Gods in Darkness: The Complete Novels of Kane

Description

Kane An immortal, cursed to wander the Earth until he is destroyed by the violence that he himself has created.

A warrior and statesman: As comfortable in the shadowy halls of courtly intrigue as he is on the bloody battlefields where those intrigue's inevitably play themselves out.

Karl Edward Wagner's complex and compelling character of Kane redefines the boundaries of heroic fantasy, and stands besides Michael Moorcock's Elric, and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser as one of the most idiosyncratic and compelling characters of the fantasy genre.

Gods in Darkness gathers together in one volume the complete novels of Kane.

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Customer Reviews

Why so pricey???
These books sound amazing. I want to read them very badly but why on earth can't I get a copy for less than $160 (Let alone $16)???

What is going on with the price? Is there nowhere to buy at a decent cost?

2009-06-22 | Patcannistan (Los Angeles, CA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 1

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Great, but Wagner's short stories are better
As a long-time Wagner/Kane fan, these stories are excellent. I must say that I enjoyed his short stories much more. if you are afraid of spending the $$ on the complete novels, get the short stories compendium. You will not be disappointed!

2006-03-15 (Seattle, WA United States) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 4

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Anti-hero
The three Kane books in my opinion are some of the best old style sc-fi/fantasy/horror written. It is not a Robert Jordon that sends you to sleep, it is that old fashion - torch under a blanket/can't put it down fantasy. I have read the three as separate novels and each one is awesome. Rather than some of the previous reviewers, I don't think that Bloodstone is a weaker novel - it is better seen as a faster, rollicking read not as layered or dark as the other novels.

I love the "Who won this war, that killed so many" attitude that Kane invaringly answers "I did" - "but why", "because I lived and they died.". It is so refreshing to see what is called an anti-hero, but is probably more acurately called a realist in todays terms. Not quite an opportunist, as Kane will often sacrifice self needs for cold or hot revenge or dark justice. To me this is how more of our heros should be written - all of the care but for darker reasons :-)

If you have not read these novels please do yourself a favour and do so. For Conan, Deathstalker, Corwin of Amber fans I belive you will be the richer. For Robert Jordon, Stephan Donaldson and those who want to read 1000 pages before the hero gets the fortitude to leave his town and love it - steer clear.

2006-03-11 (Burnie, Tasmania Australia) | Helpful Votes: 8 | Rating: 4

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Dark Fantasy At Its Finest
It doesn't get much better than this...

Wagner's horror writing was in some ways superior, but his 'Kane' fantasy series was simply an outstanding contribution to the genre. Gritty, grim, & bloody with Lovecraft-like overtones, it will appeal to modern readers of George R.R. Martin and the like. If you like this, you will LOVE his 'Kane' short stories collected in 'The Midnight Sun'.

2005-11-04 (Portsmouth, RI USA) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Overhyped, overpriced and disappointing
If you're considering buying the expensive and out-of-print hardcover, Gods In Darkness, which collects the three Kane novels, my recommendation is don't waste your money. Buy the enjoyable Dark Crusade and, if you're feeling a bit masochistic, the problematic but still serviceable Darkness Weaves. You can get them separately as the original paperbacks (I've reviewed them both on Amazon). While I have not read Bloodstone (the only other Kane novel), the reviews seem to be very much against it. If you buy the used paperbacks, you'll save money and these novels have been way overhyped... I agree that the fantasy genre needs more books about villains and anti-heros as the main character, but Karl Edward Wagner's Kane novels just don't do it for me (although Dark Crusade comes very, very close -- my only complaint about it being Kane's character does not become interesting until 2/3 of the way through). If you want to read a truly flawless, gritty fantasy novel by Wagner, try The Road Of Kings. That's easily the finest Conan pastiche ever written and puts even the best of the Kane novels to shame!

2005-06-02 | Helpful Votes: 10 | Rating: 3

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Death Angel's Shadow

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Customer Reviews

FROM BACK COVER
The Eerie Quest of KANE - The Mystic Swordsman

A quest that took Kane into forbidden wastelands, and tested his killer skills against the most brutal forces ever summoned against a single man.

Kane faced death duels in strange swamps, assassins' attacks, the heart-freezing terror of the werewolf - and lived to laugh at danger.

But he knew he'd lost his strength, and perhaps his soul, when he entered the erotic web of the vampire...

2008-04-12 | Jim (Columbus, Ohio USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Genius wrapped up inside a Frazetta cover...
Karl Edward Wagner at his bizarre, nightmarish best.

Flat out.

With the possible exception of some of Robert E. Howard's work, dark fantasy just doesn't get any better than the three stories of Kane compiled and presented here.

Hunt all of Wagner's books down, spend the money (these Warner paperbacks are long out of print, and I believe the two recent compilations from Night Shade Books are now fetching outrageous prices) and spend some long, sleepless nights wrapped in devilish glee...

2006-02-08 | Kev (Portland, OR USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Wagner, a gifted man, and I'm not talking about the composer
A great writer involves your mind to such an extent that you lose track of time and space. You no longer are aware of anything around you. Eventually your body rebels from lack of food or sleep, you look up and realize you have to go to work in three hours. Tolkien did that to me, so does Wagner. All the other heros/anti-heros of fiction seem effete by comparison. The Werewolf story in Death Angels Shadow is the best Werewolf story ever. Why no one has made it into a movie is beyond me. I'd love to see Ridley Scott or James Cameron do it.

2005-03-13 (Chicago, IL) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Nothing else comes close.
Kane is to most fantasy as Jack the Ripper is to Disney characters. My respect and admiration for the Kane books and stories is exceeded only by my sorrow that there will be no more.

2003-08-03 (Greenwood, AR United States) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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A must read for all fantasy fans...
This book and another Kane book "Night Winds" contain some of the best short stories and novellas ever written in the fantasy form in my opinion. I've managed to collect most of the out of print Kane books over the years and wouldn't sell for just about any price. Kane is a far better example of the "anti-hero" than Michael Moorcocks Elric that there really isn't any comparison. This particular book has 3 fantastic stories, and though I agree with the prior reviewers that the 2nd is probably the best, I also rate the 1st and 3rd among my all time favorite fantasy short stories. All-in-all, this is required reading for any fan of the fantasy genre.

1999-09-02 | Helpful Votes: 8 | Rating: 5

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Darkness Weaves

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Customer Reviews

a woven treasury of fantastic night
When Karl Edward Wagner died in 1994, just short of his 39th, the world lost a true poet of dark, heroic fantasy. His use of the language, his ability to infuse lyrical prose with a kind of yearning for lost ages, was unparalleled. For a long time, his stories and novels were out of print, but were recently reissued by Nightshade. Expensive, but a treasure chest of pages.

2009-04-29 | mike cee (glasgow) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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I read this first, and plan on reading the rest!
Kane is an anti-hero, plain and simple. Read about him in a different post.

I really enjoyed Wagner's writing style. He moves quickly through scenes, but not without describing in adequate details that that particular character would see it. Wagner really enjoyed using collegiate level speech, but taken in context it makes sense. Being a dungeons and dragons dweeb, I can completely appreciate characters and development.. he doesn't provide *all* of the development at once and instead interjects bits and pieces, weaved throughout the tale. I really enjoyed the first of the battles on the sea, by using Kane's thoughts Wagner was able to narrate why it is that they were using the tactics that they were, really fun stuff.

If you want to see a bad guy that isn't afraid to kick some tail, this is well worth the few bucks you'll spend on the paperback!

2008-06-03 | Jack Perridew (Phoenix, AZ) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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FROM BACK COVER
KANE

The Mystic Swordsman commands the fleet of an island empress - a ravaged ruler bent on bitter revenge.

Once Efrel was the beautiful consort of a king. Now she is a hideous creature who lives only for revenge.

She has allies to aid her, but only Kane, the Mystic Swordsman, can rally her forces for battle. Only he can deliver the vengeance she has devised in her knowledge of black magic and in her power to unleash the demons of the Deep.

2008-04-12 | Jim (Columbus, Ohio USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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as good as genre fiction gets, period.
Frankly, some of these reviewers don't know what they are talking about. This is the best of the Kane novels, and as such it is probably the best "dark fantasy" novel ever written.

No, it doesn't come close to having the purely literary merits of Gene Wolfe's "New Sun" books, and it doesn't have the inventive cosmology or cult following of Moorcock, but those books all have deep flaws that Wagner does not, and Wagner possesses merits that Wolfe and Moorcock lack.

It is hackneyed to describe a work of art by saying it is "a cross between such and such and such and such", but in this case it is perfectly apt. Kane is exactly halfway between Conan and H.P. Lovecraft, fusing the strengths of each and eliminating their weaknesses. Wagner combines the action, atmosphere and fast paced storytelling of Howard, adds the purple prose and supernatural subtext of Lovecraft, and delivers what for my money is the most entertaining fantasy sequence of the decade of the seventies.

And while there are no bad or even merely average Kane stories, a few of them are a little too predictable and uninventive, such as his vampire tale and his werewolf tale in "Night Winds". Not so this novel. It combines all the best elements Wagner used throughout his career into one novel that is a simply perfect representative of its genre. Kane carries out a bloody sea invasion at the behest of an evil sorceress, with plot twists galore at the end...

No, it isn't high art; no, it isn't enlightening. No, I didn't want it to be. Just pure testosterone and black magic. I loved it. So will you.

2006-08-28 (Jotunheim) | Helpful Votes: 4 | Rating: 5

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Problematic but still serviceable sword-n-sorcery tale
Darkness Weaves is, unfortunately, my introduction to Kane. After reading all the hype, I finally tracked down Darkness Weaves and Dark Crusade in paperback. The Gods In Darkness hardcover (OOP) was too expensive, allegedly riddled with typos (the Warner paperback still has a few too many for my taste), and contained the much-panned Bloodstone. So I figured, why pay $50 for the hardcover when I can get just the two (allegedly) good novels from it for $10 including S&H? Dark Crusade showed up late, so I started my introduction to Kane with Darkness Weaves... It starts off slow as hell. It takes 31 fairly boring pages (out of 288) to get going and failed to suck me in until Wagner unveils the historical set-up. ***SPOILER BEGINS*** Then things start to get interesting, at least until the secret weapon of the evil sorceress is revealed to be bloodsucking alien squid-men in laser-beam shooting submarines! This is so absolutely idiotic and unbelievable as to nearly destroy everything Wagner has built up... Fortunately, the squid-men don't appear that often (just for the major naval battle and the end, but without their laser-subs, having been reduced back to properly Lovecraftian "Deep Ones" by this point, which is all they should have been in the first place). IMO, there is nothing worse than when you read a sword and sorcery novel and get cheated when you find out the sorcery is mostly just alien technology. I mean, if I wanted to read about alien technology, I'd be reading science fiction, right? Anyway, the perilously slow start, stupid squid-men/laser-subs and lack of depth to the central character of Kane make this book a very uneven read at best, though it still has some juicy pay-off here and there for those patient enough to persevere (including the nasty love scene between Kane and the disfigured sorceress). ***END SPOILER*** Another problem is Wagner frequently flops when it comes to writing believable medievalesque dialogue and Kane's dialogue in particular is often excruciatingly bad, boring, or both. Kane is a very cool antihero/villain until he opens his mouth, then he sounds anachronistic, like a modern man and a disinterested one at that! So we can't root for Kane because he is boring and we know he's going to live through whatever happens (like Superman, LOL). This elevates the entertaining but doomed supporting characters like Arbas, Cassi, Imel, Tolsyt and Oxfors to center stage, even though they disappear for chapters at a time or are killed off far too quickly (right after we get to know and love them). The opposition to Kane is by and large made up of forgettable stereotypes with silly names. A few years after this book, Wagner wrote the greatest of all Conan pastiches, The Road Of Kings, and that novel suffers none of the pitfalls of Darkness Weaves. This Kane adventure is still worth a read, don't get me wrong, but now that I've had a chance to read Dark Crusade, I begin to see where some of the hype surrounding this series comes from: Dark Crusade eliminates nearly every problem inherent to this novel, although the problem of making Kane interesting is not resolved until 2/3 of the way in! Darkness Weaves turns out to be the sequel to Dark Crusade, though I don't think it matters much what order you read them in, as they take place two hundred years apart (Kane being immortal and all).

2005-06-02 | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 3

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Dark Crusade

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Customer Reviews

FROM BACK COVER
KANE

The Mystic swordsman battles the prophet of an ancient cult of evil that began before the birth of man.

Out of the blackness of an almost-forgotten past, the cruel cult of Sataki has come to life again. Orted Ak-Ceddi, a daring outlaw, is its prophet. He draws thousands of converts to his Dark Crusade - a design to destroy mankind. His bloody cohorts conquer Shapeli, but they are defeated when they drive to vanquish the southern kingdoms. Orted knows he must have a powerful cavalry to launch a new drive - and Kane is the man who can command the conquest. But Kane intends no final victory for the Forces of Darkness.

2008-04-12 | Jim (Columbus, Ohio USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Enjoyable
I hadn't read anything in this genre is a long while, and was surprised to realize how much I missed it. Kane is a new character to me, and I'm now definitely interested in reading more of his exploits.
Kane combines a brilliant military mind and a ruthless savagery into a pragmatically effective package. I enjoyed the character all the way through the book. The cruel but effective means he had of solving problems kept reinforcing the fact that this protagonist was anything but heroic (though of course what hero would even consider serving the Dark Crusade?). It would have been nice to have learned more about him, though. Teasers were thrown out there that told me little.
I can't imagine, btw, how that last chapter could have worked as a stand alone short story, with no context.

2006-08-26 (New York) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 4

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The best Kane novel --- but still not perfect!
Dark Crusade is a HUGE improvement over Wagner's other Kane novel (and the sequel to this book), Darkness Weaves (I haven't read the much-maligned Bloodstone, the only other Kane novel). In my Amazon review of the Darkness Weaves paperback, I complained that while Kane was only cool until he opened his mouth due to lame, anachronistic dialogue, in this novel Wagner makes no such mistake. However, the author still falls into the same trap of being unable to make Kane interesting or even likable until 2/3 of the way through! Until then, Kane never says anything remarkable at all, nor do we get much insight into his motivations or past. Instead, as in Darkness Weaves, we get a small number of minor characters and antagonists that, while doomed, are far more interesting and likeable than Kane ever could be. Kane is no Elric, Conan or Fafhrd. I can only hope that Kane's short stories (collected in The Midnight Sun hardcover) paint him out to be a much more interesting, in-depth character than these novels (it's next on my list).

Don't get me wrong, Dark Crusade is still a highly enjoyable read, with vivid battle scenes and nasty surprises, but it could have been so much better if Wagner had only bothered to endear us to Kane early on, instead of waiting until the last minute. By the time we get to the end, we really do feel for Kane as he walks up the stairs of the cursed Tower of Yslsl to an uncertain fate. However, an extra "throwaway" chapter (originally published as a separate story) has been included in the Baen reprint: "In The Lair Of Yslsl," which, while clearing up Kane's fate, is poorly written in comparison and strains credulity. Yslsl was much better left as an indescribable, unknown horror lurking at the edges of the story. My advice is skip "In The Lair Of Yslsl" and let the novel end where it should have, leaving the reader wanting more, not less.

If you're considering buying the expensive and out-of-print hardcover, Gods In Darkness, which collects the three Kane novels, my recommendation is don't waste your money. Buy Dark Crusade and (maybe) Darkness Weaves separately as paperbacks. You'll save money and these novels have been way overhyped...

I agree that the fantasy genre needs more books about villains and anti-heros as the main character, but Karl Edward Wagner's Kane novels don't quite do it for me (although Dark Crusade comes very, very close, and I do recommend it). If you want to read a flawless, gritty fantasy novel by Wagner, try The Road of Kings. That's easily the finest Conan pastiche ever written and puts even the best of the Kane novels to shame.

2005-06-02 | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 4

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Must-See
This book gave me an enjoyable read. The only problem with this book that I found was the fact that I have read the other books in the series. On its own, this is a great book, but I know how Kane acts in each of his other adventures.

His character is inconsistant with how he acts in Bloodstone and later stories (novels or short stories): he doesn't learn from his mistakes. Orted Ak'Ceddi shows his incredulity when he constantly makes idiotic attacks on opposing forces.

Kane should have known this when he made the decision to stay and fight when the city was infiltrated.

Wagner did a god job with describing the events in great detail, and the only flaw that I could find (granted, a rather large one), is the inconsistency with the protagonists character.

That is the only reason this book got a 4 star level: it didn't flow well with the rest of the series. On its own, it is a solid 5-star book, but the fact that it was in series made Dark Crusade a book less than its potential.

I have read this book three times, and I am re-reading it again.

Read this book: a fantastic choice, well drawn-up, and a great read.

2004-02-27 (Oxford, England) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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Great book!!
The pace is fast but with enough details to let you get into the characters.

My only complaint (if you can call it as one) is that you MUST read the next book because this story does not resolve itself or the characters.

Powerful characters and a lot of mystery surrounding the character Kane.

Looking forward to reading the rest of the story!!

2002-06-24 (Folsom, CA) | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

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The Midnight Sun: The Complete Stories of Kane

Description

The Complete Stories of Kane.

Table of Contents:

Death Angel's Shadow (Poem)
Undertow
Two Suns Setting
The Dark Muse
Sing a Last Song of Valdese
Misericorde
Lynortis Reprise
Raven's Eyrie
In the Lair of Yslsl
Reflections for the Winter of My Soul
Cold Light
Mirage
The Other One
The Gothic Touch
Midnight Sun (Poem)
Lacunae
Deep in the Depths of the Acme Warehouse
At First Just Ghostly
The Treasure of Lynortis (Early version of "Lynotris Reprise")
In the Wake of the Night (lost novel fragment)
The Once and Future Kane (Non-fiction essay)

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Customer Reviews

THE BEST SWORD & SORCERY "ACID GOTHIC, INDEED"
IF YOU'VE NEVER READ K. E. WAGNER'S "KANE" STORIES, I ENVY YOU THE THRILL OF HIS DISCOVERY. SIMPLY THE BEST IN THE S&S GENRE, HANDS DOWN. I GRIEVE THAT THERE WILL BE NO MORE OF WAGNER'S KANE. A UNIQUE CHARACTER, TO SAY THE LEAST ! THESE STORIES SATISFY, AND LEAVE YOU THINKING . .

2008-11-24 | BULLY TUSKER (POCATELLO, ID.) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Excellent Book
I wish the author hadn't died because the Kane novels are some of the better fantasy I have ever read. No wonder they are hard to find, everyone wants them.

2006-08-24 | PokeSmot420 (Iowa) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Run-of-the-mill
A collection of short stories and novella centered on the character of Kane, an (apparently) immortal warrior/sorcerer. The writing is o.k. but the character of Kane seems a little flat to me. It's run-of-the-mill swords and sorcery writing, obviously inspired by Robert Howard (Conan) but not as good.

2006-05-09 (St. Louis) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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About time...!
A decade after his death, somebody finally got around to compiling a tribute to the late, great Karl Edward Wagner and his greatest creation, the arch-hero, Kane, in a two-volume set: Gods in Darkness, the Complete Novels of Kane, and this volume, The Midnight Sun, which contains all of the short stories, poems, etc., that have been floating around, mostly out of print, for the last decade or so.

Kane was my first experience with Wagner. Back in the '70's, when I was still a wee lad and most of my friends were reading stuff like The Outsiders, I stumbled on a paperback copy of Death Angel's Shadow, the one with the Frazetta cover, and spent the next few nights hiding in bed; under my covers, flashlight on long after midnight, altering my mind with this combination of Robert E. Howard and Lovecraft.

Now, after reading most of his published work, for my buck, the noveletta's contained here are absolutely Wagner's best writing, period. The shorter Kane stories are nightmarishly bizarre, violent, and punchy, unlike Wagner's complete novels which tend to be a bit bloated and have a tendency to lose momentum (although they're still worth reading, by all means). The novel Bloodstone (contained in 'God's') is particularly inconsistent. That seems natural, since Wagner tended to work in the short story format, both in his own work and as the editor of other authors' works, in his many horror anthologies.

As far as the compilations go, they're okay. There are lots of typo's in the text (nitpicky, I know, but c'mon...), and frankly, my biggest gripe - the Ken Kelly covers just stink. Nobody does Wagner and Kane (or fantasy illustration in general) justice like Frank Frazetta.

Anyway. Say what you will about the likes of Lin Carter, L. Sprague de Camp, Manly Wade Wellman, Fritz Leiber, et al, there are really only two masters of what's come to be known as 'dark fantasy': Robert E. Howard, and Wagner.

This volume is great. Pick it up and enjoy.

2005-10-26 | Kev (Portland, OR USA) | Helpful Votes: 11 | Rating: 4

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Title Difference
I bought my book about 3 years ago and I still read it over and over again. Out of my little library, this is my favorite book. I was looking at the complete series, and I noticed that one of the stories is called "The Lair of Yslsl" (or something to that extent) and I was wondering if it is the same as "Dark Crusade"

2005-08-09 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Echoes of Valor

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