joining forces with fanatical cult leader who seeks to conquer kingdom with the use of dark magic and finally in Darkness Weaves: Kane aids a depraved and hideous sorecress who wants to reclaim her empire
by using a ancient race of aquatic demons and their advance technology! This book is brilliant marriage of horror of Lovecraft with violent swashbuckling of Robert Howard. Wagner's world-building skills are awesome and lyrical prose which heigtens the atmosphere of his dark world!Wagner's descriptions of gruesome and bloody battle scenes and intrigue and betrayal will have you turning pages all through the night! You may not like Kane, who acts more of a villian than hero but you can't stop reading about him and his dark adventures as his hunger for power almost consumes him and his world!