Hills of the Dead (Solomon Kane, # 2)

"Naught but a wanderer, a landless man, but a friend to all in need." It is a mistake to simply write off the character of Solomon Kane as a Puritan fanatic. It is inaccurate and an injustice. It is a strange sort of fanatic that hates the inquisition and the witch hunters, as much as he does necromancers and murderers. Kane is in the ancient British and Irish tradition of a man who goes forth to wander the world after he receives the call- guided solely by his deep inner trust in his God. That is why he can walk the dark and wild places of the earth unscathed. That is why monsters and devils hold no terror for him. He simply trusts in the Lord to guide him to where he can do the most good. Kane is a Puritan in the original sense of the word, a single individual that has no tolerance for corruption whether it exists in the World- or the Church. He doesn't preach, for he doesn't need to- his actions, and his sword, speak for him. He needs no priest to mediate between himself and his Creator. Kane has gone beyond faith, for his is the sure and implacable knowledge that God exists. This is what makes him such a dangerous foe- you can't scare him and you can't make a deal with him. He obeys only the inner voice that guides him. I can see why the weak and corrupt would paint such a man as a fanatic. Solomon Kane was Howard's first creation. In my opinion, he was also his best. There is an element present here that is missing from the later characters- something higher. This particular collection includes the later Kane stories: The Hills of the Dead, Hawk of Basti, The Return of Sir Richard Grenville, Wings in the Night, The Footfalls Within, The Children of Asshur, and Solomon Kane's Homecoming. The rest of the tales were published by Bantam Books in _Solomon Kane: Skulls in the Stars_.