Almuric

As the jacket copy on the lovely little Donald M. Grant edition of Almuric explains, Robert E. Howard took his only novel-length foray into the sword-and-planet subgenre at the urging of his literary agent Otis Adelbert Kline, who was a chief proponent of the form. Howard's protagonist is rather different than the paradigm of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter, though. Esau Cairn is not a gentleman warrior, just a murderous thug. The documentary foreword in the voice of the fictional Professor Hildebrand provides even less of a rationale for interplanetary travel than is usually present in a school of fiction that often demands heroic levels of suspension of disbelief.

Before Cairn can be built up into the barbarism of his adoptive show more society on the planet Almuric, he is first reduced to an entirely feral existence. In this condition he waxes philosophical, by the standards of an REH hero: "I tell you, the natural life of mankind is a grim battle for existence against the forces of nature, and any other form of life is artificial and without realistic meaning" (38).

Other than the peculiar savagery of the protagonist, Almuric is highly conventional pulp-era sword-and-planet fare. Cairn ends up uniting two tribes of Guras (the hairy ape-men to whom he assimilates) against the citadel of the sadistic Yagas, devilish winged humanoids. He single-handedly defeats their secret weapon, a giant electrified slug. There is a happy ending of considerable predictability and triteness.

I've previously remarked the salience of ideas of gender in sword-and-planet literature. Almuric features extreme sexual dimorphism and rigid gender roles among the Guras. Cairn's clean-shaven face causes the first Gura he encounters to ask "with unbearable scorn ... 'By Thak, are you a man or a woman?'" (21) This affront is grounds for a combat to the death.

I am an avid reader of both Robert E. Howard and sword and planet, so I was delighted to discover this book and felt compelled to read it. It didn't take me very long. But it is neither one of Howard's better efforts, nor an especially rewarding example of its sub-genre. show less

My long nightmare is over. I've finished this truly awful book. I think it's time for a dose of something more girly, perhaps the one Jane Austen I've not re-read over the past three or four years.

Esau Cairn is basically a brute, someone who is strong as an ox and also someone who has no self control. Wherever he goes, mayhem is sure to be present. It's not really his fault, he's just a manly man, perhaps the manliest of all men. Other people contrive to piss him off, thereby bringing mayhem upon themselves. Then, there are those who are just not manly enough to stand up to physical competition with him, e.g. when he tried organized forms of mayhem, such as football and boxing. How's it his fault when the damn pussies become permanently show more crippled or die on him? Suffice to say, he doesn't belong in polite society.

So, an astronomer friend contrives to transport him into another universe, a place where Cairn fits in better. Everyone in the new universe is a brute. The men he meets are all hairy ape men, whose idea of a good life is drinking and brawling. He becomes sort of a major figure in the hairy ape men tribe and leads them off to rescue their women—all lissome and fair—from a race of black, winged men. Something like that.

So if you like brutish behavior and lots of cleaving of skulls and limbs with swords and cracking bones and blood and guts flowing all over and dead bodies heaping up and so forth, perhaps this is a book for you. As for me, it's back to something a bit closer to reality, which in some people's eyes will tend to be a bit on the girly side.

I think this is the last of the pulp books I managed to snag from Munsey's before they got closed down by the lawyers, or something. Some of Munsey's pulp offerings were quite fun, some, like this one, not so much. Still, I'll miss Munsey's. Bummer that for me their lights went out for me, so to speak, on this piece of dreck. show less

If you've read any of Robert E. Howard's sword-and-sorcery or horror stories but not Almuric, then probably the only thing that will be unfamiliar is the setting: not the Hyborian Age, nor Southern Gothic or Cthulhu mythos, but rather another planet, possibly in another dimension. Now, if that sounds like faint praise, or even criticism, it isn't meant to be: Howard was very, very good at what he did, and this is an excellent example of his work.

The people and places on Almuric are savage and exotic. There's a lot of hints at back history, abandoned cities, elder races and unknown lands. I really wish that Howard had gone back to explore and expand the world he created.

Robert E. Howard's “Almuric” is one of his longer works but not one of his best in my view.

One aspect that let this down for me includes a scene where the main character Esau overhears two of his antagonists discussing a matter that they would never wish for an enemy to learn about. Problem with this is that in reality they’d never say what the author has them say. This otherwise great writer makes a classic mistake of using unrealistic dialogue to move the plot forward. I won’t quote anything here as it may serve as a spoiler, so will mention only that the antagonists relay information that each of them have known all their lives – and they’re centuries old!

Another downside is that for much of the first half of the tale show more the reader is faced with too many descriptive passages. The descriptions are fine in themselves, but it becomes somewhat tedious. Despite this, plus various lengthy explanations for one thing or another, the reason for Esau’s presence on Almuric is barely touched on.

At the start of the piece we learn that a scientist transported Esau – who’s destined for the gallows – to another planet. Personally, I feel the story would’ve been better served if the piece opened with a scene featuring the scientist making this offer, followed by showing us how he’s capable of such an achievement. Failing this, a little more detail as to how it all came about would’ve helped make more sense regarding Esau being transported from one planet to another.

This is the most critical I’ve ever been about one of Robert E. Howard's works, which is probably owing to my being aware of his true prowess that are sadly lacking in “Almuric”.

On the plus side, Mr Howard once again demonstrates his versatility as a writer, displaying another side to his unique imagination. The battles are all vividly portrayed and certain scenes are highly entertaining. show less

SUMMARY: When Esau Cairn was sent across space to the demon-haunted planet of Almuric, he knew nothing of his destination. The secret discovery of the scientist who had invented the space0transition machine, Almuri was a world of strange and terrible beings, of savages and swordsmen, of winged monsters and incredible secrets. -- How Esau, alone on Almuric, with nothing but his wits and his muscles to protect him, faced Almuric's worst perils to make him master and monarch is a novel worthy of the creator of the Conan stories. (from back cover) The language of the story is pure Howard in style and may be a little challenging to some readers...
"It is needless for me to narrate the details of the following months. I dwelt among the hills show more in such suffering and peril as no man on Earth has experienced for thousands of years. I make bold to say that only a man of extraordinary strength and ruggedness could have survived as I did. I did more than survive. I came at last to thrive on the existence" (page 21) I liked the passage where Esau explains that he has risen in the ranks of civilization from savage to barbarian....but I couldn't find the passage again.

Lots of fighting, violence and bloodshed...mentions of torture

Just a fun, quick read if you like stories of barbarians going from one survival event to the next. Robert E. Howard is the creator of Conan (who is my favorite)

Many different covers all unique -- mine came with Esau fighting the winged demons. show less

This is one of Howard's few novels and like his other stories is rich with action and adventure. A man who feels misplaced winds up wanted by the police for a crime and ends up with the help of a scientist on another planet. On this planet he finds that he can be himself, he does not have to limit his physical strength and attributes so that he doesn't hurt others, here on this planet he is smaller and more frail than the other humanoids and he finds acceptance from them.

Burroughs type fantasy by Howard, though a bit more brutal than typical Burroughs.