These book needs no introduction. Bran Mak Morn was one of the famous characters created by the mythic Robert E Howard, the creator of Conan, Kull or Solomon Kane. It's quite amazing that some of these stories he had only 13 years old. And they are beautiful. I must say that the painter Gary Gianni was the right one to do the job. I've search some books with pictures of Bran Mak Morn and even Conan ones and this one was the better one. Trully beautiful. The history on this book as some not fidegin since they were romanticized by Howard but that doesn't drove people away. He made the picts a noble savage people alike the indians. To be precise he put the picts from a group of islands near Valusia and when Atlantis, Lemuria and Valusia sank the picts society began to decline. The forgot their trades including metal working. The migrated to Caledon (noawadays scotland). After the invasion of the Celts they fled northward and interbred with a red-haired barbarians (and so they were shorter than other tribes) and following the invasion of the romans and later breton and saxon the picts sought refuge underground just like the natives they had displaced before. There are two types of Picts. The first is from the Bran timeline where he tries to restore the picts honourable place in the world and the later ones who were litte more than savages produced by many years of hatred. The picts, some of them at least, could also turn into werewolves or wolves. What is great on this book and at the same time sad its the image that Howard gives to Bran Mak Morn that is depicted as a leader of a dying and degenerate people and deeply aware of their inevitable path to extinction (and coincidenly with all other characters he chooses to fight rather than succumb). Their natural enemies are the Romans.
In the Kings of the Night story we know the tale of Bran as he was the descent of Brule the Spear-Slayer (compantion of Kull). We even get to see him summon Kull to fight the romans. It's one of the best waring story I had the pleasure of reading. In The Dark Man we get a dark version of the picts centuries after Bran. This is their decline. A sad story. In Worms of the Earth Bran makes a unholy alliance with beings that his own ancestors have banished. This is quite a tale. The ending meaning... some weapons are too foul to use, even against the bitter romans. There are other small stories some without Bran. There are also some plays, fragmants and poems.
Would I advice these book? Go get it. Now. 10/10
Comments