El Borak and Other Desert Adventures

I've read these stories probably twice before. The first time was in one of those Ace books, Swords of Shahrazar. Late on, probably in the Bean trade paperback version.Howard's writing can be vastly unlike modern stories. For one, these are short stories. This is more of an anthology than a novel or collection of novels.For another, there are few 'good' or 'evil' characters. Personal motivation, lust, greed, envy, these things carry characters into the paths of one another. For the title character, El-Borak, the Swift, it's often a personal sense of justice, avenging wrongs either to himself or to his friends and allies.The tales provide us with treasure hunters seeking the fabulous wealth of numerous named gems or hoards worthy of a dragon. We also get more than one lost city or civilization that stands outside of time merely awaiting someone worthy enough, driven enough, to find them.The writing might be shocking to more modern audiences. Howard cannot escape his own time in the terminology he uses, so the politically correct should be prepared for that.The nice addition here is the resource on the sources that Howard himself might have used and the ones he's known to have read and referenced. It makes me sigh, though, as I'll probably never get around to reading them myself.The various black and white illustrations in the book do a great job of breathing life into various scenes and characters and make me with that Marvel, or another comic company would give us some comics already.If you're looking for some quick action-based reads, El-Borak is worth your time.

I love the larger paperbacks w/ larger print from the reissues of Robert E Howard's works which originally appeared in pulp magazines of the 20's and 30's. Howard was very unhappy when his works were called pulp fictions and took his own life at an early age. He was a major loss to the literary community and the world! I loved his desert adventures and he even put Kull and Conan in a few of them as well as many other historical characters both real and imagined into these ribald tales. I am now reading from another book of Howard's all about Red Sonja a far cry from the Brigitte Nielsen warrior maiden in the film w/ Arnie the Guvanator. More like Anne Bonney the pirate captain gal from real life history! I am trying to collect all of the existing works of Howard especially Solomon Kane the Puritan who must be doing penance in Limbo after all the killing he did in his life. The Grand Turk Suleyman is also a real historical figure from the Crusades, albeit the later 16th Century European Crusades. Amazon has done it again. Hooray!

A collection of short stories of novelettes as they were known. The quality of the stories and writing are good. Probably better than Solomon Kane, and almost as good as the Kull series that he wrote. Unlike some of Howard's other contemporary characters, he had to create a character who's innate understanding and intuition of other races, tribes, and terrain in order to explain his ability to survive gunfire, which otherwise would be very deadly. It is true that his other characters had this characteristic as well, but this was more prevalent with El Borak. His other protagonists seemed to be less invincible and relied more on luck and situation to survive.Even though these stories are labeled as westerns, if you replace guns with spear, bows, and crossbows, and perhaps changed the location and the names of the tribes and period in time, you could easily have a story set in one of Howard's other genre's, such as Conan. The writing style is very similar.Still, I think, that Howard is at his best when writing the supernatural, which is mostly lacking in these stories. There is only a hint of such in a few stories so that his best stories are still with Conan and the Kull series, imo.I don't know why, but the story "Three Bladed Doom" was in this book twice. Once as an untitled fragment in the back of the book, and also nearer the beginning as part of the El Borak series.

I bought these because I'd gotten into the Conan books, and wanted to see what else Howard had written. I never read desert adventure tales, but I really enjoyed these, to the point I remember several stories from beginning to end as they were so original. I also liked a good hero who wasn't PC, but went out of his way to help people in need, no matter who they were. Recommended!

The book is wonderful because I love everything that Robert E Howard writes. But the five stars or more for the seller because the book came on time and just as described!

An avid Robert E. Howard reader for about the last 30 years... He seems to come in and out of style... Right now he is very popular; you can even find much of his material for Ipod touch and Iphone applications. I thought that I'd read everything by him and of course over the last 30 years have bought the same book several times, move to a new dwelling, lose them, have and itch to read again... I have had such an itch recently and went on Ebay and saw the "El Borak and Other Desert Adventures..." I was not (and never have been) disapointed by Mr. Howard. It is hard to believe a man who died so young (suicide...) could have accomplished so much.

was a really good read actually.

A more mature sort of prose than the Conan series of stories, still keeping the wildness and bold tale genre!

Darn, how i love this book!!!! Something i wish i read as a teenager, but am enjoing in my 50s. If you want an idea for a Birthday present for your guy or son, this is it.

Great price and arrived promptly in fantastic condition. Definitely a fantastic purchase for fans of Howard.

Texan author Robert E Howar is well known for his fantasy stories featuring Conan the Barbarian but he has also written stories in various genres.El Borak or Francis Xavier Gordon is an American mercenary who has gritty adventures in Colonial era Afghanistan and Central Asia. Howard's prose is fast paced and poetic and the stories are fun. Recommended

Del Rey has done it again in bringing yet another fantastic compilation of Robert E. Howard's work. At over 550 pages, this is the biggest compilation yet. It focuses on Howard's "desert" adventures. They feature tough, fast, and dangerous men who have been able to carve out a precarious living amongst the tough Asian desert lands and their peoples. An appendix called "Gunfighters of the East" is an appropriate summary. These stories are not his most well-known, yet they sold exceptionally well towards the end of his brief career. Some were later poached by L. Sprague de Camp and butchered into Conan tales (e.g., Three-Bladed Doom was re-written as "The Flame Knife"). Readers familiar with those stories can see how they fare as originally written. Personally, I really like these stories, particularly the El Borak stories. While the plots are rarely complex, the action is awesome. Most of the stories have little to no magic in them, so they're just straight-up action from around the 1920's. What I found particularly interesting is how well Howard's description of Afghani warriors and peoples holds up to much of what we have witnessed over the last twenty to thirty years in that country. The introduction by the late Steve Tompkins (who only just passed away) is superb, as are the copious drawings by Tim Bradstreet (who draws photograph-like drawings in only black and white, no grey) and Jim & Ruth Keegan (whose work reminds me of Gary Gianni).They include:Swords of the HillsThe Daughter of Erlik KhanThree-Bladed DoomHawks of the HillsBlood of the GodsSons of the HawkSon of the White WolfGold from TatarySwords of ShahrazarThe Trail of the Blood-Stained GodThe Fire of AsshurbanipalThree-Bladed Doom (original manuscript)Unfinished fragmentIf you love Howard or if you love action and adventure, this collection is highly recommended.

Der neue Band der Del Rey-Edition ist wieder eine runde Sache. Er vereint die "Wüsten"-Abenteuer dreier Helden: Francis Xavier Gordon alias El Borak (Swords of the Hills, Daughter of Erlik Khan, Three-Bladed Doom, Hawk of the Hills, Blood of the Gods, Sons of the Hawk, Son of the White Wolf), Kirby O'Donnell (Gold from Tartary, Swords of Shahrazar, Trail of the Blood-Stained God) und Steve Clarney (Fire of Asshurbanipal). Es sind überwiegend Stories aus Howards Spätwerk, als er versuchte, neue Märkte zu erschließen -- nämlich mit "reinen" Abenteuergeschichten. Wie immer mit vielen Illustrationen und Extras. TOP.