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A review by gelatinousdessert
El Borak and Other Desert Adventures by Robert E. Howard
3.0
As much as it pains me to give such a rating to work by Robert E. Howard, I found this to be the weakest of the (not insignificant amount of) material I've read by him. It's clear from the writing that Howard has only read of the Middle East in books, and has used his imagination to fill in the details the books didn't provide. This, to me, is the greatest drawback of these stories: they just don't ring true. The broad strokes of Howard's imagination don't do justice to the Middle East, and the characters frequently stray into charicatures practically waiting for Howard's inevitably American heroes to triumph over.
His characters are much the same. His heroes are Americans posing as Arabs who fit in well with the local populations but always have that Texan adventuring spirit. They're brave, honorable, sly. Not too big, but immensely strong. They're fantastic shots and superb swordsmen. They're more or less the same character, save for some differences in motivation and the scope of their imagination. Only the hero of the final story, "The Fire of Asshurbanipal," stands apart as a small-minded, treasure-seeking American who never claims to be anything but that--and is, in my opinion, a more realistic hero.
His supporting characters are all cast from a limited number of molds. Virtually all of them are tall, hawk-faced, hairy, and prone to bursts of powerful emotion. They're fanatically loyal or very treacherous, or else they have the kind of cunning that drives them to work together with the hero until they finds an opportunity for treachery--treachery inevitably foreseen by the American. Howard's villains, whether British, Arab, or Russian, (or, in one case, Hungarian) are greedy, arrogant, and talented swordsmen. And no points for guessing what happens to them at the end.
Despite these criticisms, Howard writes stories that still managed to grip me, though to a lesser extent than most of his other work. His fast-paced, action-packed stories get the job done, but they felt formulaic and lacking the fire of emotional investment. At this point in his career, I imagine he was writing mostly to the market, having refined his formula for selling his work and getting his checks. Perhaps my greatest complaint is that most of the best stuff here is done even better in some of his other stories.
There are a few standouts, though, and I would recommend "The Daughter of Erlik Khan" and "Sons of the Hawk," the latter of which I enjoyed the most of this lot.
His characters are much the same. His heroes are Americans posing as Arabs who fit in well with the local populations but always have that Texan adventuring spirit. They're brave, honorable, sly. Not too big, but immensely strong. They're fantastic shots and superb swordsmen. They're more or less the same character, save for some differences in motivation and the scope of their imagination. Only the hero of the final story, "The Fire of Asshurbanipal," stands apart as a small-minded, treasure-seeking American who never claims to be anything but that--and is, in my opinion, a more realistic hero.
His supporting characters are all cast from a limited number of molds. Virtually all of them are tall, hawk-faced, hairy, and prone to bursts of powerful emotion. They're fanatically loyal or very treacherous, or else they have the kind of cunning that drives them to work together with the hero until they finds an opportunity for treachery--treachery inevitably foreseen by the American. Howard's villains, whether British, Arab, or Russian, (or, in one case, Hungarian) are greedy, arrogant, and talented swordsmen. And no points for guessing what happens to them at the end.
Despite these criticisms, Howard writes stories that still managed to grip me, though to a lesser extent than most of his other work. His fast-paced, action-packed stories get the job done, but they felt formulaic and lacking the fire of emotional investment. At this point in his career, I imagine he was writing mostly to the market, having refined his formula for selling his work and getting his checks. Perhaps my greatest complaint is that most of the best stuff here is done even better in some of his other stories.
There are a few standouts, though, and I would recommend "The Daughter of Erlik Khan" and "Sons of the Hawk," the latter of which I enjoyed the most of this lot.