Science-Fiction

Robert E. Howard said there was “so little of the scientist about my nature” that he questioned his ability to write science fiction effectively, especially the formulaic, post-Wells, pre-Heinlein pulp SF of the early 1930s. However, two of his SF stories – published after his death – are notable because the ‘science’ in them takes a back seat to the kind of material that Howard did best: sword-swinging adventure and blood-chilling horror against exotic and extraterrestrial backdrops.

Almuric

A novel of stunning imagery. Esau Cairn, a hot-tempered Texas brawler, faces a murder rap after killing a crooked big-city political boss. His way out is a secret device that transports him to the uncharted alien planet of Almuric. There, battering his way to a place of honor among the savage tribe of Koth, he wins the name Esau Ironhand and a reputation for courage and toughness to rival the mighty Conan’s. But Esau of Almuric finds even his mighty valor tested when he ventures to the horrific land of Yagg, where the seductive winged queen Yasmeena, Mistress of Night, rules an empire of terror from the benighted citadel of Yugga.

King of the Forgotten People

Long before Indiana Jones there was Robert E. Howard’s Jim Brill, a 1930s adventurer who travels on a quest of honor to the far reaches of the Gobi Desert. In this land of the savage Mongol nomads, a weird scientific experiment has bred desert spiders to the size and ferocity of wild boars. And Brill finds an even stranger scientific secret in the lost city of Khor, once the sanctuary of the magnificent Genghis Khan, where another wandering American has discovered the means to channel the spirit of that bloody conqueror. Only one person stands between the reborn Genghis Khan and world domination … Jim Brill.