Darkness Weaves (book review) - The darkest fantasy you'll find

Darkness Weaves is the first Kane book written by Karl Edward Wagner. It is also one of the darkest S&S books I've ever read.

Here is the Wikipedia summary: "The mad sorceress Efrel seeks war and revenge upon her erstwhile husband, king Netisten Maril, and enlists Kane as her general in command of an army of mercenaries and monsters."

* The book was written published in abridged version in 1970, but the a restored version was published in 1978 (which is the one I read, AFAICT). It is not the first book by internal chronology but I find it a great introduction to the series, and it is very self-contained.

If you're into Dark Fantasy and S&S, this book is a must read. 

According to Wikipedia, "as an editor, [Wagner] created a three-volume set of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian fiction restored to its original form as written". The REH influence is obvious in this book - but his Kane is no mere Conan pastiche. If Elric is an "inverted Conan" of sorts (a sorcerer king from a decadent civilization), Kane is Conan on (even more) steroids. Or even Conan plus Elric, but even more callous, flawed and ambitious - not a tragic or brute hero, but a straight anti-hero. 

He is a fighter and a sorcerer, with the power of youth and the wisdom of the ancient; an "eternal champion" of sorts; a criminal and a commander, a loner and a peerless leader. In short, the kind of character that deserves to be drawn by Frank Frazzeta.

Kane's invincibility may sounds cringey, but Wagner somehow dodges this feeling most of the time, which is remarkable. In one of the coolest moments of the book (near the half), you'll find the origin of his might (and name)... since I didn't read much about Kane before, I really enjoyed this (I recommend you do the same).

In a previous review, I mentioned The Blade Itself fails at dark fantasy. Darkness Weaves not only succeeds -  it overdelivers. This is dark to the point of "grimdark" - like Berserk or Warhammer (without much of the humor). Everyone is evil and duplicitous (except maybe for one character - and you get the feeling she will pay dearly for being nice). Everyone suffers to no end, and most of the cast is dead eventually. There is torture, murder, treason, sexual assault, gore, etc. Sometimes, this feels gratuitous, but most often it feels discreet and appropriate to the story.

If you're reading fantasy for D&D ideas (monsters, spells, places, plots, etc.), this book has a decent amount - usually of the Lovecraftian type. The setting is decent if somewhat generic (except for the sorceress and her minions), at least in this book.

The book is well written, action-packed, and certainly a page turner (I couldn't stop reading) - even more than some of the previous books I reviewed. Still, the pacing never feels too rushed. Some characters could benefit from more depth, but then again they might soon be dead anyway. 

I'm certainly glad I picked this one, but I'm unsure if I'll read other books in the series. I find endless darkness and invincible protagonists can become somewhat tiresome if taken to the extremes, and the plot of the other books seem too similar to this one. I'll probably give it a try anyway - maybe read some of his short stories.

Overall, this is above average for Appendix N and fantasy. I might place it somewhere between the decent Black Company and the awesome The Broken Sword. 

I definitely recommend giving it a try.