Book Review: Karl Edward Wagner's Kane

Karl Edward Wagner, is one of the masters of horror fiction. But his most famous literary creation, is the mystical swordsman Kane. When Wagner started writing Kane stories, he aimed to introduce something that has never been done before in the genre of dark fantasy/sword and sorcery. Instead of having the readers follow an anti hero (or a hero), Wagner's imaginary works would have the readers follow a protagonist who is, a super villain.

The stories are set in an alternative, pre-medieval world. Kane, is a fictional character that has "obvious" connection with the biblical character "Cain". Wagner's Kane (Cain) has red hair, is a powerful warrior, a master strategist, and an expert in occult knowledge. Kane is also left handed, and is cursed by his creator for rebelling against him, for the murder of Kane's brother Abel. As a punishment for being mankind's first murderer, Kane is cursed to wander the earth as an immortal, until the day when the violence he first introduced into this world will destroy him. Kane is marked with a sign that shows him as a murderer, the mark of Kane illuminating the aura of a murderer in his flaming blue eyes.

 Wagner wrote in total of 3 Kane novels, 15 short stories and 2 poems. The 3 novels are collected by Nightshade publishing in 2002, in a volume called: "Gods in Darkness - The complete novels of Kane". This omnibus collects 3 novels: Bloodstone, Dark Crusade, and Darkness Weaves. The short stories and poems are collected in another volume: "Midnight Sun - The complete stories of Kane".

It's very difficult to describe the character of Kane in short paragraphs, because he is probably, one of the most fascinating, and multi-dimensional characters to ever embrace the world of fantasy fiction, on par with Michael Moorcock's albino prince, Elric of Melinbone.

The attractiveness of Kane, is in the mythology of the character itself. Wagner successfully crafted a super villain like character, by linking to the biblical character Cain. Furthermore, Wagner explored the physcology of a character whose nihilistic existentialism outlook is shaped by his immortal, cursed existence to wander the earth for eternity, unable to form meaningful relationships with other humans. In all of the Kane stories, there will be moments when the readers will cheer for Kane, and there will be moments when the readers will hate Kane, while being absolutely appalled by Kane and atrocities he committed.

Unfortunately, Karl Edward Wagner died at young age of 48 in 1994. So Kane stories also died with Wagner's untimely death. However, the large collection of Kane stories, is a marvelous legacy to the world of fantasy fiction. The stories of Kane glow with the eerie luminescence that creeps with the dark and twisted character of Kane and his saga. The Kane stories, are not to be missed by fans of the heroic/dark fantasy genre.  

Side note: The last 3 stories collected in volume 2: "Midnight Sun - The Complete Stories of Kane", contain extreme, graphical contents. I would advice strong caution here.