Kull gets so much flak for being a weirder, or lesser, prototype version of Conan. He is that, but he's also, in my opinion at least, a character who's completely different in his own way. Howard gets much more philosophical and political with his Kull stories, diving into ideas far greater than a pulp action piece deserves. My one complaint is the occasional repetitiveness of the tales themselves, which I suppose is consistent with the pulp nature of them and how few of them were actually published in Howard's lifetime; recycled plots are to be expected.

-NOTE: I listened to this on Audible ( )

Many folks know Robert E. Howard for his sword & sorcery character Conan. However, before there was Conan, there was Kull from Atlantis, a mere man who won the crown of Valusia. This book comprises the previously published and unpublished Kull stories and poems. Additionally, there are two essays by Robert E. Howard enthusiasts. In this book are the following stories: “Exile of Atlantis,” “The Shadow Kingdom,” “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune,” “The Cat and the Skull,” “The Screaming Skull of Silence,” “The Striking of the Gong,” “The Altar and the Scorpion,” “The Curse of the Golden Skull,” “By This Axe I Rule!” “Swords of the Purple Kingdom,” “The King and the Oak,” and “Kings of the Night.”

I think this book would be great for REH enthusiasts but perhaps not for the REH beginner. The opening essay on the magnificence of REH lasts about half the first CD. This essay refers to things a newbie wouldn’t know about – like specific imagery in the Kull and Conan stories. I personally have only read one collection of Conan stories plus Wolfshead. So much of the references to the Kull stories were completely lost on me. I was ready to jump into the Kull tales right away, so I skipped ahead and came back to the opening essay later.

The collection of stories is great. Since most of the tales follow chronologically one after the other, they almost read like one big novel when strung together. I was very surprised to see that there were no racial slurs as I have seen in the Conan stories. I honestly don’t know if this collection was sanitized for modern readers or if that is how Howard truly wrote them. I do know that nearly all of these tales went unpublished until long after Howard’s death. At any rate, I got swept up into the magic, the betrayals, the sheer might in wielding a heavy sword!

As with other Howard stories, the ladies are few and far between. They don’t always get names or spoken lines. If they aren’t sexual objects to be protected and bedded, then they are betrayers. This is a theme that has been in nearly all Howard works I have read (the exceptions being those works that contain zero females). I am sure there are some interesting psychological analysis of Howard and his works out there.

This audiobook also contains drafts of his Kull stories which are very close to the final versions and I found them a bit redundant. The book ends with another essay on the awesomeness that is Kull and REH. I think this second essay was more interesting simply because I had some knowledge of the Kull stories at that point.

Over all, I loved the imagery of the Kull stories, the adventure, the male bonding and camaraderie. REH has this way with words that turns scratches on a page into a full, lush landscape. He would be one of my favorite writers if he included some worthy female characters. Alas, that isn’t to be.

Narration: Todd McLaren was a good pick for this book. He had that noble, yet gruff, voice for Kull that made me want to strap on a leather loin cloth, arm myself to the teeth, and set off on an adventure with the warrior. He also had excellent voices for other recurring side characters like Brule. There is one cat character that talks and McLaren did a good job making it sound like a snobby cat. His female voices were done well, especially the old crone. ( )

Read by [a:Todd McLaren|845542|Todd McLaren|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] & downloaded from my public library. You rock, Library!

The introduction by [a:Steve Tompkins|4387721|Steve Tompkins|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] is long, over 30 minutes. Almost immediately, he puts down ERB's John Carter. He said something about Carter's ego being so big that Helium, the city he rules, is well named. Seriously? He crapped on ERB's character?!!! I'll bet most Kull & Conan fans like John Carter, too. I do, although not as much, but that's just unnecessarily rude. It's not a contest about whose sword is bigger, you know.

While Tompkins had some good material about REH, he went on forever. (Talk about a large ego!) I found myself with less & less patience for his opinions, so after enduring him for 20 minutes, I came back in to the house & figured out where he quit so I could start in on the actual stories.

Tantor Media if you are reading this, please be advised that putting the introduction & each story into a separate track would be very much appreciated. Just ripping these stories off the CD's & dumping them into files makes you look cheap & uncaring. It's a PITA to FF through the track not knowing how long to hold down the button while trying to do other things like drive or weed the garden.

The stories are in their original format, so many are just fragments. I find that frustrating. I know a lot of Howard buffs dislike the Lancer editions because deCamp & Carter finished & heavily edited REH's original words, but they're what I started with & I'm more interested in a full, rousing story. After all, Howard is one of the premier escapist authors. If I wanted accuracy & realism, I'll read a nonfiction book or a historical fantasy.

McLaren is a pretty good reader, but this just didn't work as an audio book for me. Where Kull's philosophizing used to be entertaining, I was just impatient with his loose grip on reality & gullibility. Also, if I heard "By Valkha!" one more time, I was going to sic Crom on him, so I quit. I remembered the stories a bit too well, anyway. ( )

I loved the Kull stories, even with all their inconsistencies (which I probably would have ignored had I not read the editor's notes at the end). I'm a big fan of sword and sorcery stories to begin with and I honestly don't think many have done it better than Howard has. I look forward to moving on to Conan. ( )

Kull seems to be something like a blueprint for the later Conan. He is a barbarian but unlike Conan he does not try to solve everything with his sword. He uses his brains and one can almost feel his disgust with all the plotting and scheming around him that will only make him react with more force and more blood spilling.
He can easily be put aflame by disrespect of others and then there is no way that he will cool off without taking his revenge (in one tale he is even ready to go to the end of the known world to punish the man who openly called him a coward and usurper).

He seems to be a man placed in a wrong time and place - he got to the throne but soon he found out that throne is the most lonesome place in the entire world. Although he tries to do his best (and his kingdom does prosper) he is kept in contempt by his subjects only because of his origin. This seems to hurt him the most.

Only character that comes to my mind that is similar to the Kull in behavior and temper is Wagner's Kane - but unlike Kane Kull is not immortal and still has some faith in human kind.

Only thing (same as with Solomon Kane collection) that only makes readers want more is that only about half of the stories are finished stories - others are either unnamed drafts or semi-finished works.

Nevertheless great collection with some very nice illustrations.

Highly recommended. ( )