The Sword Woman (Zebra Books)

A collection of swashbuckling blood-spilling blade-wielding mayhem, the best of which are the three Dark Agnes stories to begin with. The book ends with a Turlogh Dubh O'Brien tale, a long way from the shores of Erin. Sword Woman : Sword Woman - Robert E. Howard Sword Woman : Blades for France - Robert E. Howard Sword Woman : Mistress of Death - Robert E. Howard Sword Woman : The King's Service - Robert E. Howard Sword Woman : The Shadow of the Hun - Robert E. Howard A woman bails on the fiance she is disgusted by, and meets a rogue knight type in the forest, who has other plans for her. She isn't the type to go quietly: "Saint Denis deliver me from such tender care as this hell-cat has shown," quoth Perducas under his breath." She almost kills him, finding out what he is up to, and decides the military life is for her when she hears of a sword-woman named 'Black Margot'. When the Commander she is talking to doesn't think so:- "Bah! I spit on you all! There is no man alive who can face me with weapons and live, and before I die, I'll prove it to the world. Women! Cows! Slaves! Whimpering, cringing serfs, crouching to blows, revenging themselves by taking their own lives, as my sister urged me to do. Ha! You deny me a place among men? By God, I'll live as I please and die as God wills, but if I'm not fit to be a man's comrade, at least I'll be no man's mistress. So go ye to hell, Guiscard de Clisson, and may the devil tear your heart!" Attacked in her room at night with the man she almost disposed of, she finds a talent for slaughter, dispatching all of her attackers. They begin to believe her military value: "Aye, Dark Agnes!" said Etienne, lifting himself on elbow. "A star of darkness shone on her birth, of darkness and unrest. Where ever she goes shall be blood spilling and men dying. I knew it when I saw her standing against the sunrise that turned to blood the dagger in her hand." Ambushed again, the man whose life she spared helps her out. 4 out of 5 "But as I rode through the twilight, I found no regret in my heart that I had traded my life of drudgery for one of wandering and violence. It was the life for which mysterious Fate had intended me, and I fitted it as well as any man: drinking, brawling, gambling, and fighting. With pistol, dagger or sword I had proved my prowess again and again, and I feared no man who walked the earth. Better a short life of adventure and wild living than a long dreary grind of soul-crushing household toil and child-bearing, cringing under the cudgel of a man I hated." After that is masks and mayhem and rescue for Dark Agnes. 3.5 out of 5 Deciding to arrest Dark Agnes for a crime she didn't commit means we hope you have a nice place to buried. Gaining aid from a Scots swordsman of some skill: "Two against one will not be too great odds when the one is a magician returned from the grave." Cue zombie sorcerer scene. 3.5 out of 5 Comparing the bigness of weapons and battles unti

SHE FLEW TO FREEDOM ON ONE GLISTENING WING OF STEEL: HER SWORD! Here is the immortal Robert E. Howard's most savage and unforgettable tale - the epic story of Dark Agnes who escaped the bondage of medieval womanhood to fight with the legendary "Free Company" of mercenaries that ravaged the Dark Ages; whose joy in life was death; and who met the most depraved sorcerer of all Time in a fierce and tendon-severing duel of Destiny!

Dark Agnes is in my estimation the finest female character Robert Howard created.As with all his other heroines she is hard and cruel but there is an extra edge to Agnes;something hard to put your finger on.Maybe it's because it is set in period France which is within a reasonable history to us or possibly because Howard paints as black a picture of childhood as can be imagined,the breaking away from which starts her on her road to fame, as the greateat living swordswoman (and possibly man!!)It is a pity that Robert Howard only wrote 3 stories about this complex character.

Howard was prolific. Limited, but prolific. He wrote many tales including those of Boxers, Barbarians, Religious fanatics. But this is something different. A woman who rebelled against Middle Ages society and became a freebooter. Dark Agnes is enjoyable, fun and definitely one of the most overlooked protagonists of Howard's Menagerie. Great book.