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A review by akemi_666
Black Colossus by Robert E. Howard, Ned Dameron
3.0
I've come to realise that dark fantasy books like The Black Company or The Last Wish were not simply a reaction to the high fantasy of The Lord of the Rings, but also a resurrection of Conan-styled narratives about mercenaries. There's a pragmatism and pessimism to these stories. Under the grand sweep of kingdom politics, the little people are crushed. Only through instrumentalising himself does Conan survive. In fact, he revels in it.
It's kind of terrifying. Like many dark fantasy protagonists, he's a victim of trauma (born out of war), forced to survive in a harsh world (as thief, pirate, mercenary). Howard lived through an oil boom, seeing the worst excesses of capitalism tear apart his home town. Glen Cook, the author of The Black Company, was in the military during the Cold War. Is it any wonder a certain isolation enshrouds their protagonists, caught in the senseless machinations of unencounterable political forces, bereft of emotional support and love?
It's kind of terrifying. Like many dark fantasy protagonists, he's a victim of trauma (born out of war), forced to survive in a harsh world (as thief, pirate, mercenary). Howard lived through an oil boom, seeing the worst excesses of capitalism tear apart his home town. Glen Cook, the author of The Black Company, was in the military during the Cold War. Is it any wonder a certain isolation enshrouds their protagonists, caught in the senseless machinations of unencounterable political forces, bereft of emotional support and love?