This book and another Kane book "Night Winds" contain some of the best short stories and novellas ever written in the fantasy form in my opinion. I've managed to collect most of the out of print Kane books over the years and wouldn't sell for just about any price. Kane is a far better example of the "anti-hero" than Michael Moorcocks Elric that there really isn't any comparison. This particular book has 3 fantastic stories, and though I agree with the prior reviewers that the 2nd is probably the best, I also rate the 1st and 3rd among my all time favorite fantasy short stories. All-in-all, this is required reading for any fan of the fantasy genre.

All 3 novellas this book are excellent reading. The first, about a werewolf's attack in a snowbound castle/hunting lodge is the closest I have ever seen any fantasy author get to true mystery tales of Sherlock Holmes/Arthur Conan Doyle calibre. Next is an action-filled bounty hunt where "good" confronts evil. A moral study and a ripping sword and sorcery yarn woven into a mesmermizing tapestry. The last is a chilling tale of lust and vampiric possession. The emptiness this tale leaves behind is trademark Karl Edward Wagner ("Never Dessylyn" and "Last Song of Valdese" are other fine examples (Night Winds)). After years of re-reading these tales and discussing them with friends, I still cannot decide upon a favourite. Wagner's skill in describing action realistically, mystery tantalizingly and weird occult phenomena in a way that tingles are showcased in each story of this book, his crowning masterpiece of dark fantasy. If you can get your hands on a copy, pay any price. You'll enjoy reading them many times. Get the other KEW titles first (Darkness Weaves, Dark Crusade, Bloodstone and Night Winds) and save Death Angel's Shadow for the grand finale. You'll be wishing there were more stuff that was even close to this good...

"Cold Light" is one of the best stories I've ever read. I've been looking for years to get another copy of this book simply to read that story again. While the other two stories in the book are very good, it is "Cold Light" which makes this a book to keep in your collection.

The pace is fast but with enough details to let you get into the characters.

My only complaint (if you can call it as one) is that you MUST read the next book because this story does not resolve itself or the characters.

Powerful characters and a lot of mystery surrounding the character Kane.

Looking forward to reading the rest of the story!!

Without doubt, Kane is the most compelling and enigmatic hero/antihero ever. Scholar, sorceror and warrior, Kane wanders the ages manipulating entire kingdoms and races for his amusement.

Cursed with immortality, the only remedy to alleviate infinte boredom is court intrigue and conquest.

Karl Edward Wagner has created a character of striking contrasts in a world of medieval beauty and gothic horror.

I first read this book in 1977 and haven't tired of rereading it since. Kane makes all other rugged heros and barbarians look like flower pressing dandies.

Wagner's writing is so powerful that you are drawn into Kane's world so deeply that it seems you are on the battlefield in a mystical realm in a time before time...He's my favorite anti-hero.

This book is by far the best book I have ever read. Kane is the greatest character of all time. Kane is a dark hero not some prissy wimp. I have also read some of the Conan books and I think compared to Kane Conan is a choir boy.

If you are tired of reading about allegedly powerful immortal beings who are afraid of the dark and get their butts kicked by the first scummy little orc to wander by, then reading this book is for you. Set in a byzantine past where multiple gods vy for power along with the denziens of the underworld, Wagner delievers a unique interpetation of the Biblical version of Kane who was the this world's first murderer. Marked by an Elder God for strangling his brother Able, a look into Kanes' killer blue eyes reveals the soul of a killer. Cursed to a life of immortality, Kane can only be killed by physical violence at the hands of another. Except that Kanes stands 6' tall, weighs 300 pounds of solid muscle and has the life experiences of thousands of years to draw upon. Absolute master warrior, magician, thief, geneal, admiral, scientist, philosopher, assassin etc... his real curse is boredom from outliving his friends and enemies alike. Kane defines the term Amoral, only out for himself and will ultimately serve no interest save for his own. Its only a matter of time before Hollywood embraces this perfect antihero and rolls out a movie. Unfortunately Wagner died a tragic death at a relativelly young age and there will be no more fresh Kane stories.

I can`t believe I`m the first person to review this epicmasterpiece. To all readers, this book is a MUST for all fantasy-fans. Wagner creates a war-torn world of great evils and greater adventures, similar to Howard`s Hyborian World, but much more realistic and threatening. Impending doom lurks on every page, and believe me, the end is almost never happy! This book is a collections of Wagner`s best novels and short stories about his dark hero, Kane who might be a good counterpart to all those nice, princess rescuing, dragon slaying heroes you find too often in bad fantasy. Not so Kane: he loves to plunder, raid and rape and often he raises armies to invade peaceful kingdoms. But he`s not a simple brute, but owns a piercing intelligence apart from a muscular bulk of a body. The thing is, Kane, wether he acts as general, corsair or necromancer, he`s not evil, but only after his own advantage and if he can be persuaded, he also fights for good purposes. This makes him so realistic and the reader can identify himself with Kane, of course also due to Wagner`s fantastic ability of storytelling, unmatched by all writers of fantasy today, perhaps except for George R. Martin`s Game of Thrones. Believe me, I`ve read them all, Goodkind or Jordan, to name two, and they couldn`t touch Wagner with a very long stick. Thank you.

For me, theres not much to say about Wagner, except I wish he was still with us, writing. He really had a way of getting inside my head with his work

Karl Edward Wagner's intelligent, clearly written tales of terror are among the genre's best, and it is sad that this book is out of print. The story "Sticks," which I first read nearly ten years ago, is still as haunting to me today as it was the day I read it. This story seem like an inspiration (or at least a precursor) for the use of stick bundles in the (far inferior) movie "The Blair Witch Project." "The River of Nights Dreaming," a pull-out-all-the-stops tale of a desperate female prison escapee who stumbles into the midst of some extremely strange and kinky goings-on, is also hard to forget. In fact, there is not a boring or forgettable story in this collection. Most of Wagner's stories aren't excessively subtle, but they are well-crafted, satisfying horror yarns. If you are interested in short horror fiction, you cannot do better than to read Karl Edward Wagner, in my opinion.

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.

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

In the book a worrier name Kane who seems immortal and ageless, finds an ancient relic in the booty of a bloody raid. With this relic he seeks to unearth and awaken an ancient power with which he will rule the earth. It is a gory tale of a man part savage, part sage, with a touch of satanic seasoning, and lust to rule the planet he is doomed to stride for eterity. If you loved Kane you should try and read some of Wagners other tales of Kane Like : Dark Crusade, of Darkness weaves both excellent, and they give hint to his past.

If you liked Bloodstone, the rest of the series is a must read. Wagner has managed to create the near perfect anti-hero. I would also recommend "Killer", a book he co-authored with David Drake. Not a sword and sorcery tale, but good sci-fi.

Bloodstones fills every need that a sword and sorcery reader has. The character,Kane, is truely the hero or un-hero, your choice, that we all seek to follow. Sporting the triple "B's", Big, Brutal, and Brilliant he shows the reader survival and success techniques that apply even in today's market arena. I am constantly amazed at the intricate flow of intrigue Wagner created. I have read the book three times and then lost my copy. I am now on my own quest for the "bloodstone" and the power of it's story.

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.

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.