SWORD WOMAN

I haven't read any vintage Robert E. Howard material in quite awhile so what better way to start the new year than by tearing through this paperback volume of historical adventure stories. SWORD WOMAN (1979) with a cover by Ken Kelly and an introduction by the legendary Leigh Brackett (who knew a thing or two about heroic fantasy), is a mixed bag of stories with three tales spotlighting the exploits of Dark Agnes, the titular Sword Woman, while the remaining two entries are merely fragments of unfinished manuscripts, both of which provide tantalizing glimpses of what-could-have-been.

Dark Agnes begins her life as a peasant girl in medieval France. She's beaten and abused by her farmer father and when he arranges her wedding to an equally abusive lout, young Agnes rebels, slays her groom and escapes into the forest. She soon becomes a fearsome, sword wielding warrior woman whose adventures are told in three classic tales of pulp adventure: SWORD WOMAN, BLADES FOR FRANCE and MISTRESS OF DEATH. Only MISTRESS contains any supernatural elements (Howard's original manuscript was finished by Gerald W. Page) while all three tales feature plenty of sword play and derring-do. Dark Agnes was, of course, later reimagined by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor Smith as Red Sonja in the pages of Marvel Comics' CONAN THE BARBARIAN.

The fragments are THE KING'S SERVICE and THE SHADOW OF THE HUN. In SERVICE, a Viking long ship arrives in a mythical Indian city where Celtic warrior Donn Othna joins forces with the mysterious Constantius, ruler of both the city and all women who come under his spell. SHADOW finds another Celtic freebooter, Turlogh O'Brien falling in with a rag tag army of Slavs against the superior forces of Turkish warlord  Khogar Khan.

The material in SWORD WOMAN is far from Howard's best work but even lesser Howard material is better than many other author's best work. The man could flat out tell a story like few other pulp wordsmiths then or now. These stories ring with the sounds of striking swords and are full to bursting with the romance of time lost lands and kingdoms to be won (or lost) by the strong sword arms of daring men and women. Thumbs up.