Audiobook · read by volunteers
Red Shadows
Robert E. Howard (1906–1936)
Read by Paul Siegel · 5 chapters · 1 h 02
About the book
Solomon Kane is a gaunt, black-clad Puritan swordsman who has devoted himself to avenging wrongs wherever he finds them. In Red Shadows, the first story to feature him, a chance encounter with a dying girl sets him on the trail of a ruthless outlaw named Le Loup. His hunt carries him across land and sea, and finally into the heart of Africa, where he faces savage warriors, ancient power and dark gods. Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan, writes with fast pace and vivid, fevered imagery, and his hero is a stern figure driven by an unyielding sense of justice. The story is told in five chapters, read by a single volunteer in about one hour. It is a compact dose of pulp adventure with a touch of the supernatural, ideal for an evening when you want a tale that moves quickly and does not let go.
Introduction
Robert E. Howard, who lived from 1906 to 1936, was an American writer of pulp fiction in Texas. He is best known as the creator of Conan the Barbarian, but he also wrote tales of horror, adventure and history, as well as poetry. His career was short, yet his influence on fantasy and adventure writing has been lasting.
Red Shadows was published in 1928 and is the first of a series of stories about Solomon Kane, a Puritan avenger who roams the world in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century. Kane's character is unusual for adventure fiction, since he is grim, religious and driven rather than carefree. The stories combine historical settings with tales of the uncanny, and they are regarded as an early example of what later readers would call sword-and-sorcery.
The recording has five chapters, including The Coming of Solomon, The Lair of the Wolf and The Chant of the Drums, and lasts about an hour. It is read by one LibriVox volunteer. Today it appeals to readers of classic pulp magazines and to anyone curious about where modern fantasy found some of its roots. Howard wrote at great speed for magazines, and the energy shows. His prose can be lurid and the violence is strong, so the story is best suited to adult listeners. Yet its atmosphere, its exotic settings and its dark hero have left a lasting mark, and one hour is a small investment for a good dose of pulp storytelling.
Public domain
Robert E. Howard died in 1936: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text