Solomon Kane (no, not the film, the short stories)

First of all, the original short stories written for Weird Tales by Robert E. Howard are awesome. They aren't well written (purple prose, repetition of already over-the-top phrases, and did he really think normal people in the Sixteenth Century talked like that? OK, they talked completely differently from how we do, but not like that) but they are frankly ridiculous amounts of fun. Howard began as he clearly meant to go on in 'Red Shadows', the first Kane story: our tormented hero is tracking a villain called 'Le Loup', thinking back to his discovery of a young girl murdered by Le Loup's band of cut-throats. There follows a tale of derring do, but with a tone infinitely more grim than the swashbuckling style of Dumas and Sabatini. Kane's world is one of mud, blood and damnation. Themes that run through all the Kane stories are reflected strongly in 'Red Shadows', but the pace becomes erratic in the second half, and overall it isn't the best example of Howard's work. However, Kane's adventures become steadily more enjoyable as time goes on, with the very short 'Skulls in the Stars' and 'The Rattle of Bones' bearing up nicely in terms of action, as well as cementing Kane's character as a stalwart hero to be reckoned with.


When Howard again tried for slightly longer tales with Kane, his 'Moon of Skulls' was a composite of the themes, characterisation and cool but slightly confusing action scenes found in his other stories. There are slightly unpleasant sexual overtones associated with the damsel in distress, Marylin (who is described as very childlike and asexual), and there is definitely Conan-esque titillation as a sweet and innocent young white woman is chained up and whipped by a haughty and beautiful African queen, but Kane's motivations are pure in the sense that Howard does not see the need to protest the righteousness of his fixation on Marylin. The peak of his exploration of the character must occur during 'Wings in the Night', Howard's last complete Solomon Kane story. In previous stories, Kane's characterisation has always been fixed, and he just happens to the bad guys ("What happened, dude?" "Solomon Kane happened." Not a real quote, sadly!). In 'Wings in the Night', Kane is driven to the edge and goes right over. It's a transformative process that gives us dilemma without angst. Because when Solomon Kane is upset about something, he goes and kills it.

The new film apparently has an exchange in which Kane declares that Meredith, the beautiful, innocent Christian girl he has sworn to save "is my soul" [edit after seeing the film: this line doesn't occur as far as I remember, but the point is still there in a much more long-winded reply]. This seems eminently fitting, as the women in Kane (the damsels in distress, anyway) are symbols of his quest to redeem himself. By saving, or avenging, them, he seems to think that he can erase the darkness of the world and somehow 'make it right'. I know Conan (and to a lesser extent Kull) is Howard's most famous creation, and that those stories essentially created the Sword and Sorcery epic, but for me, Solomon Kane is a much more sympathetic hero. For a start, he is tragic and tormented, and while he is unfalteringly brave, he is also selfless in his overwhelming protective instincts towards others, and his sense of guilt and melancholy when he beholds the bodies of those he couldn't save is deeply affecting. He is a man who is compelled to do good because it is the right thing to do.