Summer of Sword and Sorcery: Week 2

"The Stealer of Souls" by Michael Moorcock.  This was the last of the orignal Elric novellas.  This is much closer to Howard territory insofar as its largely straight adventure, with Elric and a band of surviving Melniboneans assaulting the fortress of a rich merchant; plenty of exciting swordplay and wild sorcery.  This is pulpier than the earlier Elrics but still a blast of a read.












Darkness Weaves by Karl Edward Wagner.  This was the final Kane novel but actually the first one I read, so a good place to start.  Kane hooks up with Efrel, the insanely evil sorceress who's putting together a rebellion against the island empire of Thovnosten, with some decidedly inhuman allies.  Darkness is said to have been influenced by E.H. Visiak's legendary Medusa, and, as one who's read Visiak's opus, I can safely say he takes those influences and surpasses them.  This is one wild ride of court intrigue, betrayal upon betrayal, dark sorcery, kinky and sadistic sex, extreme violence, brutal battles, and horrible sea monsters (the oraycha should be enough to give a shudder to even the hardiest sea monster fan); R.E. Howard meeting Clark Ashton Smith and William Hope Hodgson at the crossroads of Hyboria and Zothique.  Yowzah!