El Borak and Other Desert Adventures

These thirteen tales consist of eight starring Francis "El Borak" Xavier Gordon, three headed by Kirby O'Donnell, one very short story led by Steve Clarney and one untitled other El Borak. The tales take place in Asia with the Irish-American heroes battling against the odds at a time when imperialistic Europe tries to retain control of India and Afghanistan, etc. Although the "Wild East entries are fun to read especially those of Texas gunslinger El Borak who risks his life repeatedly for his Asian friends, much of the background seems ancient; in fairness Depression Era rationalization of the world comes clear. Still Fans of Howard will appreciate the heroic escapades of the three expatriate Americans in a vividly described harsh desert and mountainous landscape; but especially the actions of El Borak who comes across as the most realistic and believable than the other two adventurers. Harriet Klausner

As an anthology of Robert Howard's nonfantastic Arabian adventures, this book is top-notch. Although less well known than his justifiably famous Conan, Howard's El Borak, Steve Clarney, and Kirby O'Donnell are all powerful characters who dominate the tales Howard writes about them. Of all the stories, Three-Bladed Doom--the long version--is probably the best though I can't think of any I wouldn't reommend. The action is suitably bloodthirsty and well described while Howard's trademark breathless pace is evident throughout each of these desert yarns. As noted in the title of my review, the influence of Harold Lamb and Talbot Mundy is present although subtle at times even as Howard makes this material original enough to be identifiable as his. Thankfully the editors did the yeoman's work of giving us copious background material in both the introduction and the afterword even as the shorter version of Three-Bladed Doom and an untitled O'Donnell fragment serve as a miscellaneous appendix. Appropriately for the material, the artwork is shadowy and gritty much like the characters. This is an improvement for the Keegan's, whose artistic contributions to the Best of Robert E Howard volumes earlier in this series were not nearly up to the level of the artwork by other artists in other volumes. Overall, this is a fine addition to Del Rey's brilliant series, and I hope the publisher plans to continue. Maybe next time they can focus on his westerns or a two-volume collection of all his boxing stories. I hope so anyway.