Karl Edward Wagner The Kane Books February Fantasy Stories The Bookish Bryants / @thebookishbryants Disshelved With Adam White’s Kane Video: • Kane by Karl Edward Wa...
The drawing of Karl Edward Wagner with a drink in his hand is unfortunately spot on. He was a terrible alcoholic and it cost him is marriage, his career and finally his life. He fell on such hard times (which he kept secret from friends) that he privately sold his complete collection of Weird Tales and claimed they were in storage at his parents house, only after he died his friends went to Karl's parents and they knew nothing about the Weird Tales collection. I recently read an old column he wrote about a trip he took to England and the entire column is about visiting pubs and drinking. His wife tried to get him to go into rehab but he refused, so she left him. Had he cleaned up he'd probably still be alive today.
We have the luck of having a great edition of all kane's stories in France in 3 tomes with amazing illustrations. I'm a bit sad and surprised he gets so little recognition in US 😢
In 1981 my friend's relative closed a book store and stashed all the paperbacks in his grandfather's garage. We young teen-agers were allowed to take any books we wanted from the storage boxes and that's why I have all the Karl Edward Wagner books published prior to 1981. I still have them, and re-read them often. "Reflections for the Winter of My Soul" is my favorite short story ever. I never even knew the term 'anti-hero' until reading Kane, what an interesting character.
I once encountered a guy who really admired Kane. Fortunately, I only encountered him on the internet. Interesting thing about Kane is that he is actually the antagonist in a lot of his stories. There are some where he's the protagonist, but it is the characters who are opposing him that are the protagonists in Bloodstone for example. This gives the character a lot of versatility.
Yes. Back in the 1970s I was drawn in, previously uninitiated, by the _cover_ of Bloodstone on the bookshop shelf. Fortunately I loved it and before long had read all the Kane books that were available.
I actually, on rereading both the Elric and Kane saga as a 50+ year old (after 30 years) think Wagner's prose in Kane is superior to Moorcock's Elric series, but they definitely are "of a kind".
Karl Edward Wagner with his connections to Robert E Howard's Conan created in Kane a character that Conan most certainly would not have wanted to come up against. I have always believed that the _barbarian_ whom Kane fights in the excellent story, Cold Light, is a tribute to Conan.
Funniest thing people something describe Kane as villainous less sympathetic Elric of Melnibone combining his intellect and sorcery with the muscles of Conan, Kane often compared to Thoth Amon (a villain from Conan stories) with an axe since is most stories Kane was always the main villain antagonist, he’s like Griffith from Berserk but lack any of his ambition or dream and only conquer and build an Empire just for his own amusement, succeeded killing Guts, got bored and wanderlust across the world just for fun. Most lands that Kane adventure through had either fall into legends or never heard of by other nations inhabitants in later stories even Kane himself whispered as some mythical figure in faraway land he venture to.
I picked up most of the paperbacks in the day. Loved them, great stuff. Trying to find a way to watch the new documentary Karl Edward Wagner: The Last Wolf.
Into Whose Hands, by KEW, probably my favorite horror story of all time. You won't find creeping monsters and ghosts but just a subtle writing style with that final twist. There was a blog about the story, the reader not understanding it, but that has since been taken down. His other horror stories I love and Kane is just the ultimate fantasy anti-hero. It's a shame that when Wagner wrote the novel 'Killer' he didn't get rid of the sci-fi side of things and replace the alien protagonist with Kane instead--as the one who released the beast on ancient Rome.
I don’t think KEW would like you to called his character Kane an anti-hero, Wagner despised the term a lot and refer to his character as a Villain-Hero of the Gothic fiction in 19th or 18th century literature, Kane like one of Conan villain Thoth Amon with sword, or Elric of Melnibone except less sympathetic and if he acting like Griffith from Berserk except only wanted to conquer and build a kingdom for his own personal amusement and the hell of it.
I agree that Moorcock is the better writer. Both are surprisingly under the radar. What is your favorite Kane story? Mine is Reflections on the Winter of My Soul. Undertow is my second favorite.
Great Wagner volumes, Michael! Kane is a brutal character. I think he lacks some of the joy that periodically pops up in Conan, but he has a desperate energy that keeps him on the sword and sorcerery medal stand. It really is too bad that these books and really all of Wagner’s horror stories are close to impossible to find save for “Sticks”. He needs his own August Derleth (or Karl Edward Wagner) to edit, promote, and anthologize his works. These volumes rock. Cheers, Jack
From what I’ve heard the family is the challenge in regards to IP licensing. I attempted to contact them a couple years ago but was unsuccessful. Have an adapted screenplay sitting on the shelf because of a lack of communication. Love this series, character and prose. Wagner was too short lived, unfortunately.
I only discovered KEW through your channel and glad I did. I found a battaered copy of Darkness Weaves recently and thought it was great. His fantasy is more adult too, which I always like. Thanks for the video.
Been meaning to read Wagner, and the Kane stories in particular, for a while now. Amazed by your hardcover editions. Those would be quite sought after.
I love heroic fantasy; I guess I need to read these books at some point. I wonder if this Bloodstone story inspired the D&D Bloodstone Pass series (which I loved back in the day)... looks like Karl Edward Wagner's Bloodstone was published in 1983 and D&D's Bloodstone Pass was published in 1985 so I bet it did.
Read KEW in my high school years. Don't know what happened to my books, but loved them. Nice of you to mention Manley Wade Wellman, read his work when I was in college.
Thanks for doing this - I often wondered about the author. I read the 'undertow' novel as a kid and was hooked! Those short stories were amazing however I had no idea about the novels until seeing those two hardbacks you show back in the 90's. I bought them and still have them, had no idea they were sought after (wouldn't sell them though). Yeah I agree the later short stories were really weird and didn't feel well written, a complete departure from the earlier work with some odd stuff creeping in. I'll have to re-read some of it - I still have scenes from 'last song of valdese' in my head from the original reading of it as a kid. Good stuff.
Another great video! Thanks. I always wondered about this Wagner fellow...now I'll have to dip into some Kane stories. I wonder how he compares to Glen Cook for darkness...
Thanks for this presentation. Karl died far too young; I only hope that SOMEONE will republish his work in popular editions. Supposedly, a movie or series is being undertaken on his work. That was in the works once before and fell through, but maybe this time …
Yep, tough times... Never heard of KEWagner before you mentioned him. Looked on ebau.. a centipede press Kane books collection of 5 was going for £1,136.00 on ebay.... yikes....
Just how many billions could you rake in if you started systematically eBaying your whole book collection? You could afford a newer, deeper, bigger moat for Vaughan Manor ... and maybe fill it with sharks with lasers mounted on their heads, like you've always dreamed!
You got me with the jump scare at the end. That creature looks just like one of the terrifying monsters Wagner would write about haha. I was wondering if you knew how lucky you are to own those volumes. They are so incredibly expensive now. I'm constantly combing through eBay hoping to get lucky and pick them up. As always, this was a worthy edition to your never-ending knowledgeable videos.
I'm interested in sword and sorcery fantasy, and will have to get ahold of the two Karl Edward Wagner hardcovers you displayed in the video, if I can obtain them at a used bookstore. His anthologies are next to impossible to find these days. 😊📚🗡🗡
I periodically look for these on ebay etc, but really hard to find. I think I'll have to take your advice and just get the ebook versions for now. Read some stuff off his but nowhere near enough. I definitely second the comment by Jack from Rambling Raconteur that Wagner needs someone to republish and revive his work.
I think I have an old Kane paperback lying around somewhere. Don’t remember which one. Will need to find that, and then see if you think I can read it by itself.
I need 2 reread these. I think I will try 2 get what I can on My Kindle so I won't have 2 dig them out. I remember wishing My hair was red back in the day when I first read them. LoL 🤣 Great Video Michael 👍😁👍
I enjoyed reading some Kane novels and stories until I read the “Ravens Eyrie” which destroyed the entire series for me. Rape can be a part of a story set in a grimdark fantasy world, but how this is presented is absolutely crucial. Rape can be a part of a story in order to show the true horrors of war or as something done by a character in order to get the reader to understand exactly what a sadistic coward he is, unworthy of any sympathy whatsoever. If it is something that rape should never be presented as its “badass in the cool sense.” Darth Vader can blow up a planet full of people but can still be a “badass cool villain,” even though there is nothing cool about genocidal dictators in the real world. Rape, however, falls into the same category as child molestation, etc., an act only performed by someone that should have no other place in a story than that of the villain that you just want to see get punished. Kane is not presented in that way in this story by Wagner even though he has raped a woman, and it is just disgusting.
So you draw the line at rape but have no problem if their is genozide in a story You realize that Kane isnt a hero an also not a villian he is an immortal who is so far from being human as a human can be If you life for hundreds or thousands of years everything would lose all meaning a normal humans lifetime would feel like a year or a month feels or a normal human And for such a person rape or murder is no different than eating or drinking or sleeping Its just all meaningless
Kane IS A VILLAIN, he was inspired by the gothic hero-villain byronic protagonist of the gothic novels of the 1800s. And as the other commenter said, so you're against rape but you're fine with looting, torture, murder, death, warfare?
@@AlienIschozarDidn’t Karl Wagner always described Kane as a Villain-reluctant Hero protagonist from the Gothic literature of the 18th to 19th century, but he always hated the term anti-hero and never uses it.
The drawing of Karl Edward Wagner with a drink in his hand is unfortunately spot on. He was a terrible alcoholic and it cost him is marriage, his career and finally his life. He fell on such hard times (which he kept secret from friends) that he privately sold his complete collection of Weird Tales and claimed they were in storage at his parents house, only after he died his friends went to Karl's parents and they knew nothing about the Weird Tales collection. I recently read an old column he wrote about a trip he took to England and the entire column is about visiting pubs and drinking. His wife tried to get him to go into rehab but he refused, so she left him. Had he cleaned up he'd probably still be alive today.
We have the luck of having a great edition of all kane's stories in France in 3 tomes with amazing illustrations. I'm a bit sad and surprised he gets so little recognition in US 😢
Kane Books - Best Fantasy Ever!
Love these books
In 1981 my friend's relative closed a book store and stashed all the paperbacks in his grandfather's garage. We young teen-agers were allowed to take any books we wanted from the storage boxes and that's why I have all the Karl Edward Wagner books published prior to 1981. I still have them, and re-read them often. "Reflections for the Winter of My Soul" is my favorite short story ever. I never even knew the term 'anti-hero' until reading Kane, what an interesting character.
I once encountered a guy who really admired Kane. Fortunately, I only encountered him on the internet.
Interesting thing about Kane is that he is actually the antagonist in a lot of his stories. There are some where he's the protagonist, but it is the characters who are opposing him that are the protagonists in Bloodstone for example. This gives the character a lot of versatility.
I remember all of the Kane series. Very dark stuff and great reads!
Yes. Back in the 1970s I was drawn in, previously uninitiated, by the _cover_ of Bloodstone on the bookshop shelf. Fortunately I loved it and before long had read all the Kane books that were available.
I actually, on rereading both the Elric and Kane saga as a 50+ year old (after 30 years) think Wagner's prose in Kane is superior to Moorcock's Elric series, but they definitely are "of a kind".
That they are.
Agreed. Moorcock's work is a bit less gritty but Wagner was a true wordsmith.
Fantastic hardcopies! Great video MKV!
Karl Edward Wagner with his connections to Robert E Howard's Conan created in Kane a character that Conan most certainly would not have wanted to come up against. I have always believed that the _barbarian_ whom Kane fights in the excellent story, Cold Light, is a tribute to Conan.
Funniest thing people something describe Kane as villainous less sympathetic Elric of Melnibone combining his intellect and sorcery with the muscles of Conan, Kane often compared to Thoth Amon (a villain from Conan stories) with an axe since is most stories Kane was always the main villain antagonist, he’s like Griffith from Berserk but lack any of his ambition or dream and only conquer and build an Empire just for his own amusement, succeeded killing Guts, got bored and wanderlust across the world just for fun. Most lands that Kane adventure through had either fall into legends or never heard of by other nations inhabitants in later stories even Kane himself whispered as some mythical figure in faraway land he venture to.
I picked up most of the paperbacks in the day. Loved them, great stuff. Trying to find a way to watch the new documentary Karl Edward Wagner: The Last Wolf.
Into Whose Hands, by KEW, probably my favorite horror story of all time. You won't find creeping monsters and ghosts but just a subtle writing style with that final twist. There was a blog about the story, the reader not understanding it, but that has since been taken down. His other horror stories I love and Kane is just the ultimate fantasy anti-hero. It's a shame that when Wagner wrote the novel 'Killer' he didn't get rid of the sci-fi side of things and replace the alien protagonist with Kane instead--as the one who released the beast on ancient Rome.
I don’t think KEW would like you to called his character Kane an anti-hero, Wagner despised the term a lot and refer to his character as a Villain-Hero of the Gothic fiction in 19th or 18th century literature, Kane like one of Conan villain Thoth Amon with sword, or Elric of Melnibone except less sympathetic and if he acting like Griffith from Berserk except only wanted to conquer and build a kingdom for his own personal amusement and the hell of it.
I agree that Moorcock is the better writer. Both are surprisingly under the radar.
What is your favorite Kane story? Mine is Reflections on the Winter of My Soul. Undertow is my second favorite.
Cold Light and Lynortis Reprised.
Cold light is excellent.@@williamlansford109
Undertow and Lynortis Reprise.
Reminds me of the Casca series that my dad used to love. I got to check these out.
I was gonna say the same thing about Casca. You beat me to it.
I have to read those books one day. There were a lot of them from what I remember.
I really need to read these I think. They’re near the top of my list for the epic post-100 book challenge mega haul of doom
That is a haul I really look forward to.
Great Wagner volumes, Michael! Kane is a brutal character. I think he lacks some of the joy that periodically pops up in Conan, but he has a desperate energy that keeps him on the sword and sorcerery medal stand. It really is too bad that these books and really all of Wagner’s horror stories are close to impossible to find save for “Sticks”. He needs his own August Derleth (or Karl Edward Wagner) to edit, promote, and anthologize his works. These volumes rock.
Cheers, Jack
Thanks! Wagner definitely needs more people talking about his work.
From what I’ve heard the family is the challenge in regards to IP licensing. I attempted to contact them a couple years ago but was unsuccessful. Have an adapted screenplay sitting on the shelf because of a lack of communication. Love this series, character and prose. Wagner was too short lived, unfortunately.
@@kastlerock01 Sorry to hear that. What’s your favorite among the Kane books/stories?
@@ramblingraconteur1616 mostly the short stories but Bloodstone and Darkness weaves are great novellas. Love the side kick Arabs too.
@@kastlerock01 I've heard the same thing. Normally once the writer dies his family can't wait to start making money off him.
You are lucky to have those two collections you’re holding. Looking on Amazon they’re out of print and going for hundreds of dollars now.
Yeah, they have become pretty expensive. Sure would be nice if the Kane series could get reprinted.
I only discovered KEW through your channel and glad I did. I found a battaered copy of Darkness Weaves recently and thought it was great. His fantasy is more adult too, which I always like. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for watching!
They need movies on books
Been meaning to read Wagner, and the Kane stories in particular, for a while now. Amazed by your hardcover editions. Those would be quite sought after.
I got lucky getting those books when I did.
Yes awesome writer, Kane is amazing book
These books look really cool.
I have a copy of Darkness Weaves. Love it.
I read all the books in the 1980s and got to see Karl when I went to World Con as he sat on a panel disusing lycanthropy. :)
Wow! That must have been a great experience.
I love heroic fantasy; I guess I need to read these books at some point. I wonder if this Bloodstone story inspired the D&D Bloodstone Pass series (which I loved back in the day)... looks like Karl Edward Wagner's Bloodstone was published in 1983 and D&D's Bloodstone Pass was published in 1985 so I bet it did.
Bloodstone is an excellent book.
Bloodstone by KEW was actually published in 1975.
Read KEW in my high school years. Don't know what happened to my books, but loved them. Nice of you to mention Manley Wade Wellman, read his work when I was in college.
I don’t own any of these books, but I do recognise all the covers, I’m lucky to own all of Frazetta’s art books. Great stuff
Frazetta was amazing.
I think I still have my copies with the Frazetta covers
Thanks for doing this - I often wondered about the author. I read the 'undertow' novel as a kid and was hooked! Those short stories were amazing however I had no idea about the novels until seeing those two hardbacks you show back in the 90's. I bought them and still have them, had no idea they were sought after (wouldn't sell them though). Yeah I agree the later short stories were really weird and didn't feel well written, a complete departure from the earlier work with some odd stuff creeping in. I'll have to re-read some of it - I still have scenes from 'last song of valdese' in my head from the original reading of it as a kid. Good stuff.
Undertow is so dark.
So dark. The best kind of stuff! Of course, I've never read these.
I don't recall ever hearing about Karl Edward Wagner before watching your videos.
I’m glad my videos have been good for something!
Another great video! Thanks. I always wondered about this Wagner fellow...now I'll have to dip into some Kane stories. I wonder how he compares to Glen Cook for darkness...
Thanks for this presentation. Karl died far too young; I only hope that SOMEONE will republish his work in popular editions. Supposedly, a movie or series is being undertaken on his work. That was in the works once before and fell through, but maybe this time …
Kane is pretty cool it seems and also a cute dog!
Yep, tough times... Never heard of KEWagner before you mentioned him. Looked on ebau.. a centipede press Kane books collection of 5 was going for £1,136.00 on ebay.... yikes....
Yikes 😳 indeed!
Just how many billions could you rake in if you started systematically eBaying your whole book collection? You could afford a newer, deeper, bigger moat for Vaughan Manor ... and maybe fill it with sharks with lasers mounted on their heads, like you've always dreamed!
That would be good. The lasers haven’t worked so well on the cat’s heads.
You got me with the jump scare at the end. That creature looks just like one of the terrifying monsters Wagner would write about haha. I was wondering if you knew how lucky you are to own those volumes. They are so incredibly expensive now. I'm constantly combing through eBay hoping to get lucky and pick them up. As always, this was a worthy edition to your never-ending knowledgeable videos.
Still waiting for someone to publish affordable editions. Surely there is enough demand, for the novels at least.
I'm interested in sword and sorcery fantasy, and will have to get ahold of the two Karl Edward Wagner hardcovers you displayed in the video, if I can obtain them at a used bookstore. His anthologies are next to impossible to find these days. 😊📚🗡🗡
Somebody really needs to reprint these books. Thanks for watching!
They look really cool!
They are!
I want read so bad
I periodically look for these on ebay etc, but really hard to find. I think I'll have to take your advice and just get the ebook versions for now. Read some stuff off his but nowhere near enough. I definitely second the comment by Jack from Rambling Raconteur that Wagner needs someone to republish and revive his work.
Jack is certainly right. He usually is.
Michael, have you done a reaction to or discussion of Fahfred & the Grey Mouser from Fritz Leiber?
Not yet. I will eventually.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Fritz is another underrated yet important writer of Fantasy Fiction honestly.
I think I have an old Kane paperback lying around somewhere. Don’t remember which one. Will need to find that, and then see if you think I can read it by itself.
They all stand alone, so yes.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 great!
I need 2 reread these. I think I will try 2 get what I can on My Kindle so I won't have 2 dig them out. I remember wishing My hair was red back in the day when I first read them. LoL 🤣
Great Video Michael 👍😁👍
Thanks! I’m glad that at least they are available on Kindle.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 👍😁👍
Have you ever seen the movie Near Dark??😅😅
Was Kane books one of the first grimdark series ever?
The Nagash series from Warhammer fantasy is darker.
BTW Kane is the Kane out of the Bible. He killed his brother and was cursed with immortality and the Mark of Kane, his eyes.
Unfortunately I cant find the volumes for under $200
a more gripping read than Conan
I enjoyed reading some Kane novels and stories until I read the “Ravens Eyrie” which destroyed the entire series for me. Rape can be a part of a story set in a grimdark fantasy world, but how this is presented is absolutely crucial. Rape can be a part of a story in order to show the true horrors of war or as something done by a character in order to get the reader to understand exactly what a sadistic coward he is, unworthy of any sympathy whatsoever. If it is something that rape should never be presented as its “badass in the cool sense.” Darth Vader can blow up a planet full of people but can still be a “badass cool villain,” even though there is nothing cool about genocidal dictators in the real world. Rape, however, falls into the same category as child molestation, etc., an act only performed by someone that should have no other place in a story than that of the villain that you just want to see get punished. Kane is not presented in that way in this story by Wagner even though he has raped a woman, and it is just disgusting.
So you draw the line at rape but have no problem if their is genozide in a story
You realize that Kane isnt a hero an also not a villian he is an immortal who is so far from being human as a human can be
If you life for hundreds or thousands of years everything would lose all meaning
a normal humans lifetime would feel like a year or a month feels or a normal human
And for such a person rape or murder is no different than eating or drinking or sleeping
Its just all meaningless
Kane IS A VILLAIN, he was inspired by the gothic hero-villain byronic protagonist of the gothic novels of the 1800s. And as the other commenter said, so you're against rape but you're fine with looting, torture, murder, death, warfare?
@@AlienIschozarDidn’t Karl Wagner always described Kane as a Villain-reluctant Hero protagonist from the Gothic literature of the 18th to 19th century, but he always hated the term anti-hero and never uses it.
My dude, I think it's pronounced Vagner