My Father’s Favorite Book

“I had been frightened of the lieutenant, frightened of being reprimanded, frightened of failure even in the smallest endeavor. I discovered now that being ashamed of yourself is worse than any fear. Duty, orders, loyalty, obedience - all things boiled down to one simple idea: whatever the consequences, a man must act so that he can live with himself.” - John Masters, Bugles and a Tiger

My father loved reading. There were always lots of books in the house as I grew up. I was looking at the cover art of paperbacks before learning to read. When I was in junior high school I read all the science fiction books in the library. I wanted more. 

My father bought me some of my first paperbacks. After getting my haircut we would always stop into Aspen Book Shop, a used bookstore that was next door. I loved browsing the science fiction section. Dad would always let me pick out a few things to add to the books that he had picked out.

In his later years my father stopped going to used bookstores and started going to the public library. When he passed away a few years ago there was a big stack of books that needed returning. He also had a collection of books spread out between two rooms. Fiction, non-fiction, and lots of books on history. 

When I was cleaning recently I found a really worn out paperback, Bugles and a Tiger by John Masters. I think this must have been his favorite book. It’s an autobiography of a British soldier. My father served in the U.S. Air Force. He read this book so often that the back cover came off and pages were falling out. He also highlighted a number of passages and added comments. Things he disagreed with as well as things he agreed with. He didn’t do this with any of his other books. I think he must have really connected with this author. 

Whenever I would come for a visit I would stay in an extra room. When I was reading or doing something he would often come into my room, or I would go into his study, and we would talk about all kinds of things. Work, current events, his Air Force days, how he met Mom in Germany, or how he was helping at the veterans museum. I miss that. 

Looking through this book, reading the things he highlighted, and reading his comments is like having one of those conversations again. Like he’s still teaching me something. I can hear his voice as I read the lines.

The book is falling apart. It has an Aspen Bookshop stamp on the inside. I’ll be keeping it. 

Moon of Skulls: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Volume 2

“He was clearly searching for something, and each completed story brought him closer to the fictional answer he sought. These stories show the beginning of Howard’s steps toward literary immortality.” - Mark Finn, from his introduction.

Moon of Skulls is the second volume of a series that collects the fiction and poetry of Robert E. Howard as it originally appeared in Weird Tales magazine. This volume has two novellas, three short stories, and four poems. 

The first story "Skull-Face" takes up the first half of the book. It was originally a three part serial. It’s basically Howard’s version of a Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu story. It’s wordy and the story rambles for long stretches until the last few chapters. After all the characters have been introduced Howards’s voice starts to come through and the story really picks up. Once the antics with a gorilla costume have been dispensed with and mummies and lost civilizations have been introduced, it gets a lot more interesting. 

"The Fearsome Touch of Death" is a short horror story. Howard creates a spooky atmosphere and ends with some dark humor. Well done. 

"The Moon of Skulls" is the first of two Solomon Kane stories, both set in Africa. This novella was originally serialized over two issues. Howard creates a strong foil for Kane in Queen Nakari. She is intelligent and brutal. Lots of action but we also get into Kane’s head. Here is one of his thoughts as he makes his way through a lost city, “The evident antiquity of his surroundings depressed him, making him sense vaguely the fleeting and futile existence of mankind.” I feel that this kind of writing elevates Howard's work above other action adventure writers.

"The Hills of the Dead" is a shorter Soloman Kane story. I enjoyed this one even more than the previous one. Howard has an interesting take on vampires here. I liked his original take on werewolves in the previous volume and I like his take on vampires in this one. This story re-introduces N’Longa the witch doctor who was introduced in "Red Shadows" the first Kane story. N’longa gives Kane a magic staff and later winds up helping him from a great distance. At the end of the story Kane asks him how this was all possible. The answer he gives makes N’longa one of my favorite Howard characters. It’s poetic and deals with themes Howard comes to again and again. The story is set up well, is dripping with atmosphere, and the ending was a real page turner. 

"The Voice of El-Lil" is a short story that first appeared in Oriental Stories. It starts out as an average lost city story, pauses a few times for some lecturing, and then erupts into action, excitement, and tragedy. Nothing too deep but it wound up really grabbing me. 

Once again on the negative side, Howard brings up race and racial purity in some stories. Sometimes it’s just a few lines and sometimes it’s more. It definitely pulled me out of the story whenever it came up. Something to be aware of when reading Howard. On the other hand, Howard creates strong African characters in two of the stories. Queen Nakari and N’Longa are great characters, one a villain and one an ally. 

Something else I noticed, while some stories are stronger than others, they all have exciting endings. 

I enjoyed the poems again. "Black Chant Imperial" is really, really dark, and sounds like it could be a black metal song. 

I’m looking forward to reading volume three. 

Skull-Face (2/5)

Dead Man’s Hate (poem)

The Fearsome Touch of Death (4/5)

A Song Out of Midian (poem)

Shadows on the Road (poem)

The Moon of Skulls (Solomon Kane) (4.5/5)

The Hills of the Dead (Solomon Kane) (5/5)

Black Chant Imperial (poem)

The Voice of El-Lil (3.5/5)

Overall (4/5)