The Journey(s) of Ian

Robert E. Howard, in his short, flawed, but prolific life, brought into existence a variety of manly and heroic characters, the most famous being Conan—the Cimmerian warrior and king—who was immortalised (if that is the correct word) on the silver screen by Arnold Swazenneger. However, it is not about the famous Conan I shall write about today, rather I shall turn my pen (or at least keyboard) to discuss one of Howard’s lesser known creations, that of Solomon Kane, an Englishman, who travelled the world armed with rapier, flintlock, and dagger, but most of all—his unswerving Puritan faith. In a connected series of short stories Howard describes Kane to us. Kane’s demeanour is stoic, his resolution total, and he is devoted to fighting evil, in all its forms. From zombies, to troubled ghosts, in England and Europe, deep in the dark jungles of Africa, and in the frozen north of Europe, he battles bad people, monsters and things, supernatural and otherwise, in his eternal quest to subdue ...